Chapter 16
A CHRISTIAN’S JOURNEY INSIDE THE TABERNACLE
Before we begin our journey into the Tabernacle/Temple let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before You in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Father God, as we journey into the Temple and consider its furnishings, please move upon us and bring us to a closer, more vibrant, grateful and loving relationship with You and Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
Amen
As we begin our journey to the Tabernacle we see before us a fifteen foot high rectangular wall of curtains that are approximately 100 feet long and 75 feet wide. The curtains are beautifully made with fine linen thread (see Exodus 27:9-15). As we walk closer to the curtained wall we discover a 30 foot wide blue, purple and scarlet yarn screen made for the door or gateway (see Exodus 27: 16-17) into the,
OUTER COURT
As we stand in front of the entrance we are reminded that before Jesus Christ ushered in the New Covenant only an Israelite or Jew could enter into the Temple (see Acts 21:28). However, in the New Testament we discovered that one of the blessings that followed Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross was that He had taken away the division between us, the Gentile, and the Jew. To see this let us read the following Scripture,
Ephesians 2:11-18
[11] Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—[12] that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14] For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, [15] having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, [16] and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. [17] And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. [18] For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Let us notice the following verses,
11-12 … Without Christ we were aliens from Israel and strangers from the promises of God.
13-15 … Those who are in Jesus Christ have become a new creation. To expand upon this we are reminded of the following Scripture,
2 Corinthians 5:17
[17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
In other words, by making us into a new person, that is a born again believer in Him, Jesus Christ took away the dividing wall between the Jew and Gentile.
Returning to Chapter 2 of Ephesians, let us now notice the following verses
16-18 … Now, as members in the body of Christ, both Jew and Gentile are reconciled to God the Father. Hence, the division between the Jew and Gentile has been put to death.
The tremendous blessing of this for us, the gentile, is recorded in,
Ephesians 2:19
[19] Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
With the above glorious privilege in mind we now reverently and yet joyfully enter into the Outer Court. Once inside we see before us the Bronze Altar, the Bronze Basin/Laver and behind them the Tabernacle or Sanctuary.
Slowly we approach the,
BRONZE ALTAR
Looking upon the altar we are reminded of the myriad of animals that were slaughtered and the blood that was spilt to atone for the sins and trespasses of the people.
Seeing the blood stained altar we come to realize, that to make complete atonement for our sins once and for all, the horrific ordeal and suffering our Lord Jesus Christ went through to die on the cross and have His precious blood spilt on our behalf (see Hebrews 10:1-18).
It is at this time we recall when we came to Jesus Christ our Savior, confessed to Him that we were sinners. Then, believing that He did indeed rise from the dead we asked Him to please save us from all our transgressions. At this moment we knew that God the Holy Spirit came to dwell inside us and we entered into eternal life with Him. In other words, we became a born again believer in Jesus Christ. As a reminder of this let us read a brief Scriptural summary for this miraculous event. To do this we begin by reading from,
Romans 10:9-13
[9] that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. [11] For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” [12] For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. [13] For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
To expand upon this let us now from,
John 1:12-13
[12] But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: [13] who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
We now walk over to,
THE BRONZE BASIN OR LAVER
Looking at the basin and the water within it we remember the time when we were baptized into Him, Jesus Christ. This was the day when we obeyed Jesus Christ’s call for us to be baptized. By faith in Jesus Christ we were submersed into the water of baptism. We did this to bury our old self which, when we were born again, was crucified with Christ. Then, as we rose up out of the water, we rose to a new life in the resurrected Jesus Christ. To expand upon this let us read what the Holy Spirit says, through the pen of Paul, about the believer’s baptism in,
Romans 6:3-7
"[3] … don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. [5] If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. [6] For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- [7] because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."
Let us notice the following verses,
3 … Those baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death, that is our old self was crucified with Jesus Christ.
4 … Our old self was buried with Him in the waters of baptism. We do this so that as Jesus was raised from the dead to a new resurrected life we too, as we rise up from the water we may now live a new life in Him.
6-7 … So that we should no longer be slaves to sin, our old self was crucified and buried with Him. Thus we, through faith in Jesus Christ, have now been spiritually set free from our old self to worship and serve our Lord and Maker.
