Biblical Essays
THE TABERNACLE

Introduction
Every particular of the Tabernacle was divinely designated. Bezaleel and Aholiab led the construction using materials provided by free-will offerings of the people. It was a movable sanctuary, occupying a central position in the encampment of the Israelites.

It was a large tent thirty cubits long, ten cubits wide, with sides ten cubits high. The court in which it stood was one hundred cubits in length, fifty in width, and enclosed by a fence five cubits high. As we will see below, the book of Exodus minutely explains the construction.

It was made of acacia wood, the timber of the region. The hair of goats and skins of rams were used. The people contributed gold, silver and brass. Over the covering of goats’ hair were placed red-dyed rams’ skins. Curtains of rare beauty and value were specified.

The Tabernacle was called “the dwelling” and “the tent of meeting.” Unger points out that the “term tabernacle is transferred to heaven, as the true dwelling place of God (Heb. 9:11; Rev. 13:6); used figuratively for the human body in which the soul dwells as in a tent, and which is taken down at death (2 Cor. 5:4).”1 Its great object was to represent God’s dwelling in the midst of His people, the visible symbol of Jehovah’s presence, placed in the center of the encampment. Its supreme sacredness was greatly emphasized. It was kept by the priests who alone officiated at the altar and entered the Holy Place. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year, on the Day of Atonement. Everything done was designed to indicate and safeguard its sacred significance. It was the central part of the religious life of the nation.

While in Egypt, the people saw the great stone temples and in contrast with these elaborate structures the Tabernacle would appear very simple. But simplicity and spirituality, essential qualities in the worship of God, were to be conveyed to the mind of the Israelite.

The Altar of Burnt Offering stood in the outer court, directly in front of the Tabernacle. It was five cubits square and three cubits high. About half-way up was a platform on which the priests stood. Standing before this altar, representing the presence of God, sacrifices were offered. It emphatically taught that man could not approach Jehovah except as a sinner and atoned for by blood (Ex. 27:1-8). The altar stood between the Tabernacle and the sinner – the outstanding truth of the necessity of atonement for sin.

The two apartments or sections were separated by four pillars sunk in silver sockets, supporting a curtain. As the priest entered the Tabernacle the first of these rooms was the Holy Place, called the Sanctuary. It was twenty cubits long, ten cubits broad and ten high. There were two veils, one at the entrance and the other that separated the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies. On the latter were figures of cherubim.

In the Holy Place was the Altar of Incense. It was a cubit square and two cubits high, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Incense was offered on it morning and evening. It symbolized the worship and adoration of the people.

On the south side of the Sanctuary stood the Golden Candlestick, consisting of a base and shaft having six branches and seven lamps. Pure olive oil was used. According to Josephus three of these burned throughout the day. “It was a fit symbol of the continued existence, the uninterrupted worship, and the unceasing emission of light by the people of God.”

The Table of Shewbread stood on the other side. The table, two cubits long, one wide and one and a half high – made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. On it were twelve unleavened cakes in two rows. This was called the Shewbread, or Bread of the Presence, which symbolized the communion of God’s people with Him in the service. Every Sabbath the loaves were eaten by the priests and new loaves placed on the table.

The innermost section was the Holy of Holies. Its central feature was the Ark of the Covenant. The chest was two and a half cubits long, one and a half in width and height. It was made of acacia wood, overlaid within and without with gold and covered by a lid of solid gold which was called the mercy-seat. On this were two cherubim of gold, one at each end. They faced each other, looking down toward the mercy-seat, covering it by spreading wings denoting that Jehovah dwelt between the cherubim in the midst of His people, meeting them there in the person of the high priest. The ark contained the tables of the law, a pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded.

The high priest entered the Holy of Holies alone once a year, on the Day of Atonement. He sprinkled the blood of the offering on the mercy-seat. It was a solemn occasion when the priest offered the yearly sacrifice for the sins of the nation. As the people’s representative, he alone was allowed to enter this inner Sanctuary. It was the veil between the two sections in the Temple that was rent asunder on the day of the crucifixion, signifying free access to God through the atoning work of Christ.

Exodus 25
We encourage a reading of this chapter before proceeding further. This chapter forms the commencement of one of the richest veins in Inspiration’s exhaustless mine – a vein in which every stroke of the mattock brings to light untold wealth. The mattock in such a mine must be the holy Word of God. Nature can do nothing here. Reason is blind and imagination is utterly vain. The most gigantic intellect appears like a bat in the sunshine, blindly dashing itself against objects it is utterly unable to discern. We must compel reason and imagination to stand aside, while, with chastened heart, single eye, and spiritual mind, we enter the hallowed precincts and gaze on the deeply significant furniture. God the Holy Spirit is the only One who can conduct us through the courts of the Lord’s house, expounding to our souls the true meaning of all we view. To attempt the exposition through our unsanctified powers of intellect would be infinitely more absurd than trying to repair a watch with a blacksmith's tongs and hammer. “The patterns of things in the heavens” cannot be interpreted by the natural mind – even in its most cultivated form. They must be read in the light of heaven. Earth has no light that can reveal their beauties. Only the One who furnished the patterns can explain their meanings; only the One who furnished the beauteous symbols can interpret them.

To the human eye, it seems there is desultoriness in the mode in which the Holy Spirit presents the furniture of the tabernacle. However, there is, in fact, a most perfect order, a most remarkable precision, a most studious accuracy. Chapters 25-30, represent a distinct section of the Book of Exodus. This section is divided into two parts, the first terminating at Exodus 27:19; the second as Exodus 30 closes. The former begins with the Ark of the Covenant, inside the veil, ending with the Brazen Altar and the court in which that altar stood. In other words, it gives us Jehovah’s throne of judgment, on which He sat as Lord of all the earth; and it conducts us to that place where, in the credit and virtue of accomplished atonement, He met the sinner. Then, in the latter, we have the mode of man’s approach to God. The arrangement is perfect and beautiful. How could it be otherwise? The Ark and Brazen Altar present two extremes. The former was the throne of God established in “justice and judgment” (Ps. 89:19); the latter was the place of approach for the sinner where “mercy and truth” went before Jehovah’s face. Man, in himself, dared not approach the Ark to meet God, for “the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest” (Heb. 9:8). But God could approach the Altar of Brass, to meet man as a sinner. “Justice and judgment” could not admit the sinner in; but “mercy and truth” could bring God out; not in the overwhelming brightness and majesty He wanted to shine forth from between those mystic supporters of His throne – “the cherubim of glory” – but in the gracious ministry that is symbolically presented to us in the furniture and ordinances of the Tabernacle.

All this reminds us of the path trodden by that blessed One – the antitype of all these types; the substance of all these shadows. He traveled from the eternal throne of God in heaven to the depths of Calvary’s cross. He came from the glory of heaven to the shame of the cross, in order that He might bring His forgiven redeemed and accepted people back, presenting them faultless before the very throne He had left on their account. In His own person and work, the Lord Jesus cleared the way between God’s throne and the dust of death, and between the dust of death and the throne of God. In Jesus Christ, God has, in perfect grace, come down to the sinner; in Him the sinner, in perfect righteousness, is brought up to God. The way from the Ark to the Brazen Altar was marked with footprints of love; and the way from the Brazen Altar to the Ark of God was sprinkled with the blood of atonement. As ransomed worshippers, we pass along that wondrous path, beholding the name of Jesus Christ stamped on everything we view. May that name be dearer to our hearts. Let us now examine the chapters consecutively.

