Lesson #30

EXODUS
Lesson #30
A STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE: INTRODUCTION

• Memory Verse: 1John 2:2

• The design of the tabernacle was part of the covenant given to Moses.
• Much of the remaining chapters of the book of Exodus describe the tabernacle and the priesthood that Moses built at Mt. Sinai to conform to God’s instructions.
• In our study, we will read these scriptures, but not in the order they are written. It makes the tabernacle easier to study and understand if we organize them from man’s viewpoint. Therefore, we will study them as a topic.
• Fifty chapters of the Old Testament and part of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament describe the tabernacle specifically. There are also many other isolated references to the tabernacle through the Old and the New Testaments.
• Therefore, with so much space given to the tabernacle in the Bible, we can assume it is very important in God’s plan.
• In reality, the more you grasp of the meaning of the tabernacle, the more you will penetrate the secrets of God.
• Biblical names of the tabernacle:
• There are 5 names given to the tabernacle in scripture that tell us the nature and function of it:
• #1 = Sanctuary (Exo 25:8) = a sacred place.
• #2 = Tabernacle (Exo 25:9) = a place to dwell. This was the place where God dwelt.
• #3 = Tent (Exo 26:36) = a temporary, portable dwelling.
• #4 = Tabernacle of the congregation (Exo 29:42) = to meet at an appointed place.
• Tent of meeting
• #5 = Tabernacle of testimony (Exo 38:21) = The two tablets of stone were called, the testimony. This was the dwelling place for the two tables of stone.
• The tabernacle as a type or prefigure:
• Read Heb 8:5 and Heb 9:9
• These scriptures tells us that everything about the tabernacle was a type or a prefigure. In other words, it was a shadow of the real thing which is in heaven.
• Therefore, as we study the tabernacle that Moses built, we will learn much about Jesus Christ, our heavenly High Priest, and the heavenly sanctuary in which He now ministers.
• In our study, we will not only see the person and the work of Christ, but we will also see the whole plan of God including the church and the individual Christian.
• All these Old Testament things are illustrations that God placed in Israel’s history so we would know His Son and His plan for the ages.
• We will study each part of the tabernacle in great detail over the next few lessons and seek its meaning and significance.
• There is a small warning relevant to our study:
• As a general rule, we must be careful when giving symbolic meanings to objects in the Bible to make sure that there is a New Testament verse that proves the symbolic meaning.
• For example, we have seen in our study that the Rock in the wilderness represents Jesus Christ because 1Cor 10:4 specifically tells us this.
• However, there is no explicit New Testament reference for the meaning and significance of everything in the tabernacle. Therefore, in those cases where there is no direct reference, the meaning is based on spiritual analogy.
• There are enough specific references that permit us to expand the analogy to everything in the tabernacle without violating this rule of sound Biblical interpretation.
• The tabernacle presents Jesus Christ in the flesh:
• How do we know this?
• Joh 1:14 says, “4And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
• The word, “dwelt” is the same word for tabernacle. Therefore, we can say that when Jesus Christ came to this earth, he was the tabernacle among us.
• The tabernacle presents the church:
• Read Eph 2:20-21
• Paul talks about the church as the body of Christ. He also refers to the church as a temple, fitly framed together. (Eph 2:21)
• Therefore, we will see some references to the church as a body of believers in the symbolism of the tabernacle.
• The tabernacle presents the individual Christian:
• Read 2Cor 6:16
• God living in us is symbolized by God’s presence in the Old Testament tabernacle.

