Doc Notes "The Ark" Part 36

Gentle Readers,

 

As the Ark is singled out from the seven pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle for special sanctity and prominence, and as so much more is recorded about its history than that of any of the other holy vessels, we felt it needful to devote two articles to its consideration. In the preceding one we pondered its importance; its significance, its materials, its dimensions and its contents. In this we shall deal with its coverings, its varied names or titles, and its remarkable career. May the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to take of the things of Christ and show them to His people, graciously enlighten our sin-darkened understandings and draw out our hearts in adoring worship to Him whom the Ark so strikingly prefigured.


5. Its Coverings.



The actual cover or lid of the Ark was the mercy-seat, but it is not of this we shall now treat, as that will be the object of contemplation in the next article. The coverings of the Ark which we shall here notice are those which protected it as it was borne from place to place dining the journeying of Israel. These are suitably mentioned in Numbers—the Wilderness book. In Numbers 4:5, 6, we read, "And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil, and cover the Ark of testimony with it: And shall put thereon the covering of badgers" skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof."



First, the Ark was wrapped in the "covering veil"—the most precious of all the curtains. The veil, as we learn from Hebrews 10:20, typified the perfect humanity of Christ, rent for His people by the hand of God. This tells us that when God the Son was here in this wilderness-world His Divine glory was hidden from the eyes of men by His flesh, He who was in the form of God having taken upon Himself, the form of a servant.



Second, over the covering veil was placed "the covering of badgers’ skins." Unlike the skins of other animals, the lion, tiger, or leopard, the badger’s is quite unattractive. In Ezekiel 16:10 we read of badgers’ skins for making sandals, hence when used symbolically they would speak of lowliness. In our present type the badgers’ skins tell of our Lord’s humiliation, particularly that aspect of it from which nature turns away, saying, "He hath no form or comeliness, and when we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him"; but an aspect which those who through sovereign grace are in communion with Him, ever recognize as that which fills them with adoring love.



Third, the external covering of the Ark was "a cloth wholly of blue"—this alone being seen by men as the Ark was carried through the wilderness from place to place. It was this which distinguished the Ark, once more, from the other vessels, for all of them had the badgers’ skins for their outer covering. Why, then, was the cloth of blue the external garment of the Ark? Blue is the color of heaven and is ever employed for the setting forth of celestial things. All heavenly things are not suitable for testimony to the world, but Christ as the God-man is to be borne witness to before all!



6. Its Names.


"His name shall be called Wonderful" (Isa. 9:6) was the language of Messianic prophecy, and strikingly was this foreshadowed by the different titles of the Ark. They are seven in number, and are wonderful for their variety, dignity and sublimity. First, the ark was termed "the ark of the Testimony" (Ex. 25:22). This is the name by which it is most frequently called. It was thus designated because it was there that the "two tables of testimony" (31:18) were deposited for safe keeping. The Ark was given this appellation because it testified to the holiness and grace, the majesty and condescension of Jehovah. It was so denominated because Christ, to whom the Ark pointed, is the Center of all God’s counsels.



Second, the Ark was called "the ark of the covenant" (Num. 10:33). This brings before us a most blessed though math neglected subject, upon which we feign would linger, but must not. Christ is expressly termed the "Surety of a better testament"‘ or covenant" (Heb. 7:23); of which He is also the Mediator (Heb. 9:6). This covenant is one into which He entered before the foundation of the world (Heb. 13:20), a covenant "ordered in all things and sure" (2 Sam. 23:5); a covenant in which Christ agreed to discharge all the obligations and responsibilities of His people.



Third, the Ark was named "the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth" (Josh. 3:15). This title was used just after Israel had crossed the Jordan, when the unconquered land of Canaan lay before them. It was, at that time, filled with enemies. But there was the symbol and word of assurance—the Ark which went before them was the Ark of the Lord of all the earth. The anti-typical fulfillment of this is yet future. When Christ returns He will find the inheritance occupied with usurpers. But a short work will He make of them: the enemy will be ejected and His own throne securely established—Zechariah 14:9!



Fourth, the Ark was denominated "the Ark of God" (1 Sam. 3:3). This is very striking. God never identified Himself with any of the other vessels of the sanctuary. But how appropriate that He should do so with that which, in a special way, symbolized the person of Christ, How this title of the Ark pointed to the absolute Deity of Him who was made in the likeness of men.



Fifth, the Ark was entitled "the Ark of the Lord God" (1 Kings 2:26)—in the Hebrew, "Adonai Jehovah." "Adonai" always has reference to headship, and to God’s purpose of blessing. "Jehovah" is God in covenant relationship. The connection in which this particular name of the Ark occurs is most interesting and blessed. The first chapter of King’s records a conspiracy at the close of David’s reign, to prevent Solomon securing the throne. The second chapter tells how the conspirators and their abettors were dealt with after Solomon came to the throne: Adonijah and Joab were slain, but Abiather, the priest, was spared because he had borne the Ark.



Sixth, the Ark was designated "the holy Ark" (2 Chron. 35:3). It was so spoken of by king Josiah, in whose days mere was a blessed revival of true godliness. Preceding his reign there had been a long period of awful declension and apostasy, and the Ark was no longer kept in the Temple, therefore one of the first acts of Josiah was to give orders for the placing of the holy Ark in the House which Solomon had built. How this shows us that the holiness and majesty of Christ’s person is only appreciated when God is working in power among His people!



Seventh, the Ark was spoken of as "the Ark of Thy strength" (Ps. 132:8). Lovely title was this. How it reminds us of that word: "I have laid help upon One that is mighty" (Ps. 89:19); and again, "Christ the power of God," "and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24). Blessed be His name, there is no feebleness in our Redeemer; all power in heaven and earth is His. He is none other than "the mighty God" (Isa. 9:6). O that His dear people may draw more and more from His fullness, proving that His strength is made perfect in their weakness.



7. Its Career.

By its career we have particular reference to its journeying and history. Provision was duly made for the Ark to be carried while the Tabernacle was being borne from one camping place to another. "And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put these staves into the rings by the sides of the Ark, that the Ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the Ark: they shall not be taken from it" (Ex. 25:12-15).



"This shows that God’s people were pilgrims in the wilderness, Journeying on to the place which God had prepared for them. But the time would come when the inheritance should be possessed, and when the temple, suited in magnificence to the glory of the king of Israel should be built. The staves, which in the desert were not to be taken from the rings of the Ark, should then be withdrawn (2 Chron. 5:9), because the pilgrimage past, the Ark would, with the people, have entered into its rest (Ps. 132:8). The staves in the rings, therefore, speak of Christ with His pilgrim host, as being Himself with them in wilderness circumstances. It is Christ in this world, Christ in all His own perfectness as man—Christ, in a word, in all that He was as the revealer of God; for in truth, He was the perfect presentation of God to man" (Mr. Ed. Dennett).



Before we attempt to trace the actual career of the Ark, there is one other point to be considered concerning its history, namely, that before its journeying commenced it was anointed. This is recorded in Exodus 30:26, "And thou shalt anoint the Tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the Ark of the Testimony." The antitype is presented to us in Acts 10:38: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." Notice the "anointing" of the Savior occurred before He "went about doing good," just as the anointing of the Ark preceded its travels. The anointing of our Redeemer with the Holy Spirit took place at His baptism when, at the solemn inauguration of His public ministry, the Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove (Matthew 3).



(1) "And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey and the Ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ Journey, to search out a resting place for them" (Num. 10:33). Very blessed and beautiful is this. Lovely type was it of the Good Shepherd going before His sheep (John 10:4), leading them into the green pastures and beside the still waters. But the preciousness of the type here will be lost unless we attend to the context—note the "and" at the beginning of Numbers 10:33!



First, mark Numbers 9:18-20, where we have a notable instance of God’s grace, and faithfulness in providing Israel with the cloud to guide them, intimating when they were to move and when to stop. Second, observe the failure of Moses. Forgetful of the Lord’s promise to guide them, he desired to lean upon the arm of flesh, and said to his father-in-law, "Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes" (10:31). Alas, what is man, even the best among men! Third, beautiful is it to see how mercifully the Lord intervened: the Ark was now to go before Israel as their guide—type of Christ as the Leader of His pilgrim people. As another has said, "In the path Homeward, the brightest human eyes and the keenest human wisdom are absolutely of no avail." The "three days’ Journey" Intimate that it is on resurrection-ground that the Lord directs His people.



(2) "But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the Ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses departed not out of the camp" (Num. 14:44). The whole of this chapter is very solemn, recording as it does the Judgment of God, which would descend upon a people who feared to follow the counsel of Caleb and Joshua. But the people believed not the Divine warning, and next morning, feeling the folly of their timidity on the previous day, determined to go up, and, in their own strength, disposes the enemy. Nevertheless the Ark and Moses departed not out of the camp. Therefore we need not be surprised at what follows: "Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah" (v. 45). What a solemn warning is this for us today: unless the Lord Himself is leading us, when we act simply in the energy of the flesh, failure and disaster are the sure consequence.



(3) Joshua 3:5 to 17. This passage is too long for us to quote here, but let the interested student please turn to it and read it carefully ere he proceeds with our comments. Here we see Israel crossing the Jordan and the Ark going before them to open up a way through its waters. Though Israel’s journey across the wilderness was one long record of unbelief, murmuring and rebelling, the Ark still continued to guide them, and now that the promised land was spread before their eyes conducted them into it. Blessed type was this of the marvelous and matchless long-suffering of God, who, notwithstanding all the sins and miserable failures of His people, has promised, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."



