EXODUS 33-40 TABERNACLE SYMBOLISM2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Exodus 33-40 Tabernacle Symbolism

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

We're here in Exodus chapter 33. We'll be going through chapter 40 this evening, finishing up the book of Exodus, and then tomorrow we'll begin our journey through the book of Leviticus, and I'll give you some encouragement about that as we get to the end of this evening. But as we look at the book of Exodus, once again, the meaning is exit or departure because one of the main events that happens here in Exodus is the children of Israel, the

leave Egypt, they exit or depart from Egypt where they've been for 400 years. And for some time they were in bondage, but through Moses, God brings them out into the wilderness. And as we've been studying for the past couple of weeks through the book of Exodus, we're camped at Mount Sinai now in the middle of the wilderness, and God is doing a work among his people. Moses is the author of the book of Exodus. He wrote it as they were out there in the wilderness. And

And he records the covenant that God makes with his people. We'll see a little bit of that today. And we've seen it already as we've studied through the book of Exodus together. On our timeline, this is way zoomed out looking at all of the books of Moses. So we're looking at in the book of Exodus, that wilderness period, that brown bar you see towards the right there is the time period that we're looking at as we're in the book of Exodus. We're actually, you know, early into that period.

wilderness time period because we're still within the first year of them departing from Egypt. So we covered a lot of territory in Genesis. We skipped over some time as they were in Egypt and then in Exodus now we've been looking at this wilderness wanderings and we'll continue to be in that same time period for the next few books for Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. We'll all be looking at this point of time where they're in the wilderness there.

Some of the geography we're talking about is Egypt, of course, is there on the left side. That's where they were for 430 years. They departed from Egypt. They went out into the wilderness, crossed the Red Sea, and now they're camped at Mount Sinai there in the Sinai Peninsula. They're

There is some discussion about what the location, the exact location of Mount Sinai is. This is the traditional location of Mount Sinai. So I'm just kind of keeping it to that just to follow the traditional. But there's other options and we talked about that previously. So I won't get into that. The time in the wilderness. Here's a quick rundown of the references that we have of Israel's time in the wilderness.

Just kind of really just pointing out where we're at as far as the chapters we're covering tonight. In Exodus chapter 19, they arrived at Mount Sinai two months after leaving Egypt. So they travel for two months through the desert and now they have arrived at Mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai, and they've been camped at Mount Sinai for some time. The past few weeks as we've been studying the different chapters of Exodus, we've been here at Mount Sinai as God is revealing all of the different laws and instructions to Moses. We'll finish up this evening in Exodus chapter 40 with the tabernacle finally being set up.

And that will take place one year after they've left Egypt. So we're looking at just, you know, a year's time frame from their departure from Egypt to the time that the tabernacle is set up. And we'll be looking at the latter end of that year this evening as they put the tabernacle together. Then we'll go on from there. They'll celebrate their second Passover. Because remember, the first Passover is when they left Egypt.

So they'll celebrate the second one there at Mount Sinai and then they'll head back out into the wilderness to go to Israel and spend the next 40 years in the wilderness wandering around because of their unbelief they would not enter into the land that God had promised to them.

Well, looking at the tabernacle, we have here a diagram of the tabernacle. We went over this pretty extensively last week, talking about the different parts. I'll run through it quickly and then we'll look at it from a slightly different perspective this evening as we talk about those details once again.

So the tabernacle had, first of all, a courtyard around it. And so there was these linens that would go all around it. And that's the square you see around it. It would provide a barrier and provide a courtyard for the tabernacle. It was 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. And this would be the courtyard where people would enter in. The gate would be on the east side, which is the right for us.

And it's that little squiggly area. That would be the gate where they would enter in. They would bring their offerings to the Lord through that. And that was the only entrance into the tabernacle. Then as you entered in, the first thing you would have before you is the altar where the sacrifices would be made. And then beyond that would be the laver. The laver would be where the priests would wash. And then beyond that, as you continued on, you would enter into what is known as the tabernacle.

The tabernacle entrance would be there on the east. And we have laid out here within the sanctuary the dimensions of the tabernacle according to what we understand the cubit to be 18 inches. And so taking the cubit at 18 inches, the sanctuary here is actually the same length as the tabernacle, 45 feet from that wall to this wall. And so we have kind of a good perspective

perspective or understanding of what the tabernacle was like. And so here we would have the entrance to the tabernacle. So this mark here, so as you came in the doors this evening, you entered into that front part of the tabernacle. The first room here in the tabernacle is called the holy place. And the holy place has three specific furnishings that God called them to make. We'll

The lampstand and then the altar of incense. So it would be 45 feet long altogether, 15 feet wide, and then 15 feet high. Now that's where we do fall a little bit short because the ceiling is only about 10 feet high. So push the ceiling up another five feet and we have the same dimensions as the tabernacle. Well, this second blue line here would then mark what is known as the veil.

And the veil was what separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies. Inside the Holy of Holies, you had the Ark of the Covenant, which was the most important piece of furniture within the tabernacle because it was here that God's presence dwelt. And so this was a, well, you can tell by the name, Holy of Holies. It was set apart.

Only the high priest could enter in to the Holy of Holies only one time a year. It was set apart for very specific purposes for once a year for the high priest to come in because that's where the presence of God dwelt. And so this area would be 15 feet by 15 feet by 15 feet, a cube 15 feet all around. And that would be separate from the holy place where the other priests could come in and tend to the lamp and worship.

take care of the bread on the table, offer incense on the altar, but only the high priest could enter in to the Holy of Holies. So that's a quick rundown of the tabernacle, the layout, and the different elements of the tabernacle. Well, let's jump in now to the chapters that we've been reading this week. Exodus chapter 33 says,

We begin looking at verse 7 as the key verse. It says,

Now as we head into chapter 33, we'll begin to talk about the tabernacle once again in a couple chapters, but there's kind of some housekeeping to take care of here because if you remember back in chapter 32, Moses comes down from the mountain with his time with the Lord and he finds the children of Israel practicing idolatry. They've fashioned a golden calf and have begun to worship the golden calf.