It is interesting to note here, that the first thing the Lord communicates to Moses is His gracious purpose to have a sanctuary or holy dwelling place in the midst of His people – a sanctuary composed of materials, directly pointing to the Person and work of Christ, and the precious fruit of that work, as seen in the light, power, and varied graces of the Holy Spirit. Also, these materials were the fragrant fruit of the grace of God – the voluntary offerings of devoted hearts. Jehovah, whose majesty “the heaven of heavens could not contain,” was graciously pleased to dwell in a boarded and curtained tent, erected for Him by those who cherished His presence.

The Tabernacle may be viewed in two ways: first, as furnishing “a pattern of things in the heavens;” and second as presenting a deeply significant type of the body of Christ. The various materials composing the tabernacle now come before us, as we consider the three comprehensive subjects in this chapter: the Ark; the Table; and the Candlestick.

The Ark of the Covenant occupies the leading place – its position in the Tabernacle clearly marked. Shut in within the veil, in the holiest of all, it formed the base of Jehovah’s throne. Its very name conveys its import. By definition, an ark is designed to preserve intact whatever is put therein. An ark carried Noah and his family, together with the species of creation, in safety over the billows of judgment covering the earth. At the opening of Exodus, an ark was faith's vessel, preserving “a proper child” from the waters of death. When we read of “the ark of the covenant,” we are led to believe that it was designed by God to preserve His covenant unbroken, in the midst of an erring people. As we know, the second set of tables were placed in it, because the first set was broken in pieces beneath the mount, showing that man’s covenant was wholly abolished – that his work could never, by any possibility, form the basis of Jehovah’s throne of government. “Justice and judgment are the habitation of that throne,” whether in its earthly or heavenly aspect. The Ark could not contain broken tables within its hallowed enclosure. Man might fail to fulfill his self-chosen vow; but God’s law must be preserved in its divine integrity and perfectness. God had to be worthy of Himself – that was the only way He could set up His throne in the midst of a sinful people. His standard of judgment and government must be perfect. “And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.”

The Ark of the Covenant accompanied the people in all their wanderings. It never rested while they were a traveling or conflicting host. It moved from place to place in the wilderness. It went before them into the midst of Jordan; it was their grand rallying point in all the wars of Canaan – a sure and certain earnest of power wherever it went. No power of an enemy could stand before this well-known expression of divine presence and power. The Ark was Israel’s companion in travel – “the staves” and “the rings” an appropriate expression of its traveling character.

However, it was not always to be a traveler. “The afflictions of David,” as well as the wars of Israel, were to end. The prayer was yet to be breathed and answered, “Arise, O Lord, into thy rest: thou and the Ark of thy strength” (Ps. 132:8). This most sublime petition had its partial accomplishment in the palmy days of Solomon, when “The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark, and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day” (1 Kings 8:6-8).

The desert sand was to be exchanged for the Temple’s golden floor (1 Kings 6:30). The wanderings of the Ark were to have an end; there was “neither enemy nor evil occurrent” and therefore “the staves were drawn out.”

There was a difference between the Ark in the Tabernacle and in the Temple. The writer of Hebrews, speaking of the Ark in its wilderness habitation, describes it as “the ark of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant” (9:4). Such were the contents of the Ark in its wilderness journeying – the pot of manna, expressing Jehovah’s faithfulness in providing for His – redeemed in the desert, and Aaron’s rod, “a token against the rebels,” to “take away their murmurings” (compare Ex. 16:32-39; and Num. 17:10). But when the moment arrived “the staves” were to be “drawn out.” When the wanderings and wars of Israel ended; and the “exceeding magnifical” house completed; when the sun of Israel’s glory, in type, reached its meridian (as marked by the wealth and splendor of Solomon’s reign), then the record of wilderness need and failure were unnoticed, and nothing remained except that which constituted the eternal foundation of the throne of the God of Israel, and of all the earth. “There was nothing in the ark, save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb” (1 Kings 8:9).

But, this brightness was soon to be overcast by the heavy clouds of human failure and divine displeasure. The rude foot of the uncircumcised would walk across the ruins of that beautiful house, and faded light and departed glory would elicit the contemptuous “hiss” of strangers. This is not the place to consider these things in detail. Instead, we refer you to the last notice the Word of God affords us of “the ark of the covenant” – a notice that carries us forward to a time when human folly and sin no longer disturb the resting-place of that ark, and when neither a curtained tent, or a temple made with hands, shall contain it. “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou has taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of His covenant: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail” (Rev. 11:15-19).

The mercy-seat comes next in order. “And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end; even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark shalt thou put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”

Here Jehovah makes known His gracious intention of coming down from the fiery mount to take His place on the mercy seat. Here the glory of the God of Israel shone forth. From this place He issued His commands, softened and sweetened, so that we can enjoy their genial and enlivening influence without being dazzled by their brightness. Like the beams of the mid-day sun passing through a cloud, “His commandments are not grievous” when received from the mercy-seat, because they come to us connected to grace, giving us the ears to hear and the power to obey.

Looking at the Ark and mercy-seat together, we see a striking figure of the Person and work of Christ. In His life, Jesus Christ magnified the Law, making it honorable. Through death, He became a propitiation or mercy-seat for every true believeth. God’s mercy could only repose on a pedestal of perfect righteousness. “Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21). The only proper meeting place between God and man is the point where grace and righteousness meet and perfectly harmonize. Nothing but perfect righteousness could suit God; and nothing but perfect grace could suit the sinner. But where could these attributes meet? Only in the cross. At the cross, “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10). Here the soul of the truly believing sinner finds peace. In other words, God’s righteousness and our justification rest precisely on the same basis – Christ’s accomplished work. When, under the powerful action of the truth of God, man takes his place as a sinner, God can, in the exercise of grace, take His place as Savior. At this point, every question is settled. In other words, the cross answers all claims of divine justice, allowing mercy’s copious streams to flow unhindered. When a righteous God and a ruined sinner meet, on a blood-sprinkled platform, all is settled forever. It is settled in a way that perfectly glorifies God, eternally saving the sinner. God must be true, though every man be proved a liar. When we are thoroughly brought down to the lowest point of our moral condition, and, before God, we are willing to take the place that God’s truth assigns us; only at that point do we learn that God has revealed Himself as our righteous Justifier. This provides a settling peace to the conscience, imparting a capacity to commune with God, hearkening to His holy precepts.

Yes, “the holiest of all” unfolds a truly wondrous scene – the Ark, the mercy-seat, the Cherubim, the glory. What a sight for the high-priest of Israel to behold as, once a year, he went within the veil. May the Spirit of God open the eyes of our understanding, that we may know and understand more fully the deep meaning of these precious types.

Moses is now instructed about “the table of showbread,” or Bread of Presentation. On this table was the food of God’s priests. For seven days those twelve loaves of “fine flour with frankincense” were presented before the Lord. Then, after being replaced, they became the food of the priests who fed on them in the holy place (see Lev. 24:5-9). Needless to say, those twelve loaves typify “the man Christ Jesus.” The “fine flour,” of which they were composed, marks His perfect manhood, while the “frankincense” points out the entire devotion of that manhood to God. If God has His priests ministering in the holy place, He will certainly have not only a table for them, but a well-furnished table. Christ is the Table and Christ is the Bread thereon. The pure table and the twelve loaves are a shadow of Christ, presented before God unceasingly, in the excellency of His spotless humanity, and administered as food to the priestly family. The “seven days” set forth the perfection of the divine enjoyment of Christ; and the “twelve loaves” the administration of that enjoyment in and by man. We also suggest for your further study, the idea of Christ’s connection with the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The Candlestick of pure gold now comes into view, because God’s priests need light as well as food – both found in Christ. In this Candlestick there is no mention of anything but pure gold. “All of it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.” “The seven lamps” which “gave light over against the candlestick,” express the perfection of the light and energy of the Spirit, founded on and connected with the perfect efficacy of the work of Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit can never be separated from the work of Christ. This is set forth, in a double way, in this beautiful figure of the Golden Candlestick. “The seven lamps” being connected with “the shaft” of “beaten gold,” points us to Christ’s finished work as the sole basis of the manifestation of the Spirit in the Church. The Holy Spirit was not given until Jesus was glorified (comp. John 7:39 with Acts 19:2-6). In Revelation 3, Christ is presented to the Church of Sardis as “having the seven spirits.” It was as “exalted to the right hand of God” that the Lord Jesus “shed forth” the Holy Spirit on His church, in order that she might shine according to the power and perfection of her position, in the Holy Place – her proper sphere of being, of action, and of worship.

