Transcript
Years ago, my wife and I, and our children had the opportunity to visit a full size tabernacle in Arkansas. I’ve never forgotten it.
I had studied the tabernacle in my schooling, but there was just something special about seeing an example of one set up in person.
So many things hit me as I walked around this tabernacle and in it. I saw so many things that pointed to the Lord and His sacrifice for sin. I’d encourage you that if you ever get the opportunity to visit a full-size tabernacle to do this.
The tabernacle pictures Christ and the Cross in many ways. We’ll look at some of these things in this episode of Transformed by Grace.
Exodus 25:8-9: “And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”
The tabernacle was a tent that Israel erected so that God would have a dwelling place among man, and specifically the Israelites. In this we find a portrait of Christ, because He came to the earth to dwell among man, and specifically, the nation of Israel.
John 1:14 reads, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The “US” in the “dwelt among us” is the nation Israel.
When the tabernacle was completed in the days of Moses, the glory of the Lord filled the entire structure. Exodus 40:33,34 reads, “So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”
This also pictured the incarnation of Christ at His first coming. When Christ came from heaven and took on flesh, the glorious presence of Deity filled Him. He was fully God and fully man. The tabernacle pictured this.
In the earthy tabernacle of Christ’s human body, divine majesty and the glory of God filled Him, while veiled in flesh. As John 1:14 said, “and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.”
Moses was also taught to anoint the tabernacle and its furniture with oil according to Exodus 30:22-29. Under the Mosaic law, persons and things set apart for sacred purposes were anointed with the oil of holy ointment.
The title “Christ” in the Greek means “the anointed one.” And the title “Messiah” in the Hebrew means “anointed.”
In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings were “anointed” and set apart for their special service. Jesus Christ is all three: Prophet, Priest, and King.
The anointing of the tabernacle points to it being a picture of the Anointed One, the Messiah, the One who is Prophet, Priest and King: the Lord Jesus Christ.
The tabernacle was a trinity and thus pictures the Trinity of the Godhead, three in one. The tabernacle consisted of three parts: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The outer court and the Holy Place each had 3 things in them. The Holy of Holies had one thing, but in that one thing, there were 3 things contained in it.
The outer court measured approximately 150 feet long, by 75 feet wide. The outer court contained 3 things: the laver, the brazen altar, and in the center of the outer court was an enclosure. The enclosure had two compartments. This entire enclosure measured 45 feet by 15 feet. Its height was 15 feet.
The first compartment, the Holy Place was 30 feet by 15 feet. It contained 3 pieces: the Table of Shewbread, the Altar of Incense, and the Golden Lampstand.
The Holy of Holies was a perfect cube: 15 feet high, 15 feet long, 15 feet wide, a trinity of perfect measurements. The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant. Contained in the Ark were 3 things: the tables of the ten commandments, manna, and Aaron’s rod.
The new Jerusalem will also be a perfect cube when it descends to the earth one day at the beginning of the eternal state. It too will be the dwelling place of God on the earth, except that city will be quite a bit bigger: 1400 miles high, 1400 miles long, 1400 miles wide.
The description of the tabernacle in Exodus 25 begins with the Ark of the Covenant which dwelt in the Holy of Holies. Then it goes to table of showbread, the golden lampstand, and into the tabernacle as a whole. The way the tabernacle is described is demonstrating God’s approach to man, not man approaching God.
For us to be saved from our sins, it must be by God initiating and providing the way to Himself in His grace, mercy, and love. We cannot attain unto God’s righteous standard or approach Him in our sinfulness. We must come to God on His terms, not ours.
The way the tabernacle is described, beginning in the Holy of Holies, speaks of God initiating the provision for salvation, and pictures Christ coming from the presence of God in heaven to provide the way for mankind to be saved from our sins by His shed blood.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and provide the way by which we can approach God the Father and be able to dwell in His presence for eternity.
Exodus 27:16: “And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.”
One thing that struck me when I visited the full size model of the tabernacle was that as I walked around it there was only one way to get in. As I stood at the entrance, I immediately felt the weight of that truth, that there is only one way to God.
The entrance into the outer court of the tabernacle pictures Christ. Christ is the Door.
The Lord told Israel in John 10:9: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” And in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
These verses came to my mind as I stood looking at the entrance of the tabernacle. Christ is the one way, the only way to God, that no man goes to the Father, but by Him.
The gate, or one entrance into the tabernacle, was a hanging or curtain of fine twined linen made up of four colors: blue, purple, scarlet, and white.
Blue is the color of heaven: it speaks of Christ’s heavenly character, that He is from heaven. As the Lord said in John 6:38: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” Blue represents the nature and origin of Christ.
Purple is the color of royalty. This color pointed to Christ as Israel’s King. As Nathanael said to the Lord in John 1:49: “Nathanael answered and saith unto Him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”
Scarlet is the color of blood. This color in the hanging at the one entrance looked ahead to Christ as the sacrifice for sin. And because of His shed blood at the Cross, as Isaiah 1:18 says, “though your sins be as SCARLET, they shall be as white as snow.” His blood washes away our sins. Which leads us to our next color.
