Instructions for Worship Pt 1

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So, Lord, just increase, encourage us, strengthen us in our faith tonight as we know that we're saved by grace through faith. It's not that of ourselves. It's not how it works. But bless anybody that should vote. We thank you for that in Jesus' name. God bless.

Good evening. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 25.

Exodus 25.

So, for the next about seven chapters, they're all going to fall into the title of what I will call Instructions for Worship. Moses is now up on the mountain with God. When we left him last time, he and the elders went up on the mountain. And they shared a meal. They shared a meal with the Lord. And then God called him up further on the mountain. And when he went up further on the mountain, he had to remain there.

And as he remained there, God showed up. And when God showed up, these are the things that he is about to share with Moses. And it's all about the instructions for worship. Now, I have to be completely honest with you and say that I've had a hard time focusing this week. Has anybody else found that with the things going on in the world, it's been a little hard to focus this week?

I have found myself more distracted by the news than usual just because I know what's happening in Afghanistan right now. And I know that that not only is a real black mark on us as a nation, but I know that we have brothers and sisters in Christ that undoubtedly are facing persecution, if not certain death, some of them. And so, it's been very heavy for me to think about this week. And I've had a hard time focusing on anything else.

And so, as I was preparing... As I was preparing this afternoon and studying, I thought, gosh, is this just... I feel like I'm fiddling while Rome is burning down. And so, I thought it seems pointless to me to be talking about the tabernacle when all these things are going on in the world. But the more that I was studying about it, the more I thought, you know, this is exactly what we need to do.

Because you know what everything in the tabernacle points us back to? Everything in the tabernacle points us back to Jesus. And I thought, what a perfect place for us to come to tonight. Where we can... We can say, we can't do anything right now to change all of the things that are happening in the world. We can't do anything to change what's happening in Afghanistan right now.

But what we can do is we can get our focus back on Jesus. And then, as our focus is back on Jesus, we can become, once again, effective in our neighborhoods and effective in our prayer life for the things that are going on throughout the world. But I think it all starts with getting our focus back on Jesus. And so, we pick up in chapter 25, verse 1. It says this,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for me. From every man whose heart moves him, you shall raise my contribution. This is the contribution which you are to raise from them. Gold, silver, and bronze. Blue and purple and scarlet material. Fine linen. Goat hair. Ram's skins dyed red. Porpoise skins. Acacia wood.

Oil for lighting. Spices for anointing oil. And for fragrant incense. Onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastplate. Let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show to you as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it. And so, what God is about to do is he's about to give him the instructions for the building.

Now, as he does so, he first of all starts off by saying there needs to be a contribution for the people. Now, I thought this was kind of interesting because God could have chose to build his tabernacle however he wanted to. But, what he did is he decided that he wanted the people to be involved in the building of the tabernacle. Even if they couldn't do anything as far as being a craftsman was concerned, they could all be involved because it was just as much their place of meeting with God as much as it was God's place of meeting with them.

So, he got that. He got them all involved and said, take up a contribution for the people. But, I want you to notice the caveat that he puts on the contribution for the people. When he says, take up a contribution for the people in these offerings for the sanctuary, notice what it says in the middle of verse 2. From every man whose heart moves him, you shall raise my contribution.

The New King James says, every man who is of a willing heart. In other words, God says, I want the people to be the ones who give the things necessary. For the building of the tabernacle. But, if you don't want to give to the building of the tabernacle, then I don't want you to give to the building of the tabernacle. It goes back to what we talked about in 2 Corinthians where it said that God loves a cheerful giver.

God loves someone who it is their heart's desire to give to God because God is less concerned with our stuff and he's more concerned with our heart. However, if he has all of our heart, then we can be honest and say, he'll have all of our stuff too. And so, he says, Now, if we were to skip ahead quite a ways in the book of Exodus and see when the people begin to give, it was amazing how the Lord moved on the people's heart to give to the construction of the tabernacle. As a matter of fact, those who were taking up the collection had to tell Moses, Tell the people to stop giving. We have too much.

And so, isn't it wonderful what God is able... He's able to do when he moves on the hearts of his people to give in the way that he wants for us to and what God can do through a heart that is fully surrendered to him. And so, he says, Now, he lists some pretty valuable items here. And I suppose you would have asked the same question that I asked. Where did all that stuff come from?