Also, we find it was one of Aaron’s specific functions to light and trim those seven lamps. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olive, beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it, from the evening unto the morning, before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually” (Lev. 24:1-4).

In this we see how the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church is linked with Christ’s work on earth and His work in heaven. “The seven lamps” needed priestly energy and diligence to keep them trimmed and lighted. The priest would continually need “the tongs and snuff-dishes” for the purpose of removing anything unfit for the “pure beaten oil.” Those tongs and snuff-dishes were also “beaten gold,” because the whole matter was the direct result of divine operation. If the Church shines, it is only by the energy of the Spirit, and that energy is founded on Christ, Who, in pursuance of God’s eternal counsel, became in His sacrifice and Priesthood, the spring and power of everything to His Church. Everything is of God. Whether we look within that mysterious veil, beholding the Ark with its cover, and the two significant figures attached thereto; or gaze outside the veil, on the pure Table and the pure Candlestick, with their distinctive vessels and instruments – they all speak of God, revealed to us in connection with the Son or the Holy Spirit.

Our high calling, as true believers, places us in the midst of all these precious realities. Our place is not merely amid “the patterns of things in the heavens,” but amid “the heavenly things themselves.” We have “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” We are a priest to God. “The showbread” is ours. Our place is at “the pure table,” to feed on the priestly food, in the light of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can ever deprive us of those divine privileges. They are ours forever. We must constantly watch for anything that might rob our enjoyment of them; being aware of all unhallowed tempers, lusts, feelings, and imaginations; keeping nature down; the world out; and Satan away. May the Holy Spirit fill our souls with Christ. Then, and only then, will we be practically holy and abidingly happy; bearing fruit, glorifying the Father, and full of joy.

Exodus 26
We encourage a reading of this chapter before proceeding further. The section which now opens before us contains instructive descriptions of the curtains and coverings of the Tabernacle, in which spiritual eyes discern shadows of the various features and phases of Christ’s manifested character. “Moreover, thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.”

Here we have the different aspects of “the man Christ Jesus.” The “fine twined linen” prefigures the spotless purity of the Lord’s walk and character; while the “blue, the purple, and the scarlet” present Him to us as “the Lord from heaven,” reigning according to the divine counsels, but whose royalty is the result of His sufferings. Thus, we have a spotless man, a heavenly man, a royal man, a suffering man. These materials were not confined to the “curtains” of the Tabernacle, but were also used in making “the veil” (v. 31), “the hanging for the door of the tent” (v. 36), “the hanging for the gate of the court” (Ex. 27:16), “the cloths of service and the holy garments of Aaron” (Ex. 39:1). In a word, it was Christ everywhere, Christ in all, and Christ alone.2

“The fine twined linen,” expressed Christ’s spotless manhood, opening to the spiritual mind precious and copious springs of thought; furnishing a theme on which we cannot meditate too profoundly. The truth regarding Christ’s humanity must be received with Scriptural accuracy, held with spiritual energy, guarded with holy jealousy, and confessed with heavenly power. If we are wrong regarding this, then we cannot be right about anything. It is a grand, vital, fundamental truth, and if not received, held, guarded, and confessed, exactly as God has revealed it in His holy Word, then the entire superstructure becomes unsound. Nothing is more deplorable than the looseness of thought and expression pertaining to this all-important doctrine, which seems to prevail today. If there was more reverence for the Word of God, there would be more accurate acquaintance with it, thus avoiding erroneous teachings and unguarded statements which certainly grieves the Holy Spirit of God, whose province is to testify of Jesus.

When the angel announced to Mary the glad tidings of the Savior’s birth, she responded, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” Her feeble mind was utterly unable to accept, much less fathom, the stupendous mystery of “God manifest in the flesh.” But carefully consider the angelic reply, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; wherefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:39, 35). No doubt Mary imagined this birth to be according to the principles of ordinary generation. But, by enunciating one of the grandest truths of revelation, the angel corrects her mistake; declaring that divine power was about to form a real man, “the second man the Lord from heaven” – One whose nature was divinely pure. This Holy One was made “in, the likeness of sinful flesh,” without sin in the flesh. He partook of real bona fide flesh and blood without a particle or shadow of evil.

This is a cardinal truth that cannot be too accurately accepted or too tenaciously held. The incarnation of the Son – His mysterious entrance into pure and spotless flesh; formed by the power of the Highest, in a virgin’s womb. This is the foundation of the “great mystery of godliness” of which the top-stone is a glorified God-man in heaven, the Head, Representative, and Model of the redeemed Church of our Lord. The essential purity of His manhood perfectly met the claims of God; the reality meeting all the necessities of man. He was a man, because to meet man’s ruin, nothing else would do. But He was a man who could also satisfy all the claims of the throne of God. He was a spotless, real man, in whom God could perfectly delight, and on whom man could unreservedly lean.

We need not remind enlightened students that all of this depends on Christ’s death and resurrection. Apart from His death and resurrection, it is totally unavailable to us. God needed not only an incarnate, but a crucified and risen Christ. True, He should be incarnate to be crucified; but it is death and resurrection which render incarnation available to us. It is nothing short of a deadly error to suppose that in incarnation, Christ was taking man into union with Himself. This could not be. He Himself expressly teaches the contrary. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). There could be no union between sinful and holy flesh, pure and impure, corruptible and incorruptible, mortal and immortal. Death is the only bases of a unity between Christ and His followers. It is beautifully connected with the words, “Rise, let us go hence,” that He says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” “We have been planted together in the likeness of his death.” “Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.” “In whom also are ye circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”

We refer you to Romans 6 and Colossians 2 for a full and comprehensive statement of truth on this important subject. It was only as dead and risen that Christ and His people could become one. The true corn of wheat had to fall into the ground and die in order that a full ear could spring up and be gathered into the heavenly garner.

But while this is a plainly revealed truth of Scripture, it is equally plain that incarnation formed, as it were, the first layer of the glorious superstructure – the curtains of “fine twined Linen” prefigure the moral purity of “the man Christ Jesus.” We have seen the manner of His conception. His life offers us instance after instance of the same spotless purity. He was forty days in the wilderness, tempted of the devil, but in His pure nature there was no response to the tempter’s foul suggestions. He could touch the leper and not be tainted. He could touch the bier and not contract the smell of death. He could pass unscathed through the most polluted atmosphere. His manhood was like a sunbeam emanating from the fountain of light, passing through the most defiling medium without soiling. He was perfectly unique in nature, constitution, and character. Only He could say, “Thou wilt not suffer thine holy One to see corruption.” This was in reference to His humanity, which, as being perfectly holy and perfectly pure, was capable of being a sin-bearer. “His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” Not to the tree, as some would teach us; but “on the tree.” It was only on the cross that Christ was our sin-bearer. “He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

“Blue” is the ethereal color, marking the heavenly character of Christ. Though He had come down into all the circumstances of actual and true humanity – sin excepted – yet He was “the Lord from heaven.” Though He was “very man,” yet He ever walked in the uninterrupted consciousness of His proper dignity, as a heavenly stranger. He never once forgot where He came from, where He was, or where He was going. The spring of all His joys was on high. Earth could not make Him richer or poorer. He found this world to be “a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” and, hence, His spirit could only find its refreshment above. It was entirely heavenly. “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man who is in heaven” (John 3:13).

