The tabernacle was a structure built by the children of Israel under the supervision of Moses, around 1450 B.C. The first five books of the Bible were written down by Moses; they are called the Torah, the Hebrew word for ‘law’. Jesus said, ‘He had come not to abolish the law, but to fulfil it,’ Matthew 5:17.
John, one of Jesus’ disciples, tells us that “the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” John 1:17. The word ‘truth’ here is ‘alethia’ in Greek, meaning ‘reality’.
The ‘truth’ John speaks of is ‘Jesus Christ as the Word, who was God and who became flesh and tabernacled among us,’ John 1:1 / John 1:14. The Greek word sometimes translated as ‘dwelt’ here is more literally translated as ‘tabernacled’.
Therefore, the tabernacle is a picture, a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Book of Exodus, when God dictates to Moses the detailed design of the tabernacle, some fourteen hundred and fifty years before the birth of Jesus, He speaks forth a description of just who and what the coming Messiah, the Christ, would be.
In the four Gospels, particularly in John’s account, Jesus shows Himself to be the reality of every item in the tabernacle. The real Tabernacle of God with men is therefore the Lord Jesus Christ.
God had told Moses to warn Pharaoh that if he did not ‘Let My people go!’, Exodus 8:1. God would send plagues upon Egypt. The final plague would be to slay all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. Just prior to the final plague striking, God told Moses to tell the children of Israel to ask for and obtain gold, silver, and clothing from the Egyptians, Exodus 11:1-3.
After God Himself had slain all their firstborn sons, the Egyptians were willing to do anything to get rid of the children of Israel, and they gave them whatever they requested, Exodus 12:36. Thus, it seemed they had received some compensation for their slave labour in Egypt.
However, a few months later, as God was revealing the design of the tabernacle to Moses, He also revealed that the source of the materials with which to build it would be this newly acquired wealth among His people, Exodus 25:1-7.
God realised this would take a willing heart, Exodus 25:2, but He wanted it to be offered as a free will. The pattern of the tabernacle design had been fully revealed to Moses, the names of the skilful workmen had been made known to him, Exodus 31:1-6, but it remained necessary for the children of Israel to receive the same vision.
Moses spoke to them in Exodus 35:4-29 laying before them all the requirements for materials and encouraging them to have a willing and wise heart, Exodus 35:5 / Exodus 35:10.
The response among the children of Israel was that ‘everyone whose heart stirred him up and everyone whose spirit made him willing’ brought the required materials to the Lord as a free-will offering, Exodus 35:21. This thought is closely mirrored in the apostle Paul’s prayer in the New Testament letter to the Ephesians, Ephesians 1:17-18.
It is a matter of revelation in our spirit and seeing His calling wisely and willingly in our hearts that causes us to give all to God for His building. This same thought carries through to the skilful workmen and Bezalel and Aholiab, Exodus 31:2-6.
Without the Spirit revealing to our spirit the pattern and significance of the Tabernacle and making us spiritually wise, we have no way to be built up together as the dwelling place of God in spirit, Ephesians 2:22, that is, the church.
Unless our hearts are enlightened and made wise and willing, we will squander our days in trivial pursuits instead of devoting all to God’s purpose and testimony.
There were a few particularly gifted men working on the tabernacle. There were also the many willing-hearted and wise-hearted people, women as well as men, Exodus 35:22 / Exodus 35:26.
It should be that the gifted ones equip the willing and wise ones for the work of service, for the building up of the body of the Anointed One, Christ, Messiah, Ephesians 4:12, the Tabernacle, Exodus 40:9-11.
The covering embroidered with cherubim was the innermost covering over the sanctuary. It was this covering that formed the actual tabernacle, in the specific sense of Exodus 26:1 / Exodus 36:8. The cherubim embroidered covering also formed the ceiling of the tabernacle, looking up from inside the sanctuary.
The cherubim are there, reminding us, perhaps, of two things.
