2 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE

2 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE 

September 23, 1964

PASTOR HENRY F. KULP

Exodus 25: 8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

Here God told Moses that the children of Israel were to construct upon this earth a building that would be the dwelling place of God. And it was the only building ever constructed upon this earth which was perfect from its very beginning—it never needed attention—it never needed an addition or alteration and the blueprint and the pattern were made minutely in Heaven by God and committed to Moses for the children of Israel. Every single detail was designated by Almighty God.

1/ The amazing thing about this building is that it was not an imposing structure. The exterior was actually unattractive, and if one would come upon the tabernacle in the wilderness and view it from the outside he would have little hint of its inner glory and beauty. The stranger would be without knowledge of the exquisite beauty and breathtaking splendor that was in the inside. Only after one had entered through the door at its Eastern end, stopped to sacrifice at the altar of burnt offering, and washed his hands and feet at the laver—only then would he begin to recognize the beauty of the tabernacle.

2/ We are making this model so that you will have a mental picture that will help you to understand the teaching of the tabernacle in the wilderness. You are going to have to use your imagination, of course. Imagine first of all a rectangular plot of ground 75 ft. wide and 150 ft. long. This is the size of an ordinary city lot. This lot is enclosed by a fence, approximately 7 1/2 ft. high. This fence is made up of posts with curtains, on each of the long sides there are 20 posts, and each of the ends had 10 posts. In the eastern end of this fence there was a gate through which one could enter. We must see that the fence encloses the north, south and west, but at the eastern and of this enclosure was the only means of entrance into the sacred area. This gate was 30 ft wide.

3/ The enclosure was called the Court of the Gentiles, and the Court of the Gentiles always faced to the East, toward the rising of the sun, for it is a clear type of Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. At the eastern end of the court, just inside the gate or door, stood a brazen altar and to the west of this stood a brazen laver, or wash basin, containing water for the cleansing of those who entered into the Holy Place or the Tabernacle. The altar and the laver, of the wash basin were the only two items of furniture in this open, roofless court.

4/ The Tabernacle itself was a flat roofed rectangular tent-like building, located at the western end of this enclosure. It was a portable building, 15 ft. wide, 15 ft. high and 45 ft. long. And was abut the size of an extra large living room. The space was divided into two compartments. The front room facing the east was 30 ft. long, and 15 ft. wide and 15 ft. high. This was called the Holy Place, or the first sanctuary. The rear room, and this was separated from the first room by a veil, it was the shape of a perfect cube. 15 x 15 x 15. This was called the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy Place.

5/ In the Holy Place, the larger of the two rooms, there were three pieces of furniture. The dining table on the north side, the lamp on the south side, and between these and slightly to the rear was the altar of incense. In the smaller room, called the Holy of Holies, behind the veil, there was just one piece of furniture—the ark of the covenant, with the Mercy Seat.

6/ This means there were exactly seven pieces of furniture—speaking of the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We said everything in the Tabernacle speaks of Christ, and seven is the number of perfection.

7/ There is a very interesting fact here—these articles of furniture are so arranged, that if we draw a straight line from the altar at the door to the ark in the Holy of Holies, you will divide the Tabernacle into equal parts—then you draw a line across this line from the dining table on the north side to the lamp on the south side, we have a perfect figure of a cross. We said the Tabernacle speaks of Christ, and of course, it speaks of Him in His death. That work which He performed for us upon the cross of Calvary.

8/ Just a little while ago we mentioned that the Tabernacle in its exterior is anything but attractive. Jesus Christ, when He died, in His death was anything but attractive. We have told you so often, He was matted with blood. His body was torn from the scourging.

Isaiah 52: 13 - 14 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

As men look at Christ in His death, they do not find anything attractive at all. His death is actually a stumbling block to many.

9/ We said there is only one door, only one gate, only one way of entrance, and, of course, this again speaks of Jesus Christ.

John 10: 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Then, of course, John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Everywhere you turn in this Tabernacle, you see a truth concerning Jesus Christ.

10/ As I sum up the Tabernacle, I believe the main teaching is found in a piece of furniture called the Ark of the Covenant, and this is the one we want to start with tonight.