Well, you may remember when the children of Israel left Egypt, God told them to do something. Do you remember what God told them to do? He said, Let everyone ask of their neighbor, for goods. In that way, they will spoil the Egyptians. In other words, in that way, they will take the spoil from the Egyptians. And God so moved on the hearts of the Egyptians that they were so happy by the time the ten plagues were finished

for the children of Israel to go that they basically paid them to leave. They were like, Not only are we glad to see you go, but here, take all of my stuff with you as well because you're going to need this. Perhaps when we went through that, you were like, Why on earth would God have had them do that? Is God just being greedy? No. No, God knew that there was going to come a time where they would build a tabernacle to worship God in and they would need all of these things.

And so God had already provided a way for them to have what they would need to build the tabernacle. Because what we're going to find now, this was from a commentary that came out in probably the mid 2000s, like somewhere between 2003 to 2007. They said, According to what it would cost today to build the tabernacle that Moses lists here, it would be $13,000,000. So that means that in 2021, it would be $29,000,000 because we know what inflation has done here lately, right?

Like it would cost a lot of money to build this tabernacle. And so God had already provided that. And he gives the listing of things that they are to, that they're to gather in this, in this contribution. But then we jump down to verse eight and notice why they're taking this contribution. He says, Let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may dwell among them.

The word sanctuary there is meeting place. That's the idea. God said, I want you to build me a meeting place. Now we must understand this is not because God dwells in houses made with hands. That's what God told David. He said, I don't dwell in houses made with hands. The heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. But God wanted them to have a place where they could come and meet with him.

A location where they could come and they could have fellowship with him. Because remember, when God delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt, what did God say that he did? God delivered them and brought them unto himself because he was restoring the nation's purpose. Because why did God call the nation aside to himself so that they could know him in the same way that God has called us unto himself so that he could be in relationship with us?

And so he says, build me a sanctuary so that I can dwell among them. And that's exactly what this tabernacle was to be a representation of to the people was the fact that God dwelt among them. That's why we're going to find that this tabernacle is placed at the center of the camp because God dwelt in the heart of the people. Therefore, God dwelt in the heart of the camp and it will be a perfect visible representation of the fact that God would always be with them because God dwelt among them.

And so he says, these are the things that you need to collect. And it's so that I can have a place where I can meet with you to show that I dwell among you. And then in verse nine, he gives them a very interesting command. He says, according to all that I am going to show you as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.

Now, every commentator agreed. And I think so too, because I think God is really good like this. I actually think God gave Moses a visible picture of what he was supposed to be building. Right? I don't think God drew him out of a blueprint. If you've ever been on a construction site, they have prints that you have to go off of. I never figured out how to read the prints because my mind doesn't work abstractly like that.

But if you show me the picture of what the end product is supposed to look like, I'm like, oh, now I get it. It's like, when I look at a puzzle, I'm like, that's just a bunch of pieces. When I look at the front of the box, I'm like, now that's going to look cool when it's finished. And then I put the puzzle away because I hate puzzles, but it's the same thing when you're building something, right?

You ever put a piece of furniture together and you're like, okay, I have no idea why a connects to be. And then you look at the picture on the front of the box and you're like, that's why a connects to be. We're given the idea that God actually gave Moses a vision of everything that the tabernacle and all of the implements within the tabernacle were supposed to look like. And then Moses carried that vision along with the instructions down to the people so that they would know what they were supposed to do.

And so God is very specific and says, you have to do it exactly like I show you. You need to follow it to the letter because that's exactly how I want it. That perhaps you asked yourself the same question again that I did. Why was God so specific about what the tabernacle looked like? Why was God so specific about saying you must build it exactly like the picture that you see because we're told in the book of Hebrews that the tabernacle is a picture of what it's going to look like in heaven.

In other words, if we want to know what going before God in the throne room looks like, we look at the tabernacle, right? Because that's what it's supposed to look like. It is the model of what it's going to be like in heaven. And so that's why he's so specific that you have to do it exactly right. And so as he begins giving commands about the building of the tabernacle,

he starts off with the implements that go into the tabernacle. Starts off with the Ark of the Covenant. Notice what he says in verse 10. They shall construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide and one and a half cubits high. You shall overlay it with pure gold inside and out. You shall overlay it and you shall make a gold molding around it.

You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet. Two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the side of the ark to carry the ark with them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark. They shall not be removed from it.

And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. So he starts off in a really interesting place. He starts off not with what the outer structure of the tabernacle is going to look like. He starts off with what the innermost portion of the tabernacle is going to be like. Now it's kind of interesting. Most of us would probably work from out to in, right?

You get all the structure put up. If you've ever built a building, that's usually how you start. You start with the footings and then the framing and then you begin building all the things on the inside. And then when all is said and done, then you start to build the furniture or whatever you're going to put on the inside of it. God works very differently. Because take note of how God starts.