1. The cherubim were placed at the east of Eden ‘to keep the way of the tree of life’, Genesis 3:24.
To ‘keep’ in Hebrew means to observe, keep watch over, preventing Adam and Eve from returning to partake of the tree of life. Here in the Tabernacle, the Cherubim are overseeing what goes on inside the Sanctuary.
2. The cherubim are among those in heaven who bow the knee to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ, Philippians 2:10 / Revelation 5:11-14, so He is truly Head over all things to the church.
The Book of Exodus does not give us the precise pattern of the embroidery, but we are told that the colouring was ‘blue, purple, scarlet and white’ the colour of the fine twined linen’, Exodus 26:1.
These colours are not new to us because we see them at the door to the outer court, Exodus 27:16-17, and again at the door to the sanctuary, Exodus 26:36-37, they also appear in the veil, Exodus 26:31-37, the entrance ‘door’ to the Holy of Holies.
They speak of Christ’s heavenliness, His royalty, His saviourhood, and holiness, as seen in the four Gospels. The reappearance of these colours inside the Sanctuary, embroidered on the ceiling, reminds us that it is the Beloved Son in His fourfold character who is Head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:22.
John, one of the disciples closest to Jesus, declares, ‘we beheld His glory, glory as of an only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth,’ John 1:17. As we progress closer and closer to the presence of God in the tabernacle, we too need to behold His glory, Colossians 3:1-2, and realise that what we can see is but a small part of the whole.
Since much of the embroidery hung over the external walls of the boards, Exodus 26:15-30, what was visible from the inside was only a small part of the whole. They were ten individual curtains to begin with, each measuring thirteen metres by two metres approximately, Exodus 26:2 / Exodus 36:9.
Five curtains were then coupled together with one another, and likewise the other five. Then the two by five metre curtains were looped together, Exodus 26:4-5 / Exodus 36:10-12, using fifty golden clasps to make one enormous embroidery thirteen metres wide and almost nineteen metres long, Exodus 26:6 / Exodus 36:13.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following concerning the gold.
‘The meaning is that only the most desirable and costly things that men knew were capable of being used as symbols of such things as the presence of God, the heaven of heavens, the holy Church that in time would appear, the Word of God, and other realities depicted.’
Here we have a picture of the woven goat’s hair covering the tabernacle. This covering made a ‘tent’ over the tabernacle, Exodus 26:7 / Exodus 36:14. Altogether there were eleven curtains of woven goat’s hair, Exodus 26:8 / Exodus 36:14-17, measuring twenty metres by fourteen metres approximately, Exodus 26:9 / Exodus 36:21, held together by fifty bronze clasps, Exodus 26:10-13 / Exodus 36:18.
Goats were of particular importance on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the time when the children of Israel came together to be reconciled to God, Leviticus 16.
Two goats were selected by lot, Leviticus 16:8, one for sacrifice and the other to be sent out into the wilderness, Leviticus 16:9-10. The blood of the sacrificed goat would be taken into the Holy of Holies by the High Priest, as required by God to forgive the sins of the children of Israel, Hebrews 9:22.
Then the High Priest would lay his hands on the head of the other goat and confess all the sins of the children of Israel before it was sent out into the wilderness, Leviticus 16:15-16, signifying that God would forget all the sins thus confessed. Here is the origin of the ‘scapegoat’.
The twofold significance of the goats is therefore that God wants to forgive and forget. He desires to remove from His people not only the guilt of sin but also His memory of that sin, so that we may be reconciled to Him.
For God’s righteousness to be satisfied, though, one goat without blemish must die, and the other goat without blemish must have the sins of Israel laid upon it and be removed outside the camp. All this speaks forward to the crucifixion of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5:21 / 1 John 3:5.
Since Jesus is the reality of the two goats for our atonement and reconciliation to God, “we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”, 2 Corinthians 5:20.