Exodus 25: 10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

This was about the size of an ordinary trunk, perhaps about 40” long, and 27” high and broad. Just a common box. In the 11th verse, And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

To begin with it was to be made of wood—of acacia (A-Kay-sha) wood. This is a lasting wood that does not rot, and it was to be covered with gold inside and out. Gold is Deity and wood is humanity. This ark is the type of the Lord Jesus Christ in His deity and His humanity. He is a man and yet He is God. What a wonderful Being the Lord Jesus Christ is. His body was a human body, and yet He was deity.

11/ Christ is a different being than He was before. The Trinity is different than He ever was before. The Trinity was Three Persons, pure spirit. Now one Person of the Trinity, as human as well as spiritual. And Jesus Christ was typified by the wood and the gold—Human and Deity. This is wonderful to think about. Let me show it to you in the Gospel of John.

John 4: 6 - 7 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

Christ is here talking to the woman of Samaria. Jacob’s well was there, Jesus therefore being wearied with His journey—Jesus Christ was tired—He got tired just the way you do. He had walked too far, and when we do that, we get tired, and so did He. So He had to sit down and rest.

12/ Then you will remember, another time He got sleepy and slept in a boat in the middle of the day—while the men rowed, He went to sleep. He was just as much a human as you are. He got tired and hungry and thirsty and weary. He slept in a boat, yet He stood up and quieted the waves. Here is humanity and deity. Here in the 4th chapter of John, He was weary from His journey. He had walked too far, and then in the 7th verse there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink—He was thirsty. Then in the 14th verse. Whosoever drinkers of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst. He had just said He was thirsty, and He said to the woman, give me a drink, but now, He says, I have water, that if you drink of that, you will never thirst. Don’t you see? Deity and humanity. Hungry, and yet He could feed the multitudes, sleepy and yet He could quiet the storm, thirsty and He could give you something to drink that would cause you never to thirst throughout all eternity. Humanity and deity in Jesus Christ.

13/ Exodus 25: 11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

I believe this has a reference to Jesus Christ, being crowned. He was crowned with thorns when He was crucified, and someday He will be crowned with the diadem of this universe.

14/ Before we go on any farther, I want you to see that the ark is the most important furniture in the entire Tabernacle, and it brings us down to the basic reason for the Tabernacle. God was teaching Israel a very important lesson. Last week we gave you two reasons for the tabernacle. #1 It pictures Jesus Christ. #2 Because God wanted His people with Him unto Himself. Now, the third reason, and this is important. Before an individual can be saved, he must first learn that he cannot save himself. Adam had to learn this tremendous lesson. After he had sinned, he imagined that he could get rid of his sin with a self-made garment of fig leaves. But God came down and ignored Adam’s flimsy fig leaves and pronounced a curse upon Adam and all his offspring, and then slew an animal and clothed Adam with the skin of that innocent substitute. Adam had to be taught he could do nothing to save himself. This is the very reason that God had to teach Israel and Israel becomes the object lesson to all who live in our day, that we cannot be saved by our own activities. God draws up the best standard of living that can ever be found, and this perfect standing cannot bring righteousness, bring salvation.

15/ Let us notice how Israel needed this lesson driven home to them, and how it was illustrated in the Tabernacle. Before we have the record of the actual building of the Tabernacle, there is the story of the giving of the law.

Starting in Exodus 19: 24 And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.

We have a detailed account of the commandments, statutes, precepts and laws, which God gave to Israel through Moses. Then after He gives all this, starting with Chapter 25, He gives us the Tabernacle.

16/ But notice, Exodus 24: 3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.

Oh, poor blinded souls. They stood before God’s Holy Law and said, we can keep the Law. All the words which the Lord hath said, we will do. How little they knew or understood their own hearts, their own inability. But Moses recognized how blind they were, and so immediately in Exodus 24: 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and builded an altar under the hill. He realized that Israel could not be saved by keeping the Law, but only by the blood of a sacrifice, so he built an altar. Then the record continues.

Exodus 24: 5 - 7 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.

He sprinkled blood all over them and over the Tabernacle, showing the necessity for man to receive God’s atonement apart from his own works.

17/ In this ark, God put the Law, and this ark is none other than a coffin. The law in Jesus Christ is dead.

Genesis 50: 26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

And here it speaks about Joseph and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin. That word, coffin, is AW—RONE an ark or a coffin. So the law is put in a coffin—it is dead.

Galatians 2: 18 - 19 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

AMEN

9/23/1964 / 2 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE / 9/22/2024