Exodus 25
McGeeCHAPTER 25THEME: Materials to be used for the tabernacle; instructions for constructing the ark of the covenant; the table of showbread; the golden lampstandIn chapters 25 through 30 of Exodus, God gives Israel the blueprint for the tabernacle and the pattern for the garments for the high priest. Next we have the construction and erection of the tabernacle and the fact that it was filled with the glory of the Lord. The tabernacle was to be the center of Israel’s life because it was there where man would approach God.
Exodus 25:1
MATERIALS TO BE USED FOR THE TABERNACLEIsrael had been out of slavery for only a few months, yet the Lord asks them to make a contribution to help build the tabernacle. The amazing thing is that the children of Israel gave so much they were told to stop giving! Friends, a thing like this does not happen very often. I was a pastor for a long time, and I never had to restrain folk from giving to the church. But Moses did! Following are the items they were to bring:
Exodus 25:3
Our first reaction is, “Where did they obtain these items?” Remember that Israel had just been delivered out of slavery and this was part of the four hundred years back wages that they collected on their way out of the land of Egypt. Exo_12:36 reminds us that “…the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.” When Israel left Egypt, they took out tremendous wealth. It has been estimated that at least five million dollars worth of material went into the construction of the tabernacle alone. The tabernacle was small in size because it had to be carried on the wilderness march, but it was very ornate, rich, and beautiful.
Exodus 25:8
God never said that He was going to live in the tabernacle in the sense that He was restricted to a geographical spot. He did say, however, that He would dwell between the cherubim. 1Sa_4:4, 2Sa_6:2, 2Ki_19:15 and Isa_37:16 all give testimony to this fact. Israel was a theocracy and Jehovah was the King. Israel was to be ruled by God. His throne was between the cherubim, and this is where man met God. The idea which exists today that God dwells in a building made by hands is not true.
That is a pagan notion. Some people call a church building “God’s house.” It is not God’s house because He does not dwell in a building and never did. Solomon expressed it accurately, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (1Ki_8:27). The tabernacle was to be the place where man meets with God. “The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved” (Psa_99:1). The ark was God’s throne and it was the first article of furniture that they were to build.
Exodus 25:9
The Book of Hebrews tells us that this earthly tabernacle was patterned after the tabernacle in heaven. The question arises, “Is there a literal tabernacle in heaven?” I take the position that there is because God says there is. I take this literally and feel that if God had meant something else, He would have made that clear also. Heb_8:5 says, “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.” Heb_9:23-24 goes on to say, “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”
Exodus 25:10
INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTING THE ARK OF THE COVENANTThe outer court was an enclosed place around the tabernacle proper, 100 cubits long by 50 cubits wide. The cubit was a unit of measure based on the length of the forearm from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow. If you measure yours, you will find it is about eighteen inchesif you are a small person it will be shorter than that; if you are tall, it will be longer. So the length of a cubit varied, but was about eighteen inches. If you will consult the floor plan of the tabernacle, you will see that in the outer court were the brazen altar and the laver (Exo_30:28). The tabernacle proper was divided into two compartments, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
The tabernacle itself was thirty cubits long and ten cubits wide and ten cubits high. The Holy Place was twenty by ten cubits. The Holy of Holies was ten cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high, thus making it a perfect cube. The furniture in the Holy Place consisted of the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, and the altar of incense. In the Holy of Holies were the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. In the outer court were two articles of furniture: the brazen altar and the laver. Enclosing it was a fence of white linen. The ark and the mercy seat above it was the place where God would meet with the children of Israel. It was the place for them to approach their God. It was the sanctum sanctorum of the tabernacle. Notice that the first article of furniture is the ark. We are approaching it from God’s viewpoint, from the inside looking out. The ark was in the Holy of Holies where God’s presence dwelt. If we were approaching it from man’s viewpoint, we would come first to the gate of the tabernacle, then the brazen altar and the laver. The tabernacle was fashioned in such a way that it could be carried as the Israelites marched through the wilderness. It was put together when they made camp and taken down when they moved to another place. Each piece of furniture in the tabernacle was equipped with rings and staves so that it could be easily carried through the wilderness. The mercy seat, which formed a top for the ark, was considered a separate piece of furniture.
Exodus 25:17
Notice what God now says:
Exodus 25:20
The cherubim looked down upon the mercy seat.
