(5) Tabernacle part 1

WEEK 5   THE TABERNACLE; PAST AND FUTURE

“It is the glory of god to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” (Proverbs 25:2)

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

“..Have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:9)

“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.” (Hebrews 9:24)

“The Word became flesh and tabernacled (RSV) with us. We have seen His glory…” (John 1:14a)

It needs to be understood that up to this point, God had appeared to men in various forms, spoken to men and guided them and made covenant with them, but he had not DWELT with man.God walked with Adam in the garden, visited Noah, walked with Enoch and made covenant with Abraham, but now he revealed his true desire, to have a people called unto Himself and to dwell with them and be THEIR God!

THE TABERNACLE

The Bible presents the Tabernacle as a major focus of Scripture. Two chapters tells us the story of the Creation, while 50 Chapters speak of the Tabernacle!

Hebrews 8:5 says; “..a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what IS IN HEAVEN..”

Hebrews 9:23 says:” It was necessary, then for the copies of the HEAVENLY THINGS to be purified with these sacrifices…”

And, in verse 24:”…a man made sanctuary that was only a copy of the TRUE ONE…”

God told Moses in Exodus 25: 8-9; “Then have them make Me a sanctuary for Me, and I will DWELL among them. Make this tabernacle and all it’s furnishings EXACTLY LIKE THE PATTERN I WILL SHOW YOU.”

Can you imagine what the Hebrews felt when God told Moses He wanted to dwell among them?  This God who came down on Sinai in smoke, darkness and fire, and told them not to approach the Mountain lest they die, the God who parted the Red Sea, brought plagues upon Egypt and destroyed their army in the Red Sea, wanted to MOVE INTO THEIR CAMP!

Moses did exactly as God told him, with the help of two men whom God gifted with gifts of the Holy Spirit, one from the tribe of Judah-the royal tribe (Heb 7:14) and the FIRST tribe in order in the march (Num 10:14) and one from the tribe of Dan, the LAST in the march; (Revelation 1:17) as well as women who God enabled by the Spirit to prepare and construct the Tabernacle from materials that were FREE WILL gifts from the people for the construction.

So to begin our study of the Tabernacle two things are immediately seen:

1. God gave the design of realities that already existed in Heaven.

2. It could not have been built without the Holy Spirit and the free will offerings.

We remember here the Covenant cut between The Father and Jesus before the world began, (1 Peter 1:20) “..He was chosen before the creation of the world..” (Revelation 13:8) “..the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

Hebrews chapter 10: 1-7 tells us that all the priestly duties and worship in the earthly Tabernacle were fulfilled in Jesus, quoting Psalms 40:6-8

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but A BODY YOU PREPARED FOR ME; with burnt offerings and sin  offerings you were not pleased; then  I said, ‘HERE AM I- IT IS WRITTEN ABOUT ME IN THE SCROLL-I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD’”.

A Tabernacle WAS prepared in Heaven, with a FREE WILL OFFERING of Jesus, His earthly body and life.

John Chapter 1 tells us that ; (1:14) “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us..”  the Greek word for dwelt among us is lit. translated TABERNACLED! Remember; God’s Glory dwelt inside the Tabernacle! (Note Jn 1: 14b)

The true Tabernacle walked among us, empowered by the Holy Spirit and revealed the glory of the Lord to mankind.

Let’s examine the “concealed matters,” the Types that are the Glory of God, so that we may as his kings and priests see and share His Glory. (Proverbs 25:2)

As we look at the Tabernacle of Moses we will see the truth of Jesus painted on every scrap of cloth, wood, gold or silver, even every measurement used in construction.

Remember: The Tabernacle was the only place where the Hebrews could bring their sacrifices for sin and offerings of praise. They could ONLY do this at the Tabernacle. THEY HAD TO APPROACH GOD THIS ONE AND ONLY WAY, THROUGH THE TABERNACLE AND THE BLOOD!

