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“You shall put into the Ark the Testimony [the law] which I shall give you. And you shall make an expiation cover of pure gold: two and a half cubits shall be its length, and one and a half cubits, its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work you shall make them, at the two ends of the expiation cover. And make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; of one piece with the expiation cover you shall make the cherubim on its two ends. And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above the cover, covering the expiation cover with their wings, with their faces toward one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the expiation cover. And you shall put the expiation cover on top of the Ark, and into the Ark you shall put the Testimony that I shall give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the expiation cover, from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testimony, of everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel” (Exo. 25:16-22).
Then let us read Hebrews 9:3-5: “After the second veil, a tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar and the Ark of the Covenant covered about everywhere with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna and Aaron’s rod that budded and the tablets of the covenant, and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the expiation cover, concerning which it is not now the time to speak in detail.” “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...Christ Jesus; whom God set forth as a propitiation place” (Rom. 3:23-25). Christ has been set forth as a propitiation place.
We have seen that the priesthood is the tabernacle. The body of priests is the very dwelling place of God. First Peter 2 tells us clearly that the holy priesthood is the spiritual house. We as priests are the dwelling place of God, but we need to be built up and coordinated. We must be coordinated and built up before we can be a body. The Body is not a scattered number but coordinated members built up to be the dwelling place of God.
In this chapter we must see something about the Ark. The three main categories concerning the priesthood are the offerings, the tabernacle, and the Ark. We have seen that the offerings are the different aspects of Christ as our enjoyment. We have also seen that the tabernacle itself is the outward manifestation of this enjoyment. Now we need to see something about the Ark.
The Ark is the content of the tabernacle. Without the Ark, the tabernacle is empty. In the history of the Old Testament, there was a time when the Ark was absent from the tabernacle. Due to the degradation of God’s people, the Ark was captured and taken away. Then when Solomon became king, he went to Gibeon and there received a dream from God in which he saw that an empty tabernacle without the Ark was not good enough (2 Chron. 1:3-13; 1 Kings 3:15). So he returned to Jerusalem and went to the place where the Ark was. At that time the Ark was separate from the tabernacle. This means that the tabernacle had lost its content, for the Ark was the content of the tabernacle.
Christ is the very content of the church life. If we only have the church life without Christ, our church life is empty. The church life is the expression of Christ, and Christ must be the content of the church life. The church life can only come into existence out of the enjoyment of Christ. First, the priests must enjoy all the offerings, all of which typify the different aspects of Christ. This means that the priests must enjoy Christ, take Christ in, feed on Christ, and be filled with Christ. Then they will be saturated with Christ and will be one with Him. From this saturation, something will be expressed. From the outworking of this indwelling Christ comes the expression of the church life.
The church life is not just a kind of religious organization or a social group of Christians. The real church life is the expression of Christ. It is the outward expression of the indwelling Christ. The church life is not a kind of human society or religious organization, but is Christ expressed through so many Christians. Thus, the church life comes out of the enjoyment and experience of Christ. The more we experience and enjoy Christ and are filled and saturated with Him, the more we will have the church life as the expression of Christ. Since the church life comes out of the reality of Christ Himself, the content of the church must be Christ.
We know that in the tabernacle, the Ark was in the Holy of Holies. This Ark was the content of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle was the very expression of this Ark. As we have seen, in the outer court we enjoy Christ at the altar as the trespass offering, the sin offering, the peace offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering, the heave offering, and the wave offering. But this is not all, for Christ is much more than this. In the Holy Place we enjoy Christ at the table of the bread of the Presence as life and the life supply; we enjoy Him at the lampstand as the light of life; then at the golden altar we enjoy Him as the sweet acceptance to God.
But this is still not all. There is also the Ark in the Holy of Holies. The Ark originally contained only one thing: the law which was the testimony of God. Most Christians have a poor concept of the law. They consider the law as ten items we must obey or else we will be condemned. But this is wrong, for the law is the testimony of God. This means that the law is the very definition and explanation of God. The law gives us a picture of what God is. Without the law, no one can know what kind of God we have. It is by the law that we have a complete picture of God.
The law shows us that God is a God of holiness, a God of righteousness, a God of love, and a God of light. The Ten Commandments reveal to us that God is such a God. The law is the picture that portrays such a holy and righteous God of love and light. No one has ever seen God, but the law describes and defines Him. Therefore, the law is the testimony of God, and as the testimony and definition of God, it was put into the Ark. This means that all that God is was put in Christ.