While we are reflecting upon this miraculous time we also remember that this was the time when we were ordained into the Royal Priesthood. The Scripture that keeps coming to mind is from.
1 Peter 2:9-10
[9] But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; [10] who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Looking up from the Bronze Basin we see a large tent or tabernacle made with a beautiful set of curtains. These curtains are woven with fine linen thread and blue, purple and scarlet yarn. In addition, artistic designs of cherubim are woven within them (see Exodus 26:1-2). In front there is a screen or doorway made of woven blue, purple, scarlet yarn with fine linen thread. This is the entrance into,
THE HOLY PLACE
Before we walk through the doorway we remember that before Jesus Christ established the New Covenant only the priests, who were Aaron and his male descendents, were allowed to enter into the Holy Place. In fact, even the sons of Kohath, who were among the children of Levi, who were tasked to carry the Tabernacle furnishings to each and every new site, were not allowed to touch or even see these furnishings. To protect the Kohaths, when God told Moses to pack up the Tabernacle and move to another location, Aaron and his sons covered, with blue cloths, all the Tabernacle furnishings along with their associated utensils ( see Numbers 4:1-20). As we ponder these ordinances we again realize that because of Jesus Christ we now belong to His royal priesthood.
Again we were reminded and thankful for the great blessings and privileges our Lord purchased for us.
With this above background in mind we slowly and reverently with great joy begin our journey into the Holy Place. As we pass through the entrance we are absolutely stunned by its glory and beauty. Specifically, we are overwhelmed to see that all of the inside walls are overlaid with gold (see Exodus 27:29-30).
Before us we see the Golden Lampstand with its brilliant light. In addition, we see the Table of Showbread, which is sometimes called the Bread of the Presence, and the Altar of Incense. It is a glorious and breathtaking sight. After a time of prayer and thanksgiving we walk to the,
TABLE OF THE SHOWBREAD OR THE BREAD OF THE PRESENCE
As we look upon the table we remember this is where the twelve loaves of bread representing the twelve tribes of Israel was placed. We recall that this was to clearly illustrate that each tribe of the Israelites was always before the Presence of God.
As we stand by the Table of the Presence we realize that we too have been chosen by God to always be in His Presence. For example, we remember Jesus’ promise that was recorded in,
[5] … For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
We also remember what Jesus said to prepare His disciples for His departure from this earth. Specifically, we remember the following words of promise Jesus gave to them then and now us. They are recorded in,
John 14:15-18
[15] “If you love Me, keep My commandments. [16] And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—[17] the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. [18] I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In other words, we, the born again believers in Jesus Christ, have God the Holy Spirit living within in us. Consequently, we are always in God’s presence.
As we continue explore the Holy Place we come to,
THE ALTAR OF INCENSE
In looking upon the altar we can envision the smoke of the incense rising up from the altar. We remember this was symbolic of the prayers of God’s people rising before God (see Revelation 5:8).
As we stand by the Altar of Incense we remember the many times, before we were born again, we wanted to pray but somehow we just did not know what to say. However, now as born again believers in Jesus Christ we have God the Holy Spirit living within us to help us in our prayer life. We recall the following Scripture,
Romans 8: 26-27
[26] Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. [27] Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
In other words, when there are times when we do not know what or how to pray, God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. Now Jesus who makes intercession on our behalf to God the Father knows the mind of the Spirit and consequently hears these groanings. Thus, He, Jesus, who is sitting beside God the Father, on our behalf, makes intercession to Him for us.
This is the reason why embedded within the instructions of putting on the armor of God, we are exhorted to always pray in the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:17-18
[17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; [18] praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
However, we are also reminded that this command does not mean we should always pray in tongues (see 1 Corinthians 14:1-19). However, it does mean we should always pray in Jesus’ name, which means in accordance to His will.
John 16:23
[23] “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
In considering the above promise we begin to wonder; “how can we possibly know His will?” It is then we are reminded of,
Jesus’ Parable of the Vine
[1] “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3] You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. [5] “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. [7] If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. [8] By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
While we are pondering and contemplating these wonderful, wonderful blessings and privileges our eyes catch a glimpse of the brilliant light that seems to be emanating from,
THE GOLDEN LAMPSTAND
All of a sudden we realize that the brilliant light is actually coming from behind the lampstand and it is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! In seeing this brilliance we are reminded about the time, on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus revealed His true nature. We recall the words that are written in,
Mark 9:2-8
"[2] After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. [3] His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. [4] And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. [5] Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." [6] (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) [7] Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" [8] Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus."
