(Exodus) Exodus 38:18 — J. Vernon McGee

The Colors of Christ in the Court's Gate

Now, verse 18, "...and the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework of blue and purple and scarlet. All of these speak of the person of Christ. Blue he came from heaven, his deity, and the scarlet speaks of his humanity, the blood he shed.

Purple as a Sign of Christ's Royalty

And blue and scarlet combined give you the purple, and purple is royalty. He was born King of the Jews.". Now will you notice, and 20 cubits was the length and the height of the bread was 5 cubits. That was as high as the fence was on the outside.

The Wide Entrance for Every Sinner

That'd be 7 1⁄2 feet. That'd be pretty hard even for a basketball player to look over into the inside. You see, it shut man out altogether. Now you find this is the entrance. It's a wide entrance. Anyone can come.

It's wide enough for any sinner to come in, but this is the way that he'll have to come. This is the entrance, no other entrance anywhere. That's so important to see. You actually have three entrances into the Holy of Holies, and you have only one that can bring us into the presence of God, and that's Christ.

Christ as the Way, Truth, and Life

And you remember he said, I am the way. The way here is the gate. He says, I am the truth. The truth is the way into the place of worship. And you remember the Lord Jesus said, if you're going to worship God, you'll have to worship him in spirit and truth.

I have news for you, and I don't mean to be harsh, but it is harsh. You don't worship God going to a liberal church friend. You got to worship him in truth. You can't deny the deity of Christ. You can't deny he died for your sins and worship him.

You insult him. You don't worship. You insult him. And actually, it would be best if a lot of folk would not even go to church. That is, to certain churches, their own condition is not good. And certainly the church there is insulting the Lord Jesus.

You have to worship him in truth. And therefore, that is the thing he said. I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Now that veil speaks of the life. He gave up on the cross, and the veil was rent in twain.

And he brings you right into the presence of God. He's the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. You don't rush into God's presence, friend. Where did you get the idea you could come unannounced?

Where did you get the impression that I had sort of a secret way into God? I don't have one. I can only come through Christ. Every sinner has to come this way into his presence. Now here is the thing that I want to call your attention to that I think is amazing.

Individual Redemption Within the Chosen Nation

There's always been the question of the individual Israelite. The nation Israel is called a son. God never called an individual Israelite. And the question was, and by the way is today, who is a Jew? Is he one that has just been born a Jew?

Or does his religion make him a Jew? Well, actually, in the Old Testament, and I agree with the Orthodox Jews in the nation Israel today, that you have to be born one. And God had a provision that you had to be a redeemed, which means you had to be a born-again one.

Now, he made a provision. Did you know the nation was a chosen nation, but each individual had to be redeemed? Now, will you notice this? I'll have to drop down now to verse 25. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents and a thousand seven hundred and three score and fifteen shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary, a beaker for every man that is half a shekel.

Silver as the Symbol of Redemption

Now, these are measurements that even if we knew what they mean, and I could tell you what they mean, but it would be meaningless because that's not the thing that's important for us today. There's a spiritual message for us because I don't expect any of you to bring any silver to be accepted because we've been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, which is more precious than silver and gold.

So don't be bringing silver and gold. You can't buy your way in. But silver was the medal of redemption, and every Israelite had to be redeemed to be acceptable. Now, let's understand that very thoroughly because you hear the argument.

Many people come and say, well, you mean that every Jew, because he's a member of the chosen nation, was saved in that day? No, no, only a remnant. All the way through it was a remnant. It's a remnant today of those people, and frankly, it's a remnant of the Gentiles today.

The Difference Between Church Membership and Salvation

And I want to say this. A very small percentage of church members are saved, very small percentage. A very wealthy man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, an oil man, he said to me, we were playing golf, he said, you know, my wife and I used to go, and they mentioned a certain church, and he says, we went there and sat down with the rest of the hypocrites.

None of us, he said, were born again. We just put up a front. And even before Sunday night, when the sun went down, we were all drunk. Now, I say to you, your church members today, that doesn't mean very much in these days in which we live in.

You have to be redeemed, and these people had to be redeemed. Now, notice, I'll have to drop down here. A beaker for every man that's half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for them to be numbered.

The Tabernacle Resting on Redemption

And verse 27, and a hundred talents of silver were cast, the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil. A hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. In other words, the redemption money is what made these sockets.

That is, this was where the tabernacle proper was placed. It rested upon silver and rested upon redemption. Now, you and I today, and every individual will have to personally accept the redemption that's in Christ.

Salvation Is Free but Purchased by Christ's Blood

You have to pay the redemption price. Now, what is that redemption price? Well, it's without silver and gold. Ho, everyone that thirsty. The only condition is today, are you thirsty? Would you like to have a drink of the water of life?

It's free, friends. Salvation is free, but it's not cheap. It costs God everything. He gave His Son to die and to pay the price, and you are redeemed today by blood. These people had to accept a redemption, the individual, before actually he was redeemed.

And many did not, of course. Here in the wilderness, they had to accept it. It was forced upon them. But when they got in the land, if they wanted to be numbered, they had to pay a redemption price. Thank God it's already been paid for us, and it's without money and without price today.

Coming to God Through Christ

It's just to be thirsty. Do you want to be saved? Do you recognize you have a need that you're a sinner? Then come. The money's been paid, and that money was the blood of Christ. And it enables you to come to God and to be accepted through Christ.

What a picture we have here in the outer court.