The Jordan is the river of Judgment and a figure of death. The Ark of the Lord’s presence entering Jordan, dividing its waters for Israel to pass over dry-shod, is a type of the Lord Jesus suffering death for His people. "The fact that the Ark of the Lord had passed before them into Jordan and that its waters had dried up before it, was to be proof positive that the Lord would drive out all their enemies before them: the fact that Jesus entered death for us, received its sting, tasted what real death as the wages of sin is, exhausted its bitterness, is also certain proof to us that no enemy can ever prevent our final entrance into and enjoyment of the Heavenly Canaan. And this fact is of fullest blessing. The king of terrors is disarmed for us; he is powerless that had the power of death, and those are delivered who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Mr. C. H. Bright). In consequence, those for whom Christ died shall never themselves receive the wages of sin. Fall asleep they may, but die they shall not: "If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death" (John 8:52); "Whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die" (John 11:26).



(4). Joshua 6:4 to 20. Once again we would ask the student to read the Scripture before noting our brief remarks thereon. The one thing which we here single out for mention is that the Ark of the covenant led the way as Israel marched around the walls of Jericho. How plainly this teaches us that, if the strongholds of Satan are to fall before the people of God, if proud imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God are to be cast down, it can only be under the immediate leadership of the Captain of our salvation. Notice how the "Ark" is mentioned no less than ten times in Joshua 6! The power was not in the trumpets, nor in the marching or shouting of the people, but in the Ark with its blood-sprinkled mercy-seat going before them; and strikingly did God bear witness to its efficacy.



(5). "And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the Ark and on that side before the priests and Levites, which bear the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel" (Josh. 8:33). Here a lovely scene is presented to us. At their first attempt to capture Ai, Israel had failed miserably, due to their pride and self-sufficiency—see 7:3. Deeply exercised in heart Joshua had sought unto Jehovah, who made known to him the sin of Achan. After that had been dealt with, the Lord assured Joshua (8:1) that He had given Ai into his hands. The sequel made this manifest: the city was burned and its king hanged. Then we are told, Joshua built an altar unto the Lord, upon whose stones He wrote the ten commandments, and then summoning all Israel together, read in their ears all the words of the law. But what is so blessed to behold is, that the Ark formed the center. "And all Israel . . . stood on this side of the Ark and on that side." Precious figure was this of Christ in the midst of His assembly, and praise being rendered to Him for the victories He has wrought.



(6). "And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, for the Ark of the covenant of God was there in those days (Judg. 20:27). The chapter in which this is found records another of Israel’s sad failures into which we must not now enter. The tribe of Benjamin had sinned grievously and the remaining tribes undertook to punish them. Though vastly superior in numbers, Israel was defeated. Then it was that they wept and fasted before the Lord, and inquired of Him. The reference to the Ark here, typically shows us that the mind of Goal can only be learned through and in Christ.



(7). 1 Samuel 4: This chapter presents to us the sad spectacle of the Ark of God captured by the Philistines (v. 11)—permitted by God because of the apostasy of His people. Typically, this points to the humiliation of that One whom the Ark ever prefigured, and foreshadowed His being delivered into the hands of the Gentiles! Two details here emphasize what we have just said, and exceedingly striking they are. Connected with, yea, synchronizing with, the Ark being laid hold of by the Philistines, was the death of the high priest (v. 18). According to the eternal counsels of God, the Lord Jesus was delivered into the hands of the Gentiles in order to the death of the great High Priest! Equally noteworthy were the words of Eli’s daughter-in-law: "The glory of God is departed from Israel, because the Ark of God was taken" (v. 21). So it was with the Anti-type. With the delivering up of Christ into the hands of the Gentiles the glory of God departed from Israel!



(8). 1 Samuel 5. This chapter traces the history of the Ark while it was away from Israel in the land of the Philistines. First, they took it into the house of Dagon, and set it before this idol. The sequel was startling: "And when they of Ashdod rose early on the morrow, behold Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord." How forcibly this reminds us of what is mentioned in John 18:3-6, when the officers came to arrest Christ they "fell to the ground before Him!" And afterwards God troubled the Philistines so severely they got rid of the Ark by sending it back to Israel. Did not this foreshadow the Gentiles’ rejection of Christ, their apostasy, and the subsequent return of Christ to the Jews!



(9). "And they set the Ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab" (2 Sam. 6:3). In setting the Ark on a new cart (imitating the Philistines—1 Samuel 6:7-11) they disregarded the Divine injunction—see Numbers 3:27-31. "And when they came to Nachom’s threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the Ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah: and God smote him there for his rashness; and there he died by the Ark of God" (2 Sam. 6:6, 7). This was God’s Judgment because of their disobedience to His word. Numbers 4:15 specifically prohibited any from touching the holy things save the Levites, and Numbers 1:51 threatened death. "David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite. And the Ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom three months. And the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household" (vv. 10, 11). This gives us the other side of the typical picture—Divine grace flowing out to the Gentiles while Christ is with them (Acts 15:14).



(10). "So David went and fetched up the Ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness" (2 Sam. 6:12): with this should be carefully compared 1 Chronicles 15, from which we learn that all was now done according to Divine order. "And they brought in the Ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the Tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt, offerings and peace offerings before the Lord" (v. 17). It is exceedingly striking that after the Ark left the Tabernacle in the days of Eli, it is not again found in Jerusalem until the king chosen of God, the man after His own heart, had ascended the throne! In the days of Solomon the Ark was deposited in the Temple, indicative of Christ present in Israel’s midst during the Millennium.



May the Lord add His own blessing to this little study and make it as refreshing to others as it has been to us.

To be continued....

