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The tabernacle was not an empty shell that merely served as God’s dwelling place; it had accessory furnishings on the outside and also furnishings as its contents on the inside. The furnishings inside and outside the tabernacle are types of the contents of the New Testament.
Outside the tabernacle there were two articles of accessory furnishings, one being the bronze laver and the other, the bronze altar.
According to the arrangement of the furniture of the tabernacle, in location the laver was after the altar, but in function the laver was before the altar. Unless the priests first washed in the laver, they could not minister in the outer court nor in the tabernacle, and there would be no way for the operation of the tabernacle to be brought forth.
In typology bronze signifies God’s judgment. The bronze laver typifies the Holy Spirit given based on the judgment at the cross. On the cross God judged our sin in the flesh of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 8:3). Based on this judgment, God gave us the Holy Spirit for our washing (Titus 3:5).
The laver was made not merely of bronze but of the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting (Exo. 38:8). Bronze mirrors were used to reflect man’s true condition. Since the laver was made of bronze mirrors, it implies that the entire laver was a bronze mirror to reflect, expose, and cleanse people. This signifies that the Holy Spirit as the judging Spirit has the power to reflect and expose, making manifest the sins and defilements of people and then washing people (Titus 3:5).
Before the priests entered the tabernacle or approached the altar to minister, they had to wash their hands and their feet in the laver so that they would not die (Exo. 30:19-20). This signifies that before we believers, as the New Testament priests, serve God by Christ and His cross, we must wash away the defilements that come from our contact with earthly people, things, and matters, in the Holy Spirit of God’s judgment. If we remain in these defilements, we cannot serve God, we cannot pray, and we cannot function in the meetings. We need to be washed and renewed daily by the Holy Spirit in the divine element (Titus 3:5) that we may become a new creation with the divine nature to serve God in the divine life for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy.
According to the arrangement of the furniture, in position the bronze altar was before all the other furnishings. Furthermore, this altar, which was five cubits in length and width and three cubits in height, was the largest item of the tabernacle and could contain all the other furnishings and utensils. This indicates that the bronze altar is the beginning of all spiritual experiences and that it implies all other spiritual experiences.
The bronze altar typifies the cross of Christ. Hebrews 13:10 says, “We have an altar from which they who are serving the tabernacle have no right to eat.” This altar refers to the cross of Christ, on which He offered all that He was as a sacrifice to God (10:12).
According to the arrangement of all the furniture inside and outside the tabernacle, the ark and the bronze altar are at two ends. The two ends are related to two parties, God and man. God’s end is at the ark, and man’s end is at the bronze altar. A sinner who wants to go into the tabernacle to meet God must first pass through the altar, that is, the cross of Christ.
Because of the fall, man became lost, fell into sin, and was under the righteous judgment of God. Hence, for man to come into the presence of God, he must rely on the cross of Christ, typified by the altar, to redeem him from his sins and to deal with his sins. Christ as the Lamb of God offered Himself as the sacrifice for sins (Heb. 10:12), and His blood has accomplished for us an eternal redemption from our sins (9:12, 14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19) that our sins may be forgiven by God. Furthermore, He was made sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21) in the likeness of the flesh and condemned sin through His death on the cross (Rom. 8:3) that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Thus, through the cross of Christ we have access to God and are fully reconciled to the righteous God and live to Him.
In Numbers 16 we see that the bronze used to overlay the altar came from the censers of two hundred fifty rebellious ones who were judged by God with fire. After God judged them, He charged Moses to take the bronze censers and make them broad plates for a covering of the altar as a sign to the children of Israel (vv. 2-3, 17-18, 36-38). Hence, the bronze altar signifies the cross as the place where sinners are judged by God. Christ became a man to be our Substitute, and on the cross He took the position of a sinner (1 Pet. 3:18), bearing up the sins of the entire human race (2:24) and suffering God’s judgment on behalf of us, the sinners, to save us from God’s righteous judgment.
