THE TABERNACLE PROPER

(The House of God)

Exodus 26:15 (NASB) "Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright.

16 "Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board.

17 "There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle.

18 "And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side.

19 "And you shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons;

20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards,

21 and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

22 "And for the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards.

23 "And you shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear.

24 "And 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: they shall form the two corners.

25 "And there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

26 "Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle,

27 and 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.

28 "And the middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through from end to end.

29 "And 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.

The Israelites knew a lot about the tabernacle but couldn't get in. We can get in, but don't know anything about it.

The tabernacle proper was made of boards of shittim wood, standing on end. The boards were ten cubits (fifteen feet) long x one and one half cubits (twenty seven inches) wide. The scripture doesn't tell us how thick. Under each board, there were two silver bases. The silver for the sockets came from the redemption money. There were twenty boards and forty sockets on the north and south sides. There were six boards on the west end, with two additional boards on the corners, for a total of eight boards and sixteen bases. There were five bars which connected the boards on each side. There were four rods that went through golden rings on each board, a fifth rod went through, in the midst of the boards. The boards and the cross bars were overlaid with gold. Five is the number of grace. The fifth rod, in the midst held the boards together. Jesus is the rod which was in the midst and held the others together. Jesus is in us and holds us together.

Colossians 1:27 (NASB) to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Ephesians 4:11 (NASB) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

He also used them to keep the church together.

The boards are a type of the believer as well as the Christ. All tents were erected by driving in the stakes and pins. Their existence was dependent on a grip of the desert. They were cut down and died to the earth. They were then cleaned up and covered in gold. The acaia wood speaks of humanity and the gold covering speaks of divinity. These boards were given two feet, and for them were provided two sockets, so that they stood independent of the sand of the desert and not of it. Once they as trees, were well rooted into it. What separated the boards from the sand?---A ransom price.

1 Peter 1:18 (NASB) knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

2 Peter 1:4 (NASB) For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Christ is the foundation.

If you are Christ's, you are not your own. You too, should be in the world, but not of it, separated through the blood of Christ.

2 Corinthians 6:17 (NASB) "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.

All Israel had access to the outer court, but only Levite priests could enter into the Holy Place and only Aaron or his descendants could enter the Holy of Holies and then only once a year. Entry into the tabernacle was possible only through natural birth rights.

Today, to become a priest and enter into the Holy Place is also a matter of birth right - spiritual birth. To enjoy the blessings of the Holy Place, a person must be born again. After the born again experience, we are made priests.

1 Peter 2:5 (NASB) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 (NASB) But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

The length of the tabernacle was thirty cubits, inside. The tabernacle was divided into two rooms, the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place was 10 cubits x 20 cubits. This means that the Holy of the Holies was a perfect cube - 10 cubits x 10 cubits x 10 cubits. The only other cube in the bible was the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:16 (NASB) And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.

Revelation 21:9 (NASB) And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

The angel told John that he would show him the wife, the bride of the lamb and when he did this, he showed him the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven.

Exodus 26:1 (NASB) "Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.

2 "The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall have the same measurements.

3 "Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another.

4 "And 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.

5 "You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite each other.

6 "And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps, that the tabernacle may be a unit.

7 "Then you shall make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains in all.

8 "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.

9 "And you shall join five curtains by themselves, and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent.

10 "And you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the first set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.

11 "And you shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together, that it may be a unit.

26:12 "And 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.

13 "And 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.

14 "And you shall make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of porpoise skins above.

The roof of the tabernacle consisted of four layers of material, two curtains and two coverings. The first covering placed over the tabernacle, and therefore, the only one which would be visible from the inside, was a curtain of fine twined linen, embroidered with blue and purple and scarlet color. Linen speaks to righteousness.

Revelation 19:8 (NASB) And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

It covered the entire top of the tabernacle and hung over the sides, almost to the ground. Beautifully embroidered in the pattern of this linen sheet were the figures of cherubim overshadowing both the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The main curtain consisted of ten separate curtains coupled together to make one great covering for the interior of the tabernacle.

There were two groups of five curtains, 28 cubits (42 ft.) x 4 cubits (6 ft.) joined together as one and then the two groups were joined by fifty clasps of gold. The number five is the number of grace and the number 50 speaks to the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). Just as the tabernacle proper was divided into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, the curtain was divided into two distinct parts. The curtains over the Holy Place were called "Ohel" or tent of congregation. The second group were called the "Mishkan" or tabernacle. The tabernacle was God's dwelling place and the tent was man's meeting place.

Psalms 91:1 (NASB) He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!"

3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, And from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day;

6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not approach you.

8 You will only look on with your eyes, And see the recompense of the wicked.

9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.

10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.

11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.

12 They will bear you up in their hands, Lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

14 "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.

15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him.

