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Scripture Reading: Exo. 40:1-8, 17-33; Heb. 9:2-5
In this chapter we will see the furniture of the tabernacle. The diagram shows that the tabernacle was rectangular and that the innermost part of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies. In the Holy of Holies was the Ark, in which were the tablets of the Testimony, the law of God. The law is the covenant between God and His people. When the Ark was carried into the Holy of Holies, it was placed within a veil. The table of the bread of the Presence was placed in the Holy Place on the north side of the tabernacle outside the veil, and the golden lampstand with seven burning lamps was placed opposite the table of the bread of the Presence on the south side of the tabernacle. The golden altar for burning incense was put in front of the veil. A screen was hung at the entrance of the tabernacle. The altar of the burnt offering was placed in the outer court, and the laver was put between the tabernacle and the altar. The hangings were set up around the tabernacle and the outer court, and a screen also was hung at the entrance of the outer court (Exo. 40:1-8, 20-30, 33). This was the arrangement of the furniture in the tabernacle.
The tabernacle had two parts: the outer part was called the Holy Place, and the inner part was called the Holy of Holies. In the outer part, the Holy Place, there were three pieces of furniture: the table of the bread of the Presence, the golden lampstand, and the golden incense altar. There was only one piece of furniture in the Holy of Holies—the Ark. The Ark contained three items: the golden pot with manna, Aaron’s budding rod, and the two tablets of the covenant. Above the Ark cherubim of glory overshadowed the expiation cover (25:20; Heb. 9:2-5). These were the pieces of furniture in the Tent of Meeting. The altar, the laver, and the hangings were outside of the Tent of Meeting.
The tabernacle is a picture of the cross, and the death of the cross is displayed within the tabernacle. Although all the contents of the tabernacle typify Christ Himself, it is the cross that enables us to obtain Christ. On the cross Christ gave Himself to us to become our enjoyment. The arrangement of the furniture of the tabernacle was in the shape of a cross, revealing that Christ becomes our enjoyment through the cross.
In order to serve God there needs to be both the preparation and a means. The tabernacle was the means for serving God, and the tabernacle was Christ. The tabernacle included the hangings, the altar, the laver, and the tabernacle itself. The top of the tabernacle was covered with four layers, with the innermost layer being the most glorious and royal and the outermost layer being the most primitive (Exo. 26:1-14).
After the outer court, the next section was the Holy Place. Holiness means being separated unto God, so the Holy Place was a place separated unto God. This indicates that when we begin to serve God, we first enter through the Lord into a pure and righteous realm, signified by the hangings. We have dealt with our sins and all other negative things on the altar through the redemption of the cross, and we have been enlightened and cleansed at the laver through the washing of the life-giving Spirit. However, we have not yet entered into God; we still must be separated unto God.
We need to see that all our service must be in the tabernacle, that is, in Christ. If our service is not in Christ, even if we have passed through the cross and the Spirit, we are still serving in the outer court and have not yet entered into the Holy Place; that is, we are still serving outside of Christ, and we are not serving in the position of separation and sanctification unto God.
The presence of God was not at the altar or at the laver, because these two places are merely for passing by. We do not have God’s presence at the places for passing by. It is only by entering into the Holy Place that we can touch God’s presence. The Holy Place was called the Holy Place because God’s presence was in it. God was in the Holy Place. The tabernacle was the Holy Place because God was in the tabernacle. However, the Holy Place was merely the first section of the tabernacle. We must keep going until we enter the deepest part, the Holy of Holies.
Those who serve in the outer court have been separated from the world, have passed through the redemption of the cross, and have experienced the enlightening and washing of the life-giving Spirit. However, they are still engaged in the activities of service publicly. Gradually, they should advance into the deeper part; that is, they must enter into the tabernacle. In the Holy Place they burn the incense, light the lamps, and arrange the bread of the Presence. They cannot be seen in the outer court, because they have been covered by the tabernacle. They are serving God in the tabernacle; that is, they have entered into Christ to serve God. At this point others cannot see them; others can see only Christ, with whom the serving ones are clothed and covered. The service in the Holy Place is a service in Christ.
If we have some spiritual experience, we can discern where a person is serving. We can sense that some have just entered through the gate and have not yet experienced the cross. Others have advanced a little; that is, they are at the altar, where they have repented, confessed, and been washed by the precious blood of Christ. Still others have advanced a little more; they know the Holy Spirit, have experienced the enlightening and washing of the Holy Spirit, and are very zealous toward the Lord. However, these ones are serving merely in the outer court in the initial stage of salvation. As ones who serve God, we should not stay in the outer court too long. We must enter into the tabernacle, that is, into Christ, to serve God. Only when we are in the tabernacle can we say, “No longer I who live, but it is Christ” (cf. Gal. 2:20). Although we are serving, others will see only the Christ in us. When we truly enter into this kind of experience, we immediately enjoy all the contents of Christ.