Let us notice the following verses,
3 … He became dazzling white. In other words Jesus’ true nature was revealed.
7 … God the Father bore witness to Peter, James, John and now us that Jesus is His Son, who is the second person of the Godhead.
As we look closer at the sight before us we see,
THE INNER VEIL
This veil is woven of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen thread. It also is woven with an artistic design of cherubim (see Exodus 26:31). However, upon closer examination we discover that the veil is torn from top to bottom. We recall it was when Jesus succumbed on the cross that the veil was torn in two and recorded in,
Mark 15:38
[15] Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
It is now that we just realize Jesus is not standing in the Holy Place. No! Jesus is in,
THE HOLIEST OF HOLIES OR MOST HOLY PLACE
At this point we are overwhelmed at the sight before us. We remember the Bible teaching us that Jesus always resides in the true Temple in Heaven. He is there appearing before God the Father for us. This truth is recorded in,
Hebrews 9:24-28
"[24] For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. [25] Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. [26] Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. [27] Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, [28] so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him."
At this juncture we are feeling weak and our knees are trembling. The sight before us is almost too awesome to behold and we fall prostrate before Him.
However, Jesus extends His hand to us and motions for us, in His Holy Name, to enter into the inner sanctuary.
There it is! Right before us is,
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
As we view the magnificence of the Ark of the Covenant, we remember the following Scripture that told us that inside the Ark was: (1) the Golden Jar of Manna, (2) Aaron’s Budded Staff and (3) The Tablets of Stone on which was inscribed God’s Commandments.
Hebrews 9:4
[4] … the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
Even though these items are no longer in the Ark, we still began to reflect upon them. The first item that came to our mind was the,
The Jar of Manna
In contemplating the Jar of Manna we remember how, to physically sustain them during their wilderness journey to the promised land of Canaan, God fed the Israelites with Manna. We further realize that, in like manner Jesus Christ spiritually sustains us, the born again believer in Him, in our journey to the promised land of Heaven. Specifically, we recall the following teaching Jesus gave after He miraculously fed the 5,000 men along with the women and children.
John 6:47-58
[47] Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. [50] This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. [51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” [52] The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” [53] Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. [54] Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. [55] For My flesh is £food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. [56] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. [57]As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. [58] This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
We also recall from previous Bible studies that to eat this Bread from Heaven we are to pray, read God’s Word and periodically participate in The Lord’s Supper. Thus, the Golden Jar of Manna is no longer inside the Ark.
Our next focus was,
Aaron’s Budded Staff
As we reflect upon his staff we recall that during the days of the Old Testament that to be a priest you had to be born in the lineage of Aaron, the High Priest (see Numbers 3:10). It then dawns upon us that when we became born again in the Holy Spirit, we were grafted into the lineage of our High Priest, who is Jesus Christ. The Scripture that floods our mind is from,
Galatians 3:26
[26] For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
This confirms to us that we, the born again believers, belong to the Royal Priesthood and is why Aaron’s staff in no longer inside the ark.
The third and last item we begin to consider was,
The Stone Tablets of God’s Commandments
As we reflect upon these tablets of stone we again remember the time of our new birth. This was the day when God the Holy Spirit entered into our very being and inscribed upon our heart these very same commandments. It is at this time the following words concerning God’s New Covenant enter into our thoughts. They come from,
Hebrews 8:10-13
[10] For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. [11] None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. [12] For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” [13] In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
As we continue to stare in awe and admire the Ark of the Covenant and reflect upon all these things, we hear a soft loving voice asking us to look on top of the Ark and see,
THE MERCY SEAT
As we look upon the Mercy Seat we lose it! We fall to our knees to worship and praise our God and Savior. We keep thanking God the Father for sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins. We keep thanking and praising God for extending His Grace and Mercy towards us. We are then overwhelmed by the truth of the following Scripture,
John 1:14-17
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” [16] And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
With these words in our heart and mind, we are reminded of the vision given to the Apostle John of what will happen in Heaven when the title deed to the earth will be opened by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To read what will occur we go to,
[8] Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. [9] And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth. [11] Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, [12] saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
[13] And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
[14] Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Amen and Amen