"Doc Notes" Part 35 The Ark

Gentle Readers, Of the seven pieces of furniture which were found in the Tabernacle the Holy Spirit has described first the ark and the mercy-seat. Though these two are intimately related, so intimately that together they formed one complete whole—the mercy-seat being the cover or lid of the ark—yet are they mentioned, and are therefore to be considered, separately. The ark was a wooden chest, slightly over four feet in length and about two and a half feet broad and high, The wood of which it was made was overlaid with gold, both within and without, so that nothing save gold was visible to the eye. The great importance of the ark is clear from several considerations. When Jehovah gave instructions to Moses concerning the Tabernacle, He began with the ark. It was first in order because first in importance. Before any details were communicated concerning the sanctuary itself, before a word was told Moses about its court and chambers its priesthood and ritual, its furniture and garniture, minute directions were given regarding the ark; without the ark the whole service of the Tabernacle had been meaningless and valueless, for it was upon it, as His throne, that God dwelt. The ark was the object to which the brazen altar pointed, the sacrifice of which gave right of access to the worshipper, who came to the ark representatively in the person of the high priest. It was the first of the holy vessels to be made and made by Moses himself (Deut. 10:1-5). It was the place where the tables of the law were preserved. Its pre-eminence above all the other vessels was shown in the days of Solomon, for the ark alone was transferred from the tabernacle to the Temple. "The ark was a symbol that God was present among His people, that His covenant blessing was resting upon them. It was the most sacred and glorious Instrument of the sanctuary; yea, the whole sanctuary was built for no other end, but to be as it were a house, an habitation for the ark (see Exodus 26:33). Hence sanctification proceeded unto all the parts of it; for, as Solomon observed, the places were holy whereunto the ark of God came. 2 Chronicles 8:11" (A. Saphir). We shall consider the ark in seven connections. 1. Its Significance. The ark typified the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is so obvious that it is hardly necessary to pause and furnish proof. The other two arks that of Noah, in which he and his family found shelter from the flood; and that in which the infant Moses was preserved, plainly foreshadowed Christ Himself. The fact that the ark of the covenant was composed of two materials and of two only—the wood and the gold—clearly point to the two natures of our Lord: the human and the Divine. The fact that the two tables of stone were preserved in the ark, and the words of the Savior, "Thy law is within My heart" (Ps. 40:8) supply us with a sure key. The fact that the mercy-seat (where God received the representative of His sinful but blood-cleansed people) rested upon the ark furnishes additional confirmation. It is the typical significance of the ark which explains its pre-eminence over the other sacred vessels. Each of them pointed to same aspect of Christ’s work. or its effects, but the ark spoke of His person: they of what He has done, this of what HE is. It is the blessed person of Christ which gave value to His work. Today, in evangelical circles, the emphasis is placed on what the Savior has done for us, rather than on what He is in Himself. Scripture ever reverses this order. Note how in the typical ritual on the annual day of atonement, the high priest first entered the holy of holies with his hands full of sweet incense (Lev. 16:12), before he took in and sprinkled the blood (v. 14)—God would first be reminded of the fragrant perfections of Christ’s person, ere that which spoke of His redemptive work was placed before Him! Mark the order in the announcement of the Lord’s forerunner "Behold the Lamb of God" (first His person) which taketh away (second His work) the sin of the world," (John 1:29). So with the apostle Paul, "I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ (His person) and Him crucified"—His work" (1 Cor. 2:2). So again, in the apocalyptic visions: ‘I beheld . . . and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb (His person) as it had been slain"—His work (Rev. 5:6). Thus it was in this order of the Tabernacle furniture: first the ark which tells of Christ’s person, then the mercy-seat, etc., which point to His work. 2. Its Materials. The ark was made of "shittim wood," a species of the acacia, which is said by many to be imperishable. It is a tree which is found in the arid desert. The "shittim wood," grown here on earth, typified the humanity of our Savior. Isaiah 53:2 speaks in the language of this type: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground." "There are three things about this shittim-tree which makes it a peculiarly fitting as a type of this. It is the tree now called the acacia seyal—the only tree that grows to any size in the deserts through which Israel passed. First it is a tree that can thrive in a very dry soil. Second, it has very long, sharp thorns Third, it is the tree from which is obtained the gum arabic so largely used in medicinal preparations, which is procured simply by piercing the tree at nightfall, and that which oozes out is, without any preparation, the gum-arabic of commerce. To the spiritual mind these facts are sweetly suggestive of Him who, in a dry and thirsty land, where surely there was naught to sustain His spirit, was in the constant freshness of communion with God, for other than an earthly stream sustained Him. Though indeed crowned now with glory, a crown of thorns was all this world had for Him. And we remember too that it was He who was pierced for us in that blackest night of guilt, when the blood flowed forth from His side, to be the only balm for the troubled soul and sin-burdened conscience" (Mr. C. H. Bright). As the shittim-wood was one that never rotted, it was a most appropriate emblem of the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus. It is indeed striking to find that in the Septuagint (the first translation ever made of the Old Testament—into Greek) it is always translated "incorruptible wood." Now it is of paramount importance that we should hold fast and testify to the fundamental truth conveyed by the "incorruptible wood," namely, the real but absolute untainted humanity of Christ. That Christ was truly Man is clear from. His repeated use of the title "the Son of Man." and from the Holy Spirit’s appellation "the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). But His humanity was uncorrupt and incorruptible. In Him was no sin (1 John 3:5) for He was the Holy One of God; and therefore disease and death had no claim upon Him Begotten by the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin, His immaculate humanity was pronounced "that holy thing which shall be born" (Luke 1:45). The wood of the ark was overlaid with gold within and without. This prefigured His Divine nature. "While the acacia boards gave form and dimensions to the ark, the appearance was all gold—no wood was visible. Thus our Lord’s hum-inanity gives Him the form in which He was and is, Light of light, the Creator and Upholder of all things, He became a Man, and was and is eternally ‘the Man Christ Jesus.’ But how God guards us from having a single low view of this most lowly One. The gold covers all Look at Him, gaze, as far as finite mind and heart can, upon the majesty of His being, and all is Divine! The Divine nature is displayed over the ‘form of a servant’ and wherever the all-seeing eye of God rests, within that pure and holy mind, affections and will, as well as without upon that blameless walk, meekness and obedience, He owns Him as His Equal, His co-eternal Son. It is all gold, though the form of the Servant was there, with perfect human faculties and dependence—everything that belongs to man, sin apart. But spread over all this is the gold of His deity. And does not faith see the same?" (Lectures on the Tabernacle by S. Ridout). Thus, in the wood and the gold together forming the ark we have foreshadowed the great mystery of godliness—God manifest in flesh. Here we see, in symbol the union of the two natures in the God-man, a Scriptural conception of whom is so important and vital—important, as God has shown us by making the ark to be the first object of contemplation as we take up the study of the Tabernacle; vital, because sound views of Christ are inseparable from our very salvation: "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). 3. Its Dimensions. The ark was two and a half cubits in length, one and a half in breadth, and one and a half in height. The repeated half at once arrests attention. The word "half" in the Hebrew comes from a root which means to cut in two. Another has pointed out that these half cubits suggest that the knowledge of Christ given to us now is only partial: "Now we know in part" (1 Cor. 13:9). "Those who have the fullest knowledge of Christ are the first to say, in the language of the Queen of Sheba, ‘it was a true report that I heard.. and behold. the half was not told me’ (1 Kings 10:6-7). So with our all-glorious Lord, the scale is reduced—may we say?—that our finite minds may grasp something of the wondrous fullness of that which passeth knowledge" (Mr. S. Ridout). Two and a half is half of five, and one and a half is half of three, and both of these numbers have a meaning in Scripture which is deeply significant. Take the latter first. Three is the number of manifestation, that is why it Is the number of resurrection, for only in resurrection is life fully manifested; for the same reason three is the number of Deity, for God is fully manifested in the three persons of the Holy Trinity. How significant then that the breadth and height (which both have to do with the display of an object) of the ark were both half of three. Remembering that the ark speaks of the person of Christ and three is the number of manifestation, do we not find here more than a hint that when Christ came to the earth He would not fully manifest Himself? Nor did He: Had He completely unveiled His glory men had been blinded as was Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:8), or had fallen at His feet as dead, as did John (Rev. 1:17). But blessed be God we shall yet "see Him as He is," and then shall we eat of "the hidden Manna" (Rev. 2:17). So, too, with the other number. Five stands for grace, and the length of the ark speaks of the span of God’s grace in Christ. That span is eternal; but eternity is endless duration both backwards and forwards. Therefore is the five halved for though believers now know of the grace that was given them in Christ before the foundation of the world (2 Tim. 1:9), the endless ages yet to come await its future display (Eph. 2:7). It is to be noted that the ark measured, the same in height as in breadth, which at once points to the perfections and uniqueness of Christ. The "breadth" would speak of Him in His dealings with man, the "height" His relations Godward. How far our spiritual height falls short of our breadth! For example how much more cautious are we against displeasing our fellows than God! Not so with the Perfect One. In meeting the needs of men, He never lost sight of the claims of His Father: Mark how in responding to the appeal of Lazarus’ sisters, the glory of the Father was His only motive and consideration (John 11:4-6). 4. Its Contents. These are described in Hebrews 9:4: "The ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant." Some have seen a contradiction between this verse and 1 Kings 8:9: "There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone." But there is no conflict between the two passages, for they are not treating of the same point in time. Hebrews 9:4 is speaking of what was in the ark during the days that it was lodged in the Tabernacle, whereas 1 Kings 8:9 tells us of what comprised its contents after it came to rest in the Temple. Thus we see how quickly disappears one of the stock ‘contradiction’ arguments of infidels! The distinction noted above between what was inside the ark during its respective sojourns in the Tabernacle and in the Temple supplies the key to the typical significance of its contents. The three articles specified in Hebrews 9:4 point to God’s provisions in Christ while they are Journeying through the wilderness, This becomes abundantly clear when we consider the first thing named, "the golden pot that had manna." The manna was the food which Jehovah gave to Israel while they were Journeying from the house of bondage to the promised inheritance. It foreshadowed Christ as the Bread of life, the food of His pilgrim people. But most blessed is the added word here. In Exodus 16:3, we simply read that Moses said unto Aaron "take a pot and put an omer full of manna therein and lay it up before the testimony, to be kept; whereas in Hebrews 9:4, the Spirit tells us it was "a golden pot." The Old Testament could not give us that. it is reserved for the New Testament to bring it out. The Manna was the grace of God meeting the need of His people in the wilderness. Now while the Old Testament makes it plain that Israel’s deepest need would be met through the promised Messiah, yet it was by no means clear that the Messiah would be a member of the Godhead; rather was the emphasis thrown upon the fact that He was to be the seed of Abraham and of David. But with the New Testament before us, we have no difficulty in perceiving that naught but a vessel which was holy and Divine was adequate to hold what God had for fleetly sinners and that that vessel was no other than His beloved Son incarnate. It is in John’s Gospel, particularly, that we get the truth of the "golden pot." There we see the Vessel which was capable of holding the grace of God for His people: "full of grace and truth" is found only in John! There is no doubt, an additional thought connected with the golden pot," which contained the manna. The amount stored therein was "one omer" which, as we learn from Exodus 16:16, was the quantity for each man. Thus the amount preserved was the measure of a man; but the golden pot which contained it tells us that this Man is now glorified, the same thought being found in the "crown of gold which was round about the ark." This is confirmed by a comparison of Exodus 25:18 with Hebrews 9:5 where the cherubim of "gold" are called the cherubim of "glory." It is, then, in the Man Christ Jesus, now crowned with glory and honor, that God’s food for His people is to be found. Just as in another type, when the famine stricken people came to Pharaoh for corn, he referred them to the once humbled, but then exalted Joseph. The second article within the ark was "Aaron’s rod that budded." This takes us back to Numbers 17 where we have the historical account of it. In Numbers 16, we read of a revolt against Moses and Aaron headed by Korah, a revolt occasioned by jealously at the authority God had delegated to His two servants. This revolt was visited by summary judgment from on High, and was followed by a manifest vindication of Aaron. The form that this vindication took is most interesting and instructive. The Lord bade Moses take twelve rods, one for each tribe, writing Aaron’s name on the rod for Levi. These rods were laid up before the ark and the one that should be made to blossom would indicate which had been chosen of God to be the priestly tribe. Next morning it was found that Aaron’s rod had "brought forth buds, and blossomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." Afterwards, the Lord ordered Moses to bring Aaron’s rod before the testimony "to be kept for a token against the rebels." The spiritual and typical significance of this we shall now endeavor to indicate. The issue raised by Korah and his company was that of priestly ministry—who had the right to exercise it? In deciding this issue the tribal rods (symbols of authority) were laid up before the Lord, to show that the matter was taken entirely out of the hands of man and was to be decided by God alone. Thus the question of the priesthood was determined solely by Jehovah. The manner in which God’s mind was made known on this momentous point is very striking. The "rods" were all of them lifeless things, but during the interval that they were laid up before the testimony, unseen by the eye of man, the mighty power of the living God intervened, a miracle was wrought, the dead rod was quickened, and resurrection-life and fruit appeared. The spiritual eye will have no difficulty in perceiving what all of this pointed forward to. Numbers 16 foreshadowed Israel’s rebellion against Him, whom Moses and Aaron jointly prefigured. Moses, the prophet proclaimed the truth of God; Aaron the priest, expressed His grace; both were hated without a cause. So He who was full of grace and truth was despised and rejected of men; not only so but put to a shameful death. And what was God’s response? He fully vindicated His beloved Son by raising Him from the dead. Moses entering the Tabernacle on the morrow (Num. 17:8) and there beholding the evidences of God’s resurrection power, reminds us of the disciples entering the empty sepulcher and beholding the signs that Christ had risen from the dead. Moses bringing out the rods and showing them to the people (v. 9), finds its antitype in the resurrection of Christ established before many witnesses (1 Cor. 15:6). In the rod laid up before the Lord, we have a picture of Christ, now hidden, at the right hand of God. But it is with the rod in the ark that we now have to do. All that was in the ark speaks of the wondrous provision which God has made for His people in Christ. Now what is before us in Numbers 17, is not God dealing in judgment, but in grace: "And the Lord said unto Moses. Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from Me that they die not." Thus, the priestly ministry of Aaron Was to preserve God’s people before Him while they were passing through the wilderness. How plain is the type. That which answers to it is found in the ministry of our great High Priest in heaven, who secures our salvation to the uttermost by His constant intercessions for us (Heb. 7:25). Here, then, is God’s provision for us in Christ: food to strengthen, priestly grace to sustain. One other point remains to be considered in connection with Aaron’s rod. In Hebrews 9:4, it is referred to simply as "Aaron’s rod that budded" whereas in Numbers 17:8, we are told that it "brought forth buds and blossomed blessings, and yielded almonds." We believe that the omission in Hebrews 9:11 of the latter part of this statement is infest significant. Numbers 17:8 refers to resurrection-life in three stages, all, of course pointing to Christ. We would suggest that the "budding" of the rod found its fulfillment in the resurrection of Christ Himself; that the "blossomed blossoms" will receive its realization in the resurrection of "them that are Christ’s at His coming"; while the "yielded almonds" points forward to the raising of Israel from the dead who shall then fill the earth with fruit. As the "blossoming" and the "yielding almonds" is yet future, the Holy Spirit has most appropriately omitted these in Hebrews 9:4. The third thing in the ark was the two tables of stone on which were written the ten commandments. The reader will recall that the Lord gave to Moses on two separate occasions tables of stone engraved by His own finger. The first ones Moses dashed to the ground when he beheld the idolatry of the people (Ex. 32), thereby intimating that fallen man is unable to keep the law. But God’s counsels cannot be thwarted, neither will He abate the requirements of His righteousness: "At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and came up unto Me into the Mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write in the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou breakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark" (Deut. 10:1-2). The second set of tables of stone were deposited in the ark. The careful student will observe a notable omission in the above quotation from Deuteronomy 10:1-2, an omission emphasized by its repetition in the next verse—"And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone." Nothing is said of the wood being overlaid with gold, nor of the cherubim of glory on its cover. It is simply said that the two tables of stone were to be placed in "an ark of wood." The law which fallen man had broken was to be preserved intact by the perfect Man, It was as "the second Man, the Last Adam" that Christ "magnified the law and made it honorable" (Isa. 42:21). How perfect is every jot and tittle of Scripture, even in its omissions! The fulfillment of this aspect of our type is given in Psalm 40 where, speaking by the Spirit of prophecy, our glorious Surety exclaimed, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will O My God yea Thy law is within My heart" (vv. 7, 8). The blessed Substitute of God’s elect was "made under the law" (Gal. 4:4), and perfectly did He "fulfill" it (Matthew 5:17). Therefore is it written "By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19), Christ has answered every requirement of God’s law for His people. He has fully discharged all their creature responsibilities. In Christ, as our type plainly shows, and in Christ alone, is found that obedience which meets every demand of God’s throne. Therefore may each believer joyfully exclaim "In the Lord have I righteousness" (Isa. 45:24). Thus can the whole ransomed Church hail its covenant Head as "The Lord our Righteousness" (Jer. 23:6). In our next study God willing, we shall ponder the coverings of the ark, its various names and its remarkable history. In the meantime may the Holy Spirit occupy both writer and reader, more and more, with Him whom the ark typified.

