The great purpose for which the mediator had been upon the mount was realized; Jehovah dwelt amongst men ( See Rev. 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)). The tent of Jehovah and Israel’s tents were shadowed by the glorious cloud, and Jehovah’s presence pervaded His dwelling. Divine glory was manifested upon the earth, deep and wonderful, exceeding that of paradise, when God walked there with man, and overmatching that attendant upon the cherubim at the closed gate of the garden, when sin had defiled the place where God would walk – a glory, moreover, which later revelations declare will yet be manifested in its fullness.
We gaze from our mountain side upon the spectacle. In the center of the camp stands the Tent of Jehovah. From it rises the pillar of cloud, and spreads its protecting shadow over the tribes of Israel. Around the dwelling of Jehovah is an open space where the people congregate, and, closing this in, the tents of Levi are ranged in a hollow square. Facing the east, the pavilions of Moses and Aaron guard the entrance to the court of the tabernacle (Num. 3:3838But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. (Numbers 3:38)). “Behind the tabernacle westward” (Num. 3:2323The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. (Numbers 3:23).) the tents of the Gershonites are ranged; “on the side of the tabernacle southward” (Num. 3:2929The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. (Numbers 3:29)) those of the Kohathites; and northward, those of the Merarites (Num. 3:3535And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward. (Numbers 3:35)). The tents of the twelve tribes are pitched in an ordered array, “every man... by his own standard, with the ensign of his father’s house” (Num. 2:22Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. (Numbers 2:2)) in a great square about the tents of the men selected to serve the tabernacle. Here, again, the eastward position is that of honor.
Toward the sun-rising (the van of Israel’s marching order, “These shall first set forth (Num. 2:99All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies. These shall first set forth. (Numbers 2:9)), Judah’s standard waves, and his tents, and those of Issachar and Zebulon, form one side of the square. On the south is Reuben’s standard, whose men, with those of Simeon and Gad, form one front. On the west, are pitched the tents of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin under the standard of Ephraim; and on the north (the rear in marching), stand the tents of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, under the standard of Dan. Armed Israel, with Jehovah in their midst, face the four quarters of the earth, and their significant standards look conqueringly upon all the world. Can we forget that Israel after their national restoration to Jehovah shall yet be the great power which shall conquer the world from its idols to the service of the living God? (See Rom. 11:1515For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (Romans 11:15); see Isa. 9.)
With the symbolism of Egypt in mind, it seems impossible not to recall the setting out of the pyramids to earth’s four quarters; yet the tents of Israel do honor, not to the sun’s throne, but to Jehovah’s throne. Also the very standards of the camp recall the cherubim-figures of Babylonia. The array also of the tents “far off about the tabernacle of the congregation” (Num. 2:22Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. (Numbers 2:2)) brings to remembrance the surrounding walls of the Egyptian temples, but the walls before us are not stones, they are living men.
The temple of Jehovah as erected by Solomon, and the temple to be erected as described by Ezekiel, add testimony to the order of Israel’s camp. Both temples faced the four quarters. The chief entrance in Solomon’s temple was the eastern gate, and in the temple of Ezekiel, living waters issued from the eastern face of the building. Further, the visions of the apostle John, display the fulfilled glory of the camp. “A great voice out of Heaven “calls earth’s attention to a sight of all-absorbing interest. “Behold! The Tabernacle of God with men! And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)). The city seen in the vision had “the glory of God” (Rev. 21:11-1311Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. (Revelation 21:11‑13)), which had filled the tabernacle of the wilderness; the city, as the camp, was “foursquare”; it “had a wall great and high,” analogous to Israel’s tents; it “had” twelve gates set out in four groups of threes to the four quarters, similarly to the disposition of the tribes; and to it “the kings of the earth” brought “their glory and honor” (Rev. 21:2424And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. (Revelation 21:24)), while Israel’s standards had indicated the battles that were to be won. In the vision of the Revelation the day of battle is evidently over, the standards and their ensigns are not needed, peace and rest prevail; “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:44And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4)). Thus, whether we consider the great foundation stones of Solomon’s temple, still in position in Jerusalem, or the sure word of the prophet Ezekiel, or that of the apostle John recorded upon the sacred page, all carry back the mind to Israel’s camp in the wilderness, and thence to paradise, so revealing God’s purpose of dwelling amongst men.