The three pieces of furniture in the Holy Place speak of the contents of Christ. First, the table of the bread of the Presence refers to the life of Christ as our life. Second, the golden lampstand refers to the life of Christ as our light. Third, the golden incense altar refers to Christ as our fragrance before God.
The bread of the Presence was set on the table in the Holy Place (Exo. 40:22-23), signifying that Christ is our life. Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3-4). Our being in the Holy Place is our experience of being in Christ, and thus we begin to experience Christ as our life. In Exodus the flesh of the lamb, the unleavened bread, the manna, and the bread of the Presence all signify the life of Christ. The flesh of the lamb signifies that Christ was slain to release His life for us to receive. The unleavened bread signifies that the life of Christ enters into us to become the sinless life in us, causing us to have a desire to be sinless and to live a sinless life. Manna signifies the life of Christ becoming our daily supply as we journey in the wilderness. The bread of the Presence signifies the life of Christ enabling us to live before God and have fellowship with Him. If we read Exodus and Leviticus carefully, we will see that the bread of the Presence was eaten by God and by man; it is for God’s enjoyment on the one hand and for man’s enjoyment on the other hand. This bread was displayed before God (Exo. 25:30; 40:23) to be enjoyed first by Him and then by man (Lev. 24:5-9). This illustrates that God has fellowship with us in the life of Christ and that we also live before God and have fellowship with Him in the life of Christ.
Serving God in the outer court involves our own activities and behavior. Upon entering the Holy Place, however, our activity ceases. All we display before God is the life of Christ; we can fellowship with and enjoy God only with Christ. When we begin serving the Lord, we are in the outer court, and we merely adjust our behavior and deal with our actions. No matter how good we are, we are still in ourselves, and others cannot smell the fragrance of Christ in us. After we have been saved for a while and have some deeper experiences, we see that serving the Lord is not a matter of behavior but of life. We see that even our best behavior cannot be brought before God. The only thing that can be brought before God is the life of Christ. For example, do we obey by ourselves, or do we obey because Christ is life in us? In ourselves we cannot obey, but when we live in Christ, the life of Christ becomes our life, and it enables us to obey.
When we enter into the Holy Place, we are no longer in the outer court. Once we stop ourselves, we enter into another level of life. We enter into Christ, and we no longer have any regard for our behavior, even though our behavior is better than before. The life of Christ issues in not only meekness but something higher than meekness, and it issues in not only honesty but something higher than honesty. While we are in the outer court, we maintain our conduct by human effort. However, when we enter into Christ, we experience Christ as our life and fellowship with God in this life. Then we no longer need to maintain our behavior by human effort; instead, we have good behavior in Christ spontaneously. This is the result of displaying the bread of the Presence before God for God to enjoy and for us to enjoy.
The golden lampstand was also in the Holy Place. A lampstand is related to light. John 1:4 says that the life in Christ is the light of men. When we touch the life of Christ, we are bright within. As long as we have the life of Christ within, we have the light of life within. In the outer court there was natural light, that is, the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars. However, the Holy Place did not have a window, nor did the door have an opening for light. Rather, a thick screen was hung over the entrance. There was no natural light, but there was the golden lampstand. Thus, the Holy Place was bright and not affected by outward light. The light in the Holy Place was not natural light but the light of God, the light of the life of Christ. Those who have some experience can testify that whenever we live in Christ and have Christ as our life, we are bright within. This inward shining causes us to live not according to our own view nor according to others’ views, because the life of Christ becomes our light within.
One who serves in the outer court has passed through the redemption of the cross on the altar and has been enlightened and washed at the laver, but he may still watch movies as before. If someone admonishes him, he may argue. However, after he enters into the Holy Place and the light in the Holy Place, the life of Christ, shines on him, he spontaneously stops watching movies. When I was young, I enjoyed playing soccer, but one day God met me, and when I went to the soccer field, the taste within me was not right. Although playing soccer is not a sin, I no longer wanted to play soccer because I sensed that I was not sanctified. I never played soccer again, but I did not feel that I was forced to quit. My quitting was not based on doctrine but on the sense of life.