Doc Notes The Tabernacle continued Part 34

Gentle Readers,
we continue our study ...

The neglect of typology and the ignorance which prevails today concerning the spiritual significance of the Tabernacle is one of the many solemn signs of the times. The pyramids of Egypt and the catacombs of Rome are never-failing objects of interest. The ancient abbeys of England and the temples of heathendom attract thousands every year from the ends of the earth, to admire their architectural designs and to study their historical features. But the Tabernacle of Jehovah, which possesses a charm and a claim unknown to any other building is, like its antitype, despised and rejected of men. True, it is no longer to be seen on earth in concrete form, yet a Divinely-inspired and detailed account of it has been given to us in the Holy Scriptures. But so widely is the study of typology neglected, comparatively few among the great masses of professing Christians know anything of the Divine wonders and spiritual beauties in which the closing chapters of Exodus abound.

In our day even students of theology leave those fruitful fields to glean elsewhere. Many of them are wasting their time reading through almost countless volumes treating of the authorship of the Pentateuch, instead of poring over the sacred pages themselves. They prefer to wade through the polluted streams which the higher critics have digged, rather than drink from the pure river of the Water of Life. Even where the Divine inspiration of the books of Moses is accepted, comparatively few are occupied with their deeper teachings and blessed foreshadowings. Alas that it is so.

"The typical portions of Scripture are supremely important and as a study vastly interesting. Types are shadows. Shadows imply substance. A type has its lessons. It was the design of Jehovah to express His great thought of redemption to His people Israel in a typical or symbolic manner. By laws, ceremonies, institutions, persons and incidents, He sought to keep alive in Israel’s hearts the hope of a coming Redeemer. Christ is therefore the key to Moses’ gospel. This then is our advantage, that we can minutely compare type and antitype, and learn thereby the lessons of grace which bringeth salvation" ("Shadow and Substance," by G. Needham).

In our last article we dwelt upon the typical purport of the Tabernacle; here we shall say a few words concerning its doctrinal lessons. One of the chief values which the closing sections of Exodus possesses to the true people of God is that there we have set before us Divine illustrations, concrete representations, vivid pictures of the fundamental verities connected with our "great salvation." God, in His infinite condescension, graciously adapted His instructions to the spiritual intelligence of His children. An abstract statement of truth is much harder to apprehend than a visible representation of it to the eye. Just as in natural things a child is able to grasp the meaning of pictures before it learns to spell and to read, so God has first given us a full description of the Tabernacle and all its contents, setting before the eye that which is found in the N.T. Epistles in the form of doctrinal expositions. Thus by means of material symbols we are assisted to understand the better the riches of God’s grace in Christ our Savior.

The Tabernacle—the materials of which it was composed; the seven pieces of furniture, the priesthood who ministered therein, the offerings and sacrifices—is to be regarded as one great object-lesson, setting forth spiritual truth. For this reason, among others, was it designated "the Tent of the Testimony" (Num. 9:15). There, witness was borne of "good things to come" (Heb. 10:1). There, was proclaimed the holiness and majesty of the great Jehovah. There, were set forth the terms of communion with Him. There, was revealed the way of approach by blood-shedding. There, was exhibited the imperative need of a Divinely-appointed Mediator. There, was shown the efficacy of atonement by the sacrifice of an innocent victim in the room of the guilty. There, was established the Mercy-seat, from which God communed with the representative of His people.

Our great difficulty in seeking to interpret the portions of Scripture which now lie before us is the multitude of the revelations contained therein. By means of the Tabernacle Jehovah revealed His character and made known His purpose of redemption. There, devouring holiness and righteous indignation against sin declared the fact that God was Just even while He Justified. The Tabernacle was the place of sacrifice; its most vivid spectacle was the flowing and sprinkling of blood, pointing forward to the sufferings and death of Christ. It was also the place of cleansing; there was the blood for atonement and also the water for washing away the stains of defilement. So Christ "loved the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it, with the washing of water by the Word; that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27). The Tabernacle had inner chambers, setting forth the fullness of those blessings which the believer has in Christ. In them was light, bread, and the altar of prayer—all finding their anti-typical fulfillment in our blessed Redeemer.

Probably the outstanding lesson taught us through the Tabernacle was the way in which a sinner might approach God. First of all, he was most forcibly reminded that sin had separated him from God. The Tabernacle was God’s dwelling-place, and it was enclosed, being encircled by walls of pure white curtains. This at once taught Israel the holiness of the One who had come to dwell in their midst; they were shut out and He was shut in. Their sinfulness unfitted them to enter His holy presence. O my reader, have you ever pondered the Ineffable holiness of God, and realized that your sins have placed you at a guilty distance from Him?

But though the sanctuary of Jehovah was enclosed, there was a door through which the Israelite might enter the outer court, though further he might not advance. There, within the outer court, stood the Tabernacle proper, with its two compartments, surrounded by walls of wooden boards, and only the priests were allowed therein, and they but in the first chamber—the holy place. Beyond, lay the holy of holies, where the Shekinah glory, the visible representation of God’s presence, resided between the cherubim on the mercy-seat. Into this compartment none ever entered save Moses the mediator, and Aaron the high priest one day in the year.

Marvelous is the progressive order of teaching in connection with the various objects in the Tabernacle. At the brazen altar sin was judged, and by blood-shedding put away. At the laver purification was effected. In the holy place provision was made for prayer, food and illumination; while in the holy of holies the glory of the enthroned King was displayed. The same principle of progress is also to be seen in the increasing value of the sacred vessels. Those in the outer court were of wood and brass; whereas those in the inner compartments were of wood and gold. So too the various curtains grew richer in design and embellishment, the inner veil being the costliest and most elaborate. Again, the outer court, being open, was illumined by natural light; the holy place was lit up by the light from the golden candlestick; but the holy of holies was radiated by the Shekinah glory of Jehovah. Thus the journey from the outer court into the holy of holies was from sin to purification, and from grace to glory. How blessedly did this illustrate the truth that "the path of the Just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4:18).