On page 72 a diagram of the ground plan of an Egyptian temple is set out. In it a straight line is maintained, arising, as it were, from the eastern sun, and ending at the most holy place in the erection. The whole building in its structure obeyed the path of the line of light. Now there was morally a straight line in the dwelling place of God, and the erection was set out in reference to this line. It was the straight line by which man may approach God, and this is, spiritually speaking, our line of light. The reader will find it shown in the diagram of the tabernacle in chapter 31.
Another great principle stands before the eye in the arrangement of the court of the tabernacle. This was really composed of two squares, each complete in its peculiar teachings, which will occupy us later on. The first square had for its center the brazen altar; the second had for its center the throne of Jehovah. The service connected with the first was held in the open air for all Israel to see; that connected with the second was hidden from Israel’s view. We do not affirm that the altar of sacrifice and the throne of Jehovah were located precisely as we show them in the accompanying diagram, but if such were the case, their actual position in the court, and the teaching connected with them, would be in agreement. The location of the altar in the first square holds a remarkable agreement with its location in the ground plan of the temple given on the previous page.
We now take our place upon the level of the camp, and consider the divine dwelling-place itself. The interest attached to the newly-discovered ruin of a palace or a temple is immense. The conceptions, the ideas, the wisdom of men in bygone centuries lie there in outline. And when the plan of the remains, and possibly some of the very ornaments and symbols of the erection, are exposed to view, and the purposes for which they were intended are discovered, we are able to a considerable extent to enter into the lives of those who lived in the palace, or who worshipped in the temple. Now where discovery would only give us a broken outline, the Scriptures yield us a full disclosure. The place, the structure, and symbols of Israel’s sanctuary are described, and we are able to see in them the thoughts of God. The whole ordering of the building was full of meaning.
The New Testament teaches us that the tabernacle of the wilderness expressed by its figures the greatest Christian truths. In the early church this was a common belief, and the fathers of the Christian church so regarded it; their testimony is, “Whatever was done by Moses in the wilderness with regard to the tabernacle, was a type and figure of spiritual mysteries. The tabernacle was intended for frequent change of locality; it has left no ruins. Long since it passed out of the desert where it was made. The men who formed its guardian “walls” marched with it to their promised land and are no more. It was not designed to be permanent. In the Book of Exodus we have a full and exact description of it; yet not of the whole of it, for the details of certain parts are not described, and in others, proportions which would enable us to form a perfect model of it, are omitted. The object of the description is to afford spiritual instruction, and we have therefore to learn from omissions as well as from minutely recorded details. Further, the order of the descriptions varies in certain instances; for example, when the instructions were given on the mount for its formation, the throne of God came first in order (Ex. 25:1010And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. (Exodus 25:10)), but when the erection was set up on the plain, first of all the boards of the pavilion were erected (Ex. 40:1818And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars. (Exodus 40:18)). The reason is apparent; in moral order in the mind of God, His throne occupied the first place; in the order of construction, the golden walls of the pavilion, wherein He should dwell, came first, and we have to read the description not merely as mechanical critics, but as students of moral principles.
The dwelling of Jehovah was composed of an erection formed of two golden chambers covered with beautiful tapestry, and having nails for doors, and this was called the Tabernacle; over this was a covering of spun goats’ hair, called the Tent; and over the tent were the skins called the Covering. The habitation, or dwelling, for such is really the meaning of the word rendered “tabernacle,” was the immediate place of Jehovah’s presence, and this was adorned on every side by the curtains. The tent was intimately connected with the dwelling, almost forming an integral part of it, and was composed of curtains of woven work, no doubt as delicate and beautiful as a cashmere shawl. The covering composed of skins was twofold, the innermost part being made of rams’ skins, dyed red, the outermost being made of badgers’ skins. The proportions of the habitation and of the tent are given, those of the covering are not stated.
The habitation was for Jehovah to dwell in, and as is common to similar pavilions, its beauties were within. From the familiar tent of the wilderness, God taught the eternal lessons of His way of dwelling amongst men.
