The Tabernacle of God, Pt 1

Grace Covenant Reformed Church

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We find ourselves in a new year. We also find ourselves returning to an old favorite.

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And so this morning we find ourselves returning to the historical narrative of the people of Israel as they make their way out of bondage in the land of Egypt and begin their pilgrimage towards the promised land.

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And since it's been a few weeks we want to start out with just a brief refresher just to remind ourselves of exactly what we have witnessed thus far in this journey.

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And so we have we have seen the enslavement of Israel at the hands of a Pharaoh who forgot

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Joseph and determined to place the people of Israel into bondage as a means to prevent them from uprising or taking over.

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We have seen God's provision in the person of Moses, the deliverer given by God to the people of Israel to lead them out of the bondage in Egypt.

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We have seen the ten plagues that God visited on the land of Egypt in response to Pharaoh's defiance of God's command and in an effort not only in his defiance of his commands but also according to the divine decree of God to demonstrate that he alone is the

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Almighty, that he alone is truly God, that he alone is over all and to ultimately defeat the entire pantheon of the

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Egyptians gods. At the culmination of that display we saw

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God deliver or show and demonstrate his power over life and death as the angel of death moved through the land of Egypt and he struck the firstborn which ultimately led to Pharaoh's command to expel the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.

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And we saw as the people began to leave the land of Egypt God once again being faithful to his promises as Egypt is looted without so much as a threat from the

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Israelites as they merely ask and are given all that they will need to survive and thrive in the coming days.

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From there we witnessed Israel's journey to the Red Sea to be barricaded as it were against the

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Red Sea where it seemed as if all hope was lost and once again God provides for his people by parting the

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Red Sea, allowing the people of Israel to cross over on dry land and then delivering the final blow, the final nail in the coffin of deliverance of the the

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Israelite people as he closed the Red Sea waters back over the

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Egyptian army. From there we see the

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Israelites journeying across the wilderness questioning

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God at every turn, questioning God's provision, questioning why

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God brought them on this journey until they reach the very feet of a mountain named

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Sinai. It is at this mountain that we have witnessed the giving of the law of God.

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We have witnessed the ratification of the covenant of God with the people of Israel and so that brings us to where we were before we broke off of this series to the construction and the instructions regarding the tabernacle.

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And so we took a look at types and shadows and we talked about how the entire structure and the implements within point us ultimately towards Christ, the true tabernacle that we just celebrated, took on flesh and dwelt among us.

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Now we have began this conversation by looking at the specific implements within the tabernacle proper.

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So one of the things that we talked about was how God in his description of the tabernacle compound begins at the center.

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He begins with himself and moves outward whereas when men would describe things, they would describe things in the opposite direction.

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And so he begins with himself in the very interior of the structure and he provides for us the directions and the instructions around the building of the

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Ark of the Covenant. And it was above the Ark that would serve as the container that the lid or the mercy seat would sit upon.

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And it was above the mercy seat, the very throne of God where God's presence would dwell among his people in this place.

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We talked about how the Ark would be housed in what is called the Holy of Holies. And that just outside of the

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Holy of Holies in an antechamber, we talked about how this is the holy place and it contains the table of the bread of presence and the lampstand, both of which serve to remind us of the necessity of Christ in our life as the bread of heaven and then as the light of the world.

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The same light that John references in John 1 through 3 where he says, in the beginning was the

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Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

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All things that come into being through him and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being.

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He is the true light of life. In each of these instances, we also mentioned that the condition of each item was to be done or the construction of each item was to be done according to the specific instructions that had been both verbally given to Moses and recorded for us in the book of Exodus, but also in what

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Moses has seen. And the fact that anything is going to be constructed or fabricated and done well means that it has to begin with a plan.

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And for God's purposes, for his desire, for his plan, for his work, the construction must be executed according to his will, exactly as he demands.

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One of the things that we talked about is that this teaches us over and over through the laws and through the commands around the construction of his tabernacle that one of the important principles that we should be garnering from this text is that we rightly worship our

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God and how important it is to do so. What sometimes we fail to mention, however, is the fact that this is not just a

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Sunday morning event. This is not just about how to conduct a church service, but when we talk about worship, it is talking about how you conduct your life.

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Worship should permeate everything that you do. It should be a part of who you are.

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And so as it should be a part of who you are and not be just your quiet time or your daily study time, and although those things are certainly part of it,

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Sunday morning worship, although it is certainly part of it, it is everything that you do. And so this morning as we return once again to the instructions of God regarding the tabernacle, it is important that we are continually reminded of what these passages teach us.

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But it is also just as important to continually remind ourselves of what they do not tell us.

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For example, you, I, all who read this in today's world are not a part of ethnic

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Israel. God is not commanding us to go out, find 40 acres, and build a tabernacle compound according to his instructions.

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God is calling us to deeper principles. So what we are required to do is not to build the compound but to study the instructions that God gave

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Moses to seek and understand what it teaches us and how we are to rightly apply those things to our lives.

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And so with that, let us turn in our text this morning to Exodus chapter 26.

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And we're going to read all 37 verses of chapter 26, although we will narrow our focus down to just a few for today.

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Please stand as we read God's holy, inerrant, infallible, and sufficient word.

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In Exodus chapter 26, the first verse, we find Moses writing thus,

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Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with 10 curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material.

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You shall make with them cherubim, the work of a skillful designer.

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The length of each curtain shall be 28 cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits, and all the curtains shall have the same measurements.

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Five curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the one set.

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And likewise, you shall make them on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. You shall make 50 loops in one curtain, and you shall make 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set.

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The loops shall be opposite each other. You shall make 50 clasps of gold, and you shall join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit.

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Then you shall make curtains of goat's hair for a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make 11 curtains in all.