The order in which the Tabernacle and its contents are described is most significant. The first thing mentioned is the ark (25:10) and its covering—the mercy-seat (25:17), which was Jehovah’s throne in Israel’s midst. Then comes the table (25:23) and the candlestick (25:31), the curtains (26:1), and boards (26:15) of the Tabernacle proper, with the separating veil (26:31). Last comes the brazen altar (27:1) and the hangings of the court (27:9). Thus it will be seen that the order is from the interior to the exterior. It is the order of sovereign grace, God coming from His throne right to the outer door where the sinner was! How this reminds us of the Incarnation; the sinner in his sins could not go from earth to heaven, so God in the person of His Son came from heaven to earth, and died the Just for the unjust "that He might bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18). Blessedly was this emphasized by Christ in His teaching—the Shepherd going after the lost sheep (Luke 15:4), the good Samaritan journeying to where the wounded traveler lay (Luke 10:33), etc.

"In describing the things that pertain to worship, He commences with the most precious type of all—the breast-plate the high priest wore on his heart (28:4) and ends with the laver of brass in which Aaron’s sons were to wash their hands and feet daily (30:18). It is thus too in the book that takes up the sacrifices—Leviticus. It commences not with the offerings for sins, but the highest form of all—the burnt offering (Lev. 2:1). God’s glory must be the first object to be established by the work of Christ, and then our need met (Lev. 4). But that which we first apprehend is surely that which meets our need in the sin-offering. And the vast difference in the ancient and it is often years before we understand that it is a "sweet savor" sacrifice that met the need of God’s heart and established His glory" (Mr. C. H. Bright in "Pictures of Salvation").

It is very striking to note that in the second description of the Tabernacle, where we have the record of its manufacture and erection, there is a notable variation—instead of beginning with the contents of the holy of holies where Jehovah dwelt, we have described the Tabernacle and curtains of the outer court, which the common people saw. Here the order is from without to within—the experimental order, the order in which Divine truth is apprehended by the soul. This same twofold order may be seen in the Epistles to the Romans and Ephesians. In the former, the Holy Spirit begins with man’s sinfulness, guiltiness, and ruin; goes on to speak of God’s provision in Christ, and then closes the doctrinal section by showing us the redeemed sinner in the presence of God, from whom there is no separation. In Ephesians the Spirit begins with God’s eternal counsels, choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world, and then treats of redemption and regeneration and the consequent privileges and responsibilities flowing therefrom. In Romans it is the sinner going in to God; in Ephesians, God coming out the sinner. Such is the double teaching in the twofold order of the description of the Tabernacle.

Before Jehovah gave instructions to Moses concerning the various articles in the Tabernacle, He first ordered him to require of Israel as an offering, the different materials out of which they were to be made. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring Me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering" (Ex. 25:1-2). Very beautiful is this. The materials out of which the Tabernacle was to be made were to be provided by the voluntary offerings of devoted hearts. The great Jehovah who inhabiteth the praises of eternity condescended to take up His abode in a boarded and curtained Tent, erected by those who desired His presence in their midst (see 15:2).

Historically, we may admire the fruit of God’s grace working in the hearts of His redeemed so that they willingly offered the required materials. Their offering was so spontaneous and full (see 35:21-29) that we are told, "And they spake unto Moses, saying, the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary, so the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much" (36:5-7). But behind the historical we are to look for the spiritual, and behold here a lovely type of the voluntariness and joy of the Lord Jesus, who freely and gladly became flesh, thus providing God with a perfect Sanctuary as He tabernacled among men!

"And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver and brass; and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen; and goats, and rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers skins; and shittim wood; oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense; onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate" (v. 3-7). Each of these articles tells forth one of the manifold perfections of Christ. The gold, His Divine glory. The silver, the redemption which He wrought and bought for us. The brass, His capacity to endure the wrath of God against our sins. The blue, His heavenly origin. The purple, His royal majesty. The scarlet, His earthly glory in a coming day. The fine linen, His holiness made manifest by His righteous walk and ways. The goats’ hair, His atonement. The rams’ skins, His devotedness to God. The badgers’ skins, His ability to protect His people. The shittim wood, His incorruptible humanity. The oil for the light, His Divine wisdom. The spices, His fragrance unto God. The precious stones, His priestly perfections. We do not now offer proofs for these definitions nor enlarge upon their blessedness, as, God willing, each one will come before us for fuller consideration in the articles to follow.

With the above verses should be compared Exodus 38:24-31, where the Holy Spirit has given us the respective weights of the gold, silver and brass. Careful students have estimated there would be fully a ton and a quarter of gold, which at modern value would be worth upwards of one hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds, or eight hundred and sixty thousand dollars, but allowing for present-day purchasing values, worth much more. Of silver there would be fully four tons and a quarter, and worth forty thousand pounds or two hundred thousand dollars. Of brass (more likely, copper) there was also over four tons. In addition, there were the textile fabrics, blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen, besides goats’ hair, rams’ and badgers’ skins, and large quantities of shittim wood, the amounts of which are not recorded. Last, but not least, were the precious stones for the breastplate of the high priest. All of this indicates the great costliness of the Tabernacle. At modern values its materials would be worth at least a million pounds or five million dollars. How this, in type, told of God’s estimate of Christ; how it shows us the Father saying, This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!

It is noteworthy that there were fifteen separate articles specified in the above verses, the factors of which are three and five—almost every numeral connected with the Tabernacle was a division or multiple of one of these. Now three is the number of manifestation and therefore of God—in the three Persons of the Trinity. Five is the number of grace. Putting these together, fifteen signifies, in the language of spiritual arithmetic, God’s grace manifested. How eminently suited were these numerals as the predominating ones in that dwelling-place of God which pointed forward to His incarnate Son! It was in Christ, come to earth, that the grace of God was fully made known. How this shows us, again, that there is a deep meaning to the minutest detail of Holy Writ!

"And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (v. 8). Here is the leading feature to bear in mind concerning the Tabernacle: it was to be Jehovah’s "sanctuary," God’s dwelling-place. It is important to observe that it was not until He had redeemed a people unto Himself that God dwelt amid them on the earth. He visited Adam in Eden, He appeared to and communed with the patriarchs, He gave communications to Moses even in Egypt, but not until He had redeemed His people out of the house of bondage, not until they had been separated from their enemies at the Red Sea, not until His government over them had been established at Sinai, did He propose the making of a sanctuary, in which He might dwell among His saints.

The Tabernacle then was the pledge and proof that God had graciously brought His redeemed people into relationship with Himself, yea, into a place of nearness to Himself. So we, who once were (because of sin) far off from Him, have been made nigh by the precious blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13). The awful distance which once separated is now gone; we have been brought "to God" (1 Pet. 3:18). O the wondrous riches of Divine mercy! First bought by Christ, then sought by the Spirit, and in consequence, brought to the Father; and that not as guilty criminals, but as happy children. Blessedly is this illustrated at the close of that wondrous parable In Luke 15. There we are shown that the one who had wasted his substance in the far country, then convicted of his deep need and brought to repentance, finally welcomed by the Father, fitted for His presence and given a seat at His table.

But as at the marriage-feast in Cana of Galilee, the best wine is reserved for the last. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sin. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Rev. 21:1-3). "Then the counsels of God’s heart will be displayed in their consummated perfection, and, inasmuch as the former things, with all the sorrows connected with them through man’s sin, will have passed away, there will be nothing to hinder the full, perfect, and blessed enjoyment arising out of the unhindered flow of God’s heart to His people, and their hearts to Him, and from His perfect manifestation and their perfect worship and service" (Mr. Ed. Dennett).

"According to all that I show thee. after the pattern of the Tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof even so shall you make it" (v. 9). It is to be noted that Moses not only received implicit instructions as to what materials the tabernacle was to be made from, and (as we shall see later) complete details as to the dimensions, plan, and furnishings thereof; but that a pattern or model was set before him, after which it was to be constructed. That this is a point of importance for us to weigh is evident from the number of times it is repeated in the Scriptures. No less than seven times are we informed that Moses was commanded to make the Sanctuary after the pattern of it which was shown him in the Mount—see Exodus 25:9; 25:40; 26:30; 27:8; Numbers 8:4; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5. Nothing was left to man’s wisdom, still less to "chance"; everything was to be in exact accordance with the Divine model. Does not this teach us that everything concerning Christ and His people has been wrought out according to the eternal purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will! May Divine grace enable us to rest there in perfect peace and Joyous worship

"Doc Notes" Exodus -TheTabernacle Part 33

Gentle Reader,

We have now arrived at the longest, most blessed, but least read and understood section of this precious book of Exodus. From the beginning of chapter 25 to the end of 40—excepting the important parenthesis in 32 to 34—the Holy Spirit has given us a detailed description of the Tabernacle, its structure, furniture, and priesthood. It is a fact worthy of our closest and fullest consideration that more space is devoted to an account of the Tabernacle than to any other single object or subject treated of in Holy Writ. Its courts, its furniture, and its ritual are described with a surprising particularity of detail. Two chapters suffice for a record of God’s work in creating and fitting this earth for human habitation, whereas ten chapters are needed to tell us about the Tabernacle. Truly God’s thoughts and ways are different from ours!

How sadly many of God’s own people have dishonored Him and His Word by their studied neglect of these chapters! Too many have seen in the Tabernacle, with its Divinely-appointed arrangements and services, only a ritual of the past—a record of Jewish manners and customs which have long since passed away and which have no meaning for or value to us. But "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable" (2 Tim. 3:16). The Christian cannot neglect any portion of the Word without suffering loss: "whatsoever things were written aforetime (in the Old Testament) were written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4). Again and again in the New Testament the Holy Spirit makes figurative reference to the Tabernacle and its furniture, and much in the Epistle to the Hebrews cannot be understood without reference to the contents of Exodus and Leviticus.