Exodus 25:21
The ark was a chest covered inside and outside with gold. It was made of shittim wood which was more or less indestructible and much like the redwood of California. It was a perfect symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ in His deity and humanity. Jesus Christ was the God-man; His deity was represented by the gold and His humanity was represented by the wood. The ark could not be spoken of as merely a wooden chest because it also was a gold chest. It could not be called a golden chest because it was also a chest of wood. It required both gold and wood to maintain the symbolism pointing to Christ as the God-man. There is no mingling of the two. To overlook this duality is to entertain a monstrous notion of His person. There is no doctrine in Scripture so filled with infinite mystery and so removed from the realm of explanation as the hypostatical union of Christ, the God-man.
Yet there is no symbol so simple as the ark that describes this union of God and man in one body. A mere box made of wood and gold speaks of things unfathomable. Truly God chooses the simple things to confound the wise. That simple box tells the whole story, as far as man can take it in, of the unsearchable mystery of the blessed person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ark was covered with gold both inside and outside. Col_2:9 tells us, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Jesus Christ was not merely a thaumaturgist, that is, a wonder-worker. Nor was He a man with an overdeveloped God consciousness. He was God! He spoke as God. He put Himself on the same plane as God. In Joh_14:1, Joh_14:9, our Savior says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me…. Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father….” Yes, He was God. He was also perfectly man. He grew tired. He sat down to rest at a well in Samaria in the heat of the day. He slept, He ate, He drank, He laughed, He wept, and beyond all that, He suffered and died. All of these are human characteristics. The gold and the wood in the ark were both required, yet neither was mingled with the other. Nor was the identity of one lost in the other. Christ was both God and man, but the two natures were never fused or merged. He never functioned at the same time as both God and man. What He did was either perfectly human or perfectly divine. The ark was not an empty box. It contained three items which are enumerated in Heb_9:4; “Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.” The contents of the ark were also symbolic. Aaron’s rod that budded speaks of the Lord’s resurrection. The manna speaks of the fact that Christ is the Bread of Life. The Ten Commandments speak of the life He lived on earth fulfilling the Law in all points and fulfilling the prophecies spoken of Him. The tables of the covenant speak of the Kingship of Christ. He was born a King. He lived a King. He died a King, and He rose from the dead a King. He is coming again to earth as King. God’s program is moving today and has been moving from eternity past to the time when Christ shall rule over this earth. Earth needs a ruler. Man needs a King. Someday He is coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. The pot of manna speaks of Christ as a prophet. He spoke for God as Joh_6:32 clearly shows: “…Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.” Jesus Christ was also God’s message to man. He was to Logos, the Word of God, the very alphabet of God, the Alpha and Omega. He is God’s final message to man. Since Christ came to earth as God-man, heaven has been silent because God has no addenda to place after Christ. He has no postscript to the letter because Christ is the embodiment of that letter. God told out His heart in Christ. Aaron’s rod that budded speaks of the work of Christ as priest. The prophet spoke for God before man; the priest spoke for man before God. As priest Christ offered Himself. As a priest He passed into heaven. Even now He sits at God’s right hand in heaven. Jesus Christ the God-man was raised from the dead, and He is the unique example of resurrection up to the present hour. Easter lilies and eggs do not speak of the resurrection, but Aaron’s rod that budded does. It was an old dead stick that came alive. The ark speaks of Christ as prophet, priest, and king. “And 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” (Joh_1:14). The mercy seat rested on top of the ark. It served as the top for the chest, the ark, but it was a separate piece of furniture. It was made of pure gold with cherubim on each end with their wings spread, overshadowing it, and looking down upon the top where the blood was placed. It was here the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice. It was the blood that made it the mercy seat. This too was symbolic of the work of Christ.
Christ literally presented His blood in heaven after His death on the Cross. A critic recommended my book, The Tabernacle, God’s Portrait of Christ, but warned people that I took everything literally and must be watched carefully because I held the position that Christ offered His blood in heaven. The critic felt this was crude. I do not believe this is crude because the blood of Christ is not crude; it is precious. Peter calls his Savior’s blood “precious” in 1Pe_1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Christ’s blood is more precious than silver or gold. The most valuable thing in heaven is the blood He shed for man on earth.