In the description of the habitation given upon the mount, the beautiful curtains occupy the first place (Ex. 26), and consequently call for careful inquiry. They resembled the vail, between the Holy and the Holiest, the signification of which Scripture supplies – “the veil, that is to say, His flesh” (Heb. 10:2020By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Hebrews 10:20)). These curtains were ten in number, and were all of the same dimensions and materials. The number ten has already been under consideration in its connection with Jehovah Himself, as indicating the measure He selected to teach the completeness of His righteous requirements from man. In the ten curtains, as in the ten commandments, a division into two was arranged. The two divisions of the curtains were looped together in the center to form one covering, so that, as in the commandments, the ten composed one perfect whole.
How the curtains were upheld, whether by cords and loops, cannot be defined, but doubtless they were suspended over the boards and formed a drapery within. The looping together of the two divisions took place where the vail screening the Holiest of all was situated, and immediately above the four golden pillars, from the connecting rods of which the vail hung. Thus one division of five curtains formed the ceiling and also the northern and southern sides of the Holy; and the second division of the curtains formed the ceiling, sides, and western end of the Holiest. The two vails of the habitation were composed of materials similar to the curtains, and as they were draped where the curtains did not fall – save upon the floor, which was the bare earth – everywhere within the habitation, one great symbolic teaching prevailed. The golden boards were robed in them. One prevailing object was before Jehovah’s eye in “the dwelling.”
In the description of these curtains, it will be observed that when they are presented as forming the habitation, the fine twined linen of which they were composed takes the precedence over the blue, purple, and scarlet, and the cherubim work with which they were beautified. (See Ex. 26:1; 36:81Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them. (Exodus 26:1)
8And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them. (Exodus 36:8).) In other cases, when the blue, purple, and scarlet, and cherubim work are mentioned, the fine twined linen follows the scarlet. In God’s immediate presence the foundation work of the curtains is the primary thought, its adornments follow. The fine twined linen was beautiful and bright, like silk. It was not only white, the emblem of purity, but it was glorious. The glistening white may be termed the royal robe of the divine kingdom; it is the resplendent garment of heaven. Such were those of Christ on the mount of transfiguration, when, for a moment, His kingly majesty was seen (Mark 9:33And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. (Mark 9:3); Luke 9:2929And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. (Luke 9:29); Rev. 3:4; 19:84Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)
8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:8)).
This glorious and pure white is a figure of the excellent purity of the incarnate Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus. The first principle expressed in the symbolism of the curtains and vail, the figure of “His flesh,” is absolute holiness. Many glories were manifested in Him, and His glories shall yet shine resplendent before the eyes of all; but the foundation glory of them all in the sight of God is the holiness of the Holy One.
The blue carries its own explanation in the color of the heavens above.
The heavenly nature of the Incarnate One, “the second Man, the Lord from heaven,” is thus presented. The purple follows the blue, and is emblematic of the sovereignty of the world; it is the regal color of earth, presenting the glory of Jehovah’s King – “My King” (Psa. 2:66Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2:6)). The scarlet comes next, and the word used for scarlet should be noted, as it is “worm scarlet,” for this scarlet of the sanctuary was the dye obtained from the worm; in it was presented the glory that ensues from suffering and death. All the varied glories of the Incarnate One when on earth culminated in the cross, and all His heavenly glories as Man are established by His sufferings unto death on earth. The burden of the prophetic testimony was, “The sufferings of Christ and the glories which should follow” (1 Peter 1:1111Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1 Peter 1:11).) Whether we regard the white, the blue, the purple, or the scarlet, glory is stamped upon each.
Beyond these four symbolic lessons in the curtains, which, it must not be forgotten, are repeated over and over again in varied forms in the vails and in the garments of the habitation and its service, there were the cherubim. Their forms were worked into the fine twined linen, and were in all probability composed of the blue, purple, and scarlet, woven into the fine twined linen. The description reads thus, “Thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet-cherubim of cunning (or woven) work shalt thou make them” (Ex. 26:11Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them. (Exodus 26:1)). The cherubim, as has been before noted, are heavenly ministers of Jehovah, and exercise their ministry in relation to this earth. Here all their ministry is summed up and embodied in the glories of the Person of the King, the Man Christ Jesus, and thus is given an emblematic representation of the truth lying in these words, “Unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the world to come.” “Thou crownedst Him (the Man Christ Jesus) with glory and honor, and didst set Him over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet” (Heb. 2:5,85For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. (Hebrews 2:5)
8Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. (Hebrews 2:8)).