We need to know that the light in the Holy Place is not natural light, that is, others’ views or our own views. It is the light of life within us. When we touch the life of Christ, His life within us becomes our light. This light of life is practical, deep, personal, gentle, and fine. It shines in us to such an extent that we do not dare to speak idle words or to tell jokes, and many times we do not dare to speak even proper words.
This light of life is very strong. It is not an outward shining but a shining from deep within. This light shines on us, making us honest. This honesty is absolute, not superficial, and it cannot be concealed. Once I saw a child carrying a basin of water, and he spilled three drops of water on the ground. I told him, “You spilled water all over the ground.” After saying this, I felt no peace within. No matter what I did—whether I was reading the Bible, preaching, or eating—I was not at peace. Eventually, I told the child, “When you were carrying the water and spilled three drops, I said that you spilled water all over the ground. That was not accurate. Please forgive me.” This was the issue of the shining of life. After that, I did not dare to pass along messages for others for a while. If someone asked me to give a message to someone else, I would write it down and give the paper to the other person, because if there had been mistakes in my speaking the message, I would have felt so uneasy that I could not have prayed or read the Bible. When we enter into the Holy Place, the light of the life of Christ shines on us to such an extent that we are not able to act carelessly.
The light in the Holy Place was for nothing other than serving God and having His presence. The light in the outer court was not much different from the light that was seen by the Gentiles. Thus, there was not much difference between the insight and views of those who served in the outer court and the Gentiles. The only difference was that the Gentiles did not care about such things as righteousness, sin, and the world. Although those who were in the outer court had been separated to some extent in the matters of sin, the world, and righteousness, their view was still natural and not much different from the view of the Gentiles. When we enter into the Holy Place, our sight and views reflect the light in the Holy Place, and this light is the life of Christ as our light. Something may not be wrong, sinful, or immoral to an unbeliever, but the believers who are in the Holy Place have light within themselves. This light will shine on them, letting them know whether something is fitting for Christians and whether God’s presence is there. The light of life within them has a higher requirement. This is not a matter of sin or holiness but a matter of the life of Christ shining in us as our light, causing us to be different from ordinary people and restricting us from acting carelessly so that we may be sanctified. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we may live before Him by this light and that whenever others see us, they would say, “This is the Holy Place. God’s presence is here.”
The Holy Place had the golden incense altar. Everyone who came into the Tent of Meeting to serve God had to burn incense on the incense altar (Exo. 40:5). This incense was not common incense but an incense that was burned before God, revealing that Christ’s resurrection life is not common but holy. Christ’s resurrection life before God is like a sweet savor that makes us acceptable to God. We are acceptable to God as a sweet savor because of the resurrected Christ, not because of our virtues.
Christ being our life indicates that our behavior is not needed, Christ being our light indicates that our view is not needed, and Christ being our fragrance indicates that our virtues are not needed. Our behavior in the outer court opposes the life of Christ, our view in the outer court opposes the light of Christ, and our natural merits and virtues in the outer court oppose the fragrance of Christ. In the Holy Place we experience Christ as life, as light, and as the sweet savor. Christ as life causes us to live, Christ as light enlightens us, and the resurrected Christ makes us acceptable to God.
When we experience Christ in the Holy Place, He is our life. We live before God, and we have fellowship with God by Christ and through Christ. He is our light, shining in us to instruct and correct us at all times. He is also our sweet savor before God to make us acceptable to God. This fragrance is Christ’s resurrection life, the resurrected Christ; it is not our own virtues.
When we are in the outer court, our behavior, view, and virtues are against Christ. However, these things gradually disappear when we enter into the Holy Place and live there. Our behavior, our views, and our virtues are no longer useful, and they cannot be preserved. When we live in Christ, He becomes our life, our light, and our fragrance, causing us to be acceptable before God. Then we will find that we cannot leave Him for even one day, for everything is Christ. When we live in the Holy Place, we are delivered from the self to serve God. There are no common things in us. Rather, everything is from God and from Christ. We have Christ as the sweet savor before God, and when we contact others, they smell the fragrance of Christ and taste the flavor of Christ in us. At this point we have holiness in us, and this holiness is God, Christ. Christ is our life, light, and fragrance, and we are full of Christ. This is the situation in the Holy Place. This is not doctrine but our experience.
Those who live in the Holy Place know how to depend on the life of Christ instead of on their own behavior, on the shining of Christ instead of on their own views, and on the fragrance of Christ instead of on their own virtues. Their entire being, living, and service are all Christ. Such ones are full of the flavor of Christ and full of God’s presence because they live in Christ, that is, in the Holy Place.