The goats signify that the Sinless One has been made sin for us so that God can legally forgive us and no longer remember our sins, as it says in the New Covenant, Hebrews 8:12. The covering of woven goat’s hair signifies that, if we have entered into the tabernacle, we are clothed with Christ as our righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Since a ram’s skin is not red naturally, Exodus 26:14 / Exodus 36:19, but had to be dyed to become red, this reminds us once more of the great significance of blood shown throughout the fabrics of the doors and coverings of the tabernacle.
Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah some seven hundred and fifty years before His crucifixion, Isaiah 53:7 / Isaiah 63:1-5. The sheer size of this covering indicates how precious the sacrifice of the Messiah, Hebrew, or Christ, Greek, the covering measured at least.
That is about forty-five feet long and six feet wide, Exodus 26:8. The debt we each owe to God, because of our sins and offences against Him and one another, is colossal, Matthew 26:28.
Jesus paid with His blood the price our sins exacted in God’s eyes, so He could purchase us back, redeem us, 1 Peter 1:18-19. However, the emphasis here is not merely on individual redemption.
The covering lies across the boards of the Sanctuary Building, which are fitted and built together. The upright boards standing together signify God’s people, Titus 2:13-14.
Likewise, Paul speaks to the mainly Gentile Ephesian believers concerning the ‘church of God which He purchased with His own blood’, Acts 20:28, writing to them later to confirm, ‘Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her’, Ephesians 5:25.
This is the goal of redemption, that believers in Messiah, Christ, whether of Jewish or Gentile background, would become one joint Body in Messiah/Christ, joint heirs and partakers of the promise God made to Abraham, in you shall all the families/nations of the earth be blessed, Genesis 12:3 / Ephesians 3:6.
What God intends, and longs for, is one redeemed and purified people that are His, owned by Him, filled with Him and displaying all the virtues of the One who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light, 1 Peter 2:9-10.
Very significantly, it was a ram caught in the thicket that God provided to be sacrificed in place of Isaac, Genesis 22:8 / Genesis 22:13. Similarly, God ordained that rams were sacrificed when Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests to serve in the tabernacle, Exodus 29:15-35. The ram, therefore, speaks of consecration and obedience to God, Philippians 2:8-11.
The covering was made from either badger or seal/dolphin skin, KJV, Exodus 26:14, although there is some uncertainty as to the correct translation from Hebrew.
But there is no uncertainty as to its function; this covering formed a thick, protective, weatherproof layer over the tabernacle. No amount of baking heat from the sun or wind-driven sandstorms or rain could disturb the treasure contained within the tabernacle, thanks to this covering.
So with Christ, after forty days in the wilderness, the tempter could not make any inroads either at the Lord Jesus’ human frailty, Matthew 4:4, or at His perception of the divine order of things, Matthew 4:7 / Matthew 4:10.
However, from the outside, this covering made the tabernacle look ordinary and unattractive, Isaiah 53:1-3. Today there is much temptation to be fashionable, with it, and image-conscious and the rest. Not so with Jesus; what He possesses is real and eternal.
The rough fishermen of Galilee who became His close disciples saw this, 2 Peter 1:16, and ‘we beheld His glory’ and that Jesus was ‘full of grace and truth’, John 1:14. Such was their evaluation of the Word Who was made flesh and dwelt, tabernacled, among them.
The casual external viewer would not give the tabernacle much of their time, just this dull outer covering and those boring white curtains. How often do we hear, ‘it’s dull and boring’? Such people have mostly not even glimpsed the door to the tabernacle’s outer court, Exodus 27:16-17.
But to those who do make their way to the door of the outer court, observe its character, and pass through, what they see is the burnt offering altar, Exodus 27:1-8, the laver, Exodus 30:17-21, and then the door to the sanctuary, Exodus 26:36-37, which is covered with this unattractive outer covering.
Such seekers are thus inspired to ‘consider Him Who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself’ so that they do not ‘become weary and discouraged in their souls’, Hebrews 12:3.
