WE HAVE SEEN how that the light of the candlestick shining upon the “continual showbread,” is the Spirit of God bearing testimony to the future display of glory, that will all center in Christ. Israel shall be redeemed and exalted in that day. Gentile preeminence will disappear, and Christ shall reign unto the ends of the earth. And in the Father’s house, where He is the light of the glory, we shall be manifested one with Him when the glory shall throw its luster on Israel (Isa. 4:55And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. (Isaiah 4:5), margin), as the candlestick did on the twelve loaves. And, going beyond Israel, so that the saved of the nations shall walk in the light of it (Rev. 21:2424And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. (Revelation 21:24)), its radiance shall enlighten the whole “breadth, length, depth, and height” of that wondrous sphere which grace shall fill through “the love of Christ.” These truths may be forgotten or darkened in this world, but they are ever before the eye of God, preserved by the Person and work of Christ, in the perfect light of the Holy Spirit.
The light was to shine from the evening unto the morning. Thus the lamp of truth, pointing on to that scene of glory, shines throughout the long night of Israel’s unbelief, amid the darkness of this world, until the day dawn. Then shall “the Sun of righteousness arise” (Mal. 4:22But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 4:2)); and He shall be to His people “as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds” (2 Sam. 23:44And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. (2 Samuel 23:4)). We as believers now, look for Him as the Morning Star, who shall appear just before the dawn, to take us to be forever with Himself.
“The night is far spent and the day is at hand.” Dear young Christian, let us seek grace from the Lord to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, and filled with His Spirit, the true oil, so that our lamps may shine out ever more brightly while we wait for His coming. And may we also in love for souls seek to point many a weary sinner to Christ, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29).
The Coverings of the Tabernacle
Thus far we have been dwelling a little on the ark, the mercy seat, the golden table and the candlestick. Now we come to the house in which they were to be placed, the sanctuary of which God has spoken.
The tabernacle consisted of four sets of coverings, placed one over the other on a framework of boards, overlaid with pure gold. The first covering was of fine-twined linen, the second of goats hair, the next was a covering of rams’ skins dyed red; and above all these was a covering of badgers’ skins.
Perhaps we might wonder why God should have told Moses to make a roof of so many coverings. The answer is that in all these as well as in what we have already considered, God is giving us types of Christ His beloved Son.
As the place where God dwelt among the people in the wilderness the tabernacle was, as already mentioned, a type of Christ. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Cor. 5:1919To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19). How gracious! It is written, “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” so that we can be quite sure, from God’s own word, that we may look at the tabernacle as a figure of that blessed Man, who, though “over all, God blessed forever” (Rom. 9:55Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 9:5)), “took upon Him the form of a servant” and was “made flesh, and dwelt [or, tabernacled] among us, full of grace and truth.”
ML-06/14/1970