He presented His blood as He entered heaven and that is what makes God’s throne a mercy seat for us today. We are bidden to come to God today on the basis of the fact that Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, has offered His own blood for our sins. Heb_4:14-16 reminds us that, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” You and I approach God through our great High Priest in heaven. He is the living Christ at God’s right hand. Through Him we find mercy and help. Many believers are trying to fight the battle down here alone. They are trying to meet the issues of life alone. Friends, you and I are not able to do it. We are not strong enough. We need help. And we are not availing ourselves to the help Christ offers. Paul prayed for the Ephesians that the mighty power that worked in Christ, bringing Him from the dead, might work in them (Eph_1:19-20). We see very little of that power working in believers today. We need to lay hold of it by faith because we have a High Priest who is at God’s right hand. The high priest who served in this tabernacle rushed into the Holy Place, sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat, and rushed out again. Christ, our High Priest, when He made His offering, sat down at God’s right hand and is still there for us today. He died down here to save us. He lives in heaven to keep us saved. And we should keep in contact with Him. Have you had a talk with Him today? We have looked now at the articles of furniture in the Holy of Holies: the ark and the mercy seat. Now we will consider the furniture in the second compartment, the Holy Place.
Exodus 25:23
THE TABLE OF SHOWBREADThere are three articles of furniture in the Holy Place: (1) the golden lampstand, (2) the table of showbread, and (3) the altar of incense. Inside the Holy Place is the place of worship. The golden lampstand is one of the most perfect figures of Christ that we have. The table of showbread speaks of Him as being the Bread of Life. The altar of incense speaks of prayerthat the Lord is our great intercessor today, and we pray to the Father through Him. The table of showbread has twelve loaves of bread on it. There are many explanations of how these loaves were arranged but the important thing to remember is that each loaf represents a tribe of Israel. In other words, God was providing equality for all. You will notice that the table of showbread is two cubits long, and a cubit widetwice as long as it is wide. It is a cubit and one half high. The table of showbread is the same height as the ark of the covenant.
Exodus 25:24
The “crown of gold” is a border around the table to keep the bread from falling off.
Exodus 25:25
Once again we are told that staves were to be put through these rings in order that the table might be carried through the wilderness as the children of Israel journeyed. It was carried on the shoulders of the priests.
Exodus 25:29
The bread is a type of Christ. Therefore the table is a type of Christ. It pictures Him. The table of showbread suggests many things: it speaks of sustenance, provision, and supply. It is the table of salvation. Our Lord gave a parable in Mat_22:1-14 which tells about the marriage of the king’s son. The invited guests refused to come, and this provoked the king to deal with the rejectors. Having done so, the king extended the invitation to include those in the highways and byways. They were bidden to come and eat. Thus the invitation has gone out today to the world to come and partake of the salvation as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also a table of provision. God, as Creator, provides all food for man and beast. Whether you like it or not, friend, you eat every day at God’s table in the physical realm. Yet how few recognize this truth and give thanks to Him for His bounty. God is the one who provides for us. This table also speaks of the Lord’s Supper, as instituted by the Lord Himself just prior to His death upon the Cross. It is a table for believers. The table of showbread is a prefiguration of Christ as the sustainer of spiritual life for the believer. The table was two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one and one half cubits high. It was made of shittim wood and overlaid with gold. The almost incorruptible shittim (acacia) wood speaks of His humanity. This wood was a product of the earth but was not subject to the action of it in a chemical way. In the same way our Lord had a body made of earth elements and conceived in the womb of a virgin. The gold speaks of His deity, but the gold is not produced by the earth; it is separate from it and has an inherent value. Christ was not of the earth in His deity. He was God. He came from glory. On the table were placed twelve loaves of bread. The table and the bread are spoken of as one. We do the same thing today when we say, “The Lord’s table.” We do not eat the table, but we associate the table with the food. This metonymy is common in Scripture. The bread was changed each Sabbath. The bread which was removed was eaten with wine by the priestly family in the Holy Place. This table doesn’t prefigure Christ in the same way that manna does. Although both speak of Christ, it is not in the same connection. The manna speaks of Christ as the life-giver. He interpreted this Himself in Joh_6:32 when He said, “…Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.” A short time later, in Joh_6:35, Jesus said, “…I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” Now the showbread also speaks of Christ as the life-sustainer. Eternal life is a gift and is the manna which came down from heaven. The person who receives manna receives eternal life. However, eternal life requires a special food to sustain it and help it grow and find strength. The showbread pictures Christ as that special food for those who have partaken of the manna of life. The Lord Jesus Christ is seen in another illustration that He also used. The showbread was made of grain which was ground and unleavened, made into bread and baked. Lev_24:5 says, “And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.” Then we find that the Lord Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (Joh_12:24). The Lord Jesus Christ was ground in the mill of suffering. In His anguish Christ said in Joh_12:27, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” Joh_12:31-32 tells us that He was brought into the fire of suffering and judgment. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” Jesus Christ came forth from the tomb in newness of life because His soul did not see corruption. Now He lives a resurrection life. He is the showbread now for believers to feed upon to sustain eternal life and promote growth. The Christian is to feed upon the living Christ. He is to appropriate Christ as He is today, living at God’s right hand. Jesus Christ said, “…I am the bread of life …” (Joh_6:35). There is an ancient proverb which contains the thought that a thing grows by what it feeds upon. And a book on the subject of dieting is entitled, You Are What You Eat. The difficulty today is that we have too many Christians who are not feeding upon Christ. You have to feed on Him in order to grow. In 2Co_5:16 Paul tells us, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” We no longer know Christ after the flesh. We must feed upon Him as He is today. He is the living Christ and we are to grow by looking to Him.
