When God was pleased to dwell in the midst of Israel, Ile revealed the manner and order of worship which He could accept. In this He is unchangeable. Circumstances may and have altered the manner of worship; but it is God who has directed the change, and made known to His people how He would now have them come before Him as worshippers. There never was at any time, after the Lord Jehovah tabernacled in the midst of Israel, power or license given to men to worship Him as they would. He was the object of worship, and He directed the way of approach into His presence. The idea, so frequently expressed, that men may worship Him as they think fit, provided their creed be correct, is foreign to the word of God. God has not said so; and what is man that he should regulate of his own accord how he will worship the Almighty One, who has made Himself known now to His people in the character of Father. It is a -mighty privilege that man can worship God, that God will permit him to come into His presence. Is man, the recipient of this privilege, to say how it shall be carried out? Shall the child or the father prescribe the manner of address suited to the position and relationship existing between them? Shall the servant or the master declare what language and demeanor is suited for the former in the presence of the latter? Shall the creature or the Creator lay down the mode of worship and method of approach to Him before whom the very angels vail their faces? What man would not do to men of like passions with himself, he thinks it not out of place to do to God. But He has given no such license. It behooves man to learn what He has declared on this point, to search and see how he is to draw nigh. Before the Lord Jesus came God would be worshipped at Jerusalem. The Lord made known that the place and manner of worship would change. " The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father." " The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23,24.) Spiritual in its nature and true in its way, such is the character of acceptable worship now.
If God has prescribed the manner, He has also made known the place of worship. It must be in the sanctuary, wherever that is. Of sanctuaries the word of God knows but two, the heavenly and the earthly; and as man cannot worship God how he will, no more can he worship Him where he will. There was the sanctuary on the earth, there is the sanctuary in heaven. True the earthly sanctuary varied in its locality. But God never appointed two sanctuaries on earth at once. When the temple of Solomon was dedicated, the tabernacle of Moses passed away. It had done its work. The presence of the Lord had appeared on Mount Moriah. There He had chosen to dwell, and there from henceforth was the place of worship for all Israel till the Lord came. But the sanctuary on Mount Moriah has been destroyed. No spot on earth has been chosen in its place. There is no sanctuary now but that which is above. The temple of God is in heaven, the ark of the covenant is there, (Rev. 11:19,) the golden altar is there, (Rev. 8:3,) the high priest is there, (Heb. 4:14,) and the worship must be in accordance with the position of the sanctuary. That which Moses erected, we are told, was but the pattern of things in heaven. " For see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." (Heb. 8:5.) From this pattern no deviation could be permitted. So, too, when David prepared for the temple to be erected by Solomon, he gave to " his son the pattern of the porch and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God and of the treasuries of the dedicated things All this, said David, the Lord made me to understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." (1 Chron. 28:11,12,19.) God in both cases ordered the form, and Moses and Solomon only carried out what had been appointed. But why this accuracy? Why this copying in the tabernacle of what Moses had seen? Why was no latitude allowed to the skilled workmen, I Bezaleel, and Aholiab, and all the wise-hearted under them? Because the tabernacle and its furniture represented in various ways what none on earth, except Moses, had seen, the glory and excellency of one to whose perfection no art of man could add-the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the midst of Israel, as they encamped in the wilderness, was a space, curtained off from the rest is hundred cubits by fifty. On the north, south, and west side no entrance could be found. The curtains of fine-twined linen, five cubits (about eight feet) high, aptly denoting the holiness of the place where God dwelt, effectually prevented any one gazing into the sacred enclosure. If by chance any one had got a sight of the court from a neighboring eminence, what would he have seen? An oblong tabernacle, covered with badger-skins, presenting certainly nothing attractive to the eye as seen from without. To the priest within the tabernacle the case was very different, but to those without there was no beauty in it. So to those out of Christ there is no beauty in Him. On the three sides of the court nothing was seen but the fine-twined linen curtains. On the east side how different the appearance presented to Israel. There was the entrance, and instead of the plain, fine-twined linen, a hanging of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen marked the door. " For the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen, wrought with needlework. (Ex. 27:16.) Man was not left to devise the entrance for himself. If God separated the court of the tabernacle from the rest of the camp, He directed where the entrance should be, and of what the hangings should be composed. At the east end-and beautiful in its colors of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen-what does this mean? The court separated from the camp points out the holy nature of the place where God dwelt, and the entrance at the east end may teach us by whom man could go in, even by Christ the door, the branch or dayspring, ἀνατολή, but Christ as the Second Adam, the Lord from heaven, Son of man, crucified, His heavenly character, sovereignty and death shadowed forth apparently in the colors of this curtain.