God does not start with the outer structure of the tabernacle. Where does He start? He starts in the innermost place. If you will, He starts with the heart of the tabernacle. Why does God do that? Because that's what God does with us. Have you ever thought about that? Where does God start with all of us when He gets a hold of us? You see, we are very outward in nature.

But God says, I'm less concerned with what's on the outside of you right now than I am with what's on the inside of you. And so where I will start is I will start in your heart. And I will begin to do a work in your heart. And as I begin to change your heart, I will begin to change everything else about you. So that everything on the outside will match what is actually on the inside of you.

That's why I love brand new believers so much. Because brand new believers still let bad words slip out sometimes. Isn't that fun? You just go, oh man, I'm really sorry I said that. I'm like, listen, God changed your heart. You're sorry you said it. Let's start in your heart. And we'll deal with all the rest of it from there. They don't always look and smell the way that all the other Christians in the world look and smell.

And quite frankly, sometimes I find that to be utterly refreshing. They haven't learned to be hypocrites yet. Right? They haven't learned to put on the right show in front of all the others. I love listening to brand new believers pray. Because they haven't learned Christianese. And they just talk. Right? They haven't learned how to pray in King James yet. They just talk to God.

And sometimes it doesn't even make sense. But you're like, but you know what? Real prayer is taking place. Because God starts with what's on the inside. And if He can change what's on the inside, then He'll begin to do everything else that's on the outside. One of the things I've always appreciated about the Calvary Church, about the Calvary Chapel movement,

is that Chuck was always much more concerned with these young men that would come in and what God was doing in their hearts. And if eventually that meant that they would cut their hair, you name it, then that would be fine. But if not, then that's okay too. Because what God is truly interested in is our heart. And so as God begins with the tabernacle, He starts with this Ark of the Covenant.

Now the Ark of the Covenant, we're told, is supposed to be made of two different things. It is to be a box of acacia wood, which is a wood that was very dark, much harder than oak. Something that they could find in the wilderness. The Ark would be made of acacia wood, but then it would be overlaid with gold. Now why is that important? Well, because the wood speaks of humanity, because it's very natural, right?

But what does the gold speak of? The gold speaks of deity. Who does that sound like to you? That sounds like Jesus. Because Jesus, though fully God, came down and dwelt among us and was also fully man. He was, if you will, both the wood of the acacia, and the gold of deity. Because when He came down among us, that's who He was. And what is the Ark of the Covenant?

The visible representation of God among the people. Just like Jesus explained God to us by coming and putting on the clothes of a man. And so this box was to be built, and it was to be built very specifically because it was to be a picture of Jesus at the heart of the nation. And what was to be on the inside of this box? The testimony. And what does the testimony represent?

The holiness of God. And what was Jesus? Utterly righteous and sinless in nature. The only one who ever truly kept the testimony. The only one who ever truly kept the Ten Commandments. Not only outwardly, but inwardly. And so as this box is described, it's also told that at the four corners at the base, there would be rings. And these rings were to be made of pure gold.

And to put in those rings was to be poles that were also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Now, this served a two-fold purpose. Number one, it made it much easier to carry around. Because as they were traveling through the wilderness, they would need something that was very portable in nature. And so that's what God provided for them. He provided for them something portable.

But not only was it for ease of use, but it was for the protection of the user. Because God is holy, and even the representation of Him had to be holy, and had to be completely and totally set apart. Therefore, no one was allowed to touch the Ark of the Covenant. Because they could not come near to God. Because man was sinful, and God is holy. And so those rings with the acacia poles that would go through,

that would not only allow ease of use, but it would also allow protection for the people from the holiness of God. And so as we see this box that is full of the righteousness of God, take note of what's on top of it. Verse 17. It says, And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. You shall make two cherubim of gold,

make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and one cherub at the other end. And you shall make the cherubim of one piece, with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim shall have their wings, spread upward, covering the mercy seat, with their wings and facing one another. The faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat.

You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you from above the mercy seat. From between the two cherubim, which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you, in commandment for the sons of Israel. The next thing that was to be made was to go on top of the ark.

And it's what was referred to as the mercy seat. If we were to jump into the book of Romans, we would see another word used for this. We would see the word propitiation used for this. Because that's what it says Jesus was for us. He was our propitiation, our mercy seat. Get the picture for what the mercy seat was supposed to look like. It was to be a gold top for this box.

And on top of this gold box there were to be two angels, two cherubim that were molded into this top. Now if you will, these are my wings. My wings are like this. The other cherubim, its wings are like this. So if you will, it made almost like an arch right over top of this mercy seat. John Corson in his commentary pointed out something very interesting that I never thought about before.

