If you had suddenly come across the children of Israel in the desert wilderness, you would have seen a sprawling camp of over two million people, probably not unlike the refugee camps in Rwanda, though perhaps more orderly.
The tents were probably black and brown, set in contrast with the sandy and rocky colours of the desert. In the centre of their camp, you would see the white linen curtains of the tabernacle’s outer court, approximately 46 metres long, 150 feet, 23 metres wide, 75 feet, and 2.3 metres tall, 7.5 feet, Exodus 27:9-15 / Exodus 38:9-17.
Meyer, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The court preserved the Tabernacle from accidental or intentional profanation, and it gave the priests a certain measure of privacy for the prosecution of their duties. Its presence was a perpetual reminder that man should pause and consider, before he rushes into the presence of the Most High, Ecclesiastes 5:2.’
It was so noticeable against the surrounding rather drab colours of the camp and wilderness. It was impossible to see inside the tabernacle from the camp outside; the tall, white, fine twined linen curtains, Exodus 27:16 / Exodus 38:18, made a separation between the outside world and the beauty that was contained in the tabernacle.
The door of the outer court was a large curtain, made of fine linen, coloured in blue, purple, red, and white, Exodus 27:16 / Exodus 38:18. Each of the colours has significance. Blue indicates heavenly and godly, ‘Behold your God,’ Isaiah 40:9, pointing to John’s Gospel, where doubting Thomas eventually says to Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God,’ John 20:28.
Purple signifies kingship, ‘Behold your King,’ Zechariah 9:9, pointing to Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus, the descendant of King David, Matthew 1:1, declares after rising from the dead, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Me,’ Matthew 28:18.
Red signifies blood, ‘Behold My servant,’ Isaiah 52:13 / Isaiah 53:5, pointing to Mark’s Gospel, where Jesus says He ‘came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many,’ Mark 10:45. White signifies purity and a right humanity, ‘Behold the man,’ Zechariah 6:12, pointing to Luke’s Gospel, where Pilate says of Jesus ‘Behold, I have found not one fault in this man,’ Luke 23:4 / Luke 23:14.
These four colours are woven together to become the complete door, just as the four Gospels combine to give a complete picture of Jesus. Jesus Christ is pure and righteous, kingly and godly, and this is how He, as a man, can be our ransom, the door for us to enter into God’s presence in the tabernacle.
The curtain was supported by wooden pillars that were based in brass sockets, with silver capitals, Exodus 27:18-19 / Exodus 38:19-20, just like the other pillars of the outer court curtain. In the Bible, white linen signifies righteousness, Revelation 19:8.
God, in His nature, is right and just. He, therefore, expects us, His created people, to act rightly and justly; this is what righteousness means. Psalm 92:15 tells us the Lord is upright and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Psalm 45:7 predicts that the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ, will love righteousness and hate wickedness. Because God is righteous, we find that the Levites, whom God called to be priests to serve Him in the Tabernacle, were instructed to wear fine white linen garments, Exodus 28:39-43.
Likewise, in the New Testament, Revelation 19:6-9 speaks of the ‘wife of the Lamb’, the bride of Christ, who is seen clothed in fine white linen. The ‘wife of the Lamb’ is a corporate bride, composed of all those people who have accepted God’s saving invitation to be joined to Him at this marriage feast and have prepared themselves, as seen by their garments, they are all dressed in fine white linen, as were the priests of the Tabernacle, Revelation 19:8 informs us that the fine linen is their righteous acts.
By way of contrast, in Isaiah 64:6 we read that all our ‘righteousness’ is like filthy rags and that our sins have blown us right off course from God’s righteousness. Therefore, our sins have separated us from God, Isaiah 59:2.
Just as Adam’s sin caused him to be separated from God and the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3:23-24, so we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. Therefore, the white linen curtains of the Outer Court remind us that we are separated from God, due to our sins, because He is righteous.
The capitals on top of the pillars were made from silver, Exodus 27:17 / Exodus 38:19, symbolising the ransom price God placed on each of the children of Israel, Exodus 30:11-16.
