Chapter 15
Exodus 25
“Mother,” asked Sophy the next time they were together, “what was Moses doing those forty days that he was in the mount with God?”
“He was being instructed as to building a house for God. The Lord told him that if the children of Israel were willing, they should bring to Moses materials to be used in its making, such as gold, silver, brass, beautiful materials of blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, badgers’ skins, special kind of wood, oil, sweet spices and precious stones. The Lord said, ‘Let them make Me a sanctuary: that I may dwell among them.’
“It was to be very different from any house we have seen, since it was to be a house for God. God’s Holy Spirit put it into their hearts to wish Him to dwell with them and in His great love and mercy He was going to allow them to make a holy place for Him out of the things they offered to Him with willing hearts.
“It was to be a beautiful place; the inside was to be of gold, which is the most precious of all metals; and everything belonging to it was to be made of the most beautiful and precious things. The most wonderful thing about it was that God told Moses it was to be made according to the pattern of things in heaven which He would show to him.
“I think if we could look with our eyes upon the things as Moses did, we should see that everything up there is of God, and reflects the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. God was always teaching them about Himself in all His ways with men ever since Adam was turned out of the garden of Eden, but they were very slow to learn His holiness and His love. God was planning to someday send His Son Jesus into the world to show who God was and what His love would do for poor sinners.
“So when God called Moses up into the Mount He showed him in heaven, realities about His holiness and righteousness and about His grace to us in Christ. He then told Moses to go down and make things which would be figures of the true. But you must remember they were only figures, because God did not show the realities until the Lord Jesus had come down here and become a man, and had died to put away sin. The Lord Jesus was Himself the reality.
“Jesus was God, and He revealed God not by figures but in Himself. I hope we shall learn a great deal of reality while we are reading about the figures of things in heaven that Moses made; for God has written about them in His word on purpose to teach us about Himself and about heaven.
“God was teaching Moses about His holiness and majesty and he understood that God could not show Himself to His people except in figures or shadows.
“The first thing God told Moses to make was an ark. It was not like the ark Noah made. It was like a long square-cornered box of wood which was covered inside and outside with pure gold. It was to have a crown of gold all around it and two rings of gold on each side. There were to be two poles covered with gold to slip into the rings so that the men could carry it by the poles.”
“But what was this box for?” asked Arthur.
“It was to be God’s treasure box to hold the covenant that He was going to give to His people. The tablets of stone which God was to give them were to be put into the ark. On top of the ark, forming the lid was to be a mercy seat, made of pure gold; and at both ends the gold was to be stretched out into two cherubim as they were called. They were to be golden figures of creatures, which were to have their faces looking toward each other and toward the mercy seat. The Lord said, ‘There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.’
“The mercy seat was to be His throne in the midst of His people, where He could meet with Moses or Aaron his brother when he came as the mediator or high priest between God and His people. This reminds us of Jesus as our mediator and also our high priest. In 1 Timothy 2:5 it says, ‘For there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’
“The mercy seat was made of pure gold. The ark underneath it was made of the precious shittim wood and covered all over with gold. These are figures of the perfection and righteousness and glory of God and of His beloved Son, who came down from heaven not as a pattern only of something up there but as God’s living treasure house. It is in Christ that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden for us.
“The Israelites, of course, did not understand that the ark was to teach them about Jesus; for God had not made that known then, but we can read about it in our New Testament. God told Moses only how He wished to dwell with His people, and how they were to come near to Him, and how He wished them to know more of Him. He always wanted them to know He was a holy God and that He would dwell in a most holy place and would keep safe His covenant with them; but He knew that He had to deal with them in mercy, so the ark had to be covered with the mercy seat and cherubim.
“The mercy seat was to be put on the ark, because the ark held the treasure of God’s righteousness — the tables of the covenant were to be inside it. It was also a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had the law hidden within His heart, and through whom all blessing comes to us. The mercy seat was the throne from which God would act in mercy; and the cherubim stretching out their wings were a figure of how the mercy of God would stretch out to His people and to the ends of the earth, because of what the Lord Jesus Christ is before God.
“We find God telling Moses about the ark, and the mercy seat, and the cherubim before he made the holy place in which He was to dwell, because God begins with what is nearest to Himself. He told Moses first about the thing He most delighted in, and that was the ark. The ark was to keep His covenant, over which was to be the seat where the blood of atonement was sprinkled, and from whence His mercy would stretch out to the people whom He meant to bless.
“The next thing God showed Moses was a pattern of the table. It was to be made of wood also, covered with gold, and made to be carried. All the dishes, spoons, covers and vessels were to be of pure gold. There were to be twelve loaves of bread always upon the table.”
“What were the loaves of bread for, Mother?” asked Arthur.
“For a remembrance, dear, of the children of Israel. God called it showbread to show that there was a loaf for each tribe of the people He loved. He said, ‘Thou shalt set upon the table showbread before Me always.’ Fresh loaves were to be placed there every Sabbath. This was to remind them that God remembered them in His holy place. It was an important work for His people, and God would honor them for being faithful in performing all that He asked of them.
“Next came the candlestick of pure gold. It was to be beaten out into six branches, three on each side of the main stem. They were to be decorated with knobs and flowers and they were to hold seven lamps filled with pure olive oil to be always lighted in the holy place. The candlestick was to stand opposite the table, and to throw its light upon it. There were also snuffers and snuff dishes of gold. And the Lord said, ‘Look that thou make them after their pattern which was showed thee in the mount.’”
“Mother,” said Sophy, “How could Moses do all this just as God had told him?”
“Sophy, dear,” replied Mother, as she closed her Bible, “only God could prepare His servant to do what He wanted him to do. And this is a lesson for us too — to let the Lord prepare us for any task He wishes us to do for Him.”