Do you remember when Jesus rose from the dead? The disciples came in and said, they saw that he wasn't there. What was sitting at the two ends of the slab that he would have laid on? There were two angels sitting at the two ends of the slab. Undoubtedly there would have been some blood stains probably on there from his dead body being laid in there. He said, isn't it an interesting picture

that the ultimate victory that brought mercy to us was Jesus on the cross and there on that mercy seat the blood was sprinkled. Because that is exactly what would take place on this mercy seat. God said, I will meet with you there. Why? Because it was there that the mercy seat sat between the righteousness of God and the presence of God and the only way that man could come before that

was because of God's mercy. And the only way that God's mercy would allow them to do that is if blood was sprinkled on that mercy seat. Which when we get into the book of Leviticus and learn about the day of atonement that's exactly what would take place once a year. And so God, though holy and righteous, unapproachable my man, still provided a way for mercy to be shown to the people and Jesus is our mercy seat.

Because he was the one who went in before the Father and sprinkled his own precious blood on that mercy seat not only to make atonement for one year but to do away with sin completely. It's nice to get our focus back on Jesus like this, isn't it? To see that everything that God gave in the Old Testament was an ultimate pointing of a picture to the one who would fulfill it all and that's Jesus Christ. And isn't it amazing that this is where God starts in the tabernacle?

It's with the Ark of the Covenant. Why? Because if I am to truly have fellowship with God where must I be right? Where I have broken God's righteous standard and now I have received mercy because of the work that Jesus has done for me. And now because of that work of mercy through the blood of Jesus Christ that he has done for me I too can come directly into the throne room of God.

And so he says this is where you will meet with me. Verse 22 And from above the mercy seat from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testimony I will speak to you about all that I will give to you in commandment for the sons of Israel. He goes on from there to talk about the table of showbread. Notice what he says in verse 23 You shall make a table of acacia wood two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high.

You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it. You shall make for it a rim of a hand breadth around it and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it. You shall make four gold rings for it and put the rings on the four corners which are on its four feet. The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table.

You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold so that with them the table may be carried. You shall make its dishes and its pans and its jars and its bowls which to pour drink offerings. You shall make them of pure gold. You shall set the bread of the presence on the table before me at all times. Now the second implement that he says needs to go into this tabernacle is a table.

And again he gives the instructions for the table once again made of acacia wood overlaid with gold but there was to be a rim that went around the top of it that sat up just a little bit so that nothing slid off the top and that rim was to be made of pure gold. But once again for ease of use there were to be four golden rings at the four corners of the table and again two poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Now this simply was for ease of use because undoubtedly this would have been a heavy table to carry. At this point in time I'm thinking every table that I own I should put rings on the corners of and make some poles for it because when I was thinking about carrying it through the wilderness

I thought this would be the easiest thing in the world to do. So if I ever move again I'm just like grab the poles, slide them in. Life is so much easier, right? So if you show up next Sunday and there's rings on all the tables you'll know why. But why is this important? Well what's important is what goes on this table because what goes on this table the bread of the presence.

Other translations say the show bread. Literally what that means is the bread of the face. That's kind of a fun word, isn't it? But the idea is this. It would be the bread where it would be a place where they would meet God face to face because what does bread speak of? Bread speaks of fellowship because this is where they would come to fellowship with God.

You see this is another perfect picture of Jesus and it's a perfect picture of Jesus two-fold. Number one because what did Jesus declare that he was in the book of John? He says I am the bread of life. Right? In other words he is the one who gives us everything that we need but not only is he the one that gives us everything that we need to fill us but he is how we have fellowship with the Father.

You see eating at this point in time as I've pointed out to you before was not just something that you did. It meant that you were sharing your life with somebody not just a meal with someone. It meant that you were actually becoming one with them which is why communion was such an important meal. It meant that you're my friend and so when I share food with you and I share bread with you there was fellowship that took place and that was to be the picture of what was to take place in the tabernacle.

There was to be fellowship with God and so this picture of the bread of life not only sustained life but it pictured a personal relationship with the God who had delivered them from Egypt. And so this was another perfect picture of Jesus and the fellowship that we have with God because of him. And isn't it interesting that once our heart is right with God because it's been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ what is now open to us? Fellowship with God.