White is the color of perfection and purity. This color in the entrance spoke of Christ’s perfect character. He “knew no sin” 2 Corinthians 5:21 says. He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” Hebrews 4:15 teaches.
The fine twined linen in this curtain and in other parts of the tabernacle reminds us of the righteousness of Christ. Speaking of the bride of Christ in Revelation 19:8, it says, “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in FINE LINEN, clean and white: for the FINE LINEN is the righteousness of saints.”
The four colors of blue, purple, scarlet, and white point to Christ, who is the entrance into eternal life and the presence of God. Christ is the only means of access to God.
Exodus 27:1-2: “And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.”
The things that hit me in the heart as I stood at the entrance of the tabernacle, was first noting that there is only one way into the tabernacle which pictured Christ, but also that there was this large brazen altar standing there right at the entrance.
Immediately I knew that this was teaching that there is no approaching the presence of God in the Holy of Holies without first having your sins dealt with.
The layout of the tabernacle teaches about mankind’s approach to God. Man could not and did not directly approach God by immediately coming to the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies. There were two extremes in the tabernacle.
The ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies and the altar of sacrifice at the entrance of the outer court. God met man first at the altar of sacrifice in the outer court.
Because of God’s justice and holiness, no sinner could be admitted directly into His presence. There first had to be a sacrifice for sin.
The brazen altar is where the sacrifices for sin were made by the shedding of blood and by fire. The altar of sacrifice stood at the entrance of man’s approach to God. Man had no access to God except by the shed blood of an acceptable sacrifice for sin.
That bloodstained, fiery altar where the blood sacrifices were offered was just within the entrance of the outer court. It was unavoidable and unmistakable, as I learned seeing one in that tabernacle model. It was the first piece of furniture the sinner encountered.
That altar pictures Christ and His Cross. Like the brazen altar, the Cross is where God meets with man for the payment of our sins. For there to be any approach to God, sin must first be paid for, a Substitute must be sacrificed, an offering must be made for sin.
The alter was the place of substitutionary sacrifices, the place of death. At the altar, the blood was poured out, and the body of the sacrifice was consumed by fire. The altar stood at the entrance, because this was the door to fellowship with God.
No approach to God was possible except by the shedding of blood. As Hebrews 9:22 teaches “without shedding of blood [there] is no remission” of sins.
The tabernacle layout teaches that the approach to God comes through the shed blood of an acceptable sacrifice for sin. And this of course pictures Christ and His shed blood and perfect sacrifice for sin.
All those lambs slain on the bronze altar foreshadowed the death of the Lamb of God on the Cross. He faced the fire of God’s wrath against our sins at the Cross. He shed His blood, gave Himself fully as a sacrifice for sin.
By Christ’s perfect payment for sin at the Cross, we are able to approach God and dwell in His presence forever.
As Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
The brazen altar also had four horns, one on each corner. Scripture talks about the four quarters of the earth (Rev. 20:8), or the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1).
As there were four horns pointing in all directions, this was a visual that all were invited to approach God under the law by bringing a sacrifice to the altar.
And as the altar pictures the Cross, it reminds us of John the Baptist’s prophecy: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Salvation was available to all under Israel’s program and by the Cross.
Today under grace, we learn through the Apostle Paul that Christ gave Himself a ransom for all and God’s salvation is available to all by grace through faith in Christ, just trusting that He died for your sins was buried and rose again. As ambassadors for Christ we are to take the gospel of the grace of God to the entire world.
Theodore Epp wrote this, “As you think of the gospel’s extending in all directions, have you ever considered the fact that the gospel is the Good News and that [the word] ‘news’ contains the letters of all four directions? [North, East, West, South].
“We must not restrict the gospel to any area but must take it in every direction to a world that desperately needs to hear about Jesus Christ.”
In the Old Testament, the horns on the altar also provided a place that a person fled to and clung to when they were in fear for their life.
When Adonijah feared that Solomon would kill him, 1 Kings 1:50 says, “And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.” Joab, the great general, later did the same thing (2:28).
The altar was a place for a person to run to in order to obtain mercy. It’s the same with the Cross. The Cross of Christ is a place to run to and cling to so that we will be spared eternal death in hell by the mercy of God.
Exodus 30:17-18: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.”
In the outer court, between the Brazen Altar and the enclosure of the Holy Place and Holy of Holies was the bronze laver.
It was necessary that one be ceremonially cleansed so the Levites could serve as priests. The bronze laver was where the priest would wash and cleanse themselves, especially after having offered the sacrifices.
No priest could enter the Holy Place until his hands and feet were cleansed. If a priest tried, he would be struck dead. So the laver was provided so he would not be struck dead.
The laver continues to show the need for cleansing and purifying as God is approached. God in His holiness cannot have the filth of sin in His presence. We must be righteous and pure and cleansed in order to dwell in His presence.
The altar was for the shedding of blood. The laver was for the cleansing with water. Blood and water remind us of Christ’s death at the Cross.
