16 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE

                                Photo taken by B Smith from the patio

16 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE

January 27, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Hebrews 8: 5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Here we are told that Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, “See that thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount.” So God had a building that was to be made, and God had a foreman, and God had a pattern. Did you ever stop to think that there was another building who had a foreman and a pattern by God? Several centuries before God told Moses to build the Tabernacle in the wilderness, He told Noah to build an ark. Notice what God  said to Noah.

Genesis 6: 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 

Noah built the ark strictly according to Divine pattern, and Noah was the foreman. But we have yet another building with another foreman and with another pattern.

I Corinthians 3: 9 - 11 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Here He says we are laborers together with God, “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” He is the wise master builder. Paul is the foreman of this building. He said, “I have laid the foundation.” So very definitely he is the foreman, and God has a pattern for this building, as well.

I Timothy 1: 15, 16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

Here Jesus Christ is the file leader and he says, “As a file leader, Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which hereafter should believe on Him, to life everlasting.” 

So we have a building, we have a foreman, and we have a pattern in all three of these buildings. And I would like to have you understand each one.

1/ When you went into the building proper itself, into the tabernacle, you entered in, first of all, through a veil, into the Holy Place. And then as you were in the Holy Place, you were confronted by a serious problem, for the way into the Holy of Holies which is barred completely by a heavy vail, or curtain which forbids anyone to enter except the High Priest, once a year, on the day of Atonement.

Hebrews 9: 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

Notice, no one but the High Priest went in, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement, and he had to go in with the precious blood taken from the altar of burnt offering. For him to enter at any other time meant immediate death, or to enter without blood meant death. All others were barred. No one of the common priesthood was allowed to enter, let alone those who were not priests. To attempt to enter meant certain death. Remember, this was the place of the presence of God, where God came down in Shikinah glory over the ark of the covenant.

2/ Remember only once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest was permitted to enter, but this had to be repeated and repeated and repeated every year. He went in with blood, past the great and heavy vail, into the presence of God, that means his work was never done, or the work that he did do was not perfect.

3/ Exodus 26: 31 - 35 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

I believe the veil is one of the most important things in the tabernacle and in Verse 31 we are told of the colors used—blue, the purple and the scarlet. These three colors are very important with the white and the gold. I shall not go into these colors again, but if you are not fully acquainted with them, let me say these colors picture the LordJesus Christ. Blue, first of all, His heavenly character—then the purple is the kingly color—He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, He is the only One with the kingly character. He will rule over this earth during the Millennium. Then the scarlet, that is blood. He shed His blood. Scarlet belongs to Him for His sacrifice is the only one that avails. Then there were cherubims woven into this veil and we have talked about that before.

4/ The Tabernacle in the wilderness speaks of Jesus Christ and there is one thought I want you to recognize because it is important. It is not what you know, it is who you know. You have heard many people say that in the world. They say no matter how much ability you have, how much education you have, you have to know the right person, so they say, it is not what you know, it is who you know. In relationship with God this is definitely true. It is not what you know. You may know all about Jesus Christ, you may know all about the Word of God, but if you do not know Him, all this knowledge will not avail one tiny bit. You may know about Christ, but you have to know Christ.

5/ The veil taught two lessons. The veil was the way to God. If you could get past the veil, you could get to God. Secondly, it showed another thing-- the way was not opened. As long as the veil hung there, the way to God was closed—it was like putting a big sign up—“no admittance”—“Stay out”.

6/ I want you to turn to Matthew 27: 50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

Notice Verse 51 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;

That was what the folks had been waiting for. That was the thing that had to be done. No one could go into God’s presence as long as the veil was there. Even the high priest who went in only once a year could not go in standing up. He had to twist and turn and stoop over to get in. Whether this veil in the temple was the same as the one Moses had, I do not profess to know, but I do know that when the veil was rent, the way into the Holy of Holies was opened.

7/ Matthew 27: 51 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;

Not part way down, not half way down, but the veil was rent in two, from the top to the bottom, and only God could have done that. It was absolutely rent right to the bottom. This was a miracle, a heaven-sent miracle. No human hand could have done the work of rending that veil. The Jewish writers tell us that veil was so firmly woven that two teams of oxen, pulling in opposite directions with the veil between them could not tear it apart, and that another thing—neither could that veil be repaired—it was rent by God’s hand. Tradition tells us that the priests tried to mend it, to sew the veil together again, but they were unable to do so, for no thread, no cord would hold in the repaired part. It was rent once and for all and forever, and it meant the barrier between God and man was gone.