• The freewill offering to God:
• We discussed in our last lesson how the Israelites gave freely to God all the objects from which Moses had the tabernacle constructed. Those objects have symbolic meanings that carry us through all of our study of the tabernacle.
• Read Exo 35:4-5, 20-29, 35
• Read Exo 36:5-6
• There were 14 components of the tabernacle (Exo 35:20-29)
• Gold (They collected about 1.65 tons of gold.) (Exo 38:24)
• Gold signifies royalty, his majesty and glory.
• It tells us of the divinity of Christ who is the King of Kings.
• Silver (They collected about 4.85 tons of silver.) (Exo 30:11-16 Exo 38:25-28)
• Silver signifies redemption because already in Exodus we have seen that the redemption price was paid in silver.
• Brass or bronze (They collected about 3.3 tons of bronze)
• Brass or bronze signifies suffering, testing, and judgment (Isa 53:3)
• Purple (a dark reddish purple)
• This color comes from the secretion of a gland of a purple snail.
• Purple signifies a king. We often call this color “royal purple”. Therefore is represents the royalty of Jesus Christ.
• This is the view of Christ that is presented in the gospel of Matthew.
• Scarlet (arterial blood color)
• This color is made from a worm which is a kemes shield louse and is called Coccinos. It fixes itself to the leaves of a holly.
• Their maggots are collected to make this red color by crushing it.
• Jesus Christ referred to himself as a worm in Psa 22:6
• This red color signifies sacrifice, the servant of God crushed unto death.
• This is the view of Christ presented in the gospel of Mark.
• Blue (a deep blue color)
• Blue signifies a heavenly character = the Son of God.
• This is the view of Christ that is presented in the gospel of John.
• White linen
• The color white signifies purity, sinlessness and represents the Son of Man.
• This is the view of Christ presented in the gospel of Luke (1Joh 3:5 2Cor 5:21 1Pet 2:22)
• White linen signifies a pure style of life.
• Goat’s Hair (white skins)
• This hair comes from long-haired goats that forage among thorn bushes. The hair that is caught in bushes was collected by children.
• The goat was the sin offering for Israel indicating that Christ is our substitution who purchased our forgiveness from sin for us.
• The goat’s hair signifies a faithful and true witness which tells us that Christ is the Prophet of God.
• Ram’s skins dyed red (Gen 22:13)
• The ram’s skins dyed red signify Jesus Christ, our leader and protector dedicated and submitted even unto death.
• Badger’s skins (blue leather)
• These blue leather skins were rough and almost black in color, giving no hint of the beauty or grandeur within.
• These skins represent Christ who emptied himself (Phi 2:7) having “no beauty that we should desire him” (Isa 53:2)
• Therefore, these skins signify the separated and lonely one who guards the honor of God.
• Acacia wood
• This wood is a species of Mimosa, darker and harder than Oak. Insects avoid eating this wood.
• This wood signifies the humanity of Christ. He is the “…a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:…” (Isa 53:2) “…a root of Jesse…” (Isa 11:10)
• Oil
• Oil came from ripe olives crushed in a mortar and used as fuel for the lampstand.
• Oil signifies the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
• Jesus Christ was full of the Holy Spirit and Power.
• Spices
• Spices signify fragrant perfume for God, the joy of the heart of God.
• Four oils were best for anointing oil.
• Read Exo 30:22-25, 32-33
• Myrrh = the sap of the Alsam bush.
• This oil was used for healing, for anointing the dead, and for killing pain (Mar 15:23 Mat 2:11 Joh 19:39) and it refers to Christ our sacrifice.
• Cinnamon = the bark of a species of a laurel bush.
• Cassia = this comes from dried flowers of a cinnamon tree.
• Sweet Calamus = a pink-colored pith from the root of a reed plant from which perfume is produced.
• There were four sweet-smelling spices used for incense.
• Read Exo 30:34-38
• Stacte = a powder from the middle of hardened drops of a rare myrrh bush.
• Onycha = this comes from a shell of a clam from the deep parts of the Red Sea.
• Galbanum = a rubbery resin from thickened milky juice from the roots of a flowering plant which smells sweet when mixed with other spices.
• Frankincense = a transparent or white resin from the bark of a bush or tree. The resin is pulverized and placed on the showbread and burned there in the tabernacle..
• Precious stones
• These stones were used for the breastplate of the High Priest. They signify God’s selected ones valued by God, because He bought them at great cost.
• The significance of the tabernacle floor plan:
• The tabernacle floor plan contains the following parts:
• The outer courtyard.
• In the courtyard there were two large objects that you would pass as you entered the eastern gate:
• The bronze altar of burnt offering on which the Israelites did animal sacrifice.
• Next was the bronze laver where the priests washed themselves.
• The tabernacle building in the center of the courtyard contained two rooms:
• The first room was called the Holy Place:
• This room contained three pieces of furniture:
• On the right wall was the table of showbread.
• On the left wall was the golden candlestick
• Directly in front of you was the altar of incense.
• The second room was called the Holy of Holies:
• This room contained one piece of furniture:
• The ark of the covenant.
• The floor plan of the tabernacle as it relates to the individual Christian
• Man is a created being of three parts, body, soul, and spirit.
• The outer courtyard represents the body of man.
• The holy place represents the soul of man.
• The holy of holies represents the spirit of man in which the Holy Spirit comes to live when the person is born again.