16 "With a long life I will satisfy him, And let him behold My salvation."

Only the priests ever saw this. The colors of this covering were blue, scarlet, and purple. The blue speaks to the heavenly origins of Christ. The scarlet speaks to His sacrificial death. The word Adam means man made from red earth. The scarlet color was made by crushing worms. The purple speaks the His royalty, and since purple is a mixture of scarlet and blue, it speaks to the divine nature of God in the body of a human.

The Cherubim in the bible are the guardians of holiness. They are the holy ones who are the attendants of the throne of God. Ezekiel tells us the cherubim were living creatures, which had four faces, the face of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.

The face of a man speaks of His perfect humanity, the lion speaks of His kingship and power, the ox is the symbol of service, and the eagle of divinity.

The second curtain was a goat's hair curtain. It was probably black because goats in the Middle East were black. Tents in the Middle East are made of goats hair and are typically black. The goat in the bible is a picture of Christ, our sin bearer. Remember on the day of atonement, two goats were sacrificed. One was burned and the other called the scape goat was released in the wilderness after the priest had laid hands on it and confessed sins.

Leviticus 16:5 (NASB) "And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

6 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.

7 "And he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

8 "And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.

9 "Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering.

10 "But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

11 "Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.

12 "And he shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil.

13 "And he shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, lest he die.

14 "Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 "Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.

16 "And he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions, in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities.

17 "When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel.

18 "Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides.

19 "And with his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times, and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.

20 "When he finishes atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.

21 "Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.

22 "And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

23 "Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there.

24 "And he shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.

25 "Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

26 "And the one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp.

27 "But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire.

28 "Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp.

The goat was also the daily sin offering.

Leviticus 9:3 (NASB) "Then to the sons of Israel you shall speak, saying, 'Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without defect, for a burnt offering,

Numbers 28:15 (NASB) 'And one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered with its libation in addition to the continual burnt offering.

Hebrews 9:28 (NASB) so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The second curtain was made in eleven pieces, 30 cubits (45 ft.) x 4 cubits (6 ft.) five joined together and then six join together. These two section were then connected using bronze clasps. The additional length was doubled on the front of the tabernacle. This could have been a reminder that the access to God was only available after an offering had been made for sin.

The first curtains were joined using gold clasps. They were next to God. This curtain was next to the world. Between the world and God, there always has to be judgment. This curtain was so large so as to completely cover the first. The joint between the two groups of curtains fell in the same place, keeping the separation of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

The third layer or inside covering was made of ram's skins dyed red. Red is the color of sacrifice. Skins were first used as a covering in Genesis, when God killed animals to make a covering for Adam and Eve after they sinned and were aware of their nakedness. It speaks to consecration. No dimensions were given for these. There are no limits to our covering, Jesus.

Genesis 3:21 (NASB) And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

This is the lesson of God's substitutionary atonement laid down at the dawn of creation and there has never been any departure or deviation from this rule. In Genesis 22:13, we see the ram used as the substitute for Isaac.

Genesis 22:13 (NASB) Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

The fourth layer and outer covering was made of badger skins. The badger skins were not colorful or beautiful. They were drab, dull and bluish gray. The outer covering was exposed to the sun and the rain and the storms and the elements. It was the only covering visible to the outsider and had nothing appealing about it. It gave no hint of the beauty beneath the drab exterior.

To the non believer, there is nothing attractive about Jesus. The only other mentions of badger skins are in the use of sandals. Sandals were used to protect the person's feet from the elements. The outer covering protected every thing inside from the elements.

Some say that the word badger in the original is porpoise. This outer covering of skins was made of leather, and the skins were taken from porpoise, not badgers as it is in our English translation. The porpoise was a marine animal, a sea animal that teemed abundantly in the Nile and the Red Sea. No one knows for sure.

Isaiah 53:2 (NASB) For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Just as the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was where God dwelled in the days of Moses, today He dwells in His Church.

Ephesians 2:22 (NASB) in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Hebrews 3:6 (NASB) but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

1 Peter 2:5 (NASB) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NASB) Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

The entrance to the Holy Place was a hanging veil colored blue, purple and scarlet. It was hung on five pillars overlaid with gold. We see the same colors and material combinations. The pillars rested on bases of brass and crowned with gold. Five is the number of grace. It is only by grace that we can approach God. The brass bases speak of judgment. Your sins must be judged and paid for before you can enter God's presence.

The four pillars supporting the veil separating the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies had bases of silver - redemption. Without redemption, one cannot enter God's presence. The veil will be studied in a later lesson.

In the Holy Place were; the Golden Lampstand, the Table of Showbread, and the Altar of Incense. These pieces of furniture were used in fellowship, worship and praise of God. When Jesus died, the veil was rent from the top to the bottom, making it possible for us to enter the Presence of God in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Continue with the teaching on the Veil.