"And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side. And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework. And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them."
The Vail.
Ver. 31. And thou shalt make a rail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made.] The spiritual signification of the vail is given us by the- apostle in the following words: " Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new, and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through THE VAIL, that is to say, his flesh; and having a high priest over the house of God; let us draw near." (Heb. 10:19-22.)
This vail represents the flesh of Jesus, and in connection with his atoning sacrifice, it shows him as the way of entrance by faith into the holiest of all.
Before the death of Jesus, " The priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing." (Heb. 9:6-8.)
But when Jesus expired on the cross at Calvary, " The vail of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom." (Matt. 27:51.)
God by this act distinctly intimating that the way of access was clear-the glory could shine out, and the believer in Jesus could enter in. God could be just while he justified-and manifest himself as glorious in holiness, while the pardoned sinner was accepted and brought nigh by the blood of Jesus.
In this beautiful vail we thus behold set forth typically, Jesus-God manifest in flesh; who by his atoning sacrifice becomes himself the way of near approach to God in the very holiest. Precious Jesus! Precious privilege! How little apprehended or estimated in proportion to its value!
The Construction of the Vail.
" Of blue," &e.] We may trace in these colors and fine linen with cherubim the various excellences combined in the person of Christ. The blue, his perfection as -than, and the heavenly beauty of his character, " the Son of Man which is in heaven.”
"And purple!! The combination of the heavenly and earthly -dignities in him who was at once Son -of David and Son of God.
"And scarlet." He was born Ring of the Jews, and; though rejected of his own, he yet shall reign.
"And fine twined linen." He was "that holy thing" born of the virgin in his incarnation, and "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners" in his Whole life and conversation here.
" Of cunning work." What beauteous blendings, what exquisite harmonies may be discovered in the character of Jesus! How each grace tempers the Others, and enhances the glory of the whole "With cherubim shall it be made." The cherubim, as we have before said, represent the various characters of service to God, in the accomplishment of the Divine will.
In the garden of Eden it was angelic ministry.-As shown by the cherubim on the mercy seat, the gifts of the Spirit for ministry at their heavenly source.- In the vision of Ezekiel, prophetic ministry and its characteristics.-And in the four living creatures around the throne of God, and of the Lamb, the ministry of the redeemed in glory.
Here, on the Vail, the cherubim represent the various kinds of service to God, which were seen in perfection in Jesus, who came down from heaven to do the will of the Father, and in whom the apostle and prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, and the teacher were combined and manifested in all their excellency.
The Pillars of the Vail.
Ver. 32. And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon four sockets of silver.] This beautiful and significant vail, representing the incarnate Savior, Immanuel, God with us, was to be suspended on four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold. And can we be at a loss to ascertain the fact which answers to this foreshadowing? Did not God employ four individuals, men of like passions with ourselves, but Divinely qualified by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, to hold up to view the great mystery of godliness,-God manifest in the flesh?
In the four inspired records of the life and death of Jesus, the whole truth of his person is exhibited as the Incarnate One. Whereas the five gifts given from an ascended Savior go a step beyond, and in addition present him in his risen glory at God's right hand.
Their hooks, were to be of gold.
Their capacity to take hold of, to select, and to arrange, the various incidents in the life and death of the Man of sorrows, his words and teachings, so as to bring out the truth of his Person in all its fullness, was of God.
So that those apparent discrepancies between the narratives of the four inspired historians, which so puzzle the natural mind, and so- often render futile the attempt to form a harmony of the four Gospels, these seeming are, in fact, the marks and proofs of the handiwork of a Divine Editor.
Under his all-wise guidance and control, Matthew selects and arranges those materials which present the Lord Jesus especially as the Son of David and of Abraham, in connection with the kingdom, and with the promises made of God unto the fathers.
This corresponds with the scarlet.
Mark presents him especially as the Son of God and Son of Man, in his untiring service. The purple.
Luke, as the social Son of Man, and in connection with mankind at large. The fine twined linen.
And John, as the Divine and heavenly Stranger, in all the perfection of his character and ways.
Answering to the blue.
The full-length portrait-the perfection of the truth of the person, of our precious Immanuel, is the result of the whole, combined.
These pillars stood on four sockets of silver.
For while the four inspired historians were employed and capacitated of- God to exhibit the truth of the person of Jesus, they themselves reposed on his redeeming work, and on his precious and atoning blood.
The Position of the Vail.
Ver. 33. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou, mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.]
These taches connected together the two larger curtains, composed of five smaller ones each, thus forming one Tabernacle. (Chapter 26:3-6.)
The vail was to be hung immediately beneath these taches, dividing the tabernacle into two parts: twenty cubits for the holy place, and ten cubits for the most holy.
Into the first tabernacle, or the holy place, the priests went continually, accomplishing the service of God. Setting forth the ordinary privilege of believers in their priestly service and worship.
But into the second, or most holy place, the high priest alone entered once every year. For while the first tabernacle was yet standing, the Holy Ghost 'signified that the way into the holiest was not made manifest.