And so there was some things that God had to deal with with the people because of their rebellion. And that kind of carries into here in chapter 33.

And so God is speaking to Moses about, you know, what to do with the people and how he's going to handle it. And so in chapter 33 verses 1 through 6, God is giving some instruction to Moses about leaving Sinai and really kind of testing Moses and the people about how serious are they about really wanting to have a relationship with God.

And so he tells them, hey, I'm not going to go with you. You know, go on ahead. I'll send my angel before you, but my presence is not going to go with you. The people then respond because God says, well, let's see how you respond then. Take off your ornaments, be in mourning, show some signs of repentance, and then go with you.

And that way I can see what I will do with you guys. And so God is testing them. He's giving them opportunity to see, do they really want to draw near to him? Do they really want his presence? And so as part of this, Moses sets up the tabernacle of meeting.

He sets it up outside the camp so that if you're going to go to meet with the Lord, you have to go out of your way, go outside the camp to this tent of meeting that Moses sets up. Now this tabernacle of meeting is not this tabernacle we're talking about here. It was just another tent that Moses set up for the specific purpose of meeting with God, worshiping God, and spending time with God.

And so Moses set it up and he would go out to the tent of meeting or the tabernacle of meeting and spend their time with the Lord. We also see Joshua there would be with him and would even stay in the tabernacle of meeting extended times even when Moses left.

And so the people then are tested and they do involve themselves in the worship of God in this way. And so in verses 12 through 23, we have God declaring that his presence will be with them as they depart from Sinai and head into the land that God had promised to them.

Chapter 34, verse 27 is the key verse. It says, And so God is establishing his covenant with the people of Israel.

Now, he's been doing this throughout the book of Exodus. He, you know, says some things. He says, okay, write this down. This is my covenant with the people. And so this is not new to us. We saw this back in chapter 24. He told Moses, write this down. This is my covenant with the people. And so he's reiterating some of the things that have already been established, as well as clarifying some of the things that he had shared before. So he calls Moses in verses 1 through 9 to cut out two tablets of stone.

Now you might remember when Moses came down from the mountain originally, he had two tablets with him.

They were tablets that were written on with the finger of God as God wrote down the instruction and the covenant that he was making with his people. But when Moses saw the idolatry and the wickedness that was going on, he was so furious, he cast down the tablets and they were broken in pieces. So now God says, all right, let's do this again. Let's try this again. Cut out two new tablets and then bring them up the mountain with you.

And here God was going to be establishing and rewriting that covenant that was originally written on those tablets. And so we see that recorded there in verses 10 through 28, that covenant with Israel that he makes. We also see in verses 29 through 35, the shining face of Moses. And so Moses, as he would be in the tent of meeting, as he'd be spending time with the Lord and then bringing that back to the people,

his face would be shining as a result of his time in the presence of the Lord. It was a very physical manifestation. You might remember, it's clearly declared that God was dwelling with them in a cloud by day and fire by night.

cloud would descend upon Mount Sinai as Moses would enter into it. There was a very physical manifestation of the presence of God. And so as Moses was in there in the presence of God, it would affect him. And so he would leave glowing. I kind of liken it to... Remember those glow-in-the-dark, you know, rechargeable things? You hold it in the sun for a little bit and then you take it inside and it glows in the dark. But then...

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Literally the word when it says his face shone, it means to shoot forth beams. So it wasn't like a slight glow. I mean, it was like brilliant, like his face was shooting out beams of light. And so he would have this result from spending time with the Lord. And then as he spent time out of the presence of the Lord, it would begin to fade.

And then he would have to go back in and spend time with the Lord again. And his face would be shining once again. So we see that happening there in verses 29 through 35. And so Moses would wear a veil.

So that, Paul explains in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, so that they wouldn't see the fading glory from Moses. So as he was spending time with the Lord and he would, you know, be shooting forth those beams of light, he would wear the veil so they wouldn't see that diminish. And Paul declares there in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, it's a picture of the diminishing of the old covenant and the new covenant that God brings would not diminish in the same way.

And verse 23 is an important verse. We've talked about it before, but just to bring it up again, God says three times a year, all the males will appear before the Lord. And so there was three feasts that they were required to appear before the Lord every year, all of the males of the children of Israel. And so that would be the Feast of Passover, which is also the unleavened bread.

The Feast of Pentecost, which is also known as the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest. And then the Feast of Tabernacles, which is also known as the Feast of Ingathering. So these three times a year, they would have to meet before the Lord wherever, you know, the tabernacle was or in the land of Israel, in Jerusalem. They would have to meet before the Lord to celebrate those feasts. It was a requirement for all of the men of the children of Israel.

Chapter 35, verse 1 is a key verse. It says, So here's some of the commands for the nation of Israel from the Lord through Moses to the people. The first command he says is in verses 1 through 3 is the Sabbath command.

Again, this is stuff we've talked about already, so I'm not going to get into the details here because we've dealt with it already. But the Sabbath was the rest, the day of rest. Six days you can work. The

The seventh day you rest, just like God did with creation. That was the command. That was his covenant with the nation of Israel. And anybody who violated that was to be cut off. Or if they would profane it, then they were to be put to death. And so it was a very serious covenant that God was making with his people about keeping the Sabbath. He was serious about it. They needed to have that day of rest.

Well, as part of these commands that God is giving, he also tells them what kind of materials that they can bring to provide for the tabernacle that they're about to build. And so verses 4 through 9 describe those tabernacle materials. We'll talk a little bit more about those in a second. Then verses 10 through 19, we have the call for gifted artisans.