Such a Christ is the Defender and Protector of the Sanctuary Building, where the upright boards, fitted and built together to be God’s dwelling place, signify the church, Ephesians 2:21-22, not the outward appearance of religiosity and dubious organisation, but the genuine Christ-indwelt people who ‘have this treasure in their earthen vessels’, 2 Corinthians 4:7, and are being built together in genuine oneness with one another. Christ seeks to keep and protect us from the world and its influences with this oneness as His goal, just as He prayed in John 17:11-12.
In the wording of Exodus 26:15-30, the boards are mentioned as being made of acacia wood, Exodus 26:15-16. Because wood grows out of the earth, and because Adam was made by God from something He had already made, i.e. the dust of the earth, wood stands for ‘human’, as in Psalm 1:1-3.
The boards are to be standing upright, Exodus 26:15 / Exodus 36:20. God specifies to Moses the size of each board, that is, about fifteen feet long and two and a quarter feet wide, Exodus 26:16 / Exodus 36:21.
The number of boards, Exodus 26:18 / Exodus 36:23, there were twenty boards on each of the South sides, Exodus 26:18 / Exodus 36:23, North side, Exodus 26:20 / Exodus 36:25, and six boards on the West side of the tabernacle, Exodus 26:22 / Exodus 36:27, plus two boards to strengthen the western wall at its corners, Exodus 26:23 / Exodus 36:24.
They are fixed into silver sockets to stand, Exodus 26:19 / Exodus 26:21 / Exodus 26:25 / Exodus 36:24 / Exodus 36:26 / Exodus 36:30. Silver in the scriptures is used as the purchase, redemption price of a life, twenty silver shekels for Joseph in Genesis 37:28, thirty silver shekels for Jesus in Matthew 26:14-15.
When the wood is robustly standing in the silver sockets, it means that we have a testimony that we belong to God, we concede ‘we are not our own, we have been bought with a price’, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
There were two ‘extra’ boards, strengthening the corners of the western side, Exodus 26:23 / Exodus 36:28. This west-facing wall is called the ‘thigh’ in Hebrew, implying strengthened standing in the body of Christ.
These extra boards strengthened the corners, the weakest part of the structure, in the same way as the pillars at the door of the sanctuary, Exodus 26:36-37, and the veil, Exodus 26:31-37.
The boards each had an individual standing in the two silver sockets, but they were strongly connected together by the bars. There were five bars, four of which passed through rings on the outside of the boards, plus the middle bar, which passed through the centre of each board.
There are two long walls of boards, Exodus 26:24 / Exodus 36:29, one signifying the Jews and the other the Gentiles. Neither could they profit under the law nor could they keep the commandments of God.
The only hope was the promised Messiah, in whose blood all might be brought near again. All the ‘boards’ stand in His redemption only. Any man in Christ is a new creation because the old things have passed away, ‘behold, they have become new’, 2 Corinthians 5:17.
The new creation in Messiah of one new man, Ephesians 2:15, is corporate; Jewish believers and Gentile believers are saved by His grace through faith alone, Ephesians 2:8, that nobody may boast.
Through Jesus the Messiah, Christ, we both have access in one Spirit to the Father, Ephesians 2:18. In Him, we are fitted together as the boards in the tabernacle so that God may have His dwelling place in the one Spirit, Ephesians 2:22. God is operating powerfully in us to accomplish this, Ephesians 3:20-21.
When many boards together have the same testimony, we are ‘those who have obtained a like precious faith in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ’, 2 Peter 1:1.
The boards were held together by five bars, the middle one of which passed through the centre of the boards, Exodus 26:26-27 / Exodus 36:31-32. The boards and their bars were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, Exodus 26:29 / Exodus 36:34, as were the pillars of the entrance door to the sanctuary, Exodus 26:36-37.
The gold overlay, Exodus 26:29 / Exodus 36:34, points is to Peter’s words, ‘that you might become partakers of the divine nature’, 2 Peter 1:4, and ‘glorify God in your body’, 1 Corinthians 6:20.
The first mention of gold in the Bible is in Genesis 2:11-12. It was ‘in the hills’ already, as created by God, and is spoken of as ‘good’, just as God said of everything He had made in Genesis 1. Because it is precious and was created directly by God, gold stands for ‘divine’.
