Message 99
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 26:31-35; 36:35-36; 40:3, 21
It is difficult to understand why there was a veil within the tabernacle. If we consider the situation of the tabernacle as a whole, we may be puzzled by the fact that there was a veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The tabernacle was a tent thirty cubits in length, ten cubits in width, and ten cubits in height. The veil served as a partition between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. This veil was a curtain of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. It was the work of a skillful workman, and it was made with cherubim. In color and design it was exactly the same as the ceiling of the tabernacle, the first layer of the covering. Whenever a priest came into the tabernacle, he would immediately notice that the ceiling and the veil were the same.
The Holy of Holies was a cube measuring ten cubits in each direction. The Holy Place was twenty cubits in length and ten cubits in both width and height. The term Holy of Holies is a Hebrew expression meaning the most holy place, the holiest of all. The crucial question is why there had to be a separation between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. For what purpose was the tent divided into two rooms? Whenever we build a house with rooms or erect a partition in a room, we have a specific purpose. The various rooms in a house each have a particular purpose, and each room contains furniture suitable to it. For example, the furniture in the bedroom is very different from that in the living room. The Holy of Holies contained only one piece of furniture — the ark. In the Holy Place there were the table of the bread of the presence, the lampstand, and the incense altar. Whenever a priest came into the Holy Place, he first went to the table for nourishment. After being nourished at the table, he would go to the lampstand to trim it and add oil to it so that it would shine brightly. Following this, he would go to the incense altar. As we shall see in a later message, both the incense altar and the incense offered at this altar are types of Christ. Through Christ as the sweet fragrance to God typified by the incense, we can enter into the Holy of Holies, the very place where God stays, where He meets with us, and where He communes with us. In the Holy of Holies, where God’s shekinah glory is, we have fellowship with Him. Although we know what was in the Holy Place, we still need to see why there was the need to have a veil, a curtain, separating the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies from the table and the lampstand in the Holy Place. We still need to find out why there was the need of a partition to separate the tabernacle into two sections.
According to Hebrews 10:20, the veil signifies the flesh of Christ. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was rent from the top to the bottom. This means that through death the veil of Christ’s flesh was cleft. What is difficult to understand is the significance of the veil within the tabernacle being placed on four pillars. The pillars are different from the boards. We have seen that on the north, west, and south sides of the tabernacle there was a total of forty-eight boards. On the east side, instead of boards, there was a curtain, called the first veil. Thus, the veil within the tabernacle may be called the second veil. The first veil was put on five pillars, and the second veil was put on four pillars.
As we have pointed out, the forty-eight boards of the tabernacle are not types of Christ. The most we can say is that they are types of the enlargement of Christ, or types of the enlarged Christ. We cannot say that the boards typify Christ directly, for these boards are types of the believers who are the enlargement of Christ. Likewise, the four pillars upon which the second veil was placed are not types of Christ. Although the pillars differed from the boards in shape, they were made of the same materials — acacia wood overlaid with gold. Furthermore, they stood on a base of silver. Underneath each standing board were two sockets of silver in which the two tenons were firmly placed. There was a total of ninety-six sockets, two for each board. Each of the four pillars was placed in a silver socket. Thus, with the tabernacle there was a total of one hundred sockets of silver.
The fact that the pillars rest in sockets of silver is a further proof that the pillars typify the believers and not Christ Himself. Christ has no need of redemption to be His standing. However, the believers must have a firm standing, and this standing, as signified by the silver sockets, is the redemption of Christ. Both the boards and the pillars are believers who stand on Christ’s redemption.
Since both the boards and the pillars typify the believers, we may ask what is the difference between the pillars and the boards. The pillars typify believers, but extraordinary believers, not ordinary ones. The forty-eight boards typify ordinary believers. According to Galatians 2:9, Peter, John, and James were pillars. These extraordinary disciples of the Lord Jesus were pillars in the church. In Revelation 3:12 the Lord says that the overcomers will become pillars in the temple of God.
In every local church there should be some pillars. In God’s house, God’s dwelling place, there is the need not only for boards, but also for pillars. In the tabernacle the pillars were one-twelfth the number of the boards. I hope that all the elders in the churches are pillars.
