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Scripture Reading: Exo. 36:31-38; 37:1-9; Gal. 2:9; Rev. 3:12; John 10:9
In this chapter we will review eight points related to the tabernacle so that we may be more deeply impressed with them. These eight matters are basic for the building up of the church.
We have seen that the church is built on the basis of the redemption of Christ, as typified by the one hundred silver sockets (Exo. 36:24, 26, 30, 36). The whole tabernacle was grounded on the silver sockets. The base, the foundation, of the silver sockets is one of the most significant aspects of the tabernacle. Exodus 38:27 tells us that the sockets were very large and heavy, each being of one talent, the equivalent of almost one hundred pounds. The heaviest part of the tabernacle was the foundation. The tabernacle was not grounded on the earth. It was based and grounded on the silver sockets. It was something different from the earth and separated from the earth. This shows us that the church is not grounded or built upon something of the earth but on something apart from the earth, the full and weighty redemption of Christ. One hundred, the number of the silver sockets, indicates that there is nothing short in Christ’s redemption. It is absolutely complete, full, and weighty. It is the foundation of the church and the basis for the building of the Lord’s dwelling place.
The foundation of the tabernacle was of silver, but the manifestation within the tabernacle was the gold (36:13, 34, 36, 38; 37:1-28). From within the tabernacle, one could see almost nothing but gold. Gold signifies the divine nature with the divine life of Christ, which is God Himself. The church is built upon the foundation of the redemption of Christ, but what the church manifests is the divine nature and divine life of Christ. Within the church, the building of God, what must be manifested is not the works, the doings of God, but the very nature and life of God. The manifestation of the divine nature is more significant than even the foundation of the tabernacle. The tabernacle was full of gold, and the church must be full of the divine nature of God. What we manifest, express, and show to others should be nothing other than the glorious divine nature of Christ.
What is manifested in the church is the divine nature, but the manifestation of the divine nature depends upon the human nature. The gold of the tabernacle overlaid the acacia wood (36:20, 31, 36; 37:1, 4). What was manifested was the gold, but the gold overlaid the acacia wood. In a sense, the gold depended upon the acacia wood. This may seem strange to our concept. We may have thought that the condition of our human nature depends upon the divine nature. But the picture of the tabernacle shows that the gold depends upon the wood.
With the building of the church, the divine nature of God depends greatly upon our human nature. The gold did not stand upright in the tabernacle; it was the acacia wood that stood with the gold upon it (36:20). Gold is a soft metal and is not hard enough to stand upright. The standing strength for the tabernacle was not with the gold but with the acacia wood. Without the acacia wood, the gold could not stand.
As we have seen, the acacia wood represents the transformed human nature and character. According to the history of the church, the building of the church has depended very much upon the transformed human nature. Brothers such as Martin Luther, George Müller, and John Darby had a transformed human nature, and their character was strong. If you would read their biographies, you could see that they were the real acacia wood. The building of the church needs the proper human character. The manifestation in the church is the divine nature with the divine life, but the support is the human character, the human nature. The standing strength needed for the tabernacle is with the human nature “overlaid,” that is, transformed, with the divine nature and divine life of Christ. The human nature and the divine nature must be mingled together.
The fourth point with which we must be deeply impressed is related to the two tenons under each board (v. 22). There are always two sides, two aspects, to the things created by God. As a member in the church you are one board, but you must have two tenons. The two tenons may be compared to your two feet. You are one person but with two feet. Your feet are needed for balance. If you stand upon one foot, you will eventually lose your balance. We must always be balanced by the number two. Not only do we have two feet, but we also have two hands, two arms, two shoulders, and even two ears and two eyes. Everything is in twos for balance. We must remember that we always have to be balanced by others. If anything stands alone, it will lose its balance. We must always be checked, tested, and confirmed by others so that we may have the balance. Otherwise, we will be peculiar and will go to an extreme. The significance of the two tenons is that they show us our need for balance.
As we have seen before, if a board had only one tenon, it would turn easily and even fall, just as we may easily fall if we stand on one foot. When we are walking and wish to turn, we must lift one foot off the ground. We cannot turn when we are standing on two feet. Many Christians today may easily be turned. They are like a board with one tenon. Spiritually speaking, they may face in one direction today, but tomorrow they may face in the opposite direction. It is easy for such ones to be changed and fall because they do not have two tenons.
The width of the boards of the tabernacle was one and a half cubits (v. 21), indicating a half measurement of three cubits. A half always needs the other half. As members of the Body, we are just one-half. We must remember that we always need another member to make us complete. In creation there is the same principle. A man is not complete unless he has a wife. Likewise, a woman is not complete unless she is married to a husband. The couple is the completion. The husband is a half, and the wife is another half. Sometimes when the brothers and sisters come into the meeting, a wife and her husband may sit together as one whole. Each is a half, and they both need the other half to make them a whole. For the building of the church, our need is to be completed. We can never be individuals; we must always be completed by others.
We must be joined with others by the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit with the holding power of the divine nature. According to 36:31-34, the bars of acacia wood overlaid with gold were in the golden rings, and the golden rings were joined to the gold overlaying the boards. This typifies the holding strength and the holding power of the divine nature and life of Christ. All the boards were joined together within the gold and by the bars overlaid with gold. The boards could be joined together as one simply because they were in the gold; that is, in type, they were in the divine nature and divine life of Christ.
