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 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.