Suppose I take a photograph of you. This is a kind of testimony. If someone asks me about your appearance, I will show them your picture. The picture is your testimony. We must realize that the law is God’s testimony, which means that it is God’s definition, God’s explanation. So when the law is put into the Ark, it signifies that all that God is, is now in Christ.
The Ark typifies Christ because it was made of two things: wood overlaid with gold. Wood signifies the human nature of Christ, and gold signifies His divine nature. He is a man, and He is also the very God. He is the God-man as the Ark made of gold and wood. In this golden, living One there is the testimony of God. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily (Col. 2:9). This is typified by the law as the testimony being placed into the Ark. Thus, in the Ark is the fullness of God, and in the tabernacle is the Ark. The Ark is the content of the tabernacle, and the fullness of God is the content of the Ark. This means that God is the content of Christ, and Christ is the content of the church life.
What is the content of the local church where you are? Is it Christ, or something else? This is the problem. The content of the church life must be Christ, not anything else, and the content of Christ is the fullness of God.
Within the Ark is the law which is the description of God, and upon the Ark are the two cherubim. These two cherubim are called the cherubim of glory. If we read the Bible carefully, we will see that glory is God expressed, God manifested. When God is manifested, it is glory. It is like the light of electricity that is expressed when it shines out. Without the shining, electricity is just electricity. But by shining, electricity becomes the light, and the light is the glory, that is, the expression and the manifestation of the electricity. Thus, glory is God manifested and God expressed. Within the Ark is all that God is, and upon the Ark God is expressed. Within, God is contained; without, God is expressed as the glory.
Have you ever looked at Jesus as He is portrayed in the four Gospels? He is the real Ark. Within Him is the content of God and all that God is, and upon Him God is expressed and manifested as the glory. Within Jesus is all that God is, and upon Jesus is the manifested God. Thus, within Him there is the law, and upon Him there are the two cherubim. This does not mean two kinds of glory, but a testimony of glory. Two is the number meaning testimony. The two cherubim testify to the expression of what God is.
Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are sinful, so we are short of God’s glory. The glory of God is so high. We may have some goodness, but compared with God’s glory our goodness is short. There may be nothing sinful in our goodness, and we may feel that we are right. Even if this is true, we are still short of God’s glory. We may say that we have never hated others, but we are short. We may say that we love others, but we do not love others as much as God does. Our love is short of God’s love.
In China there were many disciples of Confucius who claimed to be the best beings on earth. However, when some of them read the four Gospels, their eyes were opened to see who Jesus is. Then they prostrated themselves on the floor and confessed, “Lord, I am so short; I am good, but my goodness is so short of Yours.”
The living of Jesus manifested God. The daily walk of Jesus was the very expression of God. This is the glory—God manifested and God expressed. All human beings are short of this glory. We are good, but can we compare with Jesus? We love others, but can we compare our love with that of Jesus? When we do, we see how short we are. This shortage is sin, because man was made in the image of God for the purpose of expressing God. Man was made for God’s glory; that is, man was made to express God. To be short of God’s glory and manifestation means that we are sinful.
I am afraid that, if before reading this chapter someone were to ask us if we were sinful, we would say that we are not so sinful. We are not hateful, and we are not wrong in so many things. But if we have light to see how short of God’s glory we are, we will see how sinful we are. When we see the daily living of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, we see what glory is and how short of it we fall. Jesus is the Ark, and upon Him are the cherubim whose glory condemns us. This glory testifies of all that God is, but it condemns us. Even if we are good and loving, we are still condemned because our love is short of God’s glory.
The glory must be expressed in the church all the time. The church must be God manifested and God expressed—this is the measurement. The standard of morality is not the measurement of the church life. The measurement of the church life is God manifested. Yes, we may love, but we love by ourselves, in ourselves, with ourselves, and for ourselves. Everything is for ourselves. This kind of love is short of God’s glory. God can never be manifested in this kind of love. Maybe we are so humble, but we are humble by ourselves, in ourselves, and for ourselves. This kind of humility can never express God. The church life needs a divine love that expresses God, not a human love. It must be the kind of love that has God in it. The church must have the two cherubim as the manifestation of God’s glory, and this glory is continually watching and finding the shortages.
Most of us do not have much conviction that we are sinful. But suppose the Lord were to come to us and manifest His glory. All of us would fall to the floor and ask for something to cover us. We would have the sense that we are so short of His glory. Compared with others, we may be better. They are humble, but we are more humble. If they love, we can love more. But we cannot compare with God’s glory. When God’s glory is present, there is no comparison. Our shortage will come to the surface, and we will sense how sinful we are. We are sinful, not because we are evil or dirty, but because we are short of God’s glory.