God desires to redeem people, not to condemn them, but to satisfy His righteousness; a price must be paid. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the price paid was thirty pieces of silver, Matthew 26:15 / Zechariah 11:12-13.
Exodus 12:1-13:16 shows the other side of redemption, the way to redeem the life of the firstborn son was by the sacrifice of a lamb at Passover. God sacrificed His only Son, Jesus the Lamb of God, John 1:29, at Calvary, as the final Passover Lamb, 1 Corinthians 5:7, during the Feast of Passover in 33 AD, in order to redeem mankind, that is to buy us back from sin and all its effects, Romans 5:6 / Romans 5:18.
The fine white linen curtains of the outer court were supported by pillars, at least fifty-six of them, Exodus 27:18 / Exodus 38:16. When we see the white curtains of the outer court, we are reminded that our sins have separated us from God, Isaiah 59:2 / Romans 3:23.
When we read the Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, we see His compassion and love for people and we also see His condemnation of hypocrisy and sin, John 8:10-11.
We see in Jesus Christ a man who loves righteousness and hates lawlessness, Hebrews 1:9, the Son of God in whom God the Father delights, Matthew 17:5, the Son who is the bright shining of God’s glory and the express image of God’s righteousness, Hebrews 1:3.
The pillars were set in base sockets of bronze and capped with silver capitals, Exodus 27:17 / Exodus 38:17. The bronze base sockets, Exodus 27:18 / Exodus 38:19, symbolise God’s judgement on those who sin against Him, as seen in Numbers 16:29-39 / Numbers 21:4-9.
In Numbers 21, the children of Israel murmured against God. In a judgment on their sin, God sent serpents into the camp to bite the children of Israel, and many of them died. As Moses prayed for the people, God told him to make a bronze serpent and to put it on a pole. Anyone who looked at the bronze serpent would not perish.
In his Gospel, John shows us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the reality of the bronze serpent lifted up from the earth. As the crucified Son of Man, He bore God’s righteous judgment for us, so that ‘whoever believes in Him will not perish but be saved from God’s judgment and receive eternal life,’ John 3:14-17.
Just like the curtains of the outer court, the righteousness of Christ is supported by His judgement of sin and capped by His desire to redeem us, to bring us, the unrighteous ones, back to God, 1 Peter 3:18.
The good news is that although we started off outside the tabernacle, separated from God, there is a way into the outer court, a door, colourful and welcoming, beckoning us to come inside.
Jesus said, ‘I am the door; if any man enters through Me he shall be saved’, John 10:9, and ‘I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to (God) the Father except through Me,’ John 14:6.
This claim by Jesus is unique and exclusive, but just look at Jesus’ life and His conduct, He was surrounded by all kinds of people with all sorts of histories and conditions and motives, yet Simon Peter, one of His closest disciples, could later say of Him, ‘He did no sin, neither was there any deceit found in His mouth,’ 1 Peter 2:22.
Peter had seen Jesus in all sorts of situations with all manner of people, from religious leaders to the lowest prostitutes, publicans, and tax collectors, yet he wrote ‘we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of that One’s majesty,’ 2 Peter 1:16.
The door of the outer court is the only way in, inviting and attractive. The door speaks of both the compassion and the kingliness of Jesus, His nature as both God and a genuine man, Son of God and son of man, woven together like a beautiful tapestry of ‘the appearing to man of the kindness and love of our Saviour God,’ Titus 3:4.
Jesus said, ‘I am the door; if any man enters through Me, he shall be saved,’ John 10:9. Do take a good look at the door, then enter in through the door. Once you are inside the tabernacle, you will discover so much about what Jesus meant by ‘be saved’ and how this can come about in your experience, beginning at the burnt offering altar and the laver.
All the other articles used in the service of the tabernacle, whatever their function, including all the tent pegs for it and those for the courtyard, are to be of bronze, Exodus 27:19 / Exodus 38:20.