8/ What did that veil reveal to us?

Hebrews 10: 19, 20 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Here it says the veil is His flesh, and so it is through His flesh that the way to God is opened. The veil was a marvelous piece of workmanship, as we said—as far as we know, it was still in use to the time of David, and later on—it was perhaps 500 years old. It was the most marvelous piece of tapestry the world has ever known—woven and interwoven by skill that God Himself gave to the women of Israel. The veil is a type of the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. His flesh was the most precious thing that ever came into this world. How was His flesh created? The body of the Lord Jesus Christ was not created by the body of Mary, but it was created by God.

Hebrews 10: 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

It was placed in the womb of Mary and she brought it forth.

Notice, I Corinthians 15: 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

It says the first man is of the earth, earthy, the Second Man—it doesn’t speak of Him as a Spirit here, but rather as a Man—the Second Man is the Lord from Heaven. So it is important to understand His flesh. We have to understand something. Was the body of Jesus Christ an act of CREATION OR AN ACT OF PROCREATION? Adam and Eve came into this world as an act of creation—all other humans came in by procreation. Roman Catholicism in its effort to make Mary the Mother of God, contends that Jesus Christ came into this world by an act of procreation, but, of course, this is not true.

9/ There are many difficulties with this teaching. If Jesus Christ was born by procreation, and it would have to be by the body of Mary, and the Holy Spirit, that would make the Holy Spirit the Father of Christ, and He never referred to the Holy Spirit as His Father. If Mary were truly His mother and He did not refer to her as His mother, and the Holy Spirit was His Father, then Jesus Christ would have been a hybrid—that would mean half man and half God. He would have been a demigod—the offspring of a Divine person, getting together with a human, and this is what the pagans have, not what Christianity teaches.

10/ It would ruin the type of Adam as we have in I Corinthians 15 and in Romans 5. Adam, as the first Adam, had no earthly mother. If Jesus Christ had an earthly mother as such, then He would not be a type of the second Adam.

11/ There is no sin in Jesus Christ, so men say, there wasn’t any father. He is the head of the race and therefore, He would not inherit sin, if He did not have a human father. But, I can’t see that argument, you are not solving any problem by eliminating only Joseph, you must eliminate Mary by understanding her part was not that of creating the Saviour for us, but rather just bringing Him into this world.

Let us look carefully at Luke 1: 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Here it refers to the body that is in Mary as a Holy Thing that shall be born. The words, Holy Thing, are in neuter gender, indicating that Christ had not yet identified Himself with that body, but when it should be born, it would be called the Son of God.

12/ Why have I spent so much time with this? Because this veil and this body are important. The veil hindered the way to God, but when it was torn, it opened the way to God. That flesh is none other than the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His body is the way to God.

Colossians 1: 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Notice, in the body of His flesh through death to present you—that is inside the Holy Place—to present you—that is where He takes you, within the veil, in the body of His flesh through death, He presents you. The veil is gone. He takes you into God’s presence, He presents you. You say, am I presentable? Yes, you are according to this verse—you are now holy, unblameable and unreproveable.

13/ Do you know that no one ever touched the body of the Lord Jesus Christ during His ministry except to be blessed? They threw stones, but no stone ever touched Him. But a woman touched the hem of His garment and got healed. Jesus said after the Garden of Gethsemane, I spake openly in the Temple, and ye did not take me, but this is your hour—the power of darkness, and He handed Himself over. The first thing they did was to bind Him. They bound the Son of God. They smote Him in the face, they spat upon Him. That precious flesh God has prepared for eternity—the body of Christ was handed over to be made sin for us.

14/ Isaiah 53: 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise HIM—bruise Him where? In His flesh. How can God be pleased when Christ was in agony on the cross? But it says, It pleased the Lord to bruise Him—why? That I might have entrance unto God the Father.

15/ Then notice, Ephesians 5: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

For we are members of His body. Now notice this, of His flesh and of His bones. How wonderful this is. I have been presented to God and I am now part of His body—the flesh of Jesus Christ.