So there's a couple mentioned. We talked about Bezalel and Aholiab last week, and this week they're in the passages as well. But it's also a call to all the gifted artisans. So it wasn't just those two guys, but the others who were gifted within the congregation were called to be a part of this work and to involve themselves in the building of the tabernacle.

Well, verses 20 through 29, now we have the response. So the command, the instruction is given. Here's what you can give to provide for the tabernacle. And now we see the people's hearts are stirred to give and they begin to bring all of these different materials together.

to the Lord for the tabernacle. And so there's the response to the things that God had instructed them. And then again, in verses 30 through 35, we have Bezalel and Aholiab called by name, and they began to, you know, volunteer their services for the work of the tabernacle. I thought it was interesting, in chapter 35, the repetition, it's repeated over and over again. I think it's really important for us to understand when God is asking for...

the materials for the tabernacle, it is a request. And it's interesting to me how over and over again, God points out that it was with willing hearts that they brought these materials to be used for the tabernacle. In verse 5 of chapter 35, he says, Take from among you an offering to the Lord, whoever is of a willing heart.

And this willing heart is really important because over and over God says this was, you know, what was necessary. In verse 21 it says, And so God wants when we give to him, he wants it to be with one's heart.

willing hearts. He never requires of us in the sense that, you know, it's a burden, it's an obligation, and you have to do it whether you like it or not. He, you know, Paul tells us in the New Testament that God loves a cheerful giver. And so this willingness is something that's very important. In verse 32, it says, they came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart. And they brought, you know, these different materials before the Lord to be used for the tabernacle.

And then verse 29, it says, So over and over, God's making sure we understand this was something that they did willingly. And I think that is so essential because in the church today,

Not necessarily this church, hopefully, but in the church, you know, globally, there's been so much abuse with finances, with requests for giving, with

you know, people compelling you to give or, you know, laying burdens or guilt or manipulation for you to give to the work of the Lord. And if you don't, you know, the ministry is going to fail and those types of things. But we see the example of the scriptures is not like that at all. Instead, the example of the scriptures is, here, as the Lord stirs your heart, what he puts upon your heart to give, then give. And give willingly. Give joyfully. God loves a cheerful giver. But

don't let anybody put you under this burden, this bondage and manipulate you in the way that you have to give and you're kind of doing it grudgingly. It's not really what you want to do. It's not willingly. It's not joyfully. Then don't give and don't let people manipulate you and cause you to give when it's not from a willing heart because that's what God desires for us to give willingly.

Well, now as we continue on in our chapters this evening, we're beginning to now look once again at the details of the tabernacle. And as we look at this, again, last week we talked about the location of the things, the materials that they were made of, the specifications that God gave, the size and dimensions and those types of things. And so we're not going to look at those details again, even though that's what we read again, right? We read all those details once again this week.

But instead, I want to focus on and look at a different perspective or different aspect of the tabernacle. And that is that the tabernacle is a shadow of what actually exists in heaven. Here we have a couple references for you to consider and meditate on regarding the tabernacle. The first one is Hebrews chapter 8 verse 5. And there the author of Hebrews declares that the priests...

of the old covenant, served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things. He says there that Moses was divinely instructed about how to make the tabernacle. And the quotation here is from Exodus chapter 25, where God says, see that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. You know, we read through all the details last week, and then we read through all the details again this week, and we're like, okay, okay.

Why all this details? Why the repetition? Why is this so important?

Well, the author of Hebrews says, look, the reason why that's so important, the reason why all of these details had to be followed exactly the way that God gave them is because, well, this tabernacle is a model or it's a shadow of what actually exists in heaven. So it's a tiny picture of heaven. It's a little snippet, a snapshot of what actually exists in eternity.

We also see this in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 23 and 24. It says, So these furnishings of the tabernacle were copies of the things that are in the heavens and they were purified by the blood of the sacrifices, by the oil that God provided for them.

But then it says, for Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself. And so the author of Hebrews is explaining how the heavenly tabernacle is far superior. And that's the one that Christ entered into. He didn't enter into the earthly one because it was just a copy. It was a shadow of what really exists in heaven.

And so that's why these details are so important because, well, there's some realities. There's some parallels here between the things that God had Moses build and what exists in heaven. And so we're getting a little bit of a preview of what heaven is like as we study the tabernacle together. Well, here you have some of the materials that God instructed them that they could give in order to do the work of the tabernacle.

And again, we're looking at not really the practical, the elements that we studied last week, but considering the symbolism of the tabernacle this week, here's the materials and possible meanings. Now, when we start talking about symbolism, I start to get a little uncomfortable, just so you know. Because there is some...

there's some temptation to take things symbolically beyond what we have declared for us in the scriptures. And there may be truth, there may be, you know, that may be appropriate, but also it may not be appropriate. And so there's a careful balance, and I'll be talking about that through our time together, of

What the scripture says is symbolic and what we know is symbolic and what we think might possibly be symbolic. And so here you have possible meanings because these are not explicitly stated, but there is reason to understand these different materials as what is there. So wood represents humanity.

Now, you can't quote a verse and say, well, in this book, in this chapter, at that verse, it says wood represents humanity. But there's some reasons why it makes sense. And you could understand the acacia wood of the tabernacle could possibly represent and be symbolic of humanity. And we'll talk about that as we go through. So gold would then represent deity.

uh the deity of jesus christ for example the fact that he is god silver uh represents redemption again that's a possible thing that's not a you know direct quote from the bible and that's why i don't i get a little bit uncomfortable i like to quote from the bible you know uh so these are things that make sense and we could discuss them and they're interesting but this is not you know the gospel so uh don't take it too far but so silver could represent redemption bronze judgment uh

the blue thread, you know, that he calls them to give could represent heaven. You know, that kind of makes sense. The sky is blue, that kind of thing. Purple represents royalty. Scarlet thread, of course, represents blood. And then the fine linen represents righteousness. Now,

probably of all of these, the strongest one that you could build a case for is the fine linen represents righteousness because it talks about the saints being clothed in white, right? The fine linen and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. That's probably the strongest of these as far as, you know, you can build the biblical case for them.