But how could a holy God dwell with sinful men? By the keeping of the Law? NO! The Book of the Law would now be inside the Ark of the Covenant, inside the Holy of Holies, inaccessible to man, except for the High Priest once a year and then only with blood.

THE TABERNACLE AND SALVATION

The earthly tabernacle is a picture of the great Blood Covenant between God and man through Jesus!

It was placed at the center of the Hebrew camp surrounded by the tribes, in an order commanded by God (Numbers 2:1-34) Judah and his brethren to the East with the standard of a Lion, to the North Dan and his brethren with the standard of an Eagle, to the West Ephraim and his brethren with the standard of an Ox, to the South Reuben and his brethren with the standard of a Human Head. (see the prophecies of Ezekiel 1:10 and Revelation 4:6-7; the four living creatures before Gods’ throne). A thousand yards had to separate the tribes from the Tabernacle, with the Levites camped between the tribes and the Tabernacle; as priests, they stood between Gods’ fire and the people.

Look at the order of instructions in the Tabernacles’ construction given to Moses: (Ex. 25 and 40).

God began with the Ark and worked OUTWARD toward the Court and the Gate. That is God’s plan! The order is from God to man, GOD sent HIS SON from heaven to earth.

The order of worship for the Hebrews was from the Gate or Door of the Court through the Altar then the Laver, then into the Holy Place with its’ Menorah, Showbread and Incense, till we reach the Holy of Holies and God’s Shekinah Glory above the blood stained mercy seat.

If you entered the Door of the Tabernacle you saw, looking from the east toward the west, in a straight line, the Altar, Laver and then the Tabernacle itself.

THERE WAS NO OTHER PATH! From blood to water to communion. But the blood must come first!

Now we will enter the Court of the Tabernacle and follow the Blood covenant Trail to God:

The Court

The first thing that we see was that the Tabernacle’s outer court was enclosed by a curtain fence. There was only one way into the court^[1] and this was through an entrance on the east side.The Door is on the East facing the rising sun and the encampment of the tribe of Judah, the Tribe of the Messiah, the Lion of Judah.

 On the outside we have no part of God, step through the door and you are in His Sanctuary. There is ONLY ONE DOOR!

The Door was twice as wide as it was high..showing that ANY WHO WILL MAY ENTER IN.

This entrance itself is a picture of the Lord Jesus. He is the door. He is the gate. He is the only entrance into salvation. As Jesus said -

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9)

Now put yourself in the place of someone approaching this entrance... As you approached this gate you would have first noticed the colour on the curtain... Blue, purple and scarlet thread made up the fine linen curtain entrance. These colours, would have reminded you that you were entering into something that was heavenly and involved royalty. The scarlet would have reminded you that this was also a place of sacrifice and blood. As you thought about the fine linen you would have been reminded that this was a place of complete righteousness. By about now you would be holding your breath somewhat and you have only just approached the gate!^[2] But as you go through that gate, a solemn site would confront you for directly in your way would be the brazen altar with its sacrifices and perpetual fire. 

Looking around we see that the Court was a open place 150 feet long 75 feet wide. It was surrounded by curtains of fine twisted linen supported by 56 pillars. Each pillar stood in a socket of brass and was crowned by silver (judgment covered by redemption), hooks of silver held the curtains and rods of silver connected the pillars (the Court was held together by redemption). An unbroken line of silver and fine linen went around the Court.(Redemption and the clothing of Righteousness)

Looking west, directly in front of us is:

THE BRAZEN ALTAR

The altar that lay directly in front of you was a solemn object. The altar had four horns in each of the corners where the sacrificial animal was bound and killed by the priests. ( Representing the four corners of the earth, showing the universal offer of forgiveness!) These sacrifices went on daily and the command from God was that the fire for this altar was to never go out. Something else stood out as you looked around... everything was made from bronze. The altar itself was made from acacia wood but was completely covered in bronze. All of the utensils were bronze... even the wooden poles used to carry the altar were covered in bronze. All in all, you would have realized that this entire scene spoke of judgment. The fire that never went out... the continual sacrifices and shedding of blood... the use of bronze on everything... it spoke volumes of God’s hatred of sin. It spoke volumes of the continual judgment of God upon that sin.   