The delay in mentioning the gold overlay gives us an indication that the wood, signifying the ‘human’ element, has to be worked on and fitted, qualified in order to have the gold, the ‘divine’ element, as its overlay.
Peter gives us the reason that we humans must have ‘escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust’ and realise we ‘have been given precious and exceeding great promises, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature’, 2 Peter 1:4.
We must be the wooden boards that are standing up in the silver sockets, not lounging around in or harking back to the garlic and onions of Egypt as Israel did, Numbers 11:5-6.
The wood is no longer growing in soil or even in the desert sand. Between the boards and the desert is a significant quantity of silver, two silver sockets, each weighing fifty-seven kilos, 125 pounds, form the base for each board.
There are two interpretations of the five bars, Exodus 26:26 / Exodus 36:31.
1. They refer to the lowliness, meekness, longsuffering and love, plus the uniting bond of peace in Ephesians 4:1-3, that are required for us all to walk worthily of our calling
2. They refer to the five classes of gifted persons the ascended Christ gave to equip the saints for building, apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, Ephesians 4:11.
Since the bars are made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, the most lovely human virtues plus the divine appointment, it seems to me that both may be correct.
The tragedy of church history, in our own age as much as in previous ages, is that appointed, gifted ones have not shown the worthy virtues sufficiently, either towards one another or towards the people they shepherd and teach.
The virtues come first, in order to keep the oneness of the Spirit, Ephesians 4:3, the gifted ones and their equipping come afterwards, in order that the body of Christ may be built up until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God and maturity in Him, Ephesians 4:12-13.
God’s plan of salvation and His purpose in the building are not individualistic in the Book of Exodus. The wood may have come from different acacia trees, but all the boards ended up fashioned and fitly framed together in one structure, which was God’s dwelling place, Ephesians 2:21.
Before moving on, it’s important to consider the significance of God’s dwelling place in the Bible. The first mention of the house of God is when Jacob has his dream at Beth-El, ‘house of God’, while fleeing from Esau, Genesis 28:10-22.
This is confirmed when Jacob returns to Beth-El, Genesis 35:1-15, God appears to him there, speaks to him there, and the house of God is there, God’s dwelling place.
Jacob goes down to Egypt, where Joseph is, a few hundred years pass and following the Exodus from Egypt, around 1450 BC, God appears to Moses at Mount Sinai and dictates to him the design of the tabernacle and gives the ‘Ten Words’, Exodus 34:28, the Ten Commandments. The tabernacle was to be God’s dwelling place, Exodus 25:8-9.
Later on in Israel’s history, around 1000 BC, the temple was built in Jerusalem. King David did much of the preparation, and his son, King Solomon, oversaw the building. God then dwelt in the temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, Psalm 132:13-14.
The children of Israel numbered many hundreds of thousands in their family Passover meals and exit from Egypt. Yet God brought them out into the wilderness to experience one food source and one water source, with one goal of God’s speaking, the one centre for worship, one building, the tabernacle, Exodus 25:8.
The dwelling place of God is the one purpose for which we have been purchased by God with the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. However, due to the repeated sinfulness of Israel and her kings, God’s glory departed from the temple, and it was no longer His dwelling place.
In the New Testament, we read that, Jesus Christ is the ‘Word (who) became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us’, John 1:14. God dwelt in Christ, as the apostle Paul wrote, Colossians 2:9. Furthermore, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ become a dwelling place of God, Ephesians 3:17 / 1 Corinthians 6:19.
Then, corporately, the believers in Christ are the church, which Paul terms ‘the holy temple in the Lord’ and ‘the dwelling place of God in the Spirit’, Ephesians 2:21-22, ‘the house of God, the church of the living God’, 1 Timothy 3:15.