Now they make sense and they're commonly accepted. And if you ask anybody, you know, what does gold represent? They'll probably talk about the deity of Christ and that's commonly known. And so I just want you to know though, it's not a direct quote from the Bible, but it's an understanding of, you know, studying the scriptures and the tabernacle and finding those possible meanings. All right, so chapter 36, now we begin the actual building of the tabernacle elements. Verse three is the key verse.

It says, So the people now are bringing those different materials to Moses to be used for the tabernacle. And there's an abundance of gifts that are brought. In verses 1 through 7, we see actually the people are restrained from giving.

Now, how often do you see that within ministries? You know, asking for money and say, okay, don't give any more money. We have enough. We have enough for what God's called us to do. Again, I think we see some very important biblical principles here about, you know, giving, about, you know, requesting, you know, funds for the work of the Lord that it's to be willingly. And when there's enough,

then restrain the people from giving that's that's the way that you know it's really god that's working and not some manipulation that's going on so they had enough they didn't need any more to build the tabernacle and so now they restrain the people they say don't bring the gifts anymore because we have enough to build the tabernacle now where did they get this abundance from well going back to exodus chapter 12 verse 36 you might remember god instructed them

When you leave Egypt, ask your neighbors for valuables.

And so when they left Egypt, they asked their neighbors for valuables. And it says in verse 36 that in this way, they plundered the Egyptians. The Egyptians said, yeah, take all my gold, take all my silver, get out of here. We don't want to see you again. Because remember, the firstborn had just died all throughout the land of Egypt. And so they just gave Israel all of these things that they had, all their valuables, and Israel left with them. And so now they're being brought to Moses to be used in the work of the tabernacle.

Well, here in chapter 36, we have four different things or components of the tabernacle being built. The tabernacle covering, the tabernacle walls, the veil right here, and then the screen, which would also be the door of the tabernacle. And so what we're going to do, like we did last week, is take a look at each one of these individually. But this time, instead of looking at their dimensions and details, looking at what is the symbolism that we see in these different components of the tabernacle.

So the covering would be the materials that would go over the,

The tabernacle. It wouldn't be drywall for the ceiling. It would be this fabric that went over. That would be this woven fabric with cherubim in it. With the red, the purple, and the blue thread. And the white thread that God instructed them to bring. And so it would all be woven together with cherubim. And that would be the covering for the tabernacle. So if you were inside the tabernacle and you looked up. That's what you would see. That material across the top.

With the cherubim embroidered on it.

And then on top of that would be the layer of goat's skin, or goat's hair rather. That would be the second layer of covering. And then on top of that would be the ram skins. That would be the third layer of covering. Those were dyed red. And then the badger skins. So what is the symbolism here that we see in the covering? Well, there's not much actually. In Revelation chapter 5 verse 11, we see it says, Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne.

So with the tabernacle being a picture of heaven, we see a snapshot of heaven in Revelation chapter 5. We'll be looking a lot at the book of Revelation this evening and looking at these different, you know, snapshots of heaven.

And there in heaven around the throne is a multitude of angels. And so as you were in the tabernacle and you would see all of these embroidered angels across the ceiling, and then also you wouldn't see it, but it would be all around the outside of the tabernacle as well. You would be reminded of all of the angels that are there in the presence of God around the throne. How about the Messiah? Is there symbolism for the Messiah in the tabernacle coverings?

Now, I would say absolutely there is, but there's just not specific biblical references that I can quote to you. So there's some speculation. So like the ram's skin that's dyed red, could that be a reference to, you know, the blood of Christ being shed and the covering, you know, of the house of the Lord? Absolutely that could be.

But it's a little bit of speculation. It's not a direct quote from the scriptures. And like I said, I'm much more comfortable directly quoting the scriptures to you. So there's some things to consider. There's fun things. Hey, it's okay to speculate. I just don't want to teach it. Does that make sense? So other people teach it and you can go listen to them and that's fine. I don't have a problem with other people teaching it or having the discussion. But I want to make the distinction. I think it's important to understand that

what the Bible says and what we think. There's a big difference, and I'll explain why in a little bit. So we have the shadow of heaven. There are the angels all around. The Messiah, there's not specific references.

would be kind of those, you know, other things that are not directly related to heaven or the Messiah. And so here you have possibly the colors that are used within the fabric. So we talked about blue representing heaven, purple representing royalty. And so those were the colors that would be in this fabric that would be over the tabernacle. And so here you have

And so there's, it's a possibility that, you know, those things represent the royalty of Christ, the blood of Christ, and, you know, heaven that the tabernacle represents. So there's those colors built in there throughout the tabernacle. You'll see them over and over again. And certainly God picked those colors for a reason and they represent something. And I'm not opposed to that. But again, I just don't have the,

chapter and verse to quote to you to be able to solidify that.

Well, moving on to the walls, the second part of what we see built here in chapter 36, we have the walls being built. And you might remember the walls were built out of acacia wood, and then they were overlaid with gold. And there were these individual boards that were all kind of pieced together with a silver foundation. And then they had bars of gold, it was wood overlaid with gold, that would run along the length of the boards to hold them together.