We have the opportunity to spend time with our Lord and Savior. We have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with him so that we can share our lives with him and he in turn can share his life with us. We go on from there to bring up the next thing which is the golden lampstand. Notice what it says in verse 31. Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold

the lampstand and its base and its shafts are to be made of hammered work its cups, its bulbs, its flowers shall be of one piece with it six branches shall go out from its sides three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower so for six branches going out from the lampstand and in the lampstand, four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers a bulb shall be the first pairs of branches coming out of it and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it

and a bulb under the third pair of of branches coming out of it for the six branches coming out of the lampstand their bulbs and their branches shall be of one piece with it and it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold then you shall make its lamps lamps, seven in number, and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it. Its snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made from a talent of pure gold with all these utensils. A couple of things to point out to you about this. First of all,

did you take note of the fact that there were no measurements given on this one other than how much gold to use? It could be as big or as small as long as you use that proper amount of gold. So I thought that was kind of an interesting thing. I don't know that I have a particular personal application out of that, just something I noticed as a math student. But next was to come this lamp

stand. And in the lamp stand, there were to be seven cups across the top. The middle was to be a little bit taller than the three on both sides. But picture the menorah, if you will, because that's the general idea. Now this would not have been a small lamp stand because it wouldn't have been candles that would have gone into it. It would have been decent size because these almond

blossoms would have held oil. And this oil was to burn continually because the light was never to go out in the tabernacle. As a matter of fact, this was the only source of light actually in the tabernacle itself, other than the Shekinah glory, which would have shown in where the Ark of the Covenant was. And so it was to be built with these almond blossoms, seven of them across there. Now there

would have been one in the center, three coming out from each sides. There's another perfect picture that's given to us here. Again, I didn't come up with this. I just wanted to show you this myself. John Corson gave me this one and I thank him for it. What he pointed out was this, three branches on each side coming out from one main stem. Does that make you think of anything?

Remember what Jesus said? I am the vine and you are the branches. Anyone who abides in me will bear much fruit. That's the idea that's given to us here because that middle one would have sat higher than the three on both sides. But it was to constantly burn. And then what it was to be made of was almond blossoms. Now, why is it important that they're almond blossoms? Well,

because they're not going to burn. They're not going to burn. They're not going to burn. They're not going to burn. Because that would have been the first tree to blossom in the springtime. And so for the Jewish people, that particular tree represented new life. And so there in this candlestick or this lampstand, you see the perfect picture of not only new life, but you see Jesus

Christ in the branches. And we think of what else Jesus referred to himself as is the light of the world. So we have this next thing that points out Jesus through these lampstands. And then in verse 40, it says, See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain. A second time, God has given the same command. And that's to make sure that when you build these implements

for the inside of the tabernacle, you do them exactly like I showed you. So then we move on to chapter 26. Notice what it says. Now he begins to talk about the construction of the actual tabernacle itself. He says, Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with 10 curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material. You shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. The

length of each curtain shall be 28 cubits and the width of each curtain, four cubits. All the curtains shall have the same measurements. Five curtains shall be joined to one another and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. And the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. And

likewise, you shall make them on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. You shall make 50 loops in the one curtain and you shall make 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set. The loops shall be opposite of each other. You shall make 50 clasps of gold and join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit. So now we begin with the coverings. And what we're going to see is there's actually going

to be four layers of curtains that are used. The first is this curtain of fine linen, blue, purple, and scarlet. You may notice what was woven into the curtain itself. There were once again to be cherubim woven into the curtain itself. It's kind of interesting because throughout scripture we see angels constantly being present. As a matter of fact, in Jesus's ministry, we see angels

constantly being present. This particular curtain was to be woven into the curtain itself. And so it's going to be a very beautiful curtain. As a matter of fact, of all of the curtains that we're going to, or all of the layers of curtains we see, this will be the most ornate, which is kind of interesting because this one you will not see from the outside at all. I'll talk about why that's

important in just a second. But there were to be 10 panels all together. Five were sewn together and then five were sewn together. And then those would be joined together with metal clasps that would be made of gold. Again, for ease of use. If you have to cover an entire curtain, you can cover an entire tabernacle that's probably the length of, if I remember Mark saying correctly,

this stage is the exact length of and width of the tabernacle. And so if you had to fold up a curtain and carry it with you that was this length, it would be a little bit hard to do. So it was in two different pieces. But I think it's kind of interesting that it was in two different pieces. And I think it's interesting for two reasons. It's interesting, first of all, because if we think

about what the 10 commandments was made of, they were made of two different tablets of stone. And yet they made up one of them. And so it's kind of interesting that it was made of two different one set of 10 commandments. But I think there's an even, even a new, a new Testament point to be made here. And that's that all of the canon of scripture is made up of both the old covenant

and the new covenant. And they have to work together because the old covenant conceals the new and the new covenant reveals the old. And so they were to be put together this beautiful piece that would have looked really awesome on the outside if you could have actually seen it. And so why is the most ornately decorated of all of these four curtains put to where you can't see it from the outside? Well, because this curtain you could only see from the inside. Now, if you think

about it, this curtain would have been very representative of the beauty of heaven with the angels and the blue and the scarlet and the purple threads. It would have represented that beauty of heaven. But the only way that you could see this beautiful tapestry that would have been on this cover of the tabernacle was to see it from the inside. And so why is the most ornately decorated of the tabernacle was to be inside of the tabernacle? And what did we say the tabernacle was

representative of? Jesus Christ. In the same way, if we want to see the beauty of heaven, what must we be? In Christ. There's a real picture of what it takes in order to see the true beauty that comes with heaven. And so he tells us of this, this first set that was to be used. And then comes the second set, verse seven.

