02 - The Vail
THE VAIL.
"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." —Exodus 26:31.
"And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work." —Exodus 36:35.
FINE TWINED LINEN. — One material only is specified in the construction of the Vail, ’’fine linen:" the blue, purple, and scarlet, were simply colors. Upon this ground-work of fine linen these colors were displayed; so that the observer would be first arrested by the beauty of the blue, the depth of the purple, and the brilliancy of the scarlet, before he perceived the material, over which these tints were spread. Does not this aptly exemplify that wondrous truth, "God was manifest in the flesh?" "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The Wife, in Revelation 16:7, is represented as having made herself ready for the marriage supper, and it is added in the succeeding verse, "To her was granted, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean, and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." Revelation 16:8. Here a twofold, yet united, aspect of the truth is beautifully presented: the Church makes herself ready, and yet she is clothed by another. So in Revelation 7:14, believers are said to have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb: while, in Revelation 1:5, it is written "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood." We may view the saint as clothing or washing himself; for he may be regarded as, by faith, appropriating to himself the precious blood of Christ; or, we may consider the work as all accomplished for him by the Lord Jesus, through the grace and mercy of God. The word "righteousness of saints" is remarkable, being in the plural number; it may be rendered ‘righteousnesses;’ the fine linen displaying every form of bright and holy purity; righteousness in every aspect; according to that beautiful word "Thou art all fair, my love: there is no spot in thee." But whence were these garments derived? If we turn to Jeremiah 23:6, "This is His name, whereby He shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness." Jehovah Jesus is the righteousness of the saints. He is the spotless robe; they are clothed with Him; they stand accepted (graced) in the Beloved. God has made Him to be unto them "righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," and His name is placed upon them; as, in Jeremiah 33:16, Jerusalem on earth will have "Jehovah our Righteousness" as the name whereby she shall be called. The fine linen of the Vail seems, then, especially to present to us "the Righteous One," who in His life of toil and sorrow, and most especially in His death of shame and suffering, manifested that unsullied purity, that perfect obedience, and that delight in accomplishing the will of His Father, whereby He has earned for Himself a name, which is above every name, the name of Jesus; "who was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."