“Purple” denotes royalty, and points us to Him who “Was born King of the Jews;” who offered Himself as such to the Jewish nation, and was rejected; who before Pontius Pilate witnessed His good confession, avowing Himself a king, when to human vision there appeared not one single trace of royalty. “Thou sayest that I am a king.” And “hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” And, finally, the inscription on His cross, “in letters of Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin” – the language of religion, science, and government declared Him, to the whole known world, to be “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Earth disowned His claims, but not so heaven – there His claim was fully recognized. In the eternal mansions of light, He was received as a conqueror, crowned with glory and honor; seated amid the acclamations of angelic hosts, on the throne of the majesty in the heavens, there to wait until His enemies be made His footstool. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise, now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him” (Ps. 2).

“Scarlet,” when genuine, is produced by death; thus making its application to a suffering Christ appropriate. “Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh.” Without death, all would have been unavailing. We can admire “the blue” and “the purple” but without “the scarlet” the tabernacle would have lacked a most important feature. It was by death that Christ destroyed him that had the power of death. The Holy Spirit, in setting before us the true Tabernacle – a striking figure of Christ that could not possibly omit the phase of His character which constituted the groundwork of His connection with His body the Church; His claim to the throne of David, and headship of all creation. In a word, the Holy Spirit not only unfolds to our view  in these significant curtains the Lord Jesus as a spotless man, a royal man, but also as a suffering man; One who, by death, make good His claims to everything that, as man, He was entitled, in the divine counsels.

But there is much more in the curtains of the Tabernacle than the varied and perfect phases of the character of Christ. We also have the unity and consistency of that character. Each phase is displayed in its own proper perfectness; and one never interferes with, or mars the exquisite beauty of, another. Beneath the eye of God everything was in perfect harmony, and was displayed in “the pattern which was showed to Moses on the mount.” “Every one of the curtains shall have one measure. The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.” This represents the fair proportion and consistency in all the ways of Christ, walking on the earth as a perfect man, in every aspect or relationship. Throughout His earthly life, we never find Him inconsistent with divine integrity. He was, at all times, in all places, under all circumstances, the perfect man. In all His ways, this fair and lovely proportion belonged to Him. “Every one of the curtains shall have one measure.”

The two sets of five curtains symbolize the two grand aspects of Christ’s character – toward God and man. We have the same two aspects in the law: what was due God and what was due man. If we look into Christ, we find “thy law is within my heart;” and if we look at His outward character and walk, we see those two elements adjusted with perfect accuracy – inseparably linked together by the heavenly grace and divine energy which dwelt in His most glorious Person. “And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain, from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise. Shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second...And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches; and it shall be one tabernacle.”

We now consider the heavenly grace and divine energy in Christ, as displayed in the “loops of blue,” and “taches of gold,”3 enabling Him to combine and perfectly adjust the claims of God and man; so that in responding to both, He never for a moment marred the unity of His character. When crafty and hypocritical men tempted Jesus with the enquiry, “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?” His wise reply was, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The curtains in the Tabernacle were covered with other “curtains of goats’ hair” (vv. 7-14). Their beauty was hidden from those without by what appeared to be roughness and severity. But this was not the view of those within. To all who were privileged to enter the hallowed enclosure only “the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and fine twined linen” was visible – the varied yet combined exhibition of the virtues and excellencies of that divine Tabernacle where God dwelt. It was the antitype of Christ, through whose flesh the beams of the divine nature shone so delicately – so much so that the sinner can look upon it without being overwhelmed by their dazzling brightness.

While the Lord Jesus walked on this earth, few really knew Him. Few had eyes anointed with heavenly eye salve allowing them to penetrate and appreciate the deep mystery of His character. How few saw “the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the twined linen!” It was only when faith brought man into His presence that He allowed the brightness of what He would soon become shine forth – allowing the glory to break through the cloud. To the natural eye there appeared to be a reserve and severity about Him, aptly prefigured by the “covering of goats’ hair.” This was the result of His profound separation and estrangement, not from sinners personally, but from the thoughts and maxims of men. Jesus had nothing in common with man as such, nor was it within the compass of mere nature to comprehend or enjoy Him. He said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him;” and when one of those “drawn” ones confessed His name, He declared that “flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (comp. John 6:44; Matt. 6:17). He was “a root out of a dry ground,” having neither “form nor comeliness” to attract the eye or gratify the heart of man. Popular current could never flow in the direction of One who passed so rapidly across the stage of this vain world, while wrapping Himself in a “covering of goats’ hair.” Jesus was not popular. The multitude followed Him for a while, because they judged His ministry by connecting with “the loaves and fishes.” While this met their need at the time, they were just as ready to cry, “Away with him!” as “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Oh, how we need to remember this. Let the servants of Christ remember it. Let preachers of the Gospel remember it. Let us all remember the “covering of goats’ hair!”

But if the goats’ skins expressed the severity of Christ’s separation from earth, “the rams’ skins dyed red” exhibit His intense consecration and devotedness to God, which was carried out even unto death. He was the only perfect Servant that ever stood in God’s vineyard. From the manger to the cross, with an undeviating course, Jesus pursued only one object, glorifying the Father and finishing His work. “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business” was the language of His youth, and the accomplishment of that “business” was the design of His life. “His meat was to do the will of him that sent him and to finish his work.” “The rams’ skins dyed red” formed as distinct a part of His ordinary habit as the “goats’ hair.” His perfect devotion to God separated Him from the habits of men.

“The badgers’ skins” exhibit the holy vigilance with which the Lord Jesus guarded against even the approach of anything hostile to the purpose that engrossed His whole soul. He took up His position for God, holding it with a tenacity that no influence of men or devils, earth or hell, could overcome. The covering of badgers’ skins was “above” (v. 14), teaching us that the most prominent feature in the character of “the man Christ Jesus” was an invincible determination to stand as a witness for God on earth. He was the true Naboth – giving up His life rather than surrendering the truth of God, or giving up the place He had taken in this world.

The goat, ram, and badger, must be regarded as exhibiting certain natural features, symbolizing certain moral qualities. We must take both into account when applying these figures to the character of Christ. The human eye could only discern natural features, seeing none of the moral grace, beauty, and dignity, which lay beneath the outward form of the despised and humble Jesus of Nazareth. When treasures of heavenly wisdom flowed from His lips, the inquiry was, “Is not this the carpenter?” or “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” When He asserted His eternal Sonship and Godhead, the word was, “Thou art not yet fifty years old,” or “They took up stones to cast at him.” In short, the acknowledgement of the Pharisees, in John 9, was true of men in general: “as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.”

It is not possible in this brief study, to trace the unfolding of those precious features of Christ’s character through the Gospel narratives. Hopefully, enough has been presented to open springs of spiritual thought in your heart; perhaps furnishing some faint idea of the rich treasures wrapped up in the curtains and coverings of the Tabernacle. Christ’s hidden being, secret springs and inherent excellencies; His outward and unattractive form; what He was in Himself; what He was to His Father in heaven; what He was to humankind; and what He was in the judgment of faith and nature – all is sweetly and impressively revealed to the circumcised ear, in the “curtains of blue, purple, scarlet, and the twined “linen:” and the “coverings of skins.”