Now we come to another difficult question: Why was the veil, a type of Christ, placed on pillars, which typify extraordinary believers? According to the picture portrayed by the type, when Christ became flesh, He was placed on the believers. But why was Christ in the flesh put on the believers? Now we have two difficult questions to answer, one concerning why there was a separation within the tabernacle and the other concerning why Christ was put on the believers.
Exodus 26:31 says, “And you shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; the work of a skillful workman shall it be made, with cherubim.” We have pointed out that the veil is the same as the first layer of the covering of the tabernacle. This means that the separation is the same as the ceiling in material, color, workmanship, and embroidery. Blue means heavenly (1 Cor. 15:47-48), purple signifies royalty (John 19:19-22), scarlet typifies the shedding of blood for redemption (Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet. 1:18-19), twined linen signifies the fine living of Christ manifested through suffering and trials, and the embroidered cherubim typify the work of the Spirit on Christ to make the glory of God manifested in the creature. When Christ was on earth, He lived a very fine human life. This living was manifested through sufferings and trials.
Exodus 26:32 goes on to say, “And you shall put it upon four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold; and their hooks shall be of gold, upon four sockets of silver.” In the Bible the number four signifies creatures. The four pillars standing on four sockets of silver signify the redeemed creatures.
We have seen that these pillars typify extraordinary believers, whereas the boards signify ordinary believers. Do you prefer to be a board or a pillar? Most believers may prefer to be boards. To be a board in the tabernacle is comfortable, but to be a pillar is quite difficult. Wherever a board may be placed, it enjoys comfort. Pillars, however, face hardships. If you desire to be a pillar, you must be ready to face difficulties. The pillars were first ordinary believers, as typified by the boards. After being dealt with and experiencing a certain amount of cutting or pressure, they became pillars. Thus, it takes more work to produce a pillar than it does to produce a board. Moreover, the workmanship on the pillars is more skillful than that on the boards. To overlay a board with gold is easier than to overlay a pillar with gold. The pillars are not only redeemed, but they have been dealt with. They have suffered a great deal and have passed through many trials in order to become pillars. Hence, they signify believers strong to bear the testimony of Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion (Gal. 2:9; Rev. 3:12; 1 Tim. 3:15).
The pillars bear the testimony of Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion. First the veil indicates the incarnation of Christ, that Christ, the living Word, became flesh (John 1:1, 14). According to Hebrews 10:20, this flesh is the veil. Ultimately, through crucifixion, this veil was rent. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, the veil was rent from the top to the bottom. The fact that it was rent in this way indicates that it was torn by God. As a type, the veil signifies Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion. These are the main aspects of Christ who is put on the believers who have been redeemed and dealt with.
Verse 32 mentions that the pillars had hooks of gold. These golden hooks signify the holding and connecting strength of the divine nature. Only the divine nature can connect the pillars to the incarnated and crucified Christ. Only through the holding strength of the divine nature can we bear the testimony of Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion.
We have seen that the four pillars stood upon four sockets of silver. These sockets indicate Christ’s redemption for the creatures. With the tabernacle there was a total of one hundred silver sockets, ninety-six for the boards and four for the pillars. The number one hundred is composed of ten times ten. Ten is the number of human completion and perfection. Ten times ten signifies the full and complete fulfillment of the requirements of the Ten Commandments according to what God is. The number ten is also seen in the Holy of Holies, a cube measuring ten cubits in each direction. According to 38:27, the silver for the redemption of the lives of the children of Israel was a little more than a hundred talents. All the children of Israel were God’s redeemed people. For this reason, each had to pay a piece of silver as a symbol of God’s redemption. Everyone had to pay the same amount. From the silver collected from the people, one hundred talents were used to make the one hundred silver sockets for the tabernacle. This no doubt signifies that as the boards for the building up of God’s dwelling place, His redeemed people stand on the solid redemption of Christ.
Each of the children of Israel paid a half-shekel of silver. Since a shekel is twenty gerahs, a half-shekel is ten gerahs. Thus, we once again have the number ten signifying human completion. God’s commandments for man are also ten. Ten commandments signify a full and complete demand on man. Because God’s people must bear the complete responsibility and have a complete fulfillment of God’s requirements, each must pay ten gerahs. The total of so many gerahs of silver is a little over a hundred talents. All these cases of the number ten, indicating complete demand, requirement, responsibility, and fulfillment, are related to Christ and to Christ’s redemption. Christ’s redemption is in the number ten. Ten is composed of two times five, with five being the number of responsibility and two the number of testimony. Thus, two times five signifies two times responsibility for a testimony. This is Christ with His redemption.