AMEN

01/27/1965 / 16 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE / 05/06/2025

15 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE

                                   Photo taken by B Smith from patio

15 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE

January 20, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Acts 7: 44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

As Stephen was speaking to the Nation Israel, there sat the leaders of Israel to judge him, but this devoted servant of God spake the words that judged them. And as he spoke to them he said you are just like your fathers. But the thing that is important in our study tonight is, he spike of the Tabernacle of Witness in the wilderness. What does he mean? Tabernacle of Witness. 

For a long time I thought and wondered just what the Lord meant by that. He called it a Tabernacle of Witness. I have been wondering just what that witness was, and as I study the Tabernacle, I believe it is a witness to the blood. When you went in the front door of the Tabernacle, you came to the star of burnt offering—the altar of sacrifice, and there was flowing blood There the fire was always burning and the animals were always being killed. He said the fire shall ever burn—it is not to go out and the blood was always flowing.You were always conscious of blood. You went into the Holy Place, blood was sprinkled on the altar of incense, the Table of Shewbread, the lamp stand, the beautiful veil, the world’s most wondrous piece of tapestry. All this was sprinkled by blood. Blood was everywhere. 

Then you brushed aside the Veil and you went into the ark of the covenant where God came down in Shikinah glory to meet with His people, and there was blood— right on the mercy seat. I believe our witness today is to the blood of Christ. I believe our preaching but be centered in the blood of Jesus Christ. I don’t want you to get away from witnessing to the blood of Christ.

1/ Revelation 5: 9 - 12 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

Notice, the song in Heaven before the throne of God is the song of the blood. If you believe in the blood, you will be perfectly at home in Heaven, for in Verse 11 millions and millions of angels are saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” Now they don’t say for us—for them—but it is for humans on earth. This is the theme of Heaven, and it should be the theme on earth for all who are redeemed, by the blood of the Lamb. To be in tune in Heaven, you have to have Heaven’s tune in your heart about the blood of Christ. How could anyone who does not believe in the blood of Christ, who does not love the blood of Christ—ever be happy in Heaven? Where everyone is saying, we got here by the blood.

2/ You are to be a witness to the blood—you must testify that Christ shed His blood for you and for me.

3/ Again, we come to the building itself. It was made up of boards.

Exodus 3: 29 And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

The tabernacle was enclosed with these boards of shittim wood, and they were covered with gold. They formed the sides of the tabernacle. The tabernacle, roughly, was about 15 ft. high, 15 ft. broad, and 45 ft. long. These boards composed the sides and the end of the tabernacle. As we told you last week, these boards represent believers, and it is Christ dwelling in the believer, and as we told you, they are to stand upright, and every believer ought to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ.

                                             The Shittim tree

4/ If these boards are types of believers—wood overlaid with gold, we have the same thing for the Lord Jesus Christ. He is represented by wood —His humanity, and gold— His deity. Here the wood stands for our humanity, and gold for deity in us, and you will recognize we are just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer is to be like the Lord. So Christ and His church are one.

Let us notice, Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

It is not that we are trying to crucify ourselves. You have been crucified and you are dead, because if you have been crucified, you can’t help but be dead. Then it isn’t “I” any more, it is Christ. Christ has covered the believer. Not I, but Christ. I don’t like the word, unity. It is a good word, but it has been misused by religionists. It is used in the world in a false sense. You have heard of the sect called Unity, and it is satanic. I like the word, identity. I think it is much better. Let’s use that one. We are identified with Christ. Christ and the believer are one, not two. Paul says here—it is not I, I am crucified. I have passed out of the picture, but it is now the Lord.

5/ Another thing that we must see, these boards are visible in the tabernacle and they are only visible under the light of the golden candlestick, which is a type of the Holy Spirit, and all you could see was gold. You couldn’t see any of the wood. Is that the way you see other Christians? We are so apt to look for the wood, you know. We see all the flaws, but when you are in the tabernacle, when you are in Christ, under the Light of the Holy Spirit and you look at believers, all you should see is gold. We ought to see every Christian as in Christ. This is the great question of how we are to treat believers. Real believers that we know are saved.

Ephesians 1: 15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

God doesn’t ask you to have faith in the saints—don’t get that mixed up, or don’t get it backwards. God doesn’t ask you have a faith in the saints you have a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love for the saints, and that is different. You can even love saints that you don’t have any faith in, and you have to love the saints, because they are gold before God, they are all gold—that is why the Holy Spirit lights them up. When you see them in their flaws and all their humanity and their old nature, you are not looking at them in the Holy Spirit. You are looking at them in the flesh, apart from the Holy Spirt, because as God looks down that is all He sees—His pure gold. He sees Christ in every believer.