Entering through the door, three things are seen-an altar of brass, a laver or sea of brass, and the tabernacle beyond. Those that stood at the door of the court could see the entrance of the holy place; but the curtain before it concealed from their view all that was within.
To the brazen altar all could come. It was for the need and use of all; hence it stood at the entrance of the court, as the first object that those who came there must see, proclaiming by its position that none could come within the sacred precincts, and walk in that hallowed enclosure, without passing that altar. The way was by the altar. On it were offered the sacrifices and offerings; at its foot the blood was poured out; while on its north side stood the offerer, as the priest sacrificed what he had brought. By sacrifice alone can man enter into the place where God dwells-the sacrifice of Christ, as shadowed forth by the altar and its victim. Ere he can come into God's presence, expiation must be made, as the blood poured out abundantly testified.
But while all in Israel could and must come to the brazen altar with their sacrifices and offerings, all could not enter the tabernacle of the congregation. The priests alone had the right of entrance there. And to do that, it needed, not only expiation, but cleansing. When first consecrated as priests, they were washed all over; and ever after, as they entered on their work, whether at the altar or within the tabernacle, they had to wash their hands and feet in the brazen sea. (Ex. 30:20.) Cleansing, then, they needed as well as expiation-the two parts of the work of Christ on the cross. Out of His side flowed blood and water. (John 19:34.) " This is he that came by water and blood, even, Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood." (1 John 5:6.) The altar and the sea tell us of these two things: the altar, that without shedding of blood is no remission-proclaiming by the sacrifice offered thereon that God could accept a sacrifice for sins, yet showing by the animals constantly slain that the real sacrifice had not yet been offered; the brazen sea, that man needed not merely an expiation for sin, but cleansing from it, ere he could enter the house of God, and minister in His sanctuary. The laver probably typified the cleansing from defilement in walk by the word; but all that is here insisted on is the need of cleansing for those that ministered.
Beyond the laver was the tabernacle, with its curtained entrance of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen-the very same in texture and color as that of the door of the court; showing that, as no entrance could be found into the court except through the man Christ Jesus, into the tabernacle there was no other door but Himself. All this the people could see, but they could not enter the holy place. But when the priest went in, what a scene presented itself! Without in the court the altar and the laver were of brass; here all was of gold. Gold around,' and curtains above, and a vail in front. Gold, portraying divine righteousness; the curtains and vail, the manhood of the Lord. On the left and on the right lie saw gold: but above, covering all, was the manhood of the Lord displayed in the blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen. So far, they resembled the entrance-hangings; but there is a difference, and a marked one. On these curtains, and on the vail which hung before the most holy place, were cherubim of cunning work. All that belongs to the Lord is not made known to men at once. The sinner needs a revelation of the Lord in grace; the saint, or worshipper, can dwell with delight and interest on what belongs to His person. The sinner seeks for what is given him in Christ; the saint desires to know what is given to Christ. The former is occupied with his needs, and how Christ can meet them; the latter, having learned all that, can be occupied with what belongs to his Lord. So to those outside in the court the only manifestation of the Lord was as He appears in grace. He is the door. By His blood and death expiation and cleansing are effected. But once within the tabernacle, the intrinsic character of divine righteousness meets the eye in the gold on the walls and furniture of the holy place; and the power which belongs to the Lord Jesus as the one who has glorified the Father is taught in the curtains and vail.
On the curtains are cherubim of cunning work. Wherever cherubim are mentioned in Holy Writ, they seem to have reference to the exercise of judicial power. God's throne whence judgment comes forth is supported by cherubim. (See Ezekiel.) " He rode upon the cherub and did fly." (Psa. 18:10.) The place of His presence on earth, from whence He gave commandments to Moses, was between the cherubim. (Ex. 25:22.) The cherubim with the flaming sword debarred the approach to the tree of life after Adam's sin. (Gen. 3:24.) If the blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen tell us of the manhood of the Lord, the Second Adam, the Lord from heaven, King, yet to be crucified, the cherubim on the curtains and vail would seem to teach that to this one belongs the power of judgment. " For he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained." (Acts 17:31.) " The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." (John 5:22.)
But why were the cherubim not seen without on the hangings of the door. What sin-convicted soul can bear to think of judgment against sin? He knows he deserves it; but the thought of it overwhelms him. But tell of it to a soul that has found peace through the blood of the Lamb, which has passed from death unto life, which knows it will not come into judgment, because the Lord has borne it already, it can hear of it unmoved by fear. To one at the altar and in the court the grace of God in Christ is declared; to one inside the tabernacle, pardoned, cleansed, and walking separated from defilement, the prerogatives of the Lord can be displayed. If divine righteousness was symbolized by the gold, the power and authority to judge all that fell short of that was seen displayed in the cherubim on the curtains and the vail.