The veil covered the ark of the testimony (Num. 4:5). Those who entered the Holy Place could see the table, the lampstand, and the incense altar. However, they could not see the ark of testimony. Not only did the veil separate the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies; it also covered the ark. This signifies the separation between man and God (Gen. 3:24). Now we can answer the question we raised at the beginning of this message: Why was there the need of a separating veil within the tabernacle? There had to be a separation because fallen man in his nature is separated from God. Because we are still in our fallen nature, there is a separation between us and God. Fallen human beings cannot come to the ark in the Holy of Holies to contact God, converse with God, or have fellowship with God. Although God loves us and desires to have fellowship with us, our fallen nature does not allow Him to do this. We are sinful, but He is righteous. We are unjust, but He is just. A just and righteous God cannot meet with unjust and unrighteous people. There must be a separation between Him and them, a separation signified by the veil within the tabernacle.
This veil was broken at the Lord’s death (Matt. 27:51) to open a new and living way for us to contact God (Heb. 10:19-20). Because of the fall, we became sinful in nature. For this reason, there had to be a separation of the ark in the inner chamber of the tabernacle from the outer chamber. As a result of the fall, man has become flesh. For the most part, in the Bible flesh is a negative term; it denotes the fallen man. We fell and became flesh. Now this flesh is a veil separating us from God.
The ark is of a different category of furniture from the table, the lampstand, and the incense altar. At the table, the lampstand, and the incense altar, we have something of God, but we do not have God Himself. God Himself is at the ark in the Holy of Holies. Although fallen persons may receive God’s supply and see His light, they cannot contact Him. To receive supply and enlightenment from God is one thing; to have direct contact with Him is another thing. Suppose, for example, that a son offends his father in a certain way. Although the father still desires to give the son something to supply him, he cannot see him until the barrier, the separation, between them has been removed. The father may say, “He is my son, and I want to supply him with my riches. But I cannot see him until the barrier is removed.” This illustrates the fact that God will not see us and have fellowship with us or speak with us face to face until our flesh is broken. God loves us, and He will supply us with His riches. Nevertheless, until our flesh is broken He will not speak to us face to face from the ark. There is a veil separating us, and this veil is the flesh, our fallen being.
The problem of the flesh, our fallen being, is different from the problem of sins. This is a matter of our being, of our person. Our sins have been forgiven, but we ourselves remain a problem. Even though our sins have been washed away, we are still with the flesh, and the flesh may be unbroken. This unbroken flesh is the veil.
Exodus 26:33 and 34 say, “And you shall put the veil under the clasps, and you shall bring in there, within the veil, the ark of the testimony; and the veil shall make a separation for you between the holy place and the holy of holies. And you shall put the propitiatory cover upon the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies.” The clasps under which the veil was put are the clasps on the first layer of the covering. We have seen that this layer, made of ten pieces, each four cubits wide, was forty cubits long. Fifty clasps of gold connected the two main sections of the covering, each of which measured twenty cubits in length. Twenty cubits of this layer covered the Holy Place, ten cubits covered the Holy of Holies, and ten cubits hung down over the back side. Because the curtain, the veil, was under the line formed by the fifty clasps of the ceiling, we know that the Holy of Holies was a cube measuring ten cubits in each direction. There were ten cubits of the first layer to cover the area from the veil to the standing boards at the rear of the tabernacle. Thus, the Holy of Holies measured ten cubits in length, width, and height.
The fact that the Holy of Holies was a cube measuring ten cubits in three directions signifies completion in completion. The Holy Place, measuring twenty cubits by ten cubits by ten cubits, was twice as large as the Holy of Holies. Furthermore, the veil was a square, ten cubits by ten cubits. It was a square in full completion.