And so the walls would be all around the tabernacle on the three sides, except for the entrance would not have walls. So the two sides, the long sides and then the back side would have these walls that were there for the tabernacle. So what's the symbolism there within the walls? Shadow of heaven. You know, we don't have real specific references for that. The Messiah is

No specific references. You know, you don't have a verse that says the walls of the tabernacle represent Jesus. It's just not there. Looking at some other possibilities though. So you might remember wood we talked about possibly represents humanity. And so just kind of developing this picture in your mind for a moment. If wood represents humanity and gold represents deity, then this acacia wood overlaid in gold represents

would represent a combination of deity and humanity. And where do we find a combination of deity and humanity? Of course, we find it in Jesus Christ, as the scriptures declare that he is fully God, but also fully man. And he, being God, became man. And so you have this combination of the deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ that are possibly being represented

represented here symbolically by the walls of the tabernacle as well as some of the other furnishings we'll see.

The silver sockets, that's the foundation of the walls. Silver, again, possibly represents redemption. And so if you, you know, kind of carry on that picture, you have the foundation of the tabernacle is redemption. And again, looking at the picture of salvation, the gospel message, that is redemption.

Indeed accurate, right? That relationship with God, access to God is founded upon redemption. That is, we have to be redeemed in order to have relationship with God. In order to be able to enter into the presence of God, there has to be redemption. It's an essential element of our access to God and relationship with God.

So again, this is not a verse to point to, but it makes sense and there's some interesting things to consider that go along with that. Well, the third component we see here in chapter 36 is the veil. Now the veil would be, again, this curtain right here that would separate the holy place from the holy of holies.

And the veil would be made out of the same types of threads as we talked about for the covering, the red, the blue, the purple, the white. And so those, obviously the colors, you know, could possibly represent those different aspects of the ministry of Christ. What about the shadow of heaven? Well, the veil, when you're talking about, you know, the heavenly reality of the tabernacle doesn't exist. There's no veil in heaven. The veil represents

for the tabernacle was essential because it separated the priests who were serving in the holy place from the presence of God. So they wouldn't die because of the presence of God. If they entered into the Holy of Holies when they weren't supposed to or when they were not prepared, they would die because of the presence of God. And so the veil was their protection to keep them from the presence of God so that they wouldn't be struck dead because of their sinfulness. But something has changed today

And that we see in Hebrews 10, verse 20. We have the specific chapter and verse where it says that the veil is Jesus' flesh. So here's an example of something that's very clear. This is not up for debate. This is not just speculation. This is a reality. The veil of the tabernacle represents, it's symbolic of the body of Christ. The flesh of Jesus.

And that is significant because when Jesus was crucified, when his body was broken to pay the price for your sin and my sin, in Matthew chapter 27 verse 50 and 51, it tells us that the temple veil, this same piece of material that we're talking about here, was torn from top to bottom. Now, it wasn't because a bunch of priests were in there trying to rip it up, but it was an act of God that as Jesus died,

So in heaven, there's no veil. There's not the need to separate from the presence of God.

It's an invitation to be in the presence of God. In Christ, there's not a separation from the presence of God. It's an invitation. God has thrown open the doors. He's torn the veil to invite us into his presence, to be with him and enjoy that presence that was unaccessible to the nation of Israel through the tabernacle. So we definitely see the picture of the Messiah through this veil here in the tabernacle.

In Hebrews chapter 9 verse 8, we have a little bit further understanding. It says, And so the very construction of the tabernacle and the existence of this veil, the author of Hebrews says, was a way that the Holy Spirit was saying,

We're going to provide a way into the holiest. We're going to provide a way into the presence of God, but it's not yet available. And when did it become available? Well, that's back in Matthew chapter 27 when the veil was torn from top to bottom. God said, come on in. And through Christ, we have access to the presence of God because he took care of sin. And so,

I'm not going to continue on because we could go on for a long time about the veil. But check out Hebrews chapter 10. There's some really fascinating stuff there. So that is definitely symbolic of Christ and what he accomplished for us. Well, then you have the door. I'll just walk over there just to allow George to move the camera. So the door of the tabernacle would be, you know, where the priests would enter. Now, only the priests would enter. The regular people, they could come in the court, but they couldn't come into the tabernacle.

The door would keep out the people and it would allow the priests to come in and serve the Lord in here. Well, there's some symbolism that goes along with the door of the tabernacle because in Isaiah chapter 6, now, when you're thinking about the reality of heaven, we have a few passages we can consider. You have Isaiah chapter 6 where Isaiah is caught up into the presence of the Lord. You have Ezekiel chapter 1 and Ezekiel chapter 10

where Ezekiel is caught up into the presence of the Lord. And then you have pretty much the whole book of Revelation, where John the apostle is caught up into the presence of the Lord into heaven. And so these different passages give us some indications and clues about the parallels between the tabernacle that Moses built and the reality of heaven. So here in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 4, as Isaiah is having this incredible experience before the Lord, it says, "...the posts of the door were shaken..."

By the voice of him who cried out. Remember there's five posts. That would hold up the screen. Or the door of the tabernacle. And so here in Isaiah chapter 6. We learn that the posts of the door. Were shaken. As the voice of him who cried out. Was going forth. And so again it's a picture of. It's a reality that exists in heaven. It's not just you know something functional. But it was for a purpose. It was for a reason. And the door posts are shaken. Okay.

The Messiah, there's not specific references, but you could look at the thread colors. Again, the blue, the purple, the red, the white, and understand, you know, maybe there's some meaning there and some interesting things to consider about Christ in there. Also, the bronze sockets. So all around the tabernacle, remember, the walls had sockets of silver as their foundation. This one had sockets of bronze, right?

which if bronze represents judgment, it's kind of interesting that the door, the barrier into the tabernacle was on the foundation of judgment, which is, you know, interesting because it was because of the judgment that was poured out upon Christ that the door was opened for us to be able to enter into the presence of God. So interesting things to consider and play with in your mind. Not a verse to be able to quote directly though.

Alright, chapter 37. Verse 1 is the key verse. It says, So here we have some more furnishings of the tabernacle.

