Exodus 26:15-3015And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up. 16Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board. 17Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward. 19And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. 20And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side there shall be twenty boards: 21And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 22And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards. 23And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. 24And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. 25And they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 26And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 27And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward. 28And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end. 29And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold. 30And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was showed thee in the mount. (Exodus 26:15‑30). The Boards of the Tabernacle.
THIS wonderful building had walls made of forty-eight upright boards, ten cubits high, which would have been at least fifteen feet high, and one and a half cubits wide, or twenty-seven inches wide. They were covered over with gold, and had two tenons on the bottom end. There were blocks of silver put into the ground for a foundation, and sockets, or holes in those silver blocks for the tenons to fit into, so each board had a solid foundation in the sand of the desert, or earth, according to the place the Israelites would be in their journey from Egypt to Canaan. Then there were pins or pegs of copper put into the ground, and cords were put over the top of the boards to those pegs on either side, so the boards were held standing up straight, and could therefore support the curtains and coverings which formed the roof, which we considered last week.
There were twenty boards on either side, and six boards on the west end, and one in each corner standing across the corners, and were bound to the corner boards of the sides and back by a ring at the top and bottom, so these bound the sides together.
Then there were three rings in each hoard, except the corner boards, for bars to be put through, so that all the boards were linked together.
We will now consider the lessons God has to teach in this wonderful building, which was His house.
It brings before us a type or picture of the present house of God, which is composed of all the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Heb. 3:66But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Hebrews 3:6).) Each board therefore would represent individual believers.
You will remember that the wood represented that which is human, and the gold that which is divine. The gold, in this instance, would bring before us God’s righteousness, which is divine, and is put upon all them that believe, so the boards were covered with gold. We read
Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is thus clothed in God’s righteousness, and is therefore fit for God’s presence.
“Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30). All these things we need, and by having Christ we have them all.
The sockets of silver were made of the atonement money which was given as a ransom for their souls, and therefore speaks to us of redemption. (Read Exod. 30:11-1611And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. 14Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. 15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. 16And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. (Exodus 30:11‑16).) Christ is not only our righteousness, but our redemption also, so we can say in the lines of a hymn,
“On Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.”
Have you, dear reader, accepted Christ as your foundation to stand upon? Can you say, I have Him as my righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption”?
ML 05/28/1922