12 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE

12 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE

December 23, 1964

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Exodus 26: 1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine

twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work

shalt thou make them.

We now come to the roof of the tabernacle, but the tabernacle did not have a roof as we know it today. They built the tabernacle of boards, covered over with gold, and then they fastened them all together—but they did not put any roof on the tabernacle, for the roof God had curtains. There were four layers, of material. The first one we are going to study is of beautiful curtains—but it was only visible from the inside. One had to be inside the tabernacle to see it. If you were outside the tabernacle—all you would see, all that would be visible to you was a drab leather covering made of badger skin—somewhat unattractive, somber, and unappealing to the natural eye.

1/ Notice, Exodus 26: 1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

The first curtain was made of fine twined linen, that was perfectly white, made by those to whom God gave special wisdom, special ability. How heavy it was, we do not know, but I think it must have been a great weight to form the ceiling. It was made by women to whom God gave special wisdom in weaving.

Notice, in this second verse, the length of the curtain shall be 8 and 20 cubits. From the ground on one side to the ground on the other side was 30 cubits— and this beautiful curtain was only 28 and it would not touch the ground on either side, because the entire distance was 30 cubits. The other curtains were made longer than that—the curtains to be placed over this.

2/ This main curtain consisted of (10) ten separate curtains, coupled together to make one great covering for the interior of the tabernacle. The outside badger skins were Christ in His humiliation, in His humanity and His suffering upon the cross of Calvary. This is what man sees, and we will study that later on. But now the inside curtain that was of fine twined linen, perfectly white, speaks of the righteousness and the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this, of course, brings us to the first point that is so beautiful as this curtain pictures Jesus Christ. You must be in Christ to see the beauty of Christ. This is why Paul constantly talks of being in Christ. One had to be in the tabernacle before he could see the beauty of this roof, just so one must be in Christ to see His beauty. His holiness, His righteousness.

3/ Then we read there were colors of blue, purple and scarlet—they are the colors that God has chosen. This is not man’s choice. These are God’s chosen colors. The blue is a heavenly picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only heavenly Character the world has ever had. 

John 8: 23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

Ye are from beneath—in other words, of the world—I am from above. I am not from this world. That is the difference between the Lord Jesus Christ and man. He was from Heaven. Everything He said was heavenly. Everything He ever did was heavenly. Then, the second color is purple, and of course that is royalty. He is not only a king, but He is the King of kings. He is not only Lord, but He the Lord of lords. He is God’s King.

I Timothy 6: 15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

He is the true royalty of this world. He is the only royal Person that ever walked upon this earth as a perfect being. Then the third color is scarlet which, of course, always speaks of blood. Who was it that before He got through with this world down here was a mass of blood? Blood from head to foot. We are told that when they led Him to be crucified they took off His garments. His body must have been matted with blood from the bloody sweat in the Garden.

Luke 22: 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

His hair was matted with blood from the crown of thorns that was placed upon Him, and then He was scourged and His back was lacerated. He was just a scarlet mass, and when He comes back He is to be robbed in a vesture dipped in blood. These are God’s colors and these colors run all through these curtains.

4/ Then notice, the cherubim of cunning work. That means workmanship—Cherubims made by workmanship. Workmanship that is wonderful. I wonder what this cherubim were like. When we mention a subject like this, we are all at sea. But God has told us about the cherubim. There are two chapters about cherubims in the Bible, and we are going to look at them tonight. There isn’t any use for us to talk about these curtains at all unless we know what cherubims were like. So let us find out a little bit about them.

    1) Ezekiel 1: 5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 

This is where Ezekiel was in Babylon away from his home, and in this 5th verse he had a vision, and so he said, Also out of the midst thereof come the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; They had the likeness of a man. 

Then notice the 6th verse, And everyone had four faces, and every one had four wings.

I am not going to take time to read this chapter, but I don’t want you to be satisfied until you know what these cherubims are like. Someday, I believe, we are going to share the universe with them as we are in the heavenlies—and I would like to know what cherubims are like so I wouldn’t have to be introduced to them in the future.

    2) Ezekiel 1: 26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

That sapphire stone appeared under the feet of God when the people here in the book of Exodus were called to meet God. God called the elders, not too close, but God gave them a vision of Himself, and they said the only description they could give was that under His feet was as a sapphire stone.

Exodus 24: 9, 10 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

So these cherubims are near the throne of God.

    3) Ezekiel 1: 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God. Wherever you find the cherubim you find the glory of the Lord.

Ezekiel 10: 1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

In this chapter, which is the companion chapter to Chapter 1, you have the cherubim mentioned (20) twenty times, so I believe that God obviously wants us to know what the cherubim are and what they are like, but now let us notice this first verse. Then I looked and behold in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 

They are near the throne of God.