For a tent over the tabernacle you shall make eleven curtains in all. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall have the same measurements. You shall join five curtains by themselves, and the other six by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain in front of the tent. You shall make fifty

loops on the edge of the curtain, that is outermost in the first set. You shall make fifty loops on the and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. You shall make 50 clasps of bronze and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it will be a unit. The overlapping part that is left over in the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that is left over shall lap over the back of the tabernacle.

The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and on the other to cover it. Now, this next set of curtains, you'll notice it's just a little bit different. First of all, there's 11 of them instead of 10 because there would be an extra that would stick over to the side. Second of all, it was just a little bit longer than the first.

The first that was very ornate would have sat about 18 inches off the ground on both sides. This one would have covered that other 18 inches by coming all the way to the ground. The second thing you take note of, is that it is not made out of linen. It's made out of animal skins. And then the third thing you notice is instead of it being joined together with gold clasps,

it's joined together with bronze clasps. Now, there's great symbolism in both of these, in these things, particularly the fact that it's animal skins and the fact that bronze is used. Animal skins, of course, have to speak of sacrifice because how else can they get the animal skins other than sacrifice? And so, when you think about the sacrifice, what do you immediately think of?

You immediately think of Jesus and his substitutionary sacrifice because what is ultimately covering each of us? The sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But the second thing, again, that we take note of is that instead of it being gold clasps, it's bronze clasps. Why is that important? Because bronze, in Scripture, speaks of judgment because what was judged with the sacrifice

for sin? Sin was judged. Therefore, this next covering speaks of the sacrifice and the judgment of sin that comes through Jesus. Then we move on from there, and it says, and I don't know why they give so little detail on this one, why God decided to give so little detail on this one, but he says this, you shall make a covering for the tent of ram's skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above.

You just gave us, like, 10 verses on how to do the animal skins, and you gave us one verse on those two. Whatever. These two are very interesting because neither one of them were very decorative in nature, which I think is why God doesn't give very much detail about them. One is ram's skins dyed red. We might think of, like, a leather, like a tanned hide for protection.

And the next was porpoise skins, which actually would be almost like a sea cow or like a manatee because it would be waterproof because it would be waterproof. Because even though it's the desert, sometimes it does rain. And so here's the thing. There's really nothing that would stick out about these skins that would make you go, ooh, that looks really pretty.

As a matter of fact, God chose the ugliest of the skins to put over top of the entire tabernacle, almost so there would be nothing about the tabernacle that you should desire. Wait a second. That's what it says about Jesus. That's what Isaiah said, right? There was nothing about him that we should desire him. That though there was beauty with that very first covering

that can only be discovered when you're in Christ, on the outside, when Jesus came and dwelt among us, it says there was nothing about him that would cause us to desire him. In other words, he just looked like everybody else. Isn't it amazing that that's what God did with the tabernacle? Why? Because it spoke of Jesus. The fascinating thing to me is that every time the children of Israel

tore down the tabernacle to carry it with them, they had to think about the fact that all of this symbolism was there. You would almost think that when Jesus showed up, they would have gone, oh, yep, all those things spoke about him. So, we go on from there. Now, this is not quite as interesting to me, and I've struggled a little bit more with it, but it is what it is.

Verse 15. Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and one and a half cubits, the width of each board. There shall be two tenons for each board fitted together, or fitted to one another. Thus, you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle. You shall make the boards for the tabernacle,

20 boards for the south side. You shall make 40 sockets of silver under the 20 boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, 20 boards, and there are 40 sockets of silver, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. For the rear of the tabernacle to the west, you shall make six boards.

You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. They shall be double beneath, and together they shall be complete to its top to the first ring. Thus, it shall be with both of them, and they shall fall, and they shall fall, and they shall form the two corners. There shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, 16 sockets, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west. The middle bar and the center of the boards shall pass through them from end to end. You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold. Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan, which you have been shown in the mountain.