"The tabernacle is one of the most important and instructive types. Here is such a variety of truths, here is such a fullness and manifoldness of spiritual teaching, that our great difficulty is to combine all the various lessons and aspects which it presents. The tabernacle has no fewer than three meanings, In the first place, the tabernacle is a type, a visible illustration, of that heavenly place in which God has His dwelling. In the second place, the tabernacle is a type of Jesus Christ, who is the meeting-place between God and man. And, in the third place, the tabernacle is a type of Christ in the Church—of the communion of Jesus with all believers" (Adolph Saphir).

The first of these meanings is clearly stated in Hebrews 9:23-24: "It was, therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these (i.e. sprinklings of blood see Hebrews 9:21-22); but the heavenly things themselves with bettor sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of Clod for us." "The tabernacle was a symbol of God’s dwelling. There is a Sanctuary, wherein is the especial residence and manifestation of the glorious presence of God. Solomon, although he confesses that the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, yet prays that the Lord may hear in heaven His dwelling-place (2 Chron. 6). Jeremiah testifies, ‘A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary’ (17:12). The visions of Ezekiel also bring before us the heavens opened and the likeness of a throne, and the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord; the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon the throne (1:26). Of this heavenly locality David speaks, when he asks, ‘Who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?’ (Ps. 24:3). In the book of Revelation we receive still further confirmation of this truth: ‘And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in Heaven was opened’ (15:5) . . . Almost all expressions which are employed in describing the significance of the tabernacle are also used in reference to Heaven" (A. Saphir).

Secondly, the Tabernacle is a type of the Lord Jesus Himself, particularly of Him here on earth during the days of His flesh. Just as the Tabernacle was Jehovah’s dwelling-place in the midst of Israel so are we told that "God was in Christ reconciling a world unto Himself’ (2 Cor. 5:19); and again, "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). Beautifully was this application of our type manifested at the Incarnation. The Tabernacle was not something which originated in the minds of Israel, or even of Moses. but was designed by God Himself. So the Manhood of Christ, which enshrined His Deity, was not begotten by man—"A body hast Thou prepared Me" (Heb. 10:5). He said. This second aspect of the type will be developed more fully below.

But the tabernacle has yet a third aspect. "There God and His people met. The ark of the covenant was not merely the throne where God manifested Himself in His holiness, but it was also the throne of relationship with His people. In all the offerings and sacrifices God was manifested; just as regards sin, merciful as regards the sinner; there also God and the sinner met. So throughout the tabernacle there was the manifestation of God in order to bring Israel into communion with Himself. In the Tabernacle man’s fellowship with God was symbolized through manifold mediations. sacrifices, offerings. But in Jesus we have the perfect and eternal fulfillment" (A Saphir). This third aspect of our type is more than hinted at in Revelation 21:3: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and thy shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God."

The key to the Tabernacle, then, is Christ. In the volume of the Book it is written of Him. As a whole and in each of its parts the Tabernacle foreshadowed the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Each detail in it typified some aspect of His ministry or some excellency in His person. Proof of this is furnished in John 1:14: "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us" (R. V. margin). The reference here is to the Divine incarnation and first advent of God’s Sea to this earth, and its language takes us back to the book of Exodus. Many and varied are the correspondences between the type and the anti-type. We take leave to quote from our comments on John 1:14.

1. The Tabernacle was a temporary appointment. In this it differed from the temple of Solomon, which was a permanent structure. The Tabernacle was simply a tent, a temporary convenience, something that was suited to be moved about from place to place during the journeyings of the children of Israel. So it was when our blessed Lord tabernacled here among men. His stay was but a brief one—less than forty years; and, like the type. He abode not long in any one place, but was constantly on the move, unwearied in the activity of His love.

2. The Tabernacle was for use in the wilderness. After Israel settled in Canaan, the Tabernacle was superceded by the temple. But during the time of the pilgrimage from Egypt to the promised land, the Tabernacle was God’s appointed provision for them. The wilderness strikingly foreshadowed the conditions amid which the eternal Word tabernacled among men at His first advent. The wilderness-home of the Tabernacle unmistakably foreshadowed the manger-cradle, the Nazareth-carpenter’s bench, the "nowhere for the Son of man to lay His head," the borrowed tomb for His sepulcher. A careful study of the chronology of the Pentateuch seems to indicate that Israel used the Tabernacle in the wilderness rather less than thirty-five years!

3. The Tabernacle was mean, humble, and unattractive in outward appearance. Altogether unlike the costly and magnificent temple of Solomon there was nothing in the externals of the Tabernacle to please the carnal eye. Nothing but plain boards and skins. So it was at the Incarnation. The Divine majesty of our Lord was hidden beneath a veil of flesh. He came, unattended by any imposing retinues of angels. To the unbelieving gaze of Israel He had no form or comeliness; and when they beheld Him their unanointed eyes saw in Him no beauty that they should desire Him.

4. The Tabernacle was God’s dwelling place. It was there, in the midst of Israel’s camp, that He took up His abode. There, between the Cherubim. upon the mercy-seat He made His throne. In the holy of holies He manifested His presence by means of the Shekinah glory. And during the thirty-three years that the Word tabernacled among men. God had His dwelling-place in Palestine. The holy of holies received its anti-typical fulfillment in the person of the Holy One of God. Just as the Shekinah dwelt between the two Cherubim, so on the mount of transfiguration the glory of the God-man flashed forth from between two men—Moses and Elijah. "We beheld his glory "is the language of the tabernacle-type.

5. The Tabernacle was, therefore, the place where God met with man. It was termed "the Tent of Meeting." If an Israelite desired to draw near unto Jehovah he had to come to the door of the Tabernacle. When giving instruction to Moses concerning the making of the Tabernacle and its furnishings, God said, "And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, awl I will commune with thee" (Ex. 25:21-22). How perfect is this lovely type! Christ is the meeting-place between God and man. No man cometh unto the Father but by Him (John 14:6). There is but one Mediator between God and men—the Man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). He is the One who spans the gulf between Deity and humanity, because Himself both God and Man.

6. The Tabernacle was the center of Israel’s camp. In the immediate vicinity of the Tabernacle dwelt the Levites the priestly tribe: "But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof; and over all things that belong to it; they shall bear the tabernacle and all the vessels thereof: and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle" (Num. 1:50); and around the Levites were grouped the twelve, tribes, three on either side—see Numbers 2. Again; we read that when Israel’s camp was to be moved from one place to another. "then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp" (Num. 2:17). Once more, "And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. And the Lord came down in a Cloud and spake unto him" (Num. 11:24-25). How striking is this! The Tabernacle was the great gathering-center. As such it was a beautiful foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus. He is our great gathering-center, and His precious promise is that "where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).

7. The Tabernacle was the place where the Law was preserved. The first two tables of stone, on which Jehovah had inscribed the ten commandments were broken (Ex. 32:19); but the second set were deposited in the ark in the tabernacle for safe keeping (Deut. 10:2-5). It was only there, within the holy of holies, that the tablets of the Law were preserved intact. How this, again, speaks to us of Christ! He it was that said, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me; I delight to do Thy will, O My God: Yea, Thy Law is within My heart" (Ps. 40:8). Throughout His perfect life He preserved in thought, word, and deed the Divine Decalogue, honoring and magnifying God’s Law.

8. The Tabernacle was the place where sacrifice was made. In its outer court stood the brazen altar, to which the animals were brought, and on which they were slain. There it was the blood was shed and atonement was made for sin. So it was with the Lord Jesus. He fulfilled in His own person the typical significance of the brazen altar, as of every piece of the tabernacle furniture. The body in which He tabernacled on earth was nailed to the cruel Tree. The Cross was the altar upon which Pod’s Lamb was slain, where His precious blood was shed, and where complete atonement was made for sin.

9. The Tabernacle was the place where the priestly family was fed. "And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it he eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it . . . The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten" (Lev. 6:16-26). How deeply significant are these scriptures in their typical import! And how they should speak to us of Christ as the Food of God’s priestly family today, i.e., all believers (1 Pet. 2:5). He is the Bread of life. He is the One upon whom our souls delight to feed.

10. The Tabernacle was the place of worship. To it the pious Israelite brought his offerings. To it he turned when he desired to worship Jehovah. From its door the voice of the Lord was heard. Within its courts the priests ministered in their sacred service. And so it wins with the anti-type. It is by Him we are to offer unto God a sacrifice of praise. (Heb. 13:15). It is in Him, and by Him, alone, that we can worship the Father. It is through Him we have access to the throne of grace.

11. The Tabernacle had but one door. Think of such a large building with but a single entrance! The outer court, with its solid walls of white curtains, was pierced by one gate only; telling us there is, but one way into the presence of the holy God. How this reminds us of the words of that One who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me!" Access can be obtained only through Him who declared "I am the Door" (John 10:9).

12. The Tabernacle was approached through the tribe of Judah, This is a most striking detail not obvious at first sight, but which is clearly established by a comparison of scripture with scripture. Numbers 2, records the ordering of the twelve tribes of Israel as they were grouped around the four sides of the Tabernacle, and verse 3 tells us that Judah was to pitch on the east side. Now Exodus 27:12-17 makes it clear that the door of the Tabernacle wins also on the east side. Thus, entrance into the Divine sanctuary was obtained through Judah. The significance of this is easily discerned. It was through Judah that the true Tabernacle obtained entrance into this world. Therefore is our Lord designated "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5).

13. The Tabernacle hints at the universal Lordship of Christ. This may be seen from the fact that every kingdom in nature contributed its share toward building and enriching the Tabernacle. The mineral kingdom supplied the metals and the precious stones; the vegetable gave the wood, linen, oil and spices; the animal furnished the skins and goats hair curtains, in addition to the multitude of sacrifices which were constantly required. How this reminds us of the words of Him whom the Tabernacle foreshadowed," The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine" (Hag. 2:8); and again, "The cattle upon a thousand hills are Mine" (Ps. 50:10).