We've been talking really about the structure. Now we'll talk about the individual elements that were inside the tabernacle. The ark, the table, the lampstand, the incense altar, and then the oil and the incense that were used in the service of the tabernacle. So the ark symbolism. What is the ark symbolic of? Well, we do see this existing in heaven in Revelation chapter 11 verse 19 where

There is this incredible scene is unfolding in the presence of God in heaven. It tells us in verse 19 that the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple. And so this is not just something that God had Moses make and he just kind of made up the dimensions and made up the, you know, elements and said, here, have fun with it. This, however it looked when Moses created it, was a model of what actually exists in heaven.

And so there is a real Ark of the Covenant that exists in heaven that is seen there in Revelation chapter 11 verse 19. We also see some references to Christ here in the Ark of the Covenant. One of the indications of that is the Greek word that's used for propitiation is the same word that's used to refer to the mercy seat. So the Ark, remember, was an open box and the lid of the box was called the mercy seat.

And the mercy seat had the two cherubim on it. And that between the two cherubim was where God met with his people. That's where he dwelt. The presence of the Lord dwelt between the wings of the cherubim. Well, that mercy seat that covered the Ark of the Covenant, that covered the law and the things that were in the box...

uh that the word that's used is related to in the same word that is uh translated as propitiation and in first john chapter 2 verse 2 it tells us that jesus is a propitiation for our sins and so jesus is this mercy seat now i don't have time to get into that but it's interesting to consider the covering of the law the place where god meets with his people

That is an accurate description of Christ because he fulfilled the law on our behalf and through him, Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, right? No one comes to the Father except through me. It's through Jesus that God meets with his people. And so we have the Ark of the Covenant representing Christ. Now, also the Ark was made out of acacia wood overlaid with gold. And so we have the possible reference there to the humanity and deity of Jesus in that as well.

The table, the table of showbread, in regards to the existence of this in heaven, we don't have really specific references. There's one maybe possible reference in Revelation chapter 2 where God talks about, to those who overcome, I'll give the hidden manna. It might be a reference to the table of showbread, the bread that was on the table. That's a possibility, but again, it's not specifically stated there.

But we do see some interesting claims of Jesus in John chapter 6, not just verse 48, but throughout the chapter where Jesus declares, I am the bread of life.

Now, this is a little bit not as clear as some of the other things we're looking at, because as Jesus is talking about being the bread of life, he's also referring to the manna that was provided to the children of Israel in the wilderness. So it could be, you know, explicitly and specifically only used for manna when Jesus says on the bread of life.

but it's reasonable to understand that the bread that was presented on the table is also a representation of Christ since he is the bread of life. This table as well was made out of wood overlaid with gold. So again, a possible reference of the humanity and deity of Christ.

But another interesting aspect of this is the word showbread literally means bread of faces. And it was the idea of fellowship or that face-to-face. And that's seen throughout the scriptures that the breaking of bread together is that fellowship, that communion together. And so that definitely represents Christ and we can see some interesting things about that because of course Christ introduced us to communion and wanted that fellowship with us, that communion with us.

Alright, then we have the lampstand. Now the lampstand is right here. It would be on the left side of the tabernacle. It would have seven bowls, seven lamps that would light the tabernacle. And we do see a copy, or this is a copy of something that exists in heaven because in Revelation 4-5, it tells us as we see the throne of God that before the throne were seven lamps of fire that were burning, which are the seven spirits of God.

So there is John sees heaven before the throne. There's a lamp with seven, you know, fires burning before the Lord. So this represents something that actually exists in heaven. We also see this as a reference to the Messiah in John chapter 8 verse 12 where Jesus says, I'm the light of the world. Now again, that is not an explicit reference to the tabernacle, but

Jesus being the light of the world certainly does seem to fit with this tabernacle and the lampstand here. This lampstand is different than some of the other elements we've looked at because it's not wood overlaid with gold, but it's solid gold.

To me, that's interesting. I haven't developed the thought all the way yet, but here in Revelation chapter 4, verse 5, it says that there were seven lamps of fire that were burning, which are the seven spirits of God, or you could also translate that the sevenfold spirit of God. Um,

So the Holy Spirit is what's being talked about in Revelation chapter 4 verse 5. Here you have the lampstand. If gold represents deity and there's no humanity in it, maybe it's not a reference to Christ at all, but maybe it's a reference to the Holy Spirit here within the tabernacle because it's solid gold. It's just deity, which of course that is what the Holy Spirit is.

Well, then you have the altar of incense, which is this piece of furniture right here. The altar of incense is where they would burn incense before the Lord, which represented the prayers of the saints. And so we see a shadow of this in heaven. In Revelation 5, 8, it says that they're burning incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation chapter 8, verse 3 is a little bit more clear. It says, the golden altar, which was before the throne. So,

John sees in heaven a golden altar before the throne of God or before the Ark of the Covenant. So there's this golden altar before the throne he sees in heaven, which is where they offer the prayers of the saints along with incense. So again, the altar of incense is something we see very clearly is pictured. It's a picture of something that exists in heaven.

We also see elements of the Messiah here. Again, this is not an explicit, you know, direct connection, but it's interesting to consider. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25, it tells us that Jesus always lives to make intercession for us. So these prayers that are being offered up to the Lord, Hebrews tells us Jesus is always interceding for us and offering up prayers to the Lord on our behalf.

Again, we see the wood and the gold. So it's acacia wood overlaid with gold, which possibly could represent the humanity and deity of Christ together here in the altar of incense.

So we've looked at the furnishings here of the holy place as well as the holy of holies. I think Wiersbe had something really interesting to say about the furniture of the holy place. He says, the furniture in the holy place spoke of three great obligations of walking with God. So you have three different furnishings here within the holy place.