The vail divided unto Israel between the holy and most holy place. But the true light now shineth; the vail has been rent; the glory of God's grace has shone out; and the believer has boldness to enter in through faith in the blood of Jesus. (Heb. 10:19-23.) The vail now no longer divides between the holy and the most holy place; but he whom the rent vail typifies rather unites. He is himself the way of access by faith into the very presence of God. Our true place of worship and communion is in the holiest of all. How far is this realized by the majority of Christians?
The heart must be sprinkled from an evil conscience, in order to the enjoyment of this privilege in reality. The body must be washed in pure water; that is, the believer must apprehend his interest in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, which this washing or baptism in water signifies, or access into the holiest is not enjoyed. It is a practical, personal, experimental thing.
Unbelief cannot enter there. Neither can the. believer and unbeliever worship together within the vail. The presence of sin, in the license and love of it, in the holiest of all, is as impossible as the existence of darkness. in the brilliance of the noon-day sunshine.
A firm standing in grace, and separation from evil personally and corporately, are indispensable to entrance, abiding, and worshipping in the holiest of all.
The Arrangement of the Vessels of the Sanctuary.
Ver. 33. That thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony....
34. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon*the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.
35. And. thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou. shalt put the table on, the north side." "
The ark and the mercy seat were to be placed within the vail in the holiest of all. Thither Jesus our forerunner has for us entered: and there it is, from off the mercy seat, that God delights to hold communion with his people.
The table and the candlestick had each their up-pointed position in the holy place without the vail; for they typify communion and testimony in the Church on earth assembled.
The table has its place on the north side, or side of judgment; for it is in connection with the table of the Lord that discipline is to be maintained.
The candlestick was to be set over against the table.. For the ministry of the truth of Christ is designed to throw its light on the communion of saints. And it was to be on the south side; for it is to be a testimony of grace.
Neither is communion to set aside ministry, nor ministry to supersede communion; but each is to occupy its proper place, the place assigned to it by God in his word.
The altar of incense, afterward described, had also its place before the vail and mercy seat; for worship conies in beautifully and blessedly in combination with communion and testimony.
The Hanging for the Door, or the Door of the Tent.
Ver. 36. And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.] This hanging for the door of the tent is precisely similar to the vail, with this exception, that there are no cherubim on it.
It presents to us Christ, the incarnate Son of God. The blue intimating his heavenly perfectness-the scarlet his earthly dignity and glory-the fine twined linen his pure humanity-and the needlework his exquisitely beautiful character, in which every grace and virtue were combined and blended.
The vail represented him as the way into the holiest-the hangings for the door as the way into the assembly.
It is Jesus, through whom alone, by faith in his person and work, in the confession of his name, and in subjection to his Lordship, there is admission into the assembly of God-the assembly which is the witness for Jesus in the earth, and the dwelling-place of God through the Spirit.
Christ is the door into the assembly of saints. How important is this truth It is not a ceremony, a creed, a set of opinions, or an agreement in a certain course, that is the door of entrance; it is Christ, and Christ alone-the Christ of the Scriptures and the Christ of God: "He that is holy, he that is true, lie that hath the key of David, he that openeth 'and no man shutteth, and shutteth arid no man openeth."
The Pillars of The' Door.
Ver. 37., And thou shalt 'make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them..
And chap. 36: 38, And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets, (or suspending rods) with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.] 'As the four pillars of the vail represent the four-fold provision made' by God in the divinely inspired histories of the life and death of the Lord Jesus, so the five pillars by which the hanging 'for the door is suspended, represent to us those gifts of the Spirit from a risen and ascended Christ, by which he is made known 'as the way, the truth 'and the life the gifts of the apostle and prophet, the evangelist, the, pastor and the teacher, corresponding with the five bars of the tabernacle, and with the cherubim on the mercy seat, and in the vail.,
But while there are correspondences, there are also distinctions. The cherubim on the mercy seat signifying these gifts in their Divine and heavenly source. The cherubim on the vail, these gifts as possessed in all their fullness by the Lord Jesus When on earth. The five pillars of the door of the tent, the gifts as connected in their exercise with admission into the assembly. And the five bars of the tabernacle, the same gifts employed for the edification and compacting of the Church together.
This suggests the reason why there are no cherubim on the hanging for the door; as in the vail,-the truth of the cherubim being signified in. another form by the five pillars which sustain it.
The Materials of the Pillars.
The pillars are of shittim wood, as pointing to the human agency employed. But they are overlaid with gold, for it is by the grace of God that this ministry is fulfilled.
Their hooks are of gold, for those employed are divinely capacitated to lay hold on and-to exhibit the truth of Christ, so as to lead the soul into fellowship with those gathered in his name.
Their chapiters also, and their fillets or suspending rods, are of gold, significant of the Divine glory which crowns, and the Divine grace which accompanies this service.
But their five sockets are of brass; for decision, strength, and firm standing are requisite in this presentation of Jesus. T. N.
[The Altar of Burnt Offering in the number for July.]