“The boards for the tabernacle” were made of the same wood used in constructing “the ark of the covenant.” They were upheld by sockets of silver formed out of the atonement; their hooks and chapiters being of the same (compare attentively Ex. 30:11-16 with 38:25-28). The whole framework of the tent of the Tabernacle was based on that which spoke of atonement or ransom, while the “hooks and chapiters” at the top set forth the same. The sockets were buried in the sand – the hooks and chapiters above. It matters not how deep you penetrate, or how high you rise, this glorious and eternal truth is emblazoned before you, “I have found a ransom.” Blessed be God, “we are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

The Tabernacle was divided into three distinct parts: “the holy of holies,” “the holy place,” and the Court of the Tabernacle. The entrance into each of these was of the same materials, “blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen” (compare Ex. 24:31, 36 with 27:16). The interpretation is this: Christ forms the only doorway into the varied fields of glory which are yet to be displayed, whether on earth, in heaven, or in the heaven of heavens. “Every family, in heaven and earth,” will be gathered under His headship – brought into everlasting felicity and glory on the ground of His accomplished atonement. This is plain enough, needing no stretch of the imagination to grasp. When we know the truth, the shadow is easily understood. If our hearts are truly filled with Christ, we shall not go far astray in our interpretations of the tabernacle and its furniture. It is not a head full of learned criticism that will avail us, but a heart full of affection for Jesus, and a conscience at rest in the blood of His cross.

May the Spirit of God enable us to study and think on these things with more interest and intelligence. May He “open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of his law.”

Exodus 27
We encourage a reading of this chapter before proceeding further. We have now arrived at the Brazen Altar which stood at the door of the Tabernacle; and call your particular attention to the order used by the Holy Spirit in this portion of Holy Scripture. As already considered, Exodus 25 to 27:19 forms a distinct division, one in which we are provided with a description of the Ark and mercy-seat, the Table and Candlestick, the curtains and the veil; and, lastly, the Brazen Altar and the court in which that altar stood. In Exodus 35:15; 37:25; and 40:26, between the Candlestick and Brazen Altar, the Golden Altar of Incense is noticed. When Jehovah gave directions to Moses, the Brazen Altar is introduced immediately after the Candlestick and the curtains of the Tabernacle. Since there must be a divine reason for this difference, it is the privilege of every diligent and serious student of the Word of God to inquire what that reason is.

So, when giving directions about the furniture of the “holy place,” why does the Lord omit the Altar of Incense, going instead to the Brazen Altar which stood at the door of the Tabernacle? We offer the following suggestion. God first describes the mode in which He would manifest Himself to man; then He describes the mode of man’s approach to Him. He took His seat on the throne, as “the Lord of all the earth.” The beams of His glory were hidden behind the veil – a type of Christ’s flesh (Heb. 10:20); but there was the manifestation of Himself, in connection with man, in “the pure table,” by the light and power of the Holy Spirit, as in the Candlestick. Then we have the manifested character of Christ as an earthly man, as seen in the curtains and coverings of the Tabernacle. Finally, we have the Brazen Altar as the grand exhibition of the meeting-place between the holy God and sinners. Now, with Aaron and his sons we return to the Holy Place, to the ordinary priestly position, where the Golden Altar of Incense stood. The order is strikingly beautiful. The Golden Altar is not spoken of until there is a priest to burn incense on it. In other words, Jehovah showed Moses the patterns of things in the heavens according to the order in which they were to be apprehended by faith. On the other hand, when Moses gives directions to the congregations (Ex. 35); when he records the labors of “Bezaleel and Aholiab” (Ex. 37 and 38), and sets up the Tabernacle (Ex. 40), he follows the simple order in which the furniture was placed.

The prayerful investigation of this interesting subject and a comparison of the passages referred to above will amply reward your further study. We shall now examine the Brazen Altar.

This altar was the place where the sinner approached God, in the power and efficacy of the blood of atonement. It stood “at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation,” and on it all the blood was shed. It was composed of “shittim wood and brass.” The wood was the same as that of the Golden Altar of incense; but the metal was different, and the reason for this difference seems obvious. The Altar of Brass was the place where sin was dealt with according to the divine judgment concerning it. The Altar of Gold was the place from whence the precious fragrance of Christ’s acceptableness ascended to the throne of God. “Shittim wood,” the figure of Christ’s humanity, must be the same in each case; but in the Brazen Altar we see Christ meeting the fire of divine justice; in the Golden Altar, we see Him feeding the divine affections. At the former, the fire of divine wrath was quenched; at the latter, the fire of priestly worship is kindled. The soul delights to find Christ in both; but the Altar of Brass is what meets the need of a guilty conscience. It’s the very first thing for a poor, helpless, needy, convicted sinner. Regarding sin, there cannot be settled peace until the eye of faith rests on Christ as the antitype of the Brazen Altar. We must see our sins reduced to ashes in the pan of the altar, or we cannot enjoy rest of conscience in the presence of God. It is when, by true faith we know and trust in the record of God, that He Himself dealt with sin in the Person of Christ, at the Brazen Altar, satisfying His own righteous claims, putting away our sins from His holy presence, so that they can never again come back – then, and only then, can we enjoy divine and everlasting peace.

Regarding the real meaning of “gold” and “brass” in the furniture of the Tabernacle: “Gold” is the symbol of divine righteousness, the divine nature in “the man Christ Jesus;” “Brass” is the symbol of righteousness, demanding judgment of sin, as in the Brazen Altar; or judgment of uncleanness, as in the Brazen Laver. This accounts for the fact that inside the tent of the Tabernacle, all was gold – the Ark, the mercy-seat, the Table, the Candlestick, the Altar of Incense. All these were symbols of the divine nature – the inherent personal excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, outside the tent of the Tabernacle all was brass – the Brazen Altar and its vessels, the Laver and its foot.

As to sin and uncleanness, the claims of righteousness must be divinely met if there is to be any enjoyment or understanding of the precious mysteries of Christ’s Person, as unfolded in the inner Sanctuary of God. It is when we see all sin and uncleanness perfectly judged and washed away, that we can, as priests, draw close and worship in the Holy Place, enjoying the full display of all the beauty and excellency of the God-man, Christ Jesus.

It will be profitable for you to trace the application of this thought in more detail, not merely in the study of the Tabernacle and Temple, but also in various passages of the Word of God; for example, in the first chapter of Revelation, Christ is seen “girt about the paps with a golden girdle,” and having “his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” “The golden girdle” is the symbol of His intrinsic righteousness. “Feet like unto the brass,” expresses the unmitigated judgment of evil – He cannot tolerate evil, crushing it beneath His feet.

Such is the Christ. He judges sin, but saves the sinner. Faith sees sin reduced to ashes at the Brazen Altar; it sees all uncleanness washed away at the Brazen Laver: and, finally, it enjoys Christ, as He is unfolded, in the secret of divine presence, by the light and power of the Holy Spirit. Faith finds Him at the Golden Altar, in all the value of His intercession. It feeds on Him at the pure Table. It recognizes Him in the Ark and mercy-seat as the One who answers the claims of justice – meeting all human need. It beholds Him in the veil, with all its mystic figures. It reads His precious name on everything. Oh, for a heart to prize and praise this matchless, glorious Christ.

Nothing is of more vital importance than a clear understanding of the doctrine of the Brazen Altar. It is a lack of understanding this that keeps so many souls mourning – never having a clean, thorough settlement of their guilt at the Brazen Altar; never beholding, by faith, God Himself settling on the cross. Many seek peace for their uneasy consciences in regeneration and its evidences, i.e., the fruits of the Spirit, frames, feelings, experiences – things valuable in themselves, but which are not the ground of peace. What fills the soul with perfect peace is the knowledge of what God did at the Brazen Altar. The ashes in that pan tell the peace-giving story that all is done. The believer’s sins were put away by God’s own hand of redeeming love. “He hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5). All sin must be judged: but the true believer’s sins have already been judged in the cross – perfectly justified. To suppose that there could be anything against even the feeblest true believer is to deny the entire work of the cross. The sins and iniquities of a true believer sins have been put away by God Himself – perfectly put away, with the outpoured life of the Lamb of God.