He says, pray. That's the altar of incense. So as part of our walk with God, prayer is something that is essential. Fellowship, that would be the table of showbread. And as part of our walk with God, fellowship with God and fellowship with one another is essential. And then illumination, which would be the lampstand. And that, of course, would be referring to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. And so it's interesting to consider those three things as essentials for our relationship with God and our walk with God.

All right. Chapter 38. I'm going to have to pick up the pace a little bit here. Verse 22 is the key verse. It says, So we're seeing all of these different elements be built and put together in the way that God described. And so we see the altar, the laver, the court, the

And then they take inventory there in verses 21 through 31. So let's take a look at these real briefly. This PowerPoint, by the way, is online on our website in the Bible in three years. So if you want to spend some more time on this later and write down those references and things, you can pull that off the website.

So the altar. In heaven, we do see an altar in Revelation chapter 6 verse 9. There's a reference to the altar and the saints that are underneath the altar there, the martyrs that are there in heaven. So that's something that's interesting. Isaiah chapter 6 verse 6. Again, when Isaiah is before the Lord, remember they take a coal from the altar and they touch his lips with it. And so that's a reference as well to the altar that was

At the tabernacle. Now we've been talking about inside the tabernacle. The altar would be outside of the tabernacle. In that direction. You know maybe somewhere between here and the middle of the street somewhere. Would be the altar where the sacrifices would be made. We definitely of course see.

The Messiah in the altar, because Hebrews chapter 10 builds a very strong case. The priest had to offer sacrifices continually, but Christ is our Passover lamb. He offered one sacrifice for sins permanently, and all of sin was taken care of through that. The components of the altar were different than the other furnishings. It was wood and bronze.

And so if you combine those again, humanity and judgment, which again is interesting to consider. It's a possibility. These things represent the judgment that was poured out upon Christ and how he received, he was consumed by the judgment that you and I deserved. And he paid the price for us at the altar through his sacrifice that we could have access into the presence of God and into the holy place.

The lever was in between the altar and the tabernacle. And this is where the priests would wash from the sacrifices and things.

And in heaven, we see possibly this represented in Revelation 4, 6, where it says before the throne, there was a sea of glass like crystal. So the Ark of the Covenant representing the throne of God before the throne right outside the tabernacle was the laver. And so it's possible that that's referring to that sea of glass. So that laver is symbolic of the sea of glass that exists there before the throne of God in heaven.

There's some interesting things to consider about the Messiah in this as well because through him, of course, we're cleansed, we're washed, our sins are forgiven, and there's that idea of washing away. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, the lever was made out of solid bronze, which again represents judgment. And so again, the judgment of sin being washed away, some interesting things to consider. Now,

I mentioned before there's, you know, we have to be cautious and understand and make a distinction between what the Bible says is symbolic and what we just kind of think is symbolic. Because as I was, you know, preparing for this and throughout the years, you know, there's been lots of different symbolism suggested for the tabernacle. One of the things that is suggested by certain groups for the laver is that

The laver outside of the tabernacle proves that you have to be baptized in order to be saved. And so they will take the symbolic representation of the laver, and there's water in there, and they will make their case that, see, you have to be baptized, otherwise you can't have access to the presence of God, and you can't be saved. Now that's not what the Bible teaches.

But that's an idea or that's an example of, you know, where you kind of just go too far with symbolism. You go beyond what scripture is actually declared and you begin to, you know, teach false doctrine. And so that's why I say it's so important that we have an understanding. It's okay to speculate. It's great to have these things to consider. But we also need to have a clear understanding of what the Bible actually says and what is true.

speculation, you know, things for us to consider, but we can't say with the same, you know, assurity that this represents that when the scripture has not stated that. All right, well then we have the courts of the tabernacle. This was the barrier outside of the tabernacle that separated it from the rest of the community. We don't have a specific reference to the tabernacle court in heaven.

Nor is there specific references to the Messiah unless you look at the colors, the colors of the thread, the entrance. You know, Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. There was one entrance into the courtyard. Those are some interesting things to consider.

But again, it's not a direct parallel or direct reference. Bronze and silver. Bronze was the poles that were holding up the linen of the court. And so there's the judgment. Silver would be the caps and the things, the hooks that it would hang on. And so you have this combination of, you know, judgment and redemption. And this is where you could, you know, come and have the judgment taken care of and be redeemed by bringing your sacrifices to the Lord. So interesting things to consider here.

the symbolism of the court. Well, there's an inventory of the

items used for the tabernacle. Just looking at gold and then we'll look at silver for a moment. Just to give you an idea of how much was being used. I mean this was a very extensive project. So one talent of gold would be equivalent of about 3,000 shekels. These are measurements that they knew in those days. One shekel would be worth today about $530. This is today's rate.

At $1,650.40 per ounce. So the total amount of gold was 29 talents plus 730 shekels. I converted that all to shekels just to make the math simple. So 87,730 shekels of gold was used in the tabernacle. You multiply that by $530 per shekel and you come up with $46,000,000.

I'll just say $46.5 million worth of gold at today's prices. So it works out to be about 2,300 pounds of gold that were used in the tabernacle. So quite an extensive project, lots of gold. This was not cheap. And so they put this together according to the way that God instructed. And then silver, there was a lot more silver used. The same measurements, so 3,000 shekels is one talent.

A shekel of silver at today's rates would be worth about $10.33 at 32.14 an ounce, which is today's rate. And so they used a total of 100 talents of silver plus...

1,775 shekels. So again, converting that all to shekels, you have 301,775 shekels of silver that were used within the tabernacle. You do the math, you multiply that by 10.33 and you get just above $3 million worth of silver that was used. Now this doesn't include the bronze and the rest of the materials for the coverings and the furnishings and stuff. So there was more than that. But just to give you a little bit of a scope, I mean, this is quite a lot of

It's about 8,000 pounds of silver. So 10,000 pounds between the gold and the silver, you know, was the weight of the tabernacle, not counting the coverings and things like that. So, you know, a lot of materials going into this and it was quite extensive. Chapter 39.