But what else was there to see? A candlestick, a table, and an altar, and all of pure gold. No alloy, nothing that was not pure, could be accepted as befitting the place. In God's house, where He dwells, purity must be the characteristic; for He is pure.
The candlestick with its seven lamps was there to give light in the darkness; the table was there to receive the bread laid up before the Lord; while from the altar ascended, morning and evening, grateful incense to the Lord of hosts. But what had these to do with the worshipper-the priest who trod the floor of the sanctuary? Did these only set forth the character of Christ: or had he not an interest in them? Assuredly he had. The candlestick spoke of the light by which he could walk, when the darkness of night fell on all around outside. Christ is the light for His people. As He has life in Himself, and He gives life, so He is light and can give it. He is the true light, and " whosoever believeth in him shall not abide in darkness." But, besides light for guidance in the sanctuary, food is wanted to sustain those who minister. This, too, God provides. The high priest lighted the lamps, the high priest placed the showbread on the table. (Lev. 24) God provides for His priests both light and food. Christ answers to their wants in both capacities. From the table the priest was fed with the loaves which, placed before the Lord, He had accepted. The priest could feed in the sanctuary, but it must be on what God had ordained. But the priest did not eat of the same bread as that which was taken in before the Lord. The Lord did not have for His portion a part of what the priests eat; but the priests eat the very bread which had been taken in before God, and which He had accepted. So we, through grace, feed on Christ, the accepted sacrifice, the Son in whom the Father is well pleased. What a feast for us I How all the priest needs he finds provided for him, and just as he needs it. In the court he had the altar and the brazen sea, within the tabernacle he had light and food. What he required ere he could become a worshipper he found in the court; what he wanted as a worshipper he found in the tabernacle. But God ordered each thing, and he found it suited to his wants.
One thing more claims attention in the holy place-an altar of gold, on which the high priest burnt incense, morning and evening. Every morning and evening a lamb was offered up on the brazen altar in the court, as a burnt-offering. Every morning, when Aaron dressed the lamps, and every evening, when he lighted them, he burnt incense upon the golden altar. (Ex. 30) Thus, in connection with the daily sacrifice, there was the daily incense; teaching that the worship of God's people needed incense to make it acceptable to Him. And what is that incense? The merits of Christ. We see in (Rev. 8:8-5) the incense offered up with the prayers of God's saints, and we learn their acceptance by the answer accorded. And what perfume was it that was used thereon? God had arranged what it should be; He Himself made known the mixture. (Ex. 30:31-38.) Man could not use it, however fragrant, for his own pleasure. It was most holy to the Lord, " a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy." Of each separate ingredient no quantity is mentioned, but equal quantities of all; nor is it stated how much was to be made at once. For who shall measure the quantity needful for us? Who shall estimate the sweetness " of the merits of the Lord? Who shall say that one ingredient is more needful than another? All, then, that we find in the holy place tells of Christ; and the priest admitted there to minister, finds the high priest has trimmed and lighted the lamps, arranged the showbread on the table, and burnt the daily incense on the golden altar. With these the priest had nothing to do, but to receive the benefits that resulted therefrom. He had to sacrifice for the people outside, and to offer the bread of his God. (Lev. 21:17.) Within the sanctuary he could minister, " and eat the bread of his God." (Lev. 21:22.)
Behind the golden altar hung the gorgeous vail, hiding from the view of the priest the most holy place, as the holy place had been screened from the gaze of those who had access only to the court. Behind that vail none but the high priest could enter. He, and he alone, could go into the very place where the throne of the Lord was established on the earth, the mercy seat between the cherubim. How each step of the way, from the entrance of the court to the most holy place, reminds us of Christ as the only entrance, and the unfitness of man for God's presence. Within the court any of the children of Israel could come with their offering, and stand by the brazen altar whilst it was being sacrificed; within the holy place the priests alone could go; and within the holy of holies none but the high priest could enter. But the vail has been rent: we can see into it. The flesh of Christ was the vail. Rent on the cross, no vail now divides the two chambers. Admitted as priest into the holy place, nothing can binder us from seeing the most holy place, and entering it likewise. When the high priest entered once a year on the day of atonement, he came with incense in his hand and the blood of atonement; the incense to cover the mercy seat while he drew nigh with the blood, that he die not. Acting thus by divine appointment, he could not feel at ease in that place. But we can go there with boldness; not like the high priest, to sprinkle the blood on and before the mercy seat, and then to come out; the blood has indeed been sprinkled, therefore we can draw nigh with perfect confidence, for sin has been put away. And since the vail has been rent, we can see, as it were, right into the holy of holies. What was there then? All around was gold; above were the curtains