The two preceding chapters revealed the priesthood being instituted. Now, we are introduced to the position of true priestly worship and communion. The order precisely corresponds with the order of the believer’s experience at the Brazen Altar. Seeing the ashes of his sins, he then sees himself linked with One Who, though personally pure and spotless, associated us with Himself in life, righteousness, and favor. Finally, in the Golden Altar, the true believer beholds the preciousness of Christ, on which the divine affections feed.

Therefore, before there can be a golden altar and incense, there must be a Brazen Altar and a priest. Many children of God have never passed the Brazen Altar. They have never, in spirit, entered into the power and reality of true priestly worship. They do not rejoice in a full, clear, divine sense of pardon and righteousness; they have never reached the Golden Altar. They hope to reach it when they die; but it is their privilege to be there now. The work of the cross has removed everything that could act as a barrier to their free and intelligent worship. The present position of all true believers is at the Golden Altar of Incense.

This altar typifies a position of wondrous blessedness. There we enjoy the reality and efficacy of Christ’s intercession. We are to forever be done with self and occupied only with what Jesus Christ is before God. All we find in self is defilement. Every single exhibition of self is defiling; it has been condemned and set aside in the judgment of God, and not a shred or particle of it is to be found in the pure incense and pure fire, on the altar of pure gold: it could not be. We have been introduced, “by the blood of Jesus,” into the Sanctuary – a sanctuary of priestly service and worship, in which there is not even a trace of sin. We see the pure Table, the pure Candlestick, and the pure Altar; but there is nothing to remind us of self and its wretchedness. If self takes over, it will be the death knell of our worship; it will mar our priestly food and dim our light. Nature can have no place in the Sanctuary of God. It, together with all its belongings, has been consumed to ashes; and we are now to have before our souls the fragrant odor of Christ, ascending in grateful incense to God, delighting Him. Everything that presents Christ in His proper excellence is sweet and acceptable to God. Even the feeblest expression or exhibition of Him, in the life or worship of a saint is a sweet smelling odor, in which God is well pleased.

Too often, we are occupied with failures and infirmities. If the workings of indwelling sin rise to the surface, we must immediately deal with our God about them, because He cannot go on with sin. He can forgive it, and cleanse us from it; He can restore our souls by the gracious ministry of our great High Priest; but He cannot go on with or be in company with a single sinful thought. A foolish thought, like an unclean or covetous one, is amply sufficient to mar a Christian’s communion, interrupting his worship. Should any such thought spring up, it must be judged and confessed, so the elevated joys of the Sanctuary can be known afresh. A heart, in which lust is working, is not enjoying the proper occupations of the Sanctuary. When nature has no existence; when we are in our proper priestly condition, then we can feed on Christ – then we can taste the divine luxury of being wholly at leisure from ourselves, and wholly engrossed with Christ.

All this can only be produced by the power of the Spirit. There is no need of seeking to work up nature’s devotional feelings, by various appliances of systematic religion. There must be pure fire as well as pure incense (compare Lev. 10:1 with Lev. 16:12). All efforts at worshipping God, by the unhallowed powers of nature, come under the head of “strange fire.” God is the object of worship; Christ the ground and material of worship; and the Holy Spirit the power of worship.

So, in the Brazen Altar, we have Christ in the value of His sacrifice; in the Golden Altar, we have Christ in the value of His intercession. Hopefully, this will help to furnish a clearer sense of the reason why the priestly office is introduced between the two altars. As might be expected, there is an intimate connection between the two, for Christ’s intercession is founded on His sacrifice. “And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it, once in a year, with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord.”

All rests on the immovable foundation of shed blood. “Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the pattern of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:22-24).

From verse 11 to 16 we have the atonement money for the congregation. All were to pay alike. “The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.”

In the matter of atonement, all must stand on one common platform. There may be a vast difference in knowledge, experience, capacity, attainment, zeal, and devotedness, but the ground of atonement is alike to all. Regarding atonement, the great apostle of the Gentiles stands on the same level as the feeblest lamb in the flock of Christ. This is a simple, but blessed truth. All may not be alike in devotion and fruitfulness; but “the precious blood of Christ,” not devotion or fruitfulness, is the solid and everlasting ground of the true believer’s rest. The more we enter into this truth and power, the more fruitful we will be.

In Leviticus 27, we find another kind of valuation. When any one made “a singular vow,” Moses valued him according to his age. In other words, when any one ventured to assume the ground of capacity, Moses, as the representative of the claims of God, estimated him “after the shekel of the sanctuary.” If he was “poorer” than Moses’ estimation, then he was to “present himself before the priest,” the representative of the grace of God, who was to value him “according to his ability that vowed.”

Blessed be God, we know that all His claims have been answered, and all our vows discharged by One Who was at once the Representative of His claims and the Exponent of His grace, Who finished the work of atonement on the cross, and is now at the right hand of God. Here is sweet rest for the heart and conscience. Atonement is the first thing we get hold of, and we should never lose sight of it. No matter if our range of intelligence be wide, our fund of experience rich, our tone of devotion elevated – we shall always have to fall back on the one simple, divine, unalterable, soul-sustaining doctrine of the blood. It has been so throughout the history of God’s people; so it is, and so it will ever be. The most deeply-taught and gifted servants of Christ have always rejoiced to come back to “that one well-spring of delight,” at which their thirsty spirits drank when first they knew the Lord; and the eternal song of the Church in glory will be, “Unto Him that; loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” The courts of heaven will forever resound with the glorious doctrine of the blood.

From verses 17 to 21 we are presented with “the brazen laver and its foot” – the vessel of washing and the basis thereof. These two are always presented together (see Ex. 30:28; 38:8; and 40:11). In this laver the priests washed their hands and feet, and thus maintained that purity so essential to the proper discharge of their priestly functions. It was not, by any means, a question of a fresh presentation of blood; but simply that action by which they were preserved in fitness for priestly service and worship. “When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord: so they shall wash their hands and their feet that they die not.”

There can be no true communion with God, without diligently maintaining personal holiness. “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6). This personal holiness can only flow from the action of the Word of God on our works and ways. “By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” Our failure in priestly ministry may be because we have neglected the due use of the Laver. If our ways are not submitted to the purgative action of the Word of God – if we continue in the pursuit or practice of that which God’s Word distinctly condemns, the energy of our priestly character will certainly be lacking. Deliberate continuance in evil and true priestly worship, are totally incompatible. “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” If we have any uncleanness on us, we cannot enjoy the presence of God. The effect of His presence would then be to convict us by its holy light. But when we are enabled, through grace, to cleanse our way by taking heed thereto according to God’s Word, we are then morally capacitated for the enjoyment of His presence.

The serious Bible student will at once perceive what a vast field of practical truth is here laid open, and also how largely the doctrine of the Brazen Laver is brought out in the New Testament. Oh, that all those who are privileged to tread the courts of the Sanctuary, in priestly robes, and to approach the Altar of God, in priestly worship, may keep their hands and feet clean by the use of the true Laver. It may be interesting to note that the Laver, with its foot, was made “of the looking-glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (see Ex. 38:8). This fact is full of meaning. We are ever prone to be “like a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” Nature’s looking-glass can never furnish a clear and permanent view of our true condition. “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:23-25).  The man who has constant recourse to the Word of God, allowing that Word to tug on his heart and conscience, will be maintained in the holy activities of divine life.

Intimately connected with the searching and cleaning action of the Word is the efficacy of the priestly ministry of Christ. “For the word of God is quick and powerful, (i.e., living and energetic,) and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

Then the inspired apostle immediately adds, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:12-16).

