LESSON 28
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TABERNACLE (Cont.)
– By E. L. Bynum, Pastor
Memory Verse: Ex. 26:30 (N.W. 27:20)—————Lesson: Ex. 26:15-37
II. THE BOARDS & FOUNDATION. v. 15-30
A. The Boards Of The Tabernacle. v. 15-25
1. Made of shittim wood a type of His humanity. v. 15. Heb. 2:14, 17, Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. I Tim. 2:5, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Though He was human, His was perfect humanity. I Pet. 2:22, Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. II Cor. 5:21, For he hath made him [to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. I John 3:5, And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
2. The size of each board was 15 feet by 27 inches. v. 16
3. The tenons. v. 17. These were fingers or hands that projected in order to secure the board to the foundation.
4. The number of boards. v. 18, 20, 22
5. The corner boards. v. 23. These remind us of Christ the chief cornerstone. Isa . 28:16, Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Psa. 118:22, The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. I Pet. 2:7-8, Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
B. The Foundation Of The Tabernacle. v. 19, 21
1. Each board was supported by two sockets of silver. v . 19
2. The sockets made of the redemption or ransom money. Ex. 30:11-16
3. The silver was made into the 100 sockets of silver. Ex. 38:25-27.
a. Each socket was of 1 talent or about 80 to 100 lbs.
b. All the foundation weighed from 8 to 10 thousand lbs.
4. Silver speaks of the blood, the price of our redemption. I Pet. 1:18-19, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Lev. 17:11, For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Heb. 9:22, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. I Cor. 6:20. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
5. This reveals that blood redemption is foundational to all of God’s work on the behalf of His people.
C. The Bars For The Tabernacle. v. 26-28
1. Five bars for each wall to stabilize the boards. v. 26-27
2. The middle bar reached from end to end and was invisible. v. 28. Ex. 36:33, And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.
D. The Covering For The Boards. v. 29-30
1. The boards were covered with gold. v. 29
2. The bars to be covered with gold and the rings to be made of gold. v. 29
3. All to be done according to the pattern. v. 30
E. The Typology. v. 15-30
1. It is all a type of Christ.
a. The wood typifies His perfect humanity.
b. The gold typifies His eternal deity and glory manifested.
c. The silver represents His blood redemption as the foundation of all things done for sinners.
d. The bars represent Christ the perfect man and God the Son securing eternally His work of redemption.
2. It also typifies the church as the dwelling place of God.
a. Christ the redeemer is the foundation. Isa. 28:16. I Cor. 3:11, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. I Pet. 2:5, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
b. His people are partakers of the divine nature. II Pet. 1:4, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
c. The church is local and was purchased by the blood of God. Acts 20:28, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
d. The church is a building fitly framed together which groweth into an holy temple. Eph. 2:21, In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.
e. That temple is an habitation of God through the Spirit. Eph. 2:22, In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. NOTE: “As the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, was the dwelling place of God, so the church (I Cor. 3:12-16), and this is the church at Corinth, not visible and universal, nor invisible and universal, but the church located in the city of Corinth, just as the Tabernacle was located in the midst of Israel in the wilderness and later the Temple in Jerusalem. In Ephesians 2:19-22, this is the church at Ephesus to whom this circular letter was primarily addressed. This same church is also called the House of God (I Tim. 3:15).” -Studies in Exodus, by Dr. Louis Entzminger, pages 53-54.
III . THE VEILS FOR THE TABERNACLE. v. 31-35
A. The Inner Vail. v. 31-35
1. Its colors, cherubim, and cunning work. v. 31
2. Its pillars, hooks, and sockets of silver. v. 32
3. The veil divided between the holy place and the most holy place. v. 33-35
4. The typical meaning.
a. The veil was a type of His body. Heb. 10:20, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.
b. Christ in His perfect sinless life, barred the way (as a veil) to God the Father.
c. Christ in His perfect death, rent the veil and made a way of access to God. Matt. 27:50-51, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.
d. The Lord Jesus Christ took our sins (the one thing that barred our access to God) in His own body on the tree.
e. He opened up a new and living way. Heb. 9:11-15, But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Heb. 9:23-26, It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
B. The Outer Vail. v. 36-37
1. This veil was the very door of the tabernacle. v. 36
2. Its colors and construction. v. 36
3. Its pillars and hooks. v. 37
4. It too typifies Christ by which we must come for fellowship and service.
CONCLUSION
The outside of the Tabernacle may have been drab, but on the inside it was a place of great beauty. Psa. 27:4, One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. Psa. 26:8, LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. Psa. 65:4, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Psa. 84:1-2, 4.
It is the same with Jesus Christ. Those outside of Christ see no beauty in Him. Those in Christ see Him in His glory. Col. 2:9, For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
—by E. L. Bynum
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What was the height of the tabernacle walls?
2. What were the tenons and what was their purpose?
3. What was the foundation made of, and what does it typify?
4. Where did they get the material for the foundation? Be specific
5. What was the ratio of sockets to boards?
6. How many bars were there, and what was their purpose?
7. What was used to cover the boards?
8. How did the walls and foundation typify Christ?
9. How did they typify the church?
10. What was the purpose of the inner veil?
11. What did this veil typify?
12. How does the rending of the veil relate to this?