So, all around the outside of the tabernacle, the framework of the tabernacle were to be these boards. Ten cubits high. Bear in mind, a cubit is somewhere between 12 and 18 inches. A cubit and a half wide. So, if you will, a bunch of strips of plywood, only they're made out of purest wood. They're made out of pure acacia board, right? And so, they were to make these boards

that stood tall with bars that held them all together. And at the base of all of these boards, both for the back and the two sides, at the base for all of these boards, were these sockets. Did you take note of what the sockets were made from? Because this is the biggest thing I can pull out of this one. The sockets were made from silver. Now, what does silver speak of in Scripture?

In Scripture, silver speaks of redemption. And isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing that the foundation for the walls of the temple was redemption? Because what is the foundation that holds us firm in our own lives? It is the redemption that Jesus has brought into our lives. And so, at the base of this tabernacle was redemption. And the walls were made of wood that was overlaid with gold.

Now, I want you to think about this. Remember I said the only source of light inside of the tabernacle was the lampstand. And we said that Jesus, Jesus is the light of the world. But each of these boards that's holding it up, what are they overlaid with? They're overlaid with gold. Now, can you imagine the glow that would have been inside of the tabernacle when this light from the lampstand

that was constantly kept burning shined off of these gold walls? Can you imagine the beautiful picture as you look at the cherubim flying above you with the purple and blue and scarlet threads that this tapestry has been made out of? It would have really been quite the scene when you walked into the tabernacle. It really would have been quite the beautiful scene that you would have paid attention to.

And so, we've seen the articles that go inside of the tabernacle. We've seen the covering that goes over the tabernacle. And we've seen the walls that hold all of it up. Now, how's it all to be arranged? Well, in order for us to understand how it all is to be arranged, we must first understand the veil that would separate the different portions of the tabernacle.

Verse 31. It says, You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet, scarlet material, and fine twisted linen. It shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold on four sockets of silver. You shall hang up the veil under the clasps and you shall bring the ark of the testimony

there within the veil. And the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place, and the holy of holies. Ah, it starts to come together now, doesn't it? There was to be a veil that was to be made that was to separate a portion of the tabernacle. The ark of the testimony was to sit behind this veil. Now, all depending on who you read, this veil was a very thick veil.

I have read commentaries that say that it was anywhere from four inches thick up to 16 inches thick. That's how thick this veil was. Why was it so thick? Because the ark of the testimony was to dwell on the other side. And the ark of the testimony represented the presence of God among the people. And while God wanted to dwell with the people, God is still holy

and man is still sinful. And though man's sin, up until the coming of Jesus, would have been atoned for with the blood of bulls and goats. In other words, God can say, I can let you go one more year with me dwelling among you. No one could go into that holy of holies. No one could go into the presence of God. No one could go into the throne room of God. There would always be a separation

until a perfect sacrifice came. And this is where it always gets fun for me. It's because remember when Jesus died on the cross and he yelled out from the cross to tell us die paid in full. When he yelled out to tell us die from the cross paid in full, it says that there was a great earthquake and the veil of the temple was torn in two. From top to bottom. Representing the fact that

what we're told in Hebrews is true. That now we can enter into the holy place through the veil of his flesh that was torn for us. Because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we can enter in in a new and living way. And because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we can go boldly before the throne of grace to seek mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. To me, that is truly one of the greatest things

that I can ever imagine. Is that because of the blood of Jesus Christ, I now have direct access to God. I don't have to go through an intermediary. I don't have to go through a priest. I don't have to go through a pastor. I don't have to go through anyone else. I can go directly to the throne room of God. And because of that, I can now cry out to God, Abba, Father.

In other words, my relationship with him now is so close that I can call him dad. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, you see, the cool thing that we see here is we see the holiness of God revealed to us because the holiness of God was so great that he says, I can't dwell in a place where sinful man is. And so in order for God to truly restore our relationship with him, he had to completely deal with sin, not just pass over it for another year. And he did that with the blood of Jesus.

And so when we see that veil, we see separation. When we see that veil, we see our inability. When we see that veil, we see what I could never do through the law. But what the law could not do in that it was weak through sinful flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement of the law

might be fulfilled in me who doesn't walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. And now I can enter in by a new and living way. I wonder if you view your relationship with Jesus Christ like that. I wonder if you view your prayer life like that, your devotional life, as something that Jesus died so that you could have. As something that Jesus wanted to know you so much

that he said, I just can't live without you. And so he said, I'll give my life so that I can have a personal relationship with them. You see, I think sometimes the reason why we don't take our walk with Jesus Christ as seriously or as passionately as we should be is because we don't always realize what it costs. We don't always realize what fellowship with God costs him, what our fellowship with the Father costs him.