The altar was located in the outer court of the tabernacle. According to the interpretation given in the New Testament, the outer court signifies the earth, and the entire tabernacle, including both the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, signifies the heavens. Therefore, the fact that the altar was located in the outer court signifies that the cross of Christ was accomplished on the earth and is very close and convenient to sinners. Christ came from the heavens to the earth and from God into the midst of men to be the Lamb of God who died on the cross for sinners and accomplished eternal redemption (John 1:29; Heb. 9:12). This cross, which is so close to sinners, is exceedingly convenient for sinners to apply the redemption of Christ.
The furnishings outside the tabernacle are for assisting those who enter into the tabernacle to serve and draw near to God; the furnishings inside the tabernacle are the contents of the tabernacle, ministering to people the riches of Christ in different aspects.
The first item of the contents of the tabernacle was the table of the bread of the Presence (Exo. 40:4). Upon this table the presence-bread was to be displayed continually (Exo. 25:30). The bread was for the priests as their portion for eternity (Lev. 24:9). Therefore, the table of the bread of the Presence signifies the riches of Christ’s life as the bread of life (John 6:48) for the supply of God’s people that they may live and serve in God’s dwelling place.
The table of the bread of the Presence was made of acacia wood and was overlaid with gold (Exo. 25:23-24). Acacia wood signifies Christ’s humanity as the basic element for Him to be our feast; being overlaid with gold signifies Christ’s divinity as the expression of God. As we enjoy Christ’s humanity as the supply with which to serve God, the outcome will be Christ’s divinity as the expression of God. The more we enjoy Christ as the basic element of our feast, the more we express God.
The second item of the contents of the tabernacle was the golden lampstand (Exo. 40:4), which signifies that Christ in His divinity is the light of life that shines over God’s redeemed people. The lampstand was not made of acacia wood; it was entirely of pure gold. This indicates that it was not because of Christ’s humanity that the light was shining but because of Christ’s divinity. The Gospel of John, which unveils the divinity of Christ, tells us explicitly that Christ is the light of life. Chapter one opens with the words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (vv. 1, 4). In 8:12 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Moreover, 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light.” Light comes from divinity; the light of life is derived from Christ’s divinity. This is the significance of the lampstand being of pure gold.
The third item of the contents of the tabernacle was the golden incense altar (Exo. 40:5). The incense altar is a place to burn incense. Burning the incense signifies praying, and incense signifies Christ with all His merit. Therefore, incense signifies Christ as the means by which God’s redeemed are accepted by God. Christ is the Intercessor to maintain the relationship between God and His people (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). According to the arrangement of the furniture in the tabernacle and the outer court, the ark is the focus. However, in actual practice the center is the golden incense altar. This indicates that the intercession of Christ is the center of God’s administration. The book of Revelation is a book of God’s administration. It reveals the throne of God and the administration of God throughout the universe. However, the executing center actually is not the throne; the executing center is the incense altar in chapter eight. There, in verses 3 through 5, we see that upon this altar the prayers of the saints are offered to God and that Christ as the incense is added to these prayers. When the prayers of the saints ascend to God with the incense of Christ and are accepted by God, God executes the judgments in His administration.
Therefore, we must enjoy Christ as our prayers and allow Him to pray in our praying that the prayers of the individual Christ may become the prayers of the corporate Christ. Thus, God will execute the move of His economy on the earth.