This altar of course, had its fulfillment at the cross. This altar was a picture of the sacrifice for sin that Jesus would accomplish at Calvary. But unlike the continual sacrifices of unwilling animals that occurred at the brazen altar in the tabernacle, Jesus was a willing sacrifice that would end all sacrifices. At the brazen altar the animals had to be tied down to the four horns for they didn’t want to die. Yet Jesus went willingly to the cross saying ‘greater love has no man that he lays down his life for his friends.’ And what’s more, the fires of God’s judgment burnt out in Christ! He was the final sacrifice taking all the judgment of God. Any who are now ‘in Christ’ are forever safe.^[3] That is not to say that the fire of God’s judgment no longer exists at all. Surely it does and for those that reject God’s offer of salvation in Christ then for them the text will be fulfilled that ‘it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God’. ‘Vengeance is mine says the Lord and I will repay.’

DEUTERONOMY 4:24 “For the LORD your GOD is a consuming fire..”

Here we must stop and offer our sacrifices. It is called the Altar of Burnt Offering (Exodus 30:28) Without this Altar you cannot approach God at all. It is seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high.

Here, before the Altar we stand, a sinner, and looking west we see the dwelling of God, between us is the blood and water.

SIN OFFERING (Lev 4:1-5,13; 6:24-30; Romans 8:3)

Here we take our SIN offering,(Lev 4:1-5, 13: 6:24-30) after placing our hands on its’ head and, literally, in Hebrew “lean heavily”, (IDENTIFYING YOURSELF WITH THE SACRIFICE) on the animal, confessing our sins and having faith that God will accept the Blood Covenant offering we sacrifice on the Altar. It is tied to the horns of the altar and killed, then burned completely.

Note that in scripture the horn is often used as a symbol of power, the horns secured the sacrifice, then were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice (Exodus 29:12) 

(Many in Israel when they faced death ran to the altar and grabbed hold of the horn for refuge. A good example of this is in 1 Kings 1: 50-53.  God is called the “horn of salvation” in Psalm 18:2, and this is also a name for the Messiah.)

The smoke of the consumed offering is called a “sweet smelling savor” (Lev 1:9) to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:2; “..Just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Jesus was bound to an Altar for our sins and His blood sprinkled it and took our place so we may not face the fire that never goes out that consumes sin.

Jesus was the “SIN OFFERING”(Romans 8:3) that had to be without spot or blemish. The sin offering was called “most holy” (Lev 6:25) The sin offering was killed then carried outside the camp and burned in a fire that also never went out just for this purpose.

Jesus died “outside the camp” and was consumed in our place.(Hebrews 13:11-13 “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the discgrace He bore.”

 He was made sin and a curse for us! (1 Corth 5:21, Gal 3:13)

Now we have taken the first step toward our God and have shed the blood of our sacrifice IN FAITH, LEANING ON IT FOR OUR FORGIVENESS. (COLOSSIANS 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. HE FORGAVE US ALL OUR SINS, HAVING CANCELED THE WRITTEN CODE, WITH ITS’ REGULATIONS, THAT WAS AGAINST US AND THAT STOOD OPPOSED TO US; HE TOOK IT AWAY, NAILING IT TO THE CROSS.”

There are other offerings that speak of our walk with God after the SIN OFFERING.

TREPASS OFFERING: (Lev 5:14-19; 7:1-10)

Whereas the SIN OFFERING deals with your position before God the TRESPASS OFFERING addresses your WALK WITH GOD. You offer it for the sins you have committed, rather than for sin itself. Because you are a sinner, you will sin. When you do, you bring a TRESPASS OFFERING.

You offer it by laying hands on it HEAVILY and confessing the sin and repent for it, believing the sacrifice to be an atonement for you.

Confessing the sin removes the burden of guilt, it brings continual forgiveness so God can be approached with a clear conscience.