6/ Colossians 3: 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Now notice this—for you are dead and your life is hid. When that board was overlaid with gold, it was dead, you couldn’t see the board. The board was never to be seen again. So the believer is in Christ—he is hid in Christ, and when God looks at you, He sees Christ, for you are hid—where? With Christ in God—hidden in deity. That is a glorious position of a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

7/ YES, GOD DOES NOT SEE YOU. HE SEES CHRIST. THAT IS WHY HE IS PLEASED WHEN HE LOOKS AT YOU, BECAUSE HE DOESN’T SEE YOU, HE SEES ONLY CHRIST, AND I AM SO GLAD THIS IS TRUE.

8/ Now let us turn to Exodus 36: 31 - 33 And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward. And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.

There were five boards to be across the back. All these five bars were around the boards of the tabernacle, to keep them standing straight. The Lord’s people have a tendency to lean, but a Christian is not to lean—these bars are given that the boards might stand upright. And that is what we are called to do—to stand upright, and they are all bound together. God has given us a binding. First of all, I want you to notice there are five and five is the number of grace, but what does five stand for here. I notice that different men who write on this try to suggest that these bars might be as types, but I believe that God has given to us definitely in the book of Ephesians just what they are.

Ephesians 4: 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

This passage in Ephesians tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended up on high and took His place at the right hand of the Father, the Majesty on high, He gave gifts to the church, and these are the gifts, and there are five. There were five bars binding the words together in the tabernacle, and God has given us five things here that bind the Lord’s people together right now.

Verse 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Verse 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Verse 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

They are given to unify us—to give unity, not to separate us. One of the sad things today is that these five gifts are separating, not unifying, believers in Christ Jesus.

9/ Notice that apostles come first. They are missionaries, for Apostle means “sent one.” Jesus is called an Apostle.

Hebrews 3: 1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; God sent Him from Heaven to earth—Jesus said, I came not of Myself, My Father sent Me. 

He is an Apostle and He was a missionary. First in this list, then prophets, they are preachers—a prophet is one who speaks out a message for God. It does not mean that he foretells anything. The original meaning of the word, prophet, is to tell for another. God has prophets in these days. I believer there were men in days gone by who were great prophets. Men like Dr. Haldeman of New York City at the First Baptist Church. For 40 years he spoke out the doctrine of the Lord’s coming when the world was set against it—I mean the Christian world. He foretold the truth of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He wasn’t an apostle, he wasn’t sent anywhere for 40 years he stayed in New York City and proclaimed that truth. And there have been men just like that, telling forth truths. Then, of course, he says some are pastors, some are evangelists, and some are teachers. These five gifts God has given for the binding together of he church in this day.

10/ This proves that one who loves the Lord Jesus Christ should be part of the local assembly, where the five can minister and work and unify believers.

11/ But let’s not make a mistake and think about these spiritual sign gifts that are in I Corinthians 12: 10 - 13 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 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.

These spiritual sign gifts have passed away, when the Word of God was completely delivered to the Apostle Paul. These sign gifts corrupt and they separate believers, for these sign gifts are not men. The sign gifts of Ephesians 4: 11 - 13 are men, doing their job for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4: 11 - 13 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

12/ It is necessary to see that believers will not always agree—not every evangelist will always agree with everything with another evangelist, or with a teacher, or with a pastor, or with a missionary, or with a prophet, a preacher—of course not—but there must be unity. Someone said to me the other day—what is the difference between having unity in Christ and where does compromise come in? Compromise comes in when someone tears away the very basic foundation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ —when one denies the Virgin Birth which is absolutely essential, and those who are believers cooperate with one who denies the Virgin Birth, that is compromise. When one denies the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who believe in the blood of Christ, seek to have evangelistic services with those who do not believe in the blood of Christ, that is compromise. There can be no question of any difference in believing about the Person of Jesus Christ, that He is God manifest in human flesh, that He was born of the Virgin, that He died a vicarious death, suffering for our sins. There can be no compromise with these facts.

13/ But there must be unity among those who believe these basic facts. They may not see everything alike, but this is nothing to fight and scrap over and call another a heretic. Unity is what God wants among His believers. We are bound together—we are in Christ, and we are brothers in Christ—we are saints in Christ.

AMEN

1/20/1965 / 15 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE / 4/30/2025