Shadows of Good Things

CHAPTER III

THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE

(Exodus 25—27, 30, 35—38, 40)

The Sanctuary
( Exod. 26 :1 37; 36: 8 38 ) cont.

something he does not possess. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35). They "were of one heart and of one soul." (Acts 4:32). "There is one body." (Eph. 4:4). It is also the basis of the true organization and government of God's church. During the long ages of apostasy this unity of Christians by the rule of the indwelling Spirit was practically lost, but the time has come when devout hearts everywhere are seeking for that oneness which characterized the early church, and Christian unity, the oneness in the body of Christ, is again becoming a practical reality.

  But let us again notice that unity of the faith symbolized by the four exterior golden bars. An invisible, interior unity is maintained by the inner bar, but the other bars are needed for outward unity. This is to result from the labors of the various classes of ministers mentioned in Eph. 4: :11. By their faithful preaching of the Word of God, their hearers will attain to this unity. Probably we are not to understand an absolute unity of comprehension of the details of religious truth or the interpretation of every portion of Scripture, but rather a unity of comprehension of those fundamental and practical truths that are necessary to the perfecting in Christian experience and to the bringing to the "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." What we know we know alike.

  Typical Meaning of the Silver Sockets.—The Scriptures speak quite clearly concerning the meaning of the silver sockets. In Exodus 38:25 28 we are told that these were made from the silver half shekels which the men twenty years old and upward gave when they were numbered, as a ransom for their souls that they be not stricken with plague. In chap. 30:11 16 it is called "atonement money." Each man must give this exact amount, which was equal to about sixty two cents. The rich must not give more nor the poor less, signifying that God, not men, must determine the necessary atonement for sin. God's church, his redeemed people, rest on the atonement of Christ. His life's blood is the ransom price of every member of God's spiritual house, who were represented by the boards that [41] rested upon the costly silver sockets of atonement money.

  Probably the apostle had this very atonement silver in mind when he wrote, "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18,19 19).

  The Curtains.—Four coverings were placed over the framework of boards. An inner covering of ten magnificent curtains four by twenty eight cubits, of fine l i n e n (with cherubim in the royal colors blue, purple, and scarlet inworked), and fastened together at the sides, covered the walls and ceiling inside. Over this and covering the frame work outside were eleven curtains of goats' hair, four by thirty cubits, and fastened together at the sides. The length of one of these curtains was exactly enough to reach across the top and down each side of the tabernacle outside. The inside curtains seem to have been hung cross wise of the tabernacle in the same manner. Over the curtains of goats' hair was spread a covering of rams' skins dyed red, and over this one of badger's skins, or, as the Revised translates it, of seals' skins.

  Typical Meaning of the Curtains. —These beautiful curtains of fine white linen inwrought with heavenly figures in kingly colors of blue, purple, and scarlet doubtless contain a lesson for us in the "true tabernacle." This fine white linen was a covering for the gold covered boards, which gold symbolized the glory of the Lord. This clothing for the boards was probably in the Revelator's mind when he said of the church, "To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." (Rev. 19:8). Divine righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, is the covering of every member in God's church. The royal colors blue, purple, and scarlet seem to signify the exalted honor which is the portion of those in God's church. These are a "royal priesthood" (1 Pet. 2:9). and, as they exclaim in Revelation 5:9, 10, "Thou . . . hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." "And hath made us kings and priests unto God" (Rev. 1:6). "They . . . reign in life" (Rom. 5:17). The cherubs or angelic [42] figures are characteristic of God's presence throughout the Bible. They appear in Isaiah's vision (Isa. 6:2), and the golden cherubim were on the mercy seat nearest to God's presence. On the curtains and the veil they doubtless signify the heavenliness of the condition of those in God's house today. God's people now "sit together in heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6). They have come "to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born." (Heb. 12:22, 23).

  The Two Veils and Two Rooms.—At the entrance of the tabernacle was a hanging of blue, purple, and scarlet of fine linen, suspended upon five pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold and set in sockets of brass Twenty cubits beyond this was the second veil of fine linen, with figures of cherubim in the same gorgeous colors as those on the curtains. The veil hung upon four gold plated pillars of shittim wood set in sockets of silver.

  Typical Meaning of the Two Rooms.—No feature of the tabernacle is more prominent than the two divisions of it—the holy and the most holy place. This twofold aspect is seen, not only in the two rooms, but also in the first and second veil admitting to them respectively; in the two altars, the brazen altar before the first veil and the golden altar before the second veil; and in the two applications of blood, the first on the brazen altar and the second on the golden altar. Something of very fundamental importance must be foreshadowed by this oft repeated double aspect in type.

  Some interpreters have understood this second room to represent heaven. They get this idea from the statement in Heb. 9:24, where Christ is said to have entered, not into the holy places in the literal tabernacle, "but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us." It should be noted, however, in interpreting this verse, that the analogy is not being drawn here between places merely, but especially between the service of the high priest's entering into God's presence in that ancient house to intercede for the people and Jesus' entering into God's presence in heaven to make intercession for sinners. The [43] presence of God is the essential thing, the place is merely incidental. For all others than the high priest, "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing." (Heb. 9: 8). Even he could enter only on the day of atonement, once each year, in the capacity of intercessor for the people. Therefore his intercession there was typical of Christ's intercession before God in heaven. But as a type of Christian experience, or in relation to the common priests, it represents a state of grace that may be obtained in this life, according to Heb. 10:19. A second reason why the holiest place is not a proper type of heaven is that a literal place can not be a type of a literal place even though that place be heaven. The laws of symbols forbid this. A place more appropriately typifies a spiritual state. A third reason is that in this twenty fourth verse of Hebrews nine the holiest place is not mentioned, but the "holy places," including the entire house, both the holy and the holiest place. But we have already fully proved that the tabernacle was typical of the church, the house of God, "whose house are we." (Heb. 3:6). (See also Heb. 8:2; 9:11; 1 Cor. 12:27; 1 Tim. 3:15). A fourth and very positive reason is that in Heb. 10:19 22. "Brethren" are urged to enter the holiest, which would be meaningless if used of heaven, which is not entered voluntarily—we can only will to be ready, and we already are prepared when we are "brethren."

  But what is the antitypical inner room? Is there such a thing in the process of coming to God as two distinct degrees of holiness ? Do some of those in God's church possess a distinctly superior degree of holiness? Is there an experience in divine grace that is obtained by an application of the blood as at the golden altar subsequent to the experience obtained at the brazen altar and at the laver, which admits into the first room?

  According to both the Bible and the experience of multitudes of the most spiritual Christians, these questions must be answered in the affirmative. The first room typified the regenerated state of believers, and the second room [44]

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