Verse 4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory.

Wherever you find cherubim, you find the glory of God. 

Verses 18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.

There stood I, and the glory of God is still there.

Then notice verse 20. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

These cherubim are under God. Under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar, and I knew that they were the cherubims.

Verse 21 Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

I have seen many pictures of the ark of the testimony, but I never saw a picture

of the ark which had the cherubim having four wings, and four faces. We just don’t read our faces properly.

    4) These cherubim are real beings. They are near the throne of God, they demonstrate the glory of God. They, undoubtedly are the caretakers of the holiness of God, the glory of God. They guard the holiness of God.

    5) Ezekiel 28: 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Notice something terrible about the cherubim. A few Sunday nights ago we told you that Satan was put in charge of the earth, and he was put here to guard the righteousness of God, and when he fell he refused to accept that demotion, he still acted like he was protecting the righteousness that was upon earth, producing righteousness.

Verse 13, 14 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

The anointed cherub that covered. He was marvelous, he was beautiful, he was the leading cherub of the highest of God’s angelic creation.

5/ These curtains represent the holiness, the righteousness of God, and Jesus Christ is just this.

6/ Let us look at another thing, as you went into the tabernacle, into the Holy Place, how could you see the roof, how could you see the cherubims? There was only one thing you did—you would have to look up to see them. And haven’t we been told to look up. I think if I had ever gotten into the tabernacle, I would have had a sore neck, looking up. You could go into that tabernacle and look up and see the glory of the Lord Jesus—see Him in colors, see Him in the cherubims. We told you the candlestick—and you could only see the cherubims by the light of the candlestick—is a picture of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ, and also in you. So man by education, by all the learning in the world, cannot see the holiness, the beauty, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, unless he sees it by the light of the Holy Spirit.

7/ But I would like to have you turn to Colossians 3: 1 - 4 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Many preachers—all of them Fundamental—like to kid me about the fact I say, “Keep Looking Up”, but there is a very good reason why I exhort you to do this all the time—it is Scriptural. This portion of Scripture here in Colossians tells us, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. We are not supposed to look around. If you look around you will be discouraged, and if you look inside, you will be discouraged, too. The best thing you can do is look up, and if you do this, you will be risen with Christ, and you’ll seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. We want to see Him, and we will get through this world better, if we get a good view of Him, and you get that by looking up. If you went into the tabernacle, and never looked up, you would never see the cherubim, you would never see the glory, all you would ever see is the gold that was there, and that is the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

8/ Colossians 3: 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.That is where we belong—in glory. Then look to the glory, looking for Him to come.

9/ Philippians 3: 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

For our conversation—our citizenship is in Heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour. We have to look up if we are looking for Him. I think we ought to be looking up so much that we seem strange to other folks. They say that Michael Angelo worked so much in great cathedral domes, that when he walked the streets, he walked with his face to the sky. People thought he was an imbecile, but we are to look up and talk to ourselves about the Lord Jesus Christ, and that’s the lesson.

10/ But now we have a beautiful thought here—what Christ is, so are we, and this is the message that people cannot understand. Many who claim to believe in Jesus Christ cannot grasp this truth.

I Corinthians 12: 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

You would think it would be, so also is the church, but it isn’t. Christ, and His body are the same, both mentioned here in one verse. The body and Christ are one, not two.

Then notice, Ephesians 1: 21 - 23 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Notice, that not Christ, is the fulness of the Church—this says that the church is the fulness of Christ, because the head and the body are not two—you cannot have a head without a body, neither can you have a body without a head. This is a strange doctrine to many today. We talk about all the Lord’s people being one, and then we say, I am of such and such a church, but we should be of Christ.

11/ I Corinthians 1: 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

I believe that beginning at this verse 11—and I want you to listen to what I have to say here, Paul saw the time when the church would be broken up into a thousand different denominational pieces, and he did his best to prevent it in this passage. Look at that verse—For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

Notice verse 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of

Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

Is this not the same as saying, I am of Luther, I am of Wesley, and I am of Calvin. What is the difference? None, we are all guilty of it. We have all done the very thing that Paul tried to prevent. He saw it coming.

Then look at verse 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye

baptized in the name of Paul?

Is Christ divided? No, you say, You cannot divide Christ. You can’t divide His body then, either. Then Paul says, was Christ divided, was Paul crucified for you? You say, I am a Luther—listen, did Luther die for you? You say, I am of Wesleyan Methodist—did Wesley go to the cross for you. You say, I am a Calvinistic Baptist—did Calvin die for you? But as we study the tabernacle, our hearts should be thrilled as we recognize that all that is true of Jesus Christ here, is true of us—we are one with Him. We are the members of His body.

AMEN

12/23/1964 / 12 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE / 4/3/2025