At the end of the New Testament we read ‘behold the tabernacle of God is with men and He shall dwell with them and be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God’, Revelation 21:3, as New Jerusalem comes down to the new earth out of heaven from God,’ Revelation 21:2 / Revelation 21:10. Throughout the Bible, God desires a dwelling place and reveals the details of that dwelling place to people who are attuned to Him.
Entering through the door to the sanctuary into the first room, the Holy Place, the gold of the boards is shining all around and the cherubim covering is overhead.
This is why we must be sanctified wholly, our entire spirit, soul and body, to be preserved without blemish as shining boards in the house of God, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
Here are the furnishings of the tabernacle, the showbread table, Exodus 25:23-30, the lampstand, Exodus 25:31-40, and the golden incense altar, Exodus 30:1-10.
The veil was made using the four colours blue, purple, scarlet, and white of the fine linen, Exodus 26:31 / Exodus 36:35, which corresponds with the four Gospels.
Unger, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Blue signifies Christ’s heavenly origin. Purple suggests his royal lineage as David’s Son. Scarlet indicates his sacrificial bloodshed for fallen mankind.’
We have seen these four colours previously at the door of the outer court, Exodus 27:16-17, the door to the sanctuary, Exodus 26:36-37, the cherubim embroidered covering, Exodus 26:1-6, which forms the ceiling of the tabernacle and on the ephod the high priest wore, Exodus 28:5-14 / Exodus 39:2-7.
The veil is the final door to pass through to enter into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, Exodus 26:32-33 / 2 Corinthians 3:14-16. Entry was forbidden to all except one, the high priest, and his access was not free; he was permitted entry once only per year, on the Day of Atonement, when he brought the blood of the sacrificed goat to sprinkle on the lid, called the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.
The atonement cover or mercy seat on the ark of the covenant law was to be kept in the Most Holy Place, Exodus 26:34. The showbread table was to be placed on the outside of the curtain on the north side of the tabernacle and the lampstand opposite it on the south side, Exodus 26:35.
The veil reminds us that we are excluded because ‘we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’, Romans 3:23. However, just as the Passover lamb was slain for the redemption of the children of Israel in Egypt, and the goat was slain so that its blood could obtain God’s forgiveness for the Israelites on the Day of Atonement, so Jesus ‘bore our sins in His own body on the tree’, 1 Peter 2:24 / Isaiah 53:6.
The effect of the death of Jesus was dramatic: the earth quaked, rocks were split, ‘and the veil in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom,’ Matthew 27:51, signifying that God tore it because the veil in the temple was twenty-five metres high. Here in the tabernacle, the veil was just over four and a half metres high.
Some suggest that Matthew 27:54 and Luke 23:47 both record that the centurion at the crucifixion site saw the veil torn in two. This means that this Gentile sinner could also see straight into the Holy of Holies.
This is a picture to show us that it is now possible, on the basis of faith in Jesus’ death for our sins, to stand in the presence of God as justified and forgiven people, Romans 5:1-2.
As Hebrews 10:19-22 shows, the way to the Holy of Holies has been opened up for us through the veil of Jesus’ flesh being torn on the cross. There is a ‘new’, literally ‘freshly slain’ and ‘living’ way for us to enter.
The Lord Jesus Christ is not just our freshly slain, dead offering, He is also the Living One, Luke 24:5 / Revelation 1:18, risen from the dead and ascended, our great High Priest, with our names on His heart, the Breastplate, and shoulders, the shoulder stones, going into the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence is over the Ark of the Covenant!
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Without any doubt, the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God is represented as being enthroned there, is a type of heaven itself.
1. God was enthroned in both, Revelation 4:1-2.
2. Divine light is in both, Leviticus 16:2 / Revelation 21:23.
3. Both have worshipping cherubim, Exodus 25:18 / Revelation 4:6-8.
4. Both are golden, Exodus 25:11 / Revelation 21:18.
5. Both are represented as perfect ‘cubes,’ here as 10 X 10 X 10 (cubits), and heaven as a cube of 1,500 miles in width, breadth, and height, Revelation 21:16-17.