At this point we need to consider further the significance of the veil placed on four pillars. We have pointed out that these pillars signify extraordinary believers, those who have been not only redeemed, but also dealt with. The veil signifies the flesh of Christ. We know that Christ is typified by the Passover lamb, the manna, the ark, and the good land. What kind of Christ is typified by the veil? The lamb is the redeeming Christ, the manna is the nourishing Christ, and the veil is Christ in the flesh crucified for us. With Christ in the flesh we have incarnation and crucifixion. Yes, Christ Himself was cleft, riven. But now the pillars, the extraordinary believers who have been redeemed and dealt with, must bear a testimony in the tabernacle, the habitation of God, of the incarnated and crucified Christ. Only by being dealt with can we become such pillars. To be dealt with here means to experience the crucifixion, the rending, of our flesh. Those who are pillars, the extraordinary believers, in the church, God’s dwelling place, must bear the testimony that their flesh has been crucified. Peter, John, Paul, and the overcoming believers throughout the generations and centuries have borne such a testimony. They have been pillars testifying that their fallen being with its fallen nature, that is, their person and their flesh, has been rent. The concept here is deep and the thought is profound.
The tabernacle is the dwelling place of God. But within God’s dwelling place there is a separation. In a human dwelling place a separation may be a positive thing, but in God’s dwelling place the separation is a negative matter. Thus, the veil is negative, for it conceals God’s presence from His people. Before the veil was rent, only the high priest was qualified to enter the Holy of Holies once a year. This proves that the veil was something negative. Today this veil is our flesh. Some may argue that the veil signifies Christ’s flesh, not our flesh. But when Christ, the eternal Word of God, became flesh, He became identified with us. This means that the flesh which Christ became actually denotes our fallen nature. Furthermore, when He was crucified on the cross, our fallen nature, that is, our natural being, the flesh, was crucified with Him. When He was cleft, our flesh was cleft also, for our flesh was cleft with Him. Yes, in God’s dwelling place Christ has been crucified, and the veil has been rent. Now the pillars must continue to bear this testimony. With Christ, the flesh has been crucified, and the veil has been rent. But with us the veil may not yet have been cleft. Because with Christ the veil has been cleft, the separation between God and man has been broken. Now those who have been redeemed by Christ can commune with God directly. However, many believers still have not experienced the crucifixion of their flesh. Thus, their flesh remains as a separation between them and God. The pillars within God’s dwelling place must now bear the testimony that the veil of their flesh has been cleft with Christ. In other words, those who are pillars in the church should no longer live by their flesh. Instead, they must bear the testimony that their flesh has been crucified with Christ. This is the meaning of Galatians 5:24.
When we consider the veil from the standpoint of experience, we see that there is an identification of Christ as the veil with those believers who are pillars. This means that the pillars are closely identified with Christ Himself. The veil was put on the pillars. This implies the identification of the veil with the pillars and the oneness of the veil and the pillars. We may say that the veil was the clothing, the covering, of the pillars. Clothing signifies identification. When we put clothes upon our body, these clothes become one with us. In like manner, the veil clothing the pillars became one with the pillars. Therefore, the veil and the pillars were identified.
The deep significance of identification is that whether or not the way can be opened for people to contact God depends on the experience of this identification. If the veil is rent, then the way will be open for fallen people to contact God. Otherwise, the way will be closed. This means that when the flesh is dealt with, there is an entrance for fallen man to contact God and have fellowship with Him.
Before the veil was broken, there was no entry into the Holy of Holies. The priests could come into the Holy Place and approach the table, the lampstand, and the incense altar, but they could go no further. When the veil was rent, three entries were opened up. We say this on the basis of the probable location of the four pillars. It is likely that two were on each end, next to the standing boards, and that two were in between. This would make three entrances into the presence of God. If two pillars were not next to the standing boards, there would be no way to support the corners of the veil. Spiritually speaking, these three entrances typify the Triune God. In the New Jerusalem there are three gates on each of the four sides. These gates typify the Triune God as the entrance into the holy city. We see these gates in the three parables in Luke 15: the Son as the Shepherd, the Spirit as the woman lighting a lamp, and the Father receiving the returned prodigal son. Also, in Ephesians 2:18 we read that in one Spirit we have access through Christ unto the Father. Therefore, the Triune God Himself is signified by the three entrances.
Once again we see that through the types in the tabernacle we can know Christ in a very detailed way. It is difficult to find words to convey what is portrayed by all these types. But even though we may not be able to utter what we see in these figures, deep within we can have a proper realization. This will strengthen us, nourish us, and help us to grow.