14. The Tabernacle was ministered unto by the Women. Their part was to provide the beautiful curtains and hangings: "And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose hearts stirred thorn up in wisdom spun goats’ hair" (Ex. 35:26). How beautifully this foreshadowed the loving devotion of those women ‘mentioned in the Gospels who ministered to Christ of their substance: see Luke 7:37; 8:2-3; John 12:3; Luke 23:55-56.

Thus we see how fully and how perfectly the tabernacle of old foreshadowed the person of our blessed Lord, and why the Holy Spirit, when announcing the Incarnation, said, "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us." It should be pointed out that there is a series of striking contrasts between the wilderness tabernacle and Solomon’s temple in their respective foreshadowings of Christ.

(1) The tabernacle foreshadowed Christ in His first advent; the temple looks forward to Christ at His second advent.

(2) The tabernacle was first historically; the temple was not built until long afterwards.

(3) The tabernacle was but a temporary erection; the temple was a permanent structure.

(4) The tabernacle was erected by Moses the prophet (which was the office Christ filled during His first advent): the temple was built by Solomon the king (which is the office Christ will fill at His second advent).

(5) The tabernacle was used in the wilderness—speaking of Christ’s humiliation; the temple was built in Jerusalem, the "city of the great King" (Matthew 5:35)—speaking of Christ’s future glorification.

(6) The numeral which figured most prominently in the tabernacle was five, which speaks of grace, and grace was what characterized the earthly ministry of Christ at His first advent; but the leading numeral in the triple was twelve, which speaks of government, for at His second advent Christ shall rule and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

(7) The tabernacle was unattractive in its externals—so when Christ was here before, He was as "a root out of a dry ground": but the temple was renowned for its outward magnificence—so Christ when He returns shall come in power and great glory.

The careful reader will have noticed that there are two full accounts given in Exodus of the construction of the Tabernacle. This is indeed noteworthy, and evidences once more the accuracy and fullness of the type. First we have a description of the Tabernacle and its furniture as it was given to Moses in the Mount directly by Jehovah Himself. Then, as a parenthesis, in chapters 32, 33, we have the record of Israel’s transgressing the holy covenant in the sin of idolatry. Finally, from chapters 35 to the end of the book we have the actual erection of the Tabernacle. What was foreshadowed by this we shall now endeavor to indicate.

First, there is the tabernacle as it was originally planned in Heaven anal then shown as a pattern to Moses on the Mount. What did this adumbrate but Christ set forth from eternity in the counsels of the Godhead? The great Sacrifice was no afterthought on the part of God. He was not taken by surprise, nor was His eternal purpose interfered with when Adam transgressed His commandment. The Lamb was "foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet. 1:20)! Then in Jehovah showing to Moses the pattern of the Tabernacle which was to be erected, we have prefigured the successive types and prophecies which God gave to His people before His Son became incarnate. Just as Moses later built the Tabernacle according to the actual model which God had shown him during the forty days on the Mount, so Christ was born, lived and died, in exact accord with the prophetic plan which God gave during the forty centuries that preceded.

Second, in chapters 32 and 33 we are introduced to a dark interval of rebellion, when Israel sinned grievously against their Divine Benefactor. How accurately this depicts the fall and failure of man during the whole of the Old Testament period, and how it witnessed to the need of that redemption which God, in His marvelous grace, had prepared! "Christ had been already provided, but man must feel the need of the Divine salvation by the actual experience of sin. It is touching beyond degree to know that all the time that man was rebelling against God, God’s remedy was waiting in that mount of grace" (Christ in the Tabernacle, by A. B. Simpson). Despite Israel’s fearful transgression in the interval, the Tabernacle was erected; even so the fearful wickedness of men and all their countless abominations did not turn God from His purpose of mercy. When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

Third, in the last six chapters we have the inspired record of the actual erection of the Tabernacle. Here we see the counsels of God perfectly executed, and most striking is it to note the provision He made for carrying out His design of a sanctuary. In 35:30-31, we read, "And Moses said unto the children of Israel. See, the Lord hath called by name Bezeleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship."

Thus we learn that it was by, the gracious agency of the Spirit of God that the Tabernacle was brought into existence! What anointed eye can fail to see here that which made possible and actual the Divine incarnation, namely, the supernatural operations of the Spirit of God—see Luke 1:34-35! And how remarkable (and yet not remarkable) that the instrument used belonged to the tribe of Judah: so Mary was of the royal stock! Thus, in type and anti-type, the Divine plan was secured through the operations of the Spirit of God. Thus, also, do we see all the three persons of the Godhead in connection with the Tabernacle.

How unspeakably blessed is the word recorded in 40:34. "Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle." Mean as was the outward appearance of that Tent, yet within, abode the Divine glory. So it was with the Antitype. When He appeared before men, He had "no form nor comeliness" (Isa. 5:2). yet in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

What has been said above in no wise conflicts with the closing paragraphs of the preceding article. David was inspired to write "Thy commandment is exceeding broad" (Ps. 119:96). Well, had it been if expositors and commentators had borne this more in mind. There is not only a depth, but also a fullness to the Scriptures which are worthy of their Divine Author. God’s Word is many-sided in its application. Some times a single parable (that of the Sower, for example) contains important practical lessons, doctrinal instruction, a prophetic forecast and a dispensational picture. How many of the prophecies, perhaps all of them have a double—a minor and a major, a germinal and a terminal—and sometimes a threefold fulfillment. Thus it is also with the types. Some Old Testament characters are equally types of Christ, of Israel, and of the Christian. So with the Tabernacle: many of its details have more than one typical significance. May the Holy Spirit be our Teacher as we endeavor to take them up.


To be continued . . .

"Doc Notes" The Covenant Part 32

Dear Gentle Readers,
I have not written for a while but my mither recently past away and we have been otherwise occupied as we are sure you will understand.

The twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus introduces us to a scene for which there is nothing approaching a parallel on all the pages of inspired history prior to the Divine Incarnation and the tabernacling of God among men. It might suitably be designated the Old Testament Mount of Transfiguration, for here Jehovah manifested His glory as never before or after during the whole of the Mosaic economy. Here we witness Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel in the very presence of God, and not only are we told that "He laid not His hand on them." but they were thoroughly at ease in His presence, for they did "eat and drink" before Him! Before endeavoring to contemplate such a glorious scene let us offer a brief remark on its occasion and setting.

In Exodus 19 we behold Jehovah proposing to enter into a covenant of works with Israel, making their national blessing contingent upon their obedience to His commandments (vv. 5, 6). To the terms of this covenant the chosen people unanimously and heartily agreed (v. 8). Following their purification, of themselves, three days later God came down to the summit of Sinai and spake to Moses, charging him to go and again warn the people assembled at its base not to break the barrier which had been erected. After which God spake all that is recorded in Exodus 20 to 23. Concerning the Ten Words in chapter 20 and the typical significance of the "judgment" regarding slaves at the beginning of 21, we have already commented; the remainder of those chapters we now pass over as not falling within the scope of our present work, which is to concentrate upon that which is more obvious in the typical teachings of Exodus. That there is much spiritual teaching as well as moral instruction in Exodus 22 and 23 we doubt not, but so far as we are aware God has not yet been pleased to enlighten any of His servants thereon. Let the student, however, read carefully through them, noting how just, comprehensive and perfect were the laws which the Lord gave unto Israel.

"And He said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and worship ye afar off" (v. 1). In the light of what precedes, this is most significant and solemn. It tells us in language too plain to be misunderstood that man cannot approach unto God on the ground of his own works. Mark that this was said by the Lord before the legal covenant had been confirmed, and therefore before a single failure had been recorded against Israel under that economy. Even had there been no failure, no disobedience, yet the keeping of God’s commandments cannot secure access into the Divine presence as the "afar off" plainly denoted. For any man to come unto the Father, the work of Christ was indispensable.

"And Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him" (v. 2). An exception was made in the case of Moses, not because he possessed any superior claim upon God, nor because he was personally entitled to such a privilege, but only because he was the appointed mediator between God and His people, and therefore the type of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this which gives meaning to and opens for us the typical significance of so much that is recorded about Moses. The repeated prohibition in this verse emphasizes what is said in the previous one and confirms our comments thereon; Christ had to suffer for sins, "The Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Pet. 3:18).

"And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the Judgments; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do" (v. 3). The "words" refer to the ten commandments recorded in Exodus 20, the "Judgments" to what is found in chapters 21 to 23, as the first verse of 21 intimates. It is most important to observe that the Ten Words are here again definitely distinguished from the other "Judgments," affording additional confirmation of what we have said thereon in previous articles. Once more the people unanimously registered their acceptance of the covenant of works.

"And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord" (vv. 4, 5). That was in obedience to what the Lord had said unto Moses as recorded in 20:24. The "young men" (probably the "first born" who had been sanctified unto the Lord, 13:2, etc.) performed this priestly work because the Levites had not yet been set apart to that office. Much confusion has been caused through failing to note the specific character of these sacrifices. It was not the blood of atonement which was here shed, for wherever that is in view it is always for the averting of God’s holy wrath against sin. But nothing like that is seen here. What we have before us is that which speaks of thanksgiving and dedication unto God (the "‘burnt" offering) and that which tells of happy fellowship (the "peace" offering).