After offering the sacrifice to God the priest EATS (takes into himself the offering that represents your sin) the parts not offered to God. You do not share in the meal because it is for the sins you have committed. (Just as Jesus takes the sins upon Himself and we then have no part of them.) Hebrews 10:14, 17 “BECAUSE BY ONE SACRIFICE HE HAS MADE PERFECT FOREVER THOSE WHO ARE BEING MADE HOLY…THE HE ADDS ‘THEIR SINS AND LAWLESS ACTS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE’”.

BURNT OFFERING (LEV 1:3-17; 6:8-13)

Now that you have sought communion with God, you want to offer yourself to Him. (Remember, the Sin offering must come first!) This is a voluntary offering, not demanded by the Law. You present yourself of your own free will. The offering needs to be spotless, and a domesticated pet you have raised yourself. If a lamb, it is offered on the NORTH (JESUS WAS KILLED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF JERUSALEM) side of the Altar. It is skinned to expose all the inward parts,after checking for internal defects the animal is burnt entirely on the Altar, except for the skin.

(Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me O God, and know my heart: test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive thing in me, and lead me in the Way everlasting.”

As Jesus offered Himself with no reservation, this is an expression of your readiness to present your entire being to God. (Romans 12:1)

Was the sacrifice accepted? Lev. 9:24 tells us that “THERE CAME A FIRE FROM BEFORE THE LORD AND CONSUMED UPON THE ALTAR THE BURNT OFFERING AND THE FAT.”

The burning here of the BURNT OFFERING and the burning of the SIN OFFERING outside the camp are very different. Concerning the Burnt Offering, it is the holy altar fire feeding on a victim well-pleasing to God; Concerning the Sin Offering, it is the judgment fire devouring a victim accursed because of sin. Indeed a different Hebrew word is used for the BURNT OFFERING, it lit. means “to burn as incense”. In the case of the SIN OFFERING the word lit. means to “burn up, consume in a devouring fire”. The fate of all who have not “LEANED HEAVILY” on the SIN OFFERING, Jesus the Messiah!

PEACE OFFERING

All the other offerings have been leading to the Peace Offering. You get a portion of this offering. It symbolizes the completion of your union with God. Now that that has been done you celebrate with the Peace Offering. THIS IS THE COMMUNION OFFERING.

After offering the animal and the priest catches the blood and sprinkles it all around and on the Altar, he then takes the fat and offers it on the altar to God.

With the help of the priest you now offer to God the BREAST AND RIGHT SHOULDER of your sacrifice, representing your HEART AND STRENGTH. The priest places his hand under yours and together you move the sacrifice up, down, right and left in a waving form of a 7, (symbolizing the perfection and completion). You with your friends, now eat the sacrifice along with loves of leavened bread, unleavened cakes and wafers mixed with oil, in the Court. It is a great celebration. God returned part of the offering to you, keeping the fat for himself, (the inward worth of the Messiah), so you are now symbolically feeding on His divine nature. You are becoming one with God. You have seen all the sacrifices, participated IN FAITH and now stand in complete communion with GOD.

The ALTAR, the place of offering toward GOD, the TABLE the place of GODs’ ministering to His people in PEACE.

Now we move on, closer to God’s Glory.

THE BRAZEN LAVER  EXODUS 30:17-21; 38:8

The next thing we see is the Brazen Laver. The Laver was a basin four to five feet high made from the polished brass mirrors of the Hebrew women. It was filled with water.

Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests they washed their entire bodies in the Laver. (Ex 29:4; Lev 8:6). Thereafter they only had to wash their hands and feet before entering the Tabernacle. (Exodus 30:20)

The High Priest must be THIRTY YEARS OF AGE to come into his priesthood.(Numbers 4:30) We see here Jesus, who at the age of THIRTY came to John to be immersed, “fulfilling all righteousness..”(Matt 3:15)

John was baptizing believers in the Jordan River in an area called Bethabara (John 1:28). This was the location where, fifteen hundred years earlier, Joshua had crossed the Jordan leading the Hebrews into the promised land!