Exodus 25:31
THE GOLDEN LAMPSTANDThe next article of furniture is the lampstand, in most translations called the candlestick, but it was really a lampstand. As the description continues from verses Exo_25:34-39, the reading becomes rather tedious. Verse Exo_25:40 says:
Exodus 25:40
The lampstand is probably the most perfect picture of Christ found in the tabernacle furniture. It sets Him forth as pure gold and speaks of His deity. It sets Him forth as He isGod. Worship has to do with walking in the light. This is a very important fact to see. We have studied the table of showbread and have seen that it spoke of the fact that when we worship God we must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you go to church and you are only entertained, or given a book review, or listen to some social issue being debated, or hear how you can improve your city, you are not having a worship service. You are just having a meeting. You only worship God when you feed upon Him who is the table of showbread. Now in order to worship God, you must also walk in the light. Christ is the light, as symbolized by the lampstand in the Holy Place. If you wanted natural light, you had to go outside the tabernacle. If you wanted to walk in the light of the lampstand, you had to go inside the tabernacle. Joh_1:9 tells us that Jesus Christ is the “…true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” You will find that there are people who counsel others by “words.” We are told that through philosophy and vain deceit we can be deceived. Listen to the words of Paul in Col_2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Christ is not just another philosopher who “darkened counsel by words without knowledge.” He is the Son of God, and in Him there is no darkness at all. The lampstand was actually made of one piece of gold. It was beaten work, highly ornamented. It had a central shaft, but extending from that shaft were three branches on each side, making a total of seven branches in all. Each branch was like the limb of an almond tree with fruit and blossom. At the top was an open almond blossom, and it was here that the lamps filled with oil were placed. The almond blossoms looked like wood but they were gold. They remind us of Aaron’s rod that budded. When Aaron’s priestly prerogative was in question, the budding of his almond rod established his right to the priesthood. The almond rod, a dead branch, was made to live and bear fruit. Christ was established as the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. The resurrection did not make Christ the Son of God because He was already that from the eternal counsels of God; the resurrection only confirmed it.
Aaron was the God-appointed high priest and this position was confirmed by the resurrection of the dead almond rod. The resurrection of Christ likewise established His priesthood. Christ is our great High Priest. He became a man and partook of our nature, “tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.” But the primary basis of His priesthood is His deity. The priest represented man before God. And Christ, as God who became man, is now the God-man who represents man.
There is Someone in heaven who knows and understands me! He is able to help me. The resurrection which declared Him to be the Son of God likewise declared His right to the priesthood. It is interesting to note that no measurements are given for the lampstand. Why? Because you can’t put a yardstick down on Deity, friend. You cannot measure Him as the Son of God. You can’t understand Him. He is beyond the computation of man. Yet He also was perfectly human. His deity and humanity are never fused. Along with the fact that Jesus wept was the fact that He commanded Lazarus to come forth. The lampstand gave light in the Holy Place. It was the place of worship. Notice that the lampstand held up the lighted lamps. In turn, the lamps revealed the beauty of the lampstand. The oil in the lamps represents the Holy Spirit. Christ said of the Holy Spirit in Joh_14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” When you and I study the Word together, we meet around the person of Christ, and it is the Holy Spirit who takes the things of Christ and shows them unto usjust as those lamps reveal the beauty of the lampstand. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ as the Son of God, the One who came to earth on our behalf and who lives in heaven to intercede for us.