Part 3, Tabernacle Notes.

By:
The Foundation.
It is deeply interesting and instructive to observe that the silver which formed these large blocks of a talent weight each, or taking an average from three different writers’ estimates, about 104 lbs., was that which was demanded by the Lord from the people, and paid by them as ransom, or atonement money, for their souls (Ex. 30:12-1612When 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 30:12‑16) and 38:27). God required of them that which He first gave to them, thus making it possible for them to answer to His claims. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts” (Hag. 2:88The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:8)). By power divine the silver was brought into existence in the earth; otherwise it had been quite impossible for any Israelite to offer such in response to the command so to do. David could say, as the mouth-piece of the people, “Now therefore, our God, we thank thee and praise thy glorious name. But what am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee” (1 Chron. 29:1414But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. (1 Chronicles 29:14)).
For man, “sold under sin,” God demanded a ransom price: “When 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, &c.” Oh, the riches of His goodness Who, as the just claimant of the ransom man could never have produced, said in His grace, “Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom” (Job 33:2424Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. (Job 33:24)).
The same principle may be seen in Exodus 12:3,3Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: (Exodus 12:3) where the word was to be spoken from God to all the congregation of Israel, that in the tenth day of the month they should take to themselves every man a lamb. Where must the lambs come from? Who could supply them? Psalms 1:10 gives us the answer: “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” God first placed at man’s hand what He claimed from him in satisfaction for sins. And this is strikingly illustrative of the heaven-sent Saviour of men. He was freely given of God to meet the holy requirements of His nature, and the deep, deep need of sinners. It was He Who could say, “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me” (Heb. 10:55Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5)). To Him does Peter refer when he says, “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18, 1918Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:18‑19)).
The Old Testament is very conclusive that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul,” and the same verse supplies the Lord’s statement, “I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls” (Lev. 17:11And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (Leviticus 17:1)). The New Testament declares the same fundamental doctrine: “and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)).
As God’s material house was founded upon that which procured redemption — the silver — so His spiritual house must, likewise, find its basis upon a costly ransom price. “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation” (Isa. 28:1616Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isaiah 28:16)). It is well to realize that there is only one ground of salvation, and better still to have the sweet assurance of being upon that immovable and indestructible basis. Like the little Irish boy, who, asked if, though a Christian, he did not think that after all he might be lost, said, “Oh, sir, sometimes I trimbles on the Rock, but the Rock never trimbles under me, sir!”
A. R. C.