6. God’s law is in both the tables of the testimony here, the eternal law of all the universe in heaven, Psalms 119:89.
7. The Atonement was made in both, here, by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, and in heaven by Jesus Christ, once and for all,’ Hebrews 9:11-13.
The door to the sanctuary is the second of three ‘doors’. There was the door to the outer court, Exodus 27:16-17, where people would first enter. Here we are at the door to the sanctuary, where we enter the Holy Place, and soon we will to the veil at the entrance to the Holy of Holies.
The door to the sanctuary is remarkably similar to the door to the outer court, Exodus 27:16-17. It has the same colouring, blue, purple, scarlet and the white of the fine twined linen, Exodus 26:36 / Exodus 36:37. As with that door, the Book of Exodus does not tell us the pattern of the tapestry.
Seeing these colours again reminds us of the Lord Jesus in the four Gospels as the Son of God, the King, the lowly servant who became our ransom, and the lovely, pure humanity of ‘the Son of Man who came to seek and to save that which is lost’, Luke 19:10.
This door has different dimensions, around about four and a half by four and a half metres, but occupies the same area as the door of the outer court, that door was half the height and twice the width, inviting us with comforting access to know the salvation in Christ at the burnt offering altar, Exodus 27:1-8, and the laver, Exodus 30:17-21.
There, everything was just above or just below eye level, as our human sinful condition was addressed by our Saviour God, Titus 3:3-7. Now that ‘we who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ’, Ephesians 2:13, the door to the sanctuary requires us to take another look at this same Jesus.
This time, we see a higher view of Him as the exalted Christ, as we enter into the house of God, the Sanctuary, which is a picture of the church in God’s design. The New Testament Book of Hebrews gives us this view, speaking of Christ ‘having made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high’.
There, He received the Name that is above all other names from God the Father, who declares that all, both men and angels, shall worship the Son, Hebrews 1:3-6 / Philippians 2:9-11.
The same faithful and worthy Christ is further the ‘Son over His house, whose house are we if we hold fast’, Hebrews 3:2 / Hebrews 3:6. The colours are the same, He is the Son of God, the King, our ransom, our merciful great High Priest; what has changed is the perspective.
It is God’s design that we should not cross the threshold of the sanctuary, the house of God, the church, without first gaining a distinct impression of the exalted Christ.
This view is reinforced by the presence in front of the curtain of the five golden pillars that give it support. The pillars were made from acacia wood overlaid with gold; the beauty is gold, and the structure is wood. This speaks of the mystery of Christ’s Person; He is both God and man, divine and human, Son of God, and Son of man.
The child born is called the Mighty God, the son given is called the Everlasting Father, Isaiah 9:6. The government of God’s kingdom is upon the shoulders of such a Person, Isaiah 9:6-7. He is the Son who is over God’s house, Hebrews 3:6.
At the feet of the pillars were sockets of bronze, Exodus 26:27 / Exodus 36:38, again reminding us of God’s judgement. The line of thought in the Book of Hebrews continues here, too.
The writer has shown Christ is God the Son in Hebrews 1. Then in Hebrews 2, he quotes from Psalm 8, concerning the exaltation of Jesus Christ, the son of man, ‘crowned with glory and honour, set over all the works of Your (God’s) hands, You (God) have subjected all things under His feet’, Hebrews 2:7-8.
The bronze sockets for the pillars speak to us clearly of total judgement, that ‘in putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them’, Hebrews 2:8.
Such is the strength and magnitude of Christ’s victory on the cross, Colossians 2:15. God ‘subjected all things under His (Christ’s) feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church’, Ephesians 1:22.
This is the view of the sanctuary door as we enter the house of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is King, Son of God, purifier of sins, Son of Man, Lord, Ruler and Head. How wrong it is for anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ to be called the Head of the church.
Only He is qualified, worthy and able to head up the church. Because all things are subjected under His feet, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the genuine church, the house of God that the Son is building, Matthew 16:18 / Hebrews 3:6.