The proportions of each curtain are remarkable – a four-square, seven times over; “the length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits.” God, at the beginning, made seven the foot-rule of time, and in His prophetic word He measures time on earth by sevens, and in seven the perfect standard of earthly things is given. The four-square is an emblem frequently occurring in the sanctuary generally, and presents the idea of a complete-sided witness, viewed from all the corners of the earth. Thus, that which during all time is perfect, was, as it were, the measure of each curtain. Further, in the number of cubits which formed the breadth of the combined curtains, the number forty, which so frequently occurs in Scripture, in reference to probation, is presented. Therefore that which is perfect, and has been tested on earth, is one great voice uttered by the proportions of the curtains, which formed the beauty of the divine habitation. These curtains were united by loops of blue, and clasps of gold, that the habitation might be one (See Ex. 26:66And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle. (Exodus 26:6)). They were held together in absolute unity by heavenly bonds – clasped together by divine glory.
The way in which these measurements speak of the only Perfect One, and the One who was tested and proved, and whose every word and way was to the glory of God, is full of suggestive interest.
The tent was formed of beautiful woven curtains of goats’ hair. They hung over the outside of the golden boards. Part of them fell over the back of the habitation, part of one of them formed a sort of door in front of the vail. The goat was prominent in sacrifice, and on the great Day of Atonement its blood was carried into the Holiest and sprinkled upon Jehovah’s throne. In the curtains we have symbols of the glory of the Man Christ Jesus, in the tent symbols of the glory of His sacrifice.
The covering was formed of a double protection of skins, the innermost being rams’ skins dyed red, the outermost being badgers’ skins, or, as some would have it, seals’ skins. No dimensions are given of the covering. But, as the outer protection was dark or black, it looked very much the same as the coverings of the tents of Israel. Certain of the Bedouin have black skins for the outer covering of their tents to this day. The glories of God’s house were all within. How the covering was reared up over the habitation we are not told, but we have no reason for supposing that the plan adopted was dissimilar to that in use in the large tents of the camp.
Let us briefly glance at the boards. How were they made? It is more than probable that they were delicately wrought, and that they were cabinet work, light and strong. Square tubes would answer the general description given of then.
There is no reason to assume that they were solid baulks of timber of a great weight and cumbrous form. But to give a good answer to unreasonable objections respecting them, we have reproduced a photograph of a shittim or acacia tree of the Feiran Valley, in which there is a fair amount of timber. In the days of the Exodus a considerable part of the “wilderness” was cultivated, at the present time the trees are destroyed in order to make charcoal.
These boards were forty-eight, the number of the tribes of Israel repeated four times. The boards were composed of exactly the same materials-shittim wood covered with gold – as certain pieces of furniture in the dwelling, which very markedly symbolize Christ; however, there was a very great difference in the way in which they were presented before Jehovah as His habitation, for they all stood up upon a foundation of silver. Each had its socket of silver, and was held by tenons of silver, therefore without the silver they could not be appropriated to their designed use. Silver, the metal of Eastern commerce, the metal used for purchase, had been set apart in an unmistakable manner for the purposes of the sanctuary. Half a shekel was the redemption money, or the ransom price, given for each individual Israelite when the people were numbered; “The 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,” and the silver thus obtained was assigned for the service of the sanctuary.
The boards, therefore, stood erect on a basis of redemption, and they were covered with gold, the symbol of divine glory. Using New Testament language, “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:2424Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:24)) and “the praise of His glory” (see Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6),12) are here presented. The boards were united as one by means of bars running through them. If they were many individually, they were one collectively. “That they all may be one” (John 17:2121That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)) occurs to the mind. They were set up in their silver sockets and “fitly framed together” for the habitation of Jehovah, and afford a figurative teaching of the New Testament doctrine – “In” Christ “all the building [is] fitly framed together... in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-2221In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21‑22)). While being robed with the curtains these boards represent the people of God adorned in the beauties of the blessed and incarnate Son of God, “accepted,” or graced, “in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)).
Though the foundations of the building were silver, and though the boards were covered with gold, though its drapery was right royal, yet its floor was the bare earth! The street of the heavenly city is pure gold – there the glory of God is permanently established, but the tabernacle was for the wilderness. Where Israel camped there Jehovah camped, where they rested there did He rest. When Israel had reached the land of promise, and dwelt in fixed habitations, Jehovah dwelt amongst them in a temple. He dwelt where His people were.