The strength and the power for joining together was the bars, which represent the Holy Spirit. According to 36:31 and 32, there were five bars on the south side, five bars on the north side, and five bars on the west side. The three groups of bars indicate that this Spirit is the Spirit of the Triune God.
We must be impressed with the picture in Exodus 36. There were three groups of bars, and each group consisted of five bars. Five is four plus one. As we have seen, four bars were smaller and one bar, the middle one, was bigger, extending from one end of a wall to the other end. This is a picture of the mingling of the divine nature with the human nature. Four represents the creature, and one represents the Creator. These two added together become five. Moreover, five signifies responsibility. Therefore, the bars signify the Holy Spirit of the Triune God, who takes the full responsibility for God’s building by mingling His divine nature with the human nature. How could the church be built up with so many believers? It could be done only in the divine nature and divine life of Christ by the Spirit of the Triune God.
The entire tabernacle was covered by a fourfold covering, which represents the fourfold Christ (vv. 8-19). The tabernacle was grounded on the silver sockets and was covered with the fourfold covering. This means that even though the church is grounded on the redemption of Christ, it still has to be covered by Christ, not by a simple Christ but by a fourfold Christ. The first layer of the coverings was made of linen. This is something of the vegetable life. The second layer was made of goats’ hair, the third layer was of rams’ skins, and the last layer was made of porpoise skins, all something of the animal life. The goats’ hair and the rams’ skins were of the life of the animals belonging to the flock on the land, but the porpoise skins were from the animals of the sea. The picture of the coverings shows us that with Christ there are different aspects of life. There is an aspect of life pictured by linen, and there is the aspect of life pictured by the rams and the goats. There is also another aspect of life pictured by the porpoise in the sea.
The Lord in His human life is perfect, as represented by the white linen. Furthermore, this Christ bears the heavenly character, the kingship, the authority of heaven, the redemption, and even the glory of God, as signified by the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the cherubim of the linen curtains.
The significance of the goats’ hair and the rams’ skins is related to redemption. Flocks of rams and goats are not good for protection. They are good only for sacrifice. Christ has the life that would sacrifice for others, the life that would die, shedding His blood to accomplish redemption, as signified by the rams’ skins dyed red. This is another aspect of the life of Christ.
The life of the porpoise in the sea represents the life which is strong enough to endure all kinds of trials and to suffer all kinds of tests, temptations, and the attacks of death. Sea water represents the power of death. Even under the power of death, that is, under the sea water, the porpoise can live and withstand pressure. Even under the attacks of death, such a Christ is still able to live.
The Christ depicted by the coverings of the tabernacle is not a simple Christ but a manifold Christ, a Christ of many aspects. The church must experience this Christ so that we may be covered by Him.
In the previous chapter we have seen that there were nine pillars in the tabernacle (vv. 36, 38). At the entrance to the tabernacle five pillars supported the screen, and at the entrance to the Holy of Holies four pillars supported the veil. In the church there are some who are the pillars. Galatians 2:9 says, “Perceiving the grace given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars.” Peter, James, and John, as the mature and stronger ones, were not merely boards but the pillars of the church. Similarly, in Revelation 3:12 the Lord promised the church in Philadelphia that “he who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God.”
The pillars are different from the boards. The boards that form the wall of the tabernacle are good for protection and separation, but there is no way for people to enter into God’s building through them. The pillars, on the other hand, are good for both protection and separation as well as for entrance. For this reason, to be a pillar, one must be much stronger than the boards.
The boards are useful for protection, sanctification, holiness, and for separation from the world. They are strong to stand against all the negative things. Praise the Lord that we have so many brothers and sisters who exclude the negative things. Without them, there would be no wall. The church would be too open and exposed to the negative things. There would be no protection and no building up of the dwelling place of God. For the building, we need brothers and sisters to be the separating boards. The separating boards are like the wall of the New Jerusalem (21:12), separating and protecting by life.
However, if we are all boards, then there will be no entrance for people to come into God’s dwelling place. The church will be closed, and we will become exclusive. For the sake of the entrance, some of us have to be dealt with. A pillar is finer and stronger than a board. The boards must be cut and fitted to become the pillars. On the one hand, to be cut and fitted is to be reduced, but on the other hand, it is to be increased in strength. Those who have been dealt with will be very flexible. They can be for protection and support, and they can also be the entrance for others to come into God’s dwelling place. People will be free to go in through them.
We pray that the Lord would increase the numbers in the churches, but for this there is the need for some among the believers to become the pillars. The number of the boards was forty-eight, but the number of the pillars was only nine. The majority are the boards, whereas the minority are the pillars. We need the pillars to bring in the liberty of the Holy Spirit, to provide the entrance for men as redeemed creatures to come into the Triune God.
In John 10:9 the Lord said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and go out and shall find pasture.” The sheep may go in and go out through Him. They have the liberty through the Lord as the entrance for coming in and going out. With the church there is the need of the separating wall, and there is the need of the entrances for people to come into the Triune God with full liberty.
The first entrance was of five pillars, signifying responsibility. The second entrance was of four pillars, pointing to man, the creature. In total there were nine pillars, which is three times three. This indicates something threefold in the Triune God. The pillars are in the Triune God to a threefold degree to take up the responsibility to form the entrances for the men as redeemed creatures to come into the Triune God.
