The Tabernacle is the most extensive picture God gave us, because it shows the whole process of our salvation and redemption. It is a shadow of the Heavenly Temple (Hebrews 8: 5), and it is where God chose to dwell with His people.
We saw yesterday that the Bronze Altar was just inside the door to the Courtyard of the Tabernacle (Exodus 27: 1-8), because the first thing a person needed to do was to offer the personal sacrifice. This is because God is too holy and pure to be in the presence of sin without destroying it, so our sins need to be dealt with first. Everything else comes after that. All the other sacrifices that were offered on this Bronze Altar all day every day.
And the fire on this Bronze Altar is God's holy fire (Leviticus 9: 24). Any other fire would be "strange fire," unacceptable to the Lord (Leviticus 10:1; Numbers 3: 4; and Numbers 26: 61).
And we also saw yesterday that the Laver sat between the Bronze Altar and the door to the Holy Place. The priests needed to wash before either offering a sacrifice on the Bronze Altar or entering the Holy Place (Exodus 30: 17-21).
Now we will look at the tent of the Tabernacle, in which was the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Only the priests were allowed to enter this tent, and only for the specific purposes they needed to.
The door of this tent was a curtain that had embroidered on it cherubim. These represented the guardians of this Holy Place.
Inside this first room were three pieces of furniture: the seven-fold golden Oil Lamp, the Table of the Showbread, and the Altar of Incense.
The Lamp is the only light for the Tabernacle. It is pure, fine gold, made all in one piece, and is fueled by a specific oil (Exodus 25: 31-40). It was to be kept lit 24/7/365. Jesus is the Light of the World and we are His lights in the world.
Are you shining your light to those you know in the world? Do you know how?
The next item is the Table of Showbread, made of fine wood, and covered completely with fine gold (Exodus 25: 23-30). All its utensils were also fine gold. It was to continually hold twelve loaves of bread representing the twelve tribes of Israel, called the Bread of the Presence, fresh every day.
Jesus is our Bread of Life, the Word of God, our spiritual nourishment.
We are to partake of His Word every day; just as we nourish our bodies daily, we also are to nourish our spiritual life in Christ. That's why I study and do this blog to share with you every day.
The third piece of furniture in this Holy Place is the Altar of Incense. It is also made of acacia wood and covered with fine gold (Exodus 30: 1-10). It is to be placed right in front of the curtain, the veil to the Most Holy Place, and it is to be used only for a specific formulation of incense, to be kept burning all the time, tended to morning and evening, when the Lamp is tended to. No other incense, and no other kind of offering at all is ever to be offered on it.
The fire on this altar to burn this incense is to be taken only from the bloody coals of the Bronze Altar, by the priests using authorized censers (see Leviticus 9: 24 for the source of this fire).
This incense represents our prayers (Revelation 8: 3-4).
So our prayers are heard by God through the blood of the sacrifice of
Christ. And Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us, to pray for us
(Hebrews 7: 25).
We have seen so far that our God is dangerous to us, and the only way we can approach Him safely is through the blood of sacrifice and washing.
The final piece of furniture in the Tabernacle is the most important, that we will learn about tomorrow.
O my father, Your pictures are so accurate, please let us understand them clearly to see who You are, what You have done, and to what measures You have gone to rescue us! Father, Your Love for each of us is beyond our understanding, and Your plans for us are for our good, for our benefit. And You will receive all the credit, all the glory, for having done it all!
You are great, and You are our good, good Father!
Every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim the supremacy of Christ Jesus, our Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