John 19:33-34: “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”
As blood and water were necessary for acceptance with God under the old covenant, so blood and water also were a part of the establishment of the new covenant at the Cross.
Stepping inside the Holy Place, which was the first section of the enclosure in the outer court, to the right would have been the table of showbread, straight ahead was the altar of incense, and to the left was the golden candlestick.
All three of these pieces of furniture speak of Christ. The Table of Showbread pictures Christ who is the Bread of Life,
As the Lord said in John 6:33,35, “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world…And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
He is the Bread of life who has life in Himself and who gives His life to others. He is the Bread that provides eternal life. Only through the “Bread of life” do we find spiritual life.
We cannot live physically in this life without bread and we cannot live spiritually without the Bread of Life. He is the Bread of Life, the giver of eternal life. And from Him we receive spiritual nourishment.
The table of showbread was made from acacia wood and was overlaid with pure gold. The combination of these two remind us that Christ, the Bread of Life, was both God and man. The wood speaks to His humility in His humanity, the gold to His glory in His Deity.
The bread on the table was “unleavened bread.” “Leaven” in the Bible is a picture of sin. Being unleavened reminds us of there being no sin in God’s presence, and also the sinlessness of Christ, the Bread of Life.
The altar of incense occupied the central position in the Holy Place, immediately in front of the veil before the Holy of Holies.
It too was made from acacia wood and was overlaid with pure gold, reminding us that Jesus Christ, is both God and man.
The brazen altar located just inside the entrance speaks of Christ who died on the Cross as the all-sufficient payment for sin. The golden altar of incense located in the middle of the Holy Place near the veil, speaks of the risen Christ, who lives to intercede for His own.
Hebrews 7:25 teaches Israel: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
Romans 8:34 teaches the Body of Christ: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
The altar of incense was a representation of Christ, the Intercessor before God the Father, the God-man and the intercessor between God and man.
Israel was taught that the altar was for the purpose of burning “a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations” (Ex. 30:8). The incense was a perpetual sweet fragrance that was well-pleasing to God. Thus, the intercession of Christ for His own is a demonstration that God is always well-pleased with us in Christ.
The altar of incense had horns on it like the brazen altar. Horns in Scripture speak of power and authority. And so by the power and authority of the living Christ He makes intercession for God’s people perpetually.
The third element in the Holy of Holies was the Golden Candlestick which foreshadowed Christ who is the Light of the World. The golden candlestick was the only light in the enclosure. There was no natural light. This pictures Christ who is the only light, the only One who reveals and illumines the way to God.
He is not “a light,” or another light among many lights, He is “the light,” the only Light, the only way for the whole world.
John 1:9 says of the Lord that He “was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” God’s salvation, as it’s always been under prophecy and under grace, is available to all, by coming to God in God’s way. Christ is the “Light of the world.”
There was a veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies and the dwelling place of God, with cherubim on the veil. The cherubim guarded God’s holiness and in effect were on that veil to say, “Stay out!” The veil was a barrier to the Holy of holies.
Only the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement could go behind the veil into the Holy of holies, where the ark of the covenant was, and he didn’t go without blood, as once in there he sprinkled blood on behalf of the nation for their sins on the mercy seat. We’ll talk about that veil in future messages about the Cross, but it too pictured Christ.
Within the Holy of Holies, was the Ark of the Covenant, which also typified Christ. The ark was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, again reminding us that He is both God & man. Within the Ark of the Covenant was the unbroken tablets of stone of the 10 commandments. This speaks to the perfection of Christ and God’s righteous standard within Him. He perfectly kept the Law, never broke them, He was without sin.
Within the Ark was also a golden pot of manna. This was a sign which speaks of Christ as being the Bread of God, the bread of life, having the life of God within Him.
By the manna God sustained the lives of the Israelites in the wilderness and faithfully cared for His own. So that manna reminds us that Christ sustains our lives spiritually and eternally and that He is the faithful God.
Then there was Aaron’s rod that budded. A dead stick that supernaturally came to life again. It tells us that Christ is the resurrection and the Life.
The golden poles by which it was carried speaks to the ever living, ever present God who is with us wherever we go, who will never ever leave us or forsake us.
When the people of Israel set up the tabernacle, it was always positioned in the center of the camp of the 12 tribes of Israel with them facing it.
This was a picture for Israel that God was always to be at the center of their lives. And as we know now that that tabernacle pictures Christ, the principle is that God wants Christ to be at the center of our lives.
And when you look at the layout of the tabernacle, you can make a straight line from the Holy of Holies and the ark of the covenant at the top to the laver of water then to the brazen altar at the bottom.
Then you make a horizontal line across the veil and where the furniture of the golden candlestick, the altar of incense and the table of showbread stood, you have the shape of a cross in the tabernacle.
And at the bottom of the cross in the tabernacle was where the brazen altar stood and where the blood was shed and it dripped down, just as the precious blood of Christ did at the Cross when He purchased our redemption.
When you look at the Cross in prophecy, you definitely see the Cross in the tabernacle.