But when we begin to understand that, when we begin to realize the cost of redemption, when we begin to realize that that redemption, that our whole faith is built upon, what that costs Jesus Christ, all of a sudden I no longer view my relationship with him as something I have to do. I view my relationship with Jesus Christ as something that I get to do. I view it as the greatest treasure that I have in my life because I know exactly how much it costs. And so he says, make this veil.

And on the inside of the veil, I want you to put the holy place, the most holy place because that's where the Ark of the Covenant is going to go. That's where you'll meet with me. And then notice what he says. In verse 34, he says, and you shall put the mercy seat on the Ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies. And you shall set the table outside the veil

in the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south. And you shall put the table on the north side. And you shall make a screen doorway for the tent in blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver. You shall make five pillars of acacia wood for the screen and overlay them with gold, their hooks also being of gold.

And you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them. And so notice what happens next. After he places, if you've got the Ark of the Covenant here, after he places the table of showbread just outside of the Holy of Holies, and he places the lampstand just outside of the Holy of Holies, now we work to the door. And he says, you're going to build a screen. And you're going to hang up that screen

and there's only going to be one way in and one way out of the tabernacle and it's going to be through that screen. Isn't it kind of interesting to think of what Jesus said? He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one enters the tabernacle except through me. No one comes to the Father except through me. But it, it made me think as I was studying this,

I wonder at which place a lot of us are right now, whether you're watching online or whether you're here tonight. I wonder, I wonder where we are as far as our relationship with God is concerned. You see, I think some people are sitting outside of the tabernacle and they know that Jesus is the only way in, but they're not quite really willing to take that step just yet. I'm not quite willing to say, yes, I will enter through the one way that I can in order to truly have fellowship with God.

I will enter into that one and only way. And some people are standing outside the tabernacle knowing that, that inside is where they can have true peace. Inside is where they can have true fellowship. Inside is where they will have true light, not only to light up their life of the things that need changed, but to guide their paths. Inside is the Ark of the Covenant

where they can have true fellowship with God. But you know what? I'm just not willing to make that decision just yet. And so they're sitting outside of the screen door because they think that there's still another way. But you see, I bet that's not most of us in this room tonight. I bet most of us are inside of the holy place right now. And we say, isn't it great that I'm inside of the tabernacle?

Look at the glow of the light off of the golden walls. Look at this table of showbread. Isn't this all amazing? And yet still inside of the holy of holies is where God is. Inside of the holy of holies is where he wants to take us to a place of deep personal relationship and fellowship with him. And yet we're content to dwell just outside of it. We're content with,

with a little bit of knowledge of God. We're content with a little bit of understanding of fellowship with him. But we will not go into the holy place. We will not really get deep in our relationship with Jesus Christ because we know what that will require of us. We know that to get past that veil, I'm going to have to leave some things behind. We know that for that kind of fellowship,

it means I'm going to have to make some big changes in my life. We know that for that kind of fellowship, it means it's going to consume all of me. And quite frankly, there's still a little bit of me that I'm holding on to. I'm holding back. Where are you tonight? Where are you with the tabernacle tonight? Better yet, where are you in your walk with Jesus tonight?

Are you dwelling outside of the tabernacle, still waiting to see if there's another way in? Are you standing inside of the holy place and going, yes, this is wonderful, but I'm not quite willing to make that commitment just yet? Or is your life fully immersed and you're constantly going before the throne of grace? Are you constantly in that place where you are in deep, personal, intimate fellowship with the God who created you because of what the blood of Jesus Christ has done for you?

There's this great song. I don't remember who wrote it. I've heard Shane and Shane sing it. We used to sing it when I was in Bible college. And it goes like this. It says, Take me past the outer courts and to the holy place, past the brazen altar, Lord, I want to see your face. Pass me by the crowds of people and the priests that sing your name. I hunger, I thirst for your righteousness

and it's only found one place. And then the climax of the song hits and it says, Take me into the holy of holies. Take me in by the blood of the lamb. Take me into the holy of holies. Take the coal, cleanse my lips. Here I am.

Are you done being content with a half-hearted knowledge of God? Are you ready to go into the holy of holies? Because that's what God wants for each and every one of us. Amen. Amen. Father, we come before you. And Lord, I just confess it is so easy to live in apathy in our walk with you. And I praise you that your grace is so great that you are still patient with us.

That you're patient with us as you wait for us to decide that we're through with half-heartedness. That your grace is so good to us that you're patient and waiting for us to decide that we're we're done holding on to parts of our lives that keep us from knowing you. And so, Lord, as we move past all of these things, I pray that you would take us into the holy of holies. Lord, that you would cleanse us, that you would move in us, and that true, deep fellowship would take place in our lives now.

And we just thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.