Verse 43, it says, So here you have Moses now doing an inspection. Okay, did we build the lampstand the way that God said? Did we build the table the way that God said? The altar of incense, the ark of the covenant, or the coverings the way that God instructed? He's making sure. It's his responsibility. God said, make sure you do it just the way I described it to you.

And so he's given the inspection to make sure, and indeed they had done it just as God had instructed them. Well, here in chapter 39, we also see the high priest's garments being put together the way that God said, the priest's garments, which were basically just linen garments. And then the tabernacle is finished there in verses 32 through 43. So here you have the

symbolism of the high priest garments. We don't see a specific reference to these garments in heaven, although we do know that Jesus is our great high priest and Hebrews makes that. So he would, you know, definitely be represented by these. But there's just not the specific correlation of verses that we can point to. The thread colors, once again, same as all the other things we've been looking at, the same colors, same significances, perhaps that could be representing Christ through that.

What I think is interesting is the priest, the high priest would have this, you know, special garments. The regular priest would just basically have these white linen tunics that they would wear, which is interesting because, you know, in heaven, it talks about the saints. In Revelation 19, 14, it says, And you remember how Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2, 9, that we're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and how, you know, we're priests as...

as believers in Jesus and we're clothed in white when we enter into eternity. And so there's this parallel between the priest who would serve and us when we are in the presence of the Lord in heaven, which of course as priests we would have access to the holy place and then because the veil is torn into the holy of holies, you know, have full access to the presence of God there in eternity.

All right, finishing it up in chapter 40, verse 34, it says, So the tabernacle is set up in verses 1 through 33. Many of the details we looked at it repeated again as all of the different elements are put in their place. And then the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle. God's presence is there with his people. And that is the way that the book of Exodus ends, with the tabernacle being set up and God filling the tabernacle.

the tabernacle. Now this happened, verse 17 tells us, one year after they left Egypt. It was in the first month, the second year. So they left Egypt. They were in the wilderness, camped at Sinai for about a year. And now the tabernacle has been set up. They're shortly going to celebrate in two weeks from this time. They're going to celebrate the second Passover. And then they're going to head out into the wilderness to journey up to the promised land.

Since we're already past our ending time, I'm going to just share a couple more things real quick. The cross of the tabernacle, this is just something interesting to consider. Again, not a chapter and a verse you can refer to, but it's interesting how the furnishings line up, you know, straight across, but then there's the lampstand and the table that are on opposite sides. And so you can perhaps see the shape of the cross there and the furnishings of the tabernacle, subtle hint of that.

There's interesting things you can do with the tabernacle in using it as an approach to God. And Pastor John Corson has written a book, The Prayer of the Tabernacle. This is a quick summary of it. But entering into the gates of the tabernacle, that would be of the courtyard, you know, enter into his gates with thanksgiving, right? That's what the scriptures say. And so thanking God for what he does. I'm not going to go through this. You can grab it off the website if you want to.

praising God in the courtyard, confessing your sins, and so on and so forth. Hitting each one of the different parts of the tabernacle and using that as a tool to help you remember the different aspects of your relationship with God. All right, well, tomorrow we start the book of Leviticus. And the book of Leviticus is not usually people's favorite book.

It's not considered the most exciting book of the Bible. And so I want to encourage you as we head into the book of Leviticus to be faithful. Be faithful. I know sometimes it can be difficult to stay up with the readings. Sometimes it can be difficult, you know, to go through all of these details. The meaning of the word Leviticus means pertaining to the Levites.

So this book was written to the Levites to give them all the details they needed to be able to perform their function for the tabernacle. And so all the different various details of the law we're going to get into in the book of Leviticus. And that's why, because it was written for them.

Now, I always refer to a portion of scripture in 2 Kings chapter 3 when talking about the book of Leviticus. Because in 2 Kings chapter 3, you have the army of Israel going out to battle, but they have no water.

So they find themselves in a dry place with no water. They're thirsty. And so now they're going to be heading into battle, but they're facing certain death because they have no water to drink. And so they seek the Lord and the Lord tells them through the prophet to dig ditches in the wilderness.

So think about that. Try to picture that for a second. You know, you're thirsty. You're looking for water. Lord, what do we do? And God says, dig ditches in the dirt. I mean, who wants to dig ditches in the dirt when you're thirsty in the wilderness with no water? Nobody does. But that's what God tells them to do. That's what they do. And then...

The Lord fills those ditches with water the next day. And so what I want to encourage you to do in the book of Leviticus is be faithful to dig the ditches. You're going to feel like, man, I'm thirsty. Like, what's this about? I don't get this. There's a lot of things here that are just, I don't understand and they don't mean anything to me. But I want to encourage you to be faithful and read the chapters and dig the ditches. And later on,

God's going to fill those with water and you're going to be refreshed by them. So even though you don't understand it, read it and understand it by faith that God will fill those ditches, that God will breathe life into those things and will use his word. It doesn't return void. He will use his word in your life. So even if you can't figure out what it's doing or why you need to read it,

Even if, you know, like your kids, they can't figure out why they need to eat the broccoli and the vegetables. In the same way, let's trust our Heavenly Father, read through the portions, and trust that later on He's going to fill the ditches and refresh us by His Holy Spirit through the scriptures that we've studied together. Amen?

All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you, Lord, for the incredible depth. There's so much, Lord, in your word, looking at just the basic understanding of it, looking at the symbolism that's involved. And Lord, I know that as we enter into eternity, there's even much more that you're going to show us that was right here in your word before our eyes.

And so God, I pray that you would help us to dig in, help us to, Lord, find the excitement of studying and finding you in your word as you reveal yourself to us. So Lord, bless our studies together. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be faithful in this calling that you've given to us to journey through the Bible over the next three years. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.