To transfer the High Priesthood from father to son there was a three fold procedure:

The son had to submerge in water for purification.(Lev. 8:6)

The holy oil had to poured on the head of the son.(Lev. 8:12)

The father had to declare that this was his son.(Num. 20:28)

This procedure occurred when Jesus waded into the Jordan where Joshua had crossed. Joshua’s name in Hebrew is Yeshua, as is Jesus’ Name. When Joshua crossed the Jordan, the waters were rolled back all the way to a city called ADAM; just as the redemptive work of Jesus removed mankind’s sins all the way to ADAM.

When entered the water He was recognized by John, a son of a Jewish priest of the line of Aaron. Jesus was not being baptized for His sins, as He was sinless. Jesus was thirty years of age and came into His Priesthood! Little did Israel know that the Priesthood was now transferred to one man- Jesus!

Jesus was baptized in water, symbolic of preparation for His priesthood.

The Spirit descended upon Him, this was the anointing (Matthew 3:16)

The Father spoke from Heaven declaring Jesus was His son (Matthew 3:17)

 JESUS IS OUR HIGH PRIEST!

(HEBREWS 8:1-2) “The point of what we are saying is this; We do have such a High Priest Who sat down at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in Heaven, and who serves in the Sanctuary, the true Tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.”

(HEBREWS 9:11) “When Jesus came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater aand more perfect Tabernacle that iis not man made…”

 Back to the LAVER, aS the priest ministered during the day he would get dirty, so he would come to the Laver and wash. As he looked into the Laver he would see himself in the polished brass. It showed him how dirty he was, but also provided the water for his cleansing. THE LAVER NOT ONLY SHOWED HIM HE WAS DIRTY; IT ALSO CLEANSED HIM!

YOU CANNOT ENTER THE TABERNACLE UNLESS YOU HAVE A BLOOD SACRIFICE AND BE WASHED CLEAN IN THE LAVER! YOU HAVE TO COME TO GOD BY BLOOD AND WATER!(HEBREWS 10:22 :LET US DRAW NEAR TO GOD WITH A SINCERE HEART IN FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH, HAVING OUR HEARTS SPRINKLED TO CLEANSE US FROM A GUILTY CONSCIENCE AND HAVING OUR BODIES WASHED WITH PURE WATER.”

1 JOHN 5: 6 “THIS IS THE ONE WHO CAME BY WATER AND BLOOD-JESUS CHRIST.”

EPHESIANS 5:25-26 “HE LOVED THE CHURCH, AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR IT; THAT HE MIGHT SANCTIFY IT AND CLEANSE IT WITH THE WASHING OF WATER BY THE WORD’”

As we walk in this world, we get dirty. Remember Jesus washing the disciples feet ? (John 13:1-11) Peter first refused, but when Jesus told him he had to or have no part in Jesus, Peter wanted to be washed all over, but Jesus said “A person who has had a bath needs only to was his feet, his whole body is clean” (vs. 10)

Contact with the world contaminates us so we need to periodically look in the mirror and wash away the dirt if reveals. If we will not do this, we will fulfill JAMES 1:23-25,, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who LOOKS AT HIS FACE IN A MIRROR AND, AFTER LOOKING AT HIMSELF GOES AWAY AND IMMEDIATELY FORGETS WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE.”

If we look in the mirror of the word, the LAVER of the word, do not cleanse ourselves but walk away, we will forget that we are sinners and not be cleansed!

Jesus wants to wash us by the water of the Word, but like the priests we are, we must look in the Laver and wash ourselves with the Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to cleanse us. This is our daily SANCTIFICATION!

If we do not we cannot continue on to the Holy Place.

YOU SEE THE OUTER COURT IS A PICTURE OF SALVATION, ONE DOOR, ONE SACRIFICE FOR ALL OUR NEEDS, ONE WAY OF CLEANSING OUR WALK.

Now, we enter the Holy Place, freely, because of our BLOOD COVENANT partner.