• The floor plan of the tabernacle as it relates to the church:
• The church is called the body of Christ. (1Cor 12:27)
• The outer courtyard represents the carnal Christians.
• The holy place represents the spiritual Christians.
• The holy of holies represents Christ as the head of the church.
• The floor plan of the tabernacle as it relates to how man comes into a relationship with God
• This aspect is presented in the layout and organization of the gospel of John.
• It tells us what worship is and how to worship God:
• Worship is purging our hearts by the holiness of God through Christ.
• Worship is washing our sins by the grace of God through Christ.
• Worship is feeding our mind on the truth of God in Christ.
• Worship is seeing life’s perspective and God’s potential through Christ.
• Worship is communing by prayer and praise with the person of God through Christ.
• Worship is entering in the presence of the living God through Christ.
• We must come to God His way, either for salvation or for a closer walk with Him.
• We could transpose a cross over the tabernacle floor plan to see how we must come to God:
• We must come to God by way of a sacrifice (the bronze altar of burnt offering)
• We must have forgiveness of sin and be cleansed by the washing through the water of the Word of God (the bronze laver)
• We must value and partake of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. (the table of showbread)
• We must live in the light of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. (the golden lampstand)
• We must maintain continual communication with Him through prayer (the altar of incense).
• Only then can we enter through the veil of His crucified flesh into the most holy place and draw close to God. (the ark of the covenant over which God dwelt)
• The outer courtyard = the church, the body of Christ:
• The arrangement of the outer courtyard:
• There were 60 pillars (20 each on the North and the South, 10 each on the East and the West)
• These pillars were made of wood capped with silver crowns, and each pillar had 2 silver hooks or rings.
• There was a rope tied to the 2 silver hooks and attached to the ground by 2 brass pins.
• The wood pillars were set in brass sockets.
• The wood pillars were attached one to another by silver rods from which hung white linen curtains.
• The significance of the outer courtyard curtains:
• Read Exo 27:9-19
• Read Exo 38:9-20
• Believers in Jesus Christ are the wood pillars which speaks of our humanity (Psa 144:12 Gal 2:9) capped with redemption (silver) (1Tim 2:5-6) (Eph 6:17 the helmet of salvation).
• Each believer has 2 hooks and rope which represents the Word of God and Prayer (Col 3:16 and Col 4:2) whereby we are grounded and made to stand upright which leads to 2 brass pins that represent self-judgment.
• It is by the Word of God and Prayer that we are convicted of sin and made to stand straight.
• The believer as a pillar is set in a brass socket in which he is made perfect by suffering and testing.
• Believers are joined one to another in perfect order by silver rods that speak of redemption as our common bond. (Joh 17:21)
• White curtains of the righteousness of Christ hang from the silver rods.
• God sees the white curtains of our position of righteousness from inside the courtyard because God sees the righteousness of Christ over us, while the outside world sees the pure life of the Christian as a testimony to the world as well as our humanity (wood pillar).
• The pillars of believers stand in a perfect line, separate from the world and maintain a united witness to the world of the righteousness of Christ.
• Application:
• The believer in Jesus Christ should always be aware of his position in the body of Christ as he stands in relationship with other believers.
• The believer in Jesus Christ should always be aware of his testimony to the world of non-believers.
• He should consider how white (pure) is his lifestyle, how straight he is standing to uphold the message of redemption (the silver rods) in Christ.
• If he is not standing straight, he is not maintaining his life in the Word of God and in Prayer.
• The believer cannot stand straight without both of these two aspects (the two silver hooks).
• While the believer walks through testings and sufferings, he can stand straight because of his helmet of salvation that maintains him through the battles of life.

HOMEWORK
THE STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE: THE TABERNACLE BUILDING
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of the Introduction to the Tabernacle Study:
• In the illustration of the outer courtyard where believers stand together to present a witness to the world, answer the following questions about your own life:
• How white are your garments? (In other words, how pure is your life?)
• Are the two cords in your life attached firmly to make you stand straight? (In other words, are you maintaining continual prayer communication with God, and are you continually in the Word of God?)
• Is the silver rod of redemption connecting you to the body of Christ? (In other words, do you have continual fellowship with other redeemed believers?
• If you are failing this illustration in any way, ask God to forgive you and determine to make your witness firm and straight.

• Preparation for the Tabernacle Study: The Tabernacle Building
• Read Exo 26:15-37
• Read Exo 27:16
• Read Exo 38:18-20
• What do you think is the significance that the tabernacle had only one entrance?
• Read Exo 36:20-38
• In verse 33 it speaks of a gold pole that extends through all the boards. Of what symbolic significance is this pole in relationship to the church?
• Read Eph 2:19-22
• How does this passage relate to the tabernacle?

• Memory Verse: Eph 2:22