The more keenly we feel the edge of God’s Word, the more we shall prize the merciful and gracious ministry of our High Priest. The two things go together. They are the inseparable companions of the Christian’s path. The High Priest sympathizes with the infirmities which the Word detects and exposes. He is “a faithful” as well as “a merciful High Priest.” Hence, it is only as we are making use of the Laver that we can approach the Altar. Worship must ever be presented in the power of holiness. We must lose sight of nature, as reflected in a looking-glass, and be wholly occupied with Christ, as presented in the Word. Only in this way shall the “hands and feet,” the works and ways be cleansed, according to the purification of the sanctuary.

From verses 22 and 23 we have the “holy anointing oil,” with which the priests, as well as the furniture of the Tabernacle, were anointed. In this we see a type of the varied graces of the Holy Spirit – all their divine fullness found in Christ. “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad” (Ps. 45:8). “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power” (Acts 10:38). All the graces of the Spirit, in their perfect fragrance, center in Christ – from Him alone they flow. His humanity was conceived of the Holy Spirit; and, before entering public ministry, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit; and, finally, when He had taken His seat on high, in token of an accomplished redemption, He shed forth on His body, the Church, the precious gift of the Holy Spirit4.

As true believers, we are associated with this blessed and highly-exalted Christ, and are partakers of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. Further, as we walk in habitual nearness to Him, we either enjoy or emit the fragrance thereof. The unrenewed man knows nothing of this: “Upon man’s flesh it shall not be poured.” The graces of the Spirit can never be connected with man’s flesh, because the Holy Spirit is not of nature. Not one of the fruits of the Spirit was ever produced “in nature’s barren soil.” “We must, be born again.” It is only in connection with the new man, being part of “the new creation,” that we can know anything of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Imitating those fruits and graces is of no value at all. The fairest fruits that ever grew in nature’s fields, in their highest state of cultivation – the most amiable traits nature can exhibit, must be utterly disowned in the Sanctuary of God. “Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured; neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.”

There must be no counterfeit of the Spirit’s work; all must be wholly of the Spirit. Further, that which is of the Spirit must not be attributed to man. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).

There is a beautiful allusion to this “holy anointing oil” in one of the “songs of degrees.” The Psalmist says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments” (133:1, 2).

The head of the priestly house was anointed with holy oil which ran down to the very “skirts of his garments,” exhibiting the precious effects. We pray you experience the power of this anointing. We pray that you come to know the value of having “an unction from the Holy One” – being “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise!” In the divine estimation, only that which connects itself with Christ is of any value, and whatever is so connected can receive the holy anointing.

In the concluding paragraph of this most comprehensive chapter, we have the “sweet spices tempered together, pure and holy.” This surpassingly precious perfume presents to us the unmeasured and immeasurable perfections of Christ. There was no special quantity of each ingredient prescribed, because the graces, the beauties, and excellencies that dwell in Christ are concentrated in His adorable Person – without limit. Nothing but the infinite mind of Deity could scan the infinite perfections of Him in whom all the fullness of Deity dwells; and as eternity rolls along its course of everlasting ages, those glorious perfections will ever be unfolding in the view of worshipping saints and angels. Throughout eternity, as some fresh beam of light shall burst forth from that central Sun of divine glory, the courts of heaven will resound with thrilling Alleluias to Him Who was, Who is, and Who ever shall be the object of praise to all created intelligence.

But not only was there no prescribed quantity of the ingredients; we also read, “of each there shall be a like weight.” Every feature of moral excellence found its due place and proper proportion in Christ. No one quality ever displaced or interfered with another; all was “tempered together, pure and holy,” and emitted an odor so fragrant that only God could appreciate it.

“And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.” There is uncommon depth and power in the expression “very small.” It teaches us that every little movement in the life of Christ, every minute circumstance, every act, every word, every look, every feature, every trait, every lineament, emits an odor produced by an equal proportion – “a like weight” of all the divine graces that compose His character. The smaller the perfume was beaten, the more its rare and exquisite temper was manifested. “And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”

This fragrant perfume was exclusively designed for Jehovah. Its place was “before the testimony.” There is in Jesus that which only God can appreciate. True, every believing heart can draw close to His matchless Person, more than satisfying our deepest and most intense longings. Still, after all God’s redeemed have drunk to the utmost of their capacity; after angels have gazed to the best of their vision on the peerless glories of the man Christ Jesus; there will still be in Him that which only God can fathom and enjoy. No human or angelic eye can ever trace the exquisitely minute parts of that holy perfume “beaten very small.” Nor could earth afford a proper sphere in which to emit its divine and heavenly odor.

In our rapid sketch, we began at “the ark of the covenant,” and traveled out to “the altar of brass;” we then returned from “the altar or brass,” coming to the “holy perfume.” What a journey. Praise God, we do not travel by the false and flickering light of human imagination, but by the infallible lamp of the Holy Spirit. What a journey. Praise God, we do not travel amid the shadows of a bygone dispensation, but amid the personal glories and powerful attractions of the Son, which are there portrayed. By traveling in this way, we will find our affections drawn to Christ more than ever; we will have a loftier conception of His glory, His beauty, His preciousness, His excellency, His ability to heal a wounded conscience, and satisfy a longing heart. Our eyes will close to earth’s attractions, and our ears will close to earth’s pretensions and promises. In a word, we will be prepared to utter a deeper and more fervent amen to the words of the inspired apostle, when he says, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him: be anathema, maranatha”5 (1 Cor. 16:22).

Exodus 31
We encourage a reading of this chapter before proceeding further. The opening of this chapter records the divine call and qualification of “Bezaleel and Aholiab” to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship...And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded.”

Whether for “the work of the tabernacle” of old or “the work of the ministry” now, there should be divine selection, divine call, divine qualification, divine appointment; and all must be done according to divine commandment. Man could not select, call, qualify, or appoint to do the work of the Tabernacle; neither can he do so for the work of the ministry. It was, it is, it must be, wholly and absolutely divine. A man may run as sent by others, or he may run for himself; but remember that all who run, without being sent by God, shall, one day be covered with shame and face confusion. Such is the plain and wholesome doctrine suggested by the words, “I have called” “I have filled,” “I have given,” “I have put,” “I have commanded.” The words of the Baptist must ever hold good: “a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27). Therefore, he has little room to boast of himself; and just as little to be jealous of others.

There is a profitable lesson to be learned from a comparison of this chapter with Genesis 6. “Tubal-cain was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.” The descendants of Cain were endowed with unhallowed skill to make a cursed and groaning earth a delectable spot, without the presence of God. “Bezaleel and Aholiab,” on the contrary, were endowed with divine skill to beautify a Sanctuary which was to be hallowed and blessed by the presence and glory of the God of Israel.

Exodus 34
We encourage a reading of this chapter before proceeding further. The second set of tables is given, not to be broken like the first, but to be hidden in the Ark, above which, as already noticed, Jehovah was to take His place, in moral government as the Lord of all the earth. “And he hewed two tables of stone, like unto the first: and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with them there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third, and to the fourth generation.”

Keep in mind that this is God, as seen in His moral government of the world, not as He is seen in the cross; not as He shines in the face of Jesus Christ – not as He is proclaimed in the Gospel of His grace. The following is an exhibition of God in the Gospel: “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself, by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself; not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18, 19).

