LESSON 25
THE FURNITURE FOR THE TABERNACLE
By E. L. Bynum, Pastor
Memory Verse: Exodus 25:8 (N.W. 25:40)————Lesson: Exodus 25:1-22
The Tabernacle is described in chapters 25-27; it is constructed in chapters 36-38; and it is set up in chapters 39-40. It pictured Christ and His work. See Heb. 9:1-3, 23-24; I Cor. 10:1-11; and John 2:14.
I. THE OFFERING FOR THE TABERNACLE. v. 1-9
A. The Manner Of The Offering. v. 1-2
1. It was an offering ordained of God. God could have created the Tabernacle, but He did not. He blessed His people by allowing them to give and build. We have the same privilege in giving and labouring to build His local church.
2. Only Israel was to participate in the offering. They gave so much that Moses had to ask them to stop. Ex. 36:6-7
3. It was to be given willingly from the heart. It was not a tax. We can only give what God has provided us to give. I Chron. 29:14, But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
B. Fourteen Materials For The Offering. v. 3-7
These materials and their typical meaning is very important in the study of the Tabernacle. There are 14 items mentioned which is God’s number of perfection doubled. Two is the number of witness.
1. Gold speaks of deity manifested and is a type of Christ. v. 3
a. It is estimated that a ton of Gold and three tons of silver were used in the Tabernacle.
b. They got this wealth spoiling the Egyptians. Ex. 12:35-36
2. Silver speaks of redemption. v. 3. Ex. 30:11-16; 38:27; 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.
3. Brass speaks of judgment. v. 3. Num. 21:6-9; John 3:14-15, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
4. Blue speaks of that which is heavenly in nature or origin. v.4
5. Purple speaks of royalty, the color worn by Easter kings. v. 4
6. Scarlet speaks of sacrificial blood. v. 4. The color was the extract of a worm. These words are about Christ. Psa. 22:6, But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7. Fine linen speaks of spotless righteousness. v. 4. Rev. 19:8, And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
8. Goat’s hair speaks of Christ as the sin bearer. v. 4. Lev. 16:5, 15, 21
9. The ram’s skin dyed red speaks of the devotion of Christ. v. 5. A ram used as sacrifice of consecration in consecrating the priests.
10. The badger’s skins speak of Christ in His humiliation. v. 5. Isa. 53:2, For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. It was used to make the outer covering of the Tabernacle and they made shoes out of badger skins. Evidently this was a different animal than our badgers.
11. Shittim wood (acacia) speaks of the humanity of Christ. v. 5
12. Oil for the light was a type of the Holy Spirit. v. 6
13. Spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense. v. 6. This speaks of sweetness, the preciousness and fragrance of the pure spotless life of our Saviour.
14. Onyx stones, and stones for the ephod and breastplate. v. 7. These speak of the glory of Christ, the glory which He had with the Father. John 17:5, And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
C. The Management Of The Offering. v. 8-9
1. To be used making a sanctuary for the Lord. v. 8
2. God would dwell among them. v. 8
3. It was to be made according to God’s pattern. v. 9
II. THE ARK FOR THE TABERNACLE. v. 10-22
Instead of beginning with the Tabernacle itself, the Lord begins with the furniture. The first piece was the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat which were kept in the Holy of Holies. There are 3 arks in the Bible. (1) Noah’s ark, pitched within and without which speaks of atonement. (2) Moses’ ark of bulrushes which was also pitched. (3) The golden ark of the Tabernacle which was sprinkled with the blood (atonement). All 3 were intended to protect their precious contents.
God had a plan for the Tabernacle and all of the furniture. They could not deviate from it. God has a plan today for building His local churches. We dare not deviate from it.
A. The Directions For The Ark Of The Covenant. v. 10-16
1. The ark was one of the most important pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle and was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heb. 6:18-20, That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Heb 9:4-5, Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Heb. 9:11-14, 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: 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?
2. The wood which speaks of Christ’s humanity. v. 10
3. It was overlaid with pure gold which speaks of His deity. v. 11
4. The ark wore a crown. v. 11 . We see Christ in:
a. The outer court (place of sacrifice) as the Prophet.
b. The holy place (place of worship) as the Priest.
c. The holy of holies (place of communion) as the King. He was born a king, crucified a king, and is coming as king.
5. The rings and the staves made it portable. v. 12-15. His people are pilgrims and He is ever with them.
6. The contents of the ark. v. 16. Heb. 9:4, Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.
a. The golden pot of manna. John 6:48-51, I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
b. Aaron’s rod that budded, which speaks of Christ in His resurrection power and life.
c. The tables of the law in the heart of it. Christ had the law hidden in His heart, and kept it perfectly for His people. Psa. 40:6-8, Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. Heb. 10:5-9, Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law, Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. Matt. 3:17, And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Deut. 31:26, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
B. The Directions For The Mercy Seat. v. 17-22
1. The mercy seat made of pure gold. v. 17. This speaks of His absolute deity through which He could satisfy the Father on our behalf, with His sinless blood. It was where God spoke to Moses and Aaron. Psa. 80:1, …thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Psa. 99:1, The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. II Kings 19:15, And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
2. Christ is our mercy seat in heaven. In the following scriptures the Greek word for “propitiation” is “hilasterion,” the word for mercy seat. Rom. 3:25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. I John 2:2, And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Heb. 4:14-16
3. The cherubims overshadow the mercy seat. v. 18-20. The cherubims symbolize the justice and judgment of God. Without the mercy seat they would have looked on the broken law, instead they looked on the blood stained mercy seat.
4. The blood sprinkled mercy seat stood between a holy law and a sinful people. v. 21. In Lev. 16, on the day of atonement the blood was sprinkled for all the people. Christ died once for our sins and it will never need to be repeated. Heb. 9:1110:14
5. The place where God met and communed with His people. v. 22. This communion and fellowship was only on the basis of the blood sprinkled mercy seat.
—by E. L. Bynum
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Name the 14 materials that the people were to bring, and state the typical significance of each.
2. What is the significance of the number 14?
3. Who was to bring the offering and under what conditions?
4. Name the 3 arks of the Bible, and the significance of each.
5. What was the ark of the covenant a type of?
6. What materials was it made of?
7. What was the significance of the crown on the ark?
8. Name the contents of the ark.
9. What sat on top of the ark and what was it made of?
10. What stood between the law and a sinful people?
11 . Who or what is our mercy seat?