"And Moses took half of the blood, and put in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the blood of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people; and they said All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient" (vv. 6, 7). For a full exposition of the meaning of Moses’ act we must refer the reader to Hebrews 9, regretting very much that we cannot here give a detailed interpretation of that most important chapter; it will be noted that vv. 18-20 refer specifically to what is here before us in Exodus 24. Suffice it now to say that, so far as the historical significance of this sprinkling of the blood was concerned, it denoted a solemn ratification of the covenant into which Israel entered with Jehovah at Sinai. Note how the covenant God made with Noah was also preceded by a sacrifice offered to Him: Genesis 8:20 to 9; so too in connection with the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 15:9, 10, 17).

"Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel" (vv. 9, 10). Precious beyond words is this, showing us the inestimable value of the blood, and the wondrous privileges it procures for those who are sprinkled by it. Note the connecting "then," i.e., when the blood had been applied. A similar example, equally forceful and blessed, is found in Revelation 7:14, 15, where we read, "And He said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple." The "elders" of Exodus 24 were representatives of the Nation. Here then was a blood-sprinkled people, who had not yet broken the covenant, in communion with God. The eating and drinking told of the fullness of their welcome and of the peace which ruled their hearts in the Divine Presence.

"And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness" (v. 10). The "sapphire stone" speaks of Divine government—the throne of God—as a reference to Ezekiel 1:26 will show; that government which will yet rest upon the shoulders of "the Man" Christ Jesus. But why the "paved work"? May not the reference be to the finished work of the Savior which forms the basis of His Millennial reign? Christ came here to finish the Father’s work (John 5:17, 17:4), piecing it all together, that it might be a pavement of glory as the place of His feet. The "body of heaven in his clearness" may speak of the Divine counsels. If we look up to heaven on a clear day all is blue; it is the intensity of the depths of space, infinite—like Jehovah’s counsels. But in Christ God has brought His counsels so near that we may contemplate them as the body of heaven in its clearness.

"And upon the nobles of the children He laid not His hand; also they saw God, and did eat and drink" (v. 11). "But yesterday it would have been death to them to ‘break through to gaze’ but now ‘they saw God’! And such was their ‘boldness,’ due to the blood of the covenant, that ‘they did eat and drink’ in the Divine presence. The man off the world will ask, How could ‘the blood of calves and goats’ make any difference in their fitness to approach God? And the answer is, Just in the same way that a few pieces of paper may raise a pauper from poverty to wealth. The bank-note paper is intrinsically worthless, but it represents gold in the coffers of the Bank of Ireland. Just as valueless was that ‘blood of slain beasts,’ but it represented ‘the precious blood of Christ.’ And just as in a single day the bank-notes may raise the recipient from pauperism to affluence, so that blood availed to constitute the Israelites a holy people in covenant with God" (Sir Robert Anderson).

There is one thing here that is very solemn, namely, the repeated mention of Nadab and Abihu; vv. 1, 9. "They were both sons of Aaron, and with their father were selected for this singular privilege. But neither light nor privilege can ensure salvation, nor, if believers, a holy and obedient walk. Both afterwards met with a terrible end. They ‘offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them; and they died before the Lord’ (Lev. 10:1, 2). After this scene in our chapter, they were consecrated to the priesthood and it was while in the performance of their duty in this office, or rather because of their failure in it, that they fell under the judgment of God. Let the warning sink deep into our hearts, that office and special privileges are alike powerless to save" (Mr. Dennett).

Israel’s history continued for almost fifteen hundred years after this memorable occasion, but never again did their elders "see God," and never again did they eat and drink in His presence. Sin came in; their very next act was to break the holy Law by making and worshipping a golden calf, and the next time we see them drinking, it is of the waters of judgment (32:20). How unspeakably blessed to remember that what Israel (through their official heads) enjoyed for a brief season, is now ours forever! A way has been opened for us into the very presence of God, and there, within the veil, we may commune with Him.

In the remainder of our chapter Moses is once again separated from Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders, resuming his mediatorial position, to receive from God the two tables of stone which He had written. For this purpose he is called up to meet the Lord in the Mount—apparently at the summit—where he remained forty days and nights alone with God. During this time the glory of the Lord was displayed before the eyes of Israel for seven days—a glory "like devouring fire" (vv. 15 to 18). "This was not the glory of His grace but the glory of His holiness, as is seen by the symbol of devouring fire—the glory of the Lord in His relationship with Israel on the basis of the law (compare 2 Cor. 3). It was a glory therefore that no sinner could dare approach, for holiness and sin cannot be brought together; but now, through the grace of God, on the ground of accomplished atonement, believers can not only draw near, and be at home in the glory, but with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). We approach boldly, and with delight gaze upon the glory, because every ray we behold in the face of Christ glorified is a proof of the fact that our sins are put away, and that redemption is accomplished" (Mr. E. Dennett).

"And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount; and Moses was in the Mount forty days and forty nights" (v. 18). Those forty days, what happened in them, and the typical significance of those happenings, together with the sequel, form one of the most wondrous of the many wonderful types in all the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit now focuses attention on Moses, type of our Lord Jesus Christ. First, he is seen entering the glory, consequent upon his having erected the altar and sprinkled the blood. "And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud" (vv. 16, 18). How beautiful and how perfect the type! After "six days," which speaks of work and toil, on the seventh day, which tells of rest, Moses, the mediator, is called by God to enter the glory. So of Him of whom Moses was the type it is written, "He that is entered into His rest, He also hath ceased from His own works (Heb. 4:10). And what is the character of the "rest" into which He has entered? Does not His own request in John 17:4, 5, furnish us with the answer: "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Yes, He has entered into the Glory. Moses going up the Mount and entering the cloud to commune with Jehovah is a type of the Ascension of Christ, following the triumphant completion of the work which had been given Him to do.

We are not left in ignorance as to what formed the subject of communion between the Lord and Moses during the forty days in the Mount; the next six chapters of Exodus tell us that it was about the marvelous and mysterious Tabernacle, the pattern of which Moses was shown while there on Sinai. As we shall yet see, the Tabernacle and all its parts prefigure the manifold perfections of the Lord Jesus, making known the full provisions of God’s grace stored up in His beloved Son—provisions which meet every need of His favored people. The tabernacle is what meets our eye in Exodus while Moses is up the Mount, for it is not until after it has been fully described that we behold him descending. Thus has the Holy Spirit supplied us with an important key to open the spiritual treasures of this portion of the Word, by intimating that the Tabernacle speaks of what God’s grace has furnished for us during the interval of the Mediator’s absence from the earth.

And what is the next thing recorded in this book so rich in typical pictures of the Redeemer? Why, the descent of Moses, which we have in chapters 32, 33, 34. Moses did not end His days there upon Sinai, but returned unto his people. So also the Lord Jesus who has gone on High is not to remain absent from the earth forever; the words of the angels to His disciples at His ascension make this indelibly clear—"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Yes, shall return to this same earth from which He went to heaven, return in person just as literally and truly as He left it.

But, now, students of prophecy have discovered that the Holy Scriptures divide the second advent of Christ into two distinct stages; the first, when He descends into the air for His saints, to receive them unto Himself (1 Thess. 4:16, etc.); the second, when He descends to the earth with His saints (Col. 3:4, etc.). These two stages of His second advent each have a most important bearing upon the Jews; the first will be followed by judgment, the second by blessing. After the Church has been removed from this world, there follows the time of "Jacob’s trouble" (Jer. 30:7), when God deals with His earthly people and punishes them for their sins, this period also being known as the Great Tribulation. After this period has run its course, the Lord Jesus descends in blessing, purges Israel, and in full manifested glory dwells in their midst—this will be during the Millennium.

What is so striking in the type which we are now engaged with is that these two stages in the second advent of the great Mediator are here vividly foreshadowed. Mark how complete the type is: Moses came down twice from Sinai after he had entered the glory! But let us observe first how Israel were conducting themselves during the time of his absence in the Mount: "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the Mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods which shall go before us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him" (32:1). Is not this the very condition of the Jews today during the Messiah’s absence? They are all at sea, knowing not what to think. But that is not all. During Moses’ absence they made a calf of gold and worshipped it—and are we not now witnessing the very same thing over again? If there is one thing which characterizes the Jew today above everything else it is not the love of conquest or of pleasure, as with the Gentiles, but the lust for gold.

Now Just as Moses at his first descent from the Mount found Israel worshipping the golden calf, so at the first stage at the second coming of Christ the Jews will be wholly occupied with their greed for riches. And what was Moses’ response? Read Exodus 32:19-28. He acted in judgment. He made them drink a bitter cup of their own providing and gave orders for the sword to do its fearful work among them. Thus will it be right after the first stage of the Descent of Christ—they shall be made to drink of the vials of God’s wrath. But though sore will be their desolations the Jews will not be completely destroyed. Blessed is it to mark the sequel here. Moses returned unto the Lord and interceded on Israel’s behalf (32:30, 32). So also will the Lord Jesus yet intercede before God on behalf of the Jews: See Zechariah 3.

In Exodus 33 and 34 we have the second descent of Moses from the Glory. He came down from the Mount with shining face, so that the people were afraid to come near him. But he quickly reassured them. This time he descended not in judgment, but in mercy, and therefore did he place them at ease by talking with them—so that "all the children of Israel came nigh" (vv. 30-32). Thus will it be when the Sun of Righteousness rises upon Israel with healing in His wings. Moses now "gave them in commandment all the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai" (v. 32), which was a beautiful type of Millennial conditions; "out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isa. 2:3).

And what is the remainder of Exodus occupied with? Nothing but the erection of the Tabernacle. Chapters 35 to 39 give us God’s habitation in the midst of Israel. In the closing chapters we read. "And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" (vv. 33-34), a lovely type of Christ in the Millennium in the midst of Israel! And there the book of Exodus ends. May the Lord give us eyes to see and hearts to enjoy the wonders of His own workmanship.

To be continued...