“Not clearing” and “not imputing” present two totally different ideas of God. “Visiting iniquities” and canceling them is not the same thing. The former is God in government; the latter is God in the Gospel. In 2 Corinthians 3 the apostle contrasts the “ministration” recorded in Exodus 34 with “the ministration” of the Gospel. We would all do well to carefully study that chapter. From it we learn that anyone who regards the view of God’s character given to Moses on Mount Horeb, as unfolding the Gospel, obviously has a defective apprehension of the Gospel. Neither in creation or yet in moral government, do we, or can we, read the deep secrets of the Father's bosom. Could the prodigal have found his place in the arms of the One revealed on Mount Sinai? Could John have leaned his head on the bosom of that One? Certainly not, but God has revealed Himself in the face of Jesus Christ. In divine harmony, God has expressed all His attributes in the work of the cross. There “mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Sin is perfectly put away, and the true believing sinner perfectly justified “by the blood of the cross.” When we get a view of God, unfolded in this way, then, like Moses, we need to bow our head “toward the earth and worship” – the proper attitude for a pardoned and accepted sinner in the presence of God.

Exodus 35-40
As before, we encourage a reading of these chapters before proceeding further. These chapters contain a recapitulation of the various parts of the Tabernacle and its furniture; and inasmuch as we have already given what we believe to be the import of the more prominent parts, it seems needless to add more. There are, however, two things in this section from which we may deduce profitable instruction: first, the voluntary devotedness; and second, the implicit obedience of the people with respect to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. Regarding their voluntary devotedness, we read, “And all the consecration of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord’s offering: and every man with whom was found shittim wood? for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate: and spice and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring, for all manner of work which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses” (Ex. 35:20-29).

And, again, we read, “And all the wise men that; wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; and they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make...for the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much” (vv. 4-7).

This is a lovely picture of devotedness to the work of the Sanctuary. It needed no effort to move the hearts of the people to give, no earnest appeals, no impressive arguments – their “hearts stirred them up.” This was the true way. The streams of voluntary devotedness flowed from within. “Rulers,” “men,” “women” – all felt it was their sweet privilege to give to the Lord, not with a narrow heart, but in such a princely fashion that they had “enough and too much.”

Then, as to their implicit obedience, we read, “According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them” (Ex. 39:42, 43).

The Lord gave very minute instructions concerning the entire work of the Tabernacle. Every pin, every socket, every loop, every tach, was accurately set forth. There was no room left for man’s expediency, reason, or common sense. Jehovah did not give a great outline and leave man to fill it up. He left no margin whatever for man’s regulations. “See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount” (Ex. 25:40 and 26:30; Heb. 8:5). This left no room for human device. If man had been allowed to make a single pin, that pin would, most assuredly, have been out of place in the judgment of God. We can see what man’s “graving tool” produces in Exodus 32. Thank God, it had no place in the Tabernacle. They did just what they were told, nothing more, and nothing less. This is a salutary lesson for the professing Church. There are many things in the history of Israel that we should earnestly seek to avoid, such as their impatient murmurings, legal vows, and idolatry. However, in devotedness and obedience we need to imitate them. May our devotedness be more whole hearted; our obedience more implicit. We may safely assert, that if all had not been done “according to the pattern showed in the mount,” we would not read, “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34, 35).

The Tabernacle was, in all respects, according to the divine pattern, and, therefore, it could be filled with divine glory. There is a volume of instruction in this. We are too prone to look on the Word of God as insufficient regarding the minute details connected with His worship and service. This is a great mistake, one which has proved to be a fruitful source of evil and error in the professing Church. The Word of God is amply sufficient for everything, whether it be personal salvation and walk, or the order and rule of the assembly. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).

This should settle the question once and for all. If the Word of God furnishes a man thoroughly unto “all good works,” it follows, as a necessary consequence, that whatever we do not find in its pages, cannot possibly be a good work. Further, we must always remember, that divine glory cannot connect itself with anything that is not according to divine pattern.

(Unless noted, King James Version translation used in this study)

Footnotes:
¹ Unger, Merrill F., Unger’s Bible Dictionary, “Tabernacle”, pgs 1059-1066, Moody Press, Chicago, 1960.
² The expression, “white and clean,” gives peculiar force and beauty to the type which the Holy Spirit has presented in the “fine twined linen.” Indeed, there could not be a more appropriate emblem of spotless manhood.
³ Exodus 26:4. In contemplating the structure of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, we observe the important place assigned to the “loops of blue.” Along with the “taches of gold,” the curtains were joined together by them, thus preserving the whole structure. A causal look might determine these loops and taches to be insignificant and unimportant. However, without them there would have been no unity. No matter how beautiful in and of themselves, the curtains would have hung apart from each other, causing the loss of one of the grand features of the manifestation. Viewing the tabernacle as a figure of Christ, we can easily trace the beauty and significance of the “loops of blue and taches of gold.” They typified that perfect unity and consistency in the character and ways of “the Man Christ Jesus” – the result of His heavenly grace and divine energy. In all the scenes and circumstances of the life of our blessed Lord Jesus, by the power of that which was heavenly and divine in Him, we see a perfect combination of each phase and feature. The curtains of the true Tabernacle are not only beautiful in and of themselves, but beautifully combined – exquisitely linked together by means of the “loops of blue and taches of gold,” discerned and appreciated only by those of us who, in some measure, understand the holy mysteries of the Sanctuary. What is true of the divine Living Word is equally true of the divine written Word. Spiritual students of Holy Scripture will readily discern the “loops of blue and taches of gold.” The Living Word is the divine embodiment of the written Word, and the written Word is the divine transcript of the Living Word. As a result, we can expect to see the same heavenly unity, the same divine consistency, the same rare and exquisite combination in both. While tracing the various illustrations of the loops and taches through the Word of God would certainly be pleasant and profitable, we here offer only an example or two, hopefully inspiring you to study the subject further. 1 Corinthians 16 offers a lovely and practical illustration. Verse 13 says, “Quit you like men, be strong.” Here we have a desirable feature of the Christian character – manly strength. But taken by itself, this could easily degenerate into a rough, rude, high-handed way of dealing with others, the opposite of what we find in Jesus Christ, our divine Exemplar. Therefore, the Spirit in the apostle forms a loop of blue; by means of a golden tach linking manly strength to another needed feature – love. “Let all your things be done with love.” What a precious combination – strength and love; love and strength. If we untie this heavenly loop we have either a high, haughty, inconsiderate style, or a soft, pliable, enfeebled mode of acting that will sacrifice anything and everything for peace and quietness. Next, consider that noble definition of pure religion given at the close of James 2, where the apostle uses the loop and tach to connect together the two phases of divine religion. “To visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction” is looped with unspotted separation from the world. In other words, active benevolence and personal holiness are inseparably linked together. Untie the loop and you are left with either a sort of benevolence that goes hand-in-hand with the most intense spirit of worldliness, or a rigid pharisaic separation without a single generous emotion. It is only the presence of that which is heavenly and divine that secures true unity and consistency of character. Let us never forget that true Christianity is simply Christ reproduced by the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian.
⁴ Matthew 1:20; Matthew 3:16, 17; Luke 4:18, 19; Acts 2:33; Acts 10:45, 46; Ephesians 4:8-13)
⁵ It is interesting to note the position of this most solemn and startling denunciation. It occurs at the close of a long epistle, in the progress of which the apostle had to rebuke some of the grossest practical evils and doctrinal errors. How solemn, therefore, how full of meaning the fact, that when he comes to pronounce his anathema, it is not hurled at those who had introduced those errors and evils, but at the man who loves not the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is this? Is it because the Spirit of God makes little of errors and evils? Certainly not; the entire epistle unfolds His thoughts regarding them. But truth is, when the heart is filled with love for the Lord Jesus Christ, there is an effectual safeguard against all manner of false doctrine and malpractice. If a man does not love Christ, there is no accounting for the notions he may adopt, or the course he may pursue, hence the form and position of the apostolic anathema.

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