All the above three items were in the Holy Place. The fourth item of the contents of the tabernacle was the ark in the Holy of Holies. The ark was the place where God met with people and spoke to people (Exo. 25:22). It signifies Christ in His redemption as the place where God meets with man and speaks to man. In the ark was the law of the Ten Commandments, which by its holy and righteous requirement exposed and condemned the sins of the people who came to contact God. However, by the lid of the ark, with the propitiating blood sprinkled on it on the Day of Propitiation (Lev. 16:15-17, 34), the entire situation on the sinner’s side was fully covered. Therefore, upon this sin-covering lid God could meet with the people who broke His righteous law, and He could do this without, governmentally, any contradiction to His righteousness, even under the observing of the cherubim that bore His glory and overshadowed the lid of the ark. Thus, the problem between man and God was appeased, enabling God to meet with those who come forward to His presence. This is a prefigure of Christ as the Lamb of God who took away the sin that caused man to have a problem with God (John 1:29) by offering Himself once for all on the cross as the sacrifice for sins (Heb. 9:14; 10:12). Moreover, through His own blood He entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, thus accomplishing an eternal redemption for us and appeasing the problem between man and God. Thus, because of the blood of Christ we and God can meet together, have peace with one another, and communicate with and speak to one another in Christ.
Within the ark there were also the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the two tablets of the covenant, all of which signify our deeper and more inward experiences of Christ.
After the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, God gave them manna from heaven as their food. Furthermore, He commanded Moses to take a golden pot, put an omerful of manna therein, and lay it up before Him to be kept throughout the generations (Exo. 16:33-34). This manna is called the hidden manna (Rev. 2:17), signifying our deepest experience of Christ as our life supply, which is deeper than that which is signified by the table of the bread of the Presence. This is a special portion reserved by the Lord for those who overcome the degradation of the worldly church, as their daily supply today and as their special enjoyment to be their reward in the coming kingdom.
After the judgment of God on Korah and his company for their rebellion in the wilderness, in order to vindicate the proper authority of leadership, God told the leaders of the twelve tribes to each take a rod and lay up their rods before the ark. On the next day, the rod of Aaron had sprouted, put forth buds, produced blossoms, and born ripe almonds (Num. 17:3-8, 10). The rod that budded signifies our experience of Christ in His resurrection as our acceptance by God for authority in the God-given ministry. This is deeper than the experience of Christ as the incense for our acceptance by God.
The two tablets of the covenant, which are the tablets of the Ten Commandments (Exo. 25:21), signify our experience of Christ as the enlightening inner law (Heb. 8:10), which regulates us according to God’s divine nature. The law of commandments regulates us from without by and according to its dead letters; the law of life as the issue of Christ’s being our life enlightens and regulates us from within. This is deeper than the experience of Christ as the shining lampstand in the Holy Place.
The furnishings inside and outside the tabernacle are types of the contents of the New Testament. Outside the tabernacle there were two articles of accessory furnishings, one being the bronze laver and the other, the bronze altar. The laver typifies the Holy Spirit given based on the judgment at the cross. Furthermore, since the laver was made of bronze mirrors, it signifies that the Holy Spirit as the judging Spirit has the power to reflect and expose, making manifest the sins and defilements of people and then washing the people. The bronze altar typifies the cross of Christ. A sinner who wants to go into the tabernacle must first pass through the altar, that is, the cross of Christ, for his redemption from sins and for the dealing with his sins. The altar was overlaid with bronze plates made of the burnt censers used by the rebellious ones, signifying that the cross, typified by the altar, is the place where sinners are judged by God. The altar was located in the outer court of the tabernacle, signifying that the cross of Christ was accomplished on the earth and is very close and convenient to sinners.
The furnishings within the tabernacle are the contents of the tabernacle, ministering to people the riches of Christ in different aspects. The first item was the table of the bread of the Presence, signifying the riches of Christ’s life as the bread of life for the supply of God’s people that they may live and serve in God’s dwelling place. The second item was the golden lampstand, which signifies that Christ in His divinity is the light of life that shines over God’s redeemed people. The third item was the golden incense altar, which signifies Christ as the means by which God’s redeemed are accepted by God. The fourth item was the ark in the Holy of Holies, signifying Christ in His redemption as the place where God meets with man and speaks to man. Within the ark there were also the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the two tablets of the covenant, all of which signify our deeper and more inward experiences of Christ.