The content of the church life is Christ, and this Christ is filled with all that God is. Upon Him there is the manifestation of God as the glory, continually testifying, watching, and finding our shortages according to the inner testimony. The two cherubim are upon the Ark watching according to the testimony (the law) within the Ark. When we come to contact the Lord, these two cherubim look at us and check us according to the Ten Commandments. Immediately, we are found short. We cannot stand before the Ten Commandments with the watching eyes of the two cherubim. But thank the Lord! Under the watching eyes of the cherubim, upon the expiation cover is the sprinkling of the blood. This sprinkled blood covers the Ten Commandments. When we plead the blood, it speaks for us.
We must realize that in the church life, man’s morality is not the standard. Human goodness, human behavior, or human conduct can never be the standard—God’s glory is the only standard. Regardless of how good we are, we can never compare our goodness with God’s glory. This means that we must have an absolute renunciation of what we are. We can never boast about what we are. Even our love is short compared with God’s glory. Our love must be forgiven. I believe we have asked the Lord to forgive us for our hatred, but have we ever asked the Lord to forgive us for our love? We must even ask the Lord to forgive us for our goodness.
The content of the church life is not according to the standard of human conduct; it is absolutely according to God’s glory. This is Christ as the Ark. No human being can stand at the expiation cover but by the blood. Over the blood there are the watching eyes of the cherubim, and under the blood there is the testimony (the law) of God. The only way we can stand before the testimony of God and the watching eyes of the cherubim of God’s glory is by the precious blood.
But this is something too negative; it is still not enough. According to the Old Testament, only the law is in the Ark, but in the New Testament book of Hebrews two more things are added: the hidden manna and the budding rod. One is the supply, and the other is the strength and power. The manna is the supply, and the budding rod is the resurrection power. Today in Christ, there is not only the testimony of God demanding and testifying, but there is also the supplying manna and the strengthening resurrection power.
When we, as members of the church, come to contact the Lord, immediately our consciences sense the watching eyes of the cherubim, checking according to God’s glory and condemning us by the testimony (the law) of God. We thank the Lord for the blood that is sprinkled on the expiation cover. We must not only see this but also see that within the Ark are the hidden manna and the budding rod. There is the bountiful supply and the resurrection power. So we must say, “Hallelujah! As to my shortage I have the blood, but I also have the hidden manna nourishing, supplying, and imparting all of the riches of Christ into me, and I have the resurrection power within—budding, sprouting, and strengthening.”
This is not something outward. It is many times hidden. The tabernacle is hidden in the outer court, the Holy of Holies is hidden behind the Holy Place, the Ark is hidden in the Holy of Holies, the golden pot is hidden in the Ark, and the manna is hidden in the pot. It is so hidden. This hiding place is now our human spirit, deep within us. Christ as our rich and bountiful supply is not the open manna, such as the manna in the wilderness. This hidden manna is not so open and public. It is deeply hidden in the golden pot. Since gold signifies the divine nature, the manna is something hidden in the nature of God. We must experience Christ to such an extent—so deeply in the spirit and in the divine nature of God, and when we enjoy this hidden manna, we will also partake of the budding rod as our resurrection power.
The content of the church life is Christ, but it is not a Christ so superficial or outward. It is a deep and inward Christ, a Christ full of all that God is, and a Christ who is the hidden supply and the resurrection power within us. Such a Christ is the very content of the church life. It is not simply Christ as the trespass offering, the sin offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, or the burnt offering. It is not even Christ as life and the life supply, the light of life, and the sweet incense to God. It is much more. It is a Christ who is the very embodiment of God Himself. In Him is all that God is. He is the embodiment of God, and He is the very content of the church life. He is the embodiment of God, and He is the deeper, inner, hidden enjoyment to us as well as the resurrection power. This is the content of the church life and the very testimony of God.
The church life which God is seeking today is something like the tabernacle that is the dwelling of the priesthood. It is not something outward but something deeply inward. If we would live in the deep part of our spirit, eventually we would have a kind of life that would correspond to God’s glory. Then our walk would be the testimony of God. This is the church life the Lord is seeking today. He is not after a kind of organization, religious body, or human society. He is seeking a body of priests who are saturated and permeated with Him to become the testimony of God and the content of the church life.