of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen, with cherubim of cunning work; before the high priest stood the ark and the mercy seat with the cherubim overshadowing the latter with their wings. Here was the dwelling-place of God-" He sitteth between the cherubim." (Psa. 99:1.) These with outstretched wings had their faces looking to one another toward the mercy seat. (Ex. 25:20.) And what did they there see-the law? No; that was covered up by the mercy seat placed on the ark. The gold of the mercy seat typifying divine righteousness? Doubtless. But something else was there. On that which typified the unsullied, untarnishable righteousness of God, marks of blood could be seen. No stain could be discovered in that righteousness, for it is perfect, it is divine. Yet there were marks of blood- the blood of atonement. How beautiful was this! The supporters of God's throne, emblems of His judicial power, whose acts are based on the law deposited within the ark, look to the blood of atonement, by which expiation was made, and man could righteously be received into God's presence. Here indeed " mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other." Of what are these two, the ark and the mercy seat, typical? Christ. In the ark were deposited the tables of the covenant. If Israel had kept the covenant they had entered into with God, (Ex. 19,) the blessings annexed to its observance would have been theirs. But they sinned and forfeited all; and the very tables were broken, symbolical of their failure in keeping it. New tables were given and laid up in the ark. Israel, had failed. All blessing on the ground of their obedience was at an end. But One was to come who would keep the law perfectly. In the ark were the unbroken tables laid up. In the ark were they kept intact. In Christ we see them perfectly fulfilled. " Thy law is within my heart." He, and He alone, could observe all that the two tables had enjoined, and by virtue of His obedience the blessings Israel forfeited the remnant will yet enjoy; and by virtue of that same obedience we enter into blessing likewise. Not that He kept the law vicariously. But He kept it, He magnified it. It was holy, just, and good. He observed it. Showed Himself, by keeping it, to be the Lamb without blemish and without spot, the only sacrifice God could accept, but which having accepted, we, believers in the Lord, enter on all the blessings which His obedience can procure. If the ark, with the tables of the covenant within it, was typical of the Lord, not less so was the mercy seat above it. He is the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:2.) He is also the propitiatory or mercy seat. (Rom. 3:25.) (ἰλαστήριον not ίλασμὀς) In Him God can meet with the sinner, and the sinner meet with God.
Wherever we go, then, in the court or tabernacle, we see what speaks of Christ. By Him alone can an entrance be gained to the house of God. He is everything to the sinner, as He is all that the saint wants. We never get beyond what He is for His people. We can never reach a position where we have no need of Him. " In him all fullness dwells," and " of his fullness have we all received." (Col. 1, John 1) The sinner must enter through Christ into the court, the worshipper into the tabernacle by Him, and as he goes through the holy place we find Him supplying all his wants; and when he reaches the furthest point in the tabernacle, the meeting-place between him and God, there he finds the same person. It is Christ in the most holy place, as it is Christ in the court, and Christ in the holy place. In the innermost recesses of the sanctuary, as at the entrance to the court without, we meet with the Lord Jesus, different, indeed, in manifestation, yet withal the same in person. The sacrifice for sin, the food and light for the priests, the needed and accepted incense. When the priest was offering up the daily sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering without in the court, the high priest was engaged at the altar of incense. Between " the evenings" was the lamb to be sacrificed; (Ex. 29:41, Hebrew;) between " the evenings" (xxx. 8) was the incense to be burnt. As the smoke ascended from the altar without, the cloud ascended from the altar within. No mere priest could thus minister at the golden altar; one only can render worship acceptable before God. Christ is the Lamb—the merits of Christ form the incense-Christ is the High Priest.
Divine righteousness was seen portrayed all around within the tabernacle, but overshadowing it was the curtain, which told of the Perfect Man, the Heavenly One, about to suffer.
The ark and the mercy-seat tell their tale of the Lord. And what a tale it is I The Perfect One who never sinned, sprinkling His own precious blood on the mercy seat; Himself at once the propitiatory and propitiation.
If such was the earthly tabernacle, what is the heavenly? What the earthly shadowed forth, that we have in the heavenly. It is Christ everywhere: the way, the truth, the life-the only means of access to the Father-the living bread-the light of the sanctuary -the Intercessor. But just as of old God ordered the form and fashion of the house, and the manner of worship, so now..If we worship in a different manner, it is because God has altered it. If we worship in a different place, it is because He has changed it. And as they worshipped according to His directions, so must we now. He has given rules: (1 Cor. 12-14:) we must follow them. It is God's house we belong to; it is God's temple we worship in; and it is God's mind we must conform to. We worship in the heavenly sanctuary. The power of the blood maintains us there. God's justice is satisfied; His holiness has been vindicated. The sinner is not consumed, nor the saint terrified; for Christ has satisfied God, and given confidence to man.