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The length of each curtain shall be 30 cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. The 11 curtains shall have the same measurements.

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And you shall join five curtains by themselves, and the other six curtains by themselves. And you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent.

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You shall make 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the one set, and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.

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You shall make 50 clasps of bronze, and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it will be one unit.

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The overlapping part that is left over in the curtain shall be the sides of the tabernacle.

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The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and on the other side to cover it.

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You shall make a covering for the ten of ram's skins, dyed red, and a covering of porpoise skins above.

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Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board.

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There shall be two tenons for each board fitted to one another. Thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle.

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You shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. You shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty boards, two bases under one board for its two tenons, and two bases under another board for its two tenons.

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And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side, twenty boards, and for their forty bases of silver, two bases under one board, and two bases under another board.

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For the rear of the tabernacle to the west, you shall make six boards. You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear.

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They shall be separated beneath, but together at their completion at its top. At the first ring, thus it shall be with both of them, they shall form the two corners.

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There shall be eight boards with their bases of silver, sixteen bases, two bases under one board, and two bases under another board.

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Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, and five boards for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west.

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The middle bar in the center of the board shall pass through from end to end. You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold.

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Then you shall erect a tabernacle according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain. You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.

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It shall be made of cherubim, the work of a skillful designer. You shall hang it on the four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold on four bases of silver.

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You shall hang up the veil under the clasp, and you shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil, and the veil shall separate for you the holy place and the holy of holies.

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You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies. You shall set the table outside the veil and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south, and you shall put the table on the north side.

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You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver.

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You shall make five pillars of acacia for the screen and overlay with them with gold, their hooks also being of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.

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Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your holy word.

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We thank you for the promises, the principles, the directions, the light that it brings.

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Lord, as we partake of your word this morning, may we learn more of Christ. May we learn to behold our creator, your ability to save, your arms outstretched, your heart big for your people.

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May we have confidence in your power, confidence in your love. May we commit ourselves to you without reserve.

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May our lips be well -tuned symbols sounding your praise. May we be surrounded in heavenly mindness that radiates to all those around us.

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Teach us the attending to temporal things with a mind focused on the eternal things.

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Help us not only to receive Christ but walk in him, depend upon him, commune with him, and be conformed with him.

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May it be that we are saved by grace through faith and that we continue to live by that faith, feel the joy of that faith, and do the work of that faith, acknowledging nothing in ourselves but finding in Christ wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for your name's sake and glory above all.

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Father, we ask these things in the blessed name of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Before us this morning we have another text that quite honestly can and is easily dismissed by a large majority of individuals.

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It could be said that this text has no direct bearing on our lives today.

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There are many who of course approach that way. They declare simply that this is a set of practical instructions written.

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There's no symbolic meaning. It simply exists for the sake of instructing the people in the construction of the tabernacle.

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However, my concern with that path and that thought process is that it leads us into extremely dangerous territory.

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When we begin to evaluate the Word of God with such thought, it becomes easy to dismiss certain sections all the way up to the entire

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Old Testament and all of its teachings. The reality is that this statement, this approach to these texts are just like the original lie used in the garden to make

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Eve question the Word of God. And so as we come to a text, we need to continually remind ourselves of Paul's teaching in 2

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Timothy 3, 16, and 17, namely that all Scripture is God -breathed, that it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped, for every good work, that we would be prepared.

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And he doesn't say certain sections of Scripture. He teaches us that all Scripture is profitable.

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And so it is necessary as we approach this text, our desire has to be that we understand the purpose it served, the people of Israel, and the purpose it serves us here today, both them as they lived in anticipation of the first advent, and us as we live in anticipation of the second.

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But what this means is that we are required to do a little bit of work.

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We must put forth effort to study the Scripture.

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It requires of us that we seek to understand to the best of our ability, and then apply the principles that we learn there to our daily lives.

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Now, as you noticed as we read this, this passage is slightly lengthy, and so we want to ensure that we are giving it its proper respect and attention.

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We are going to break it up into several specific sections. This morning, we will narrow our focus down to the first six verses of this text.

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Now, it's important to note here that the term Scripture uses, or the transition that Scripture uses here in the original

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Hebrew language, makes a definitive break between the previous conversation regarding the construction of the accoutrements and implements and furnishings of the tabernacle to the actual structure itself.

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In the original language, the very first word that we find in the Hebrew language is the word that we translate, tabernacle.

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And it is used in that way to draw our attention away from one place and to another.

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Now, all of these things again together combine to form God's house, and the directions

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He's giving are all important, but we need to know that we're moving away from the furnishings that are contained within to the very house itself.

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The other thing that is important to notice, because a lot of times when we talk about the tabernacle, what we are really talking about is the entire compound or complex that comes to be known as the tabernacle.

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But the tabernacle itself is specifically the building or the structure that God is describing for us in the first six verses.

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You'll notice in verse six itself, it says that the curtains would be sewn or brought together, clasped together by the blue loops and the gold clasp to make one unit.

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Therefore, the tabernacle would be one unit, that it specifically is the tabernacle.

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The very next verse begins talking about the covering for the tabernacle, which is the tent.

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And so these are separate structures, each have an important role to play, but the structure of the tabernacle itself is specifically described for us, at least the coverings for it, in the first six verses.

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Now, we get down later, we will talk about the construction of the actual tabernacle, the framing of the tabernacle.

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But for this morning, we are going to focus in on these texts.

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Now, what is not necessarily all of these things, is not necessarily in the grand scheme of things, all that super important that we understand the specifics of the tabernacle being the single building versus the complex itself, but it does and is important that we look at each particular piece of the structure.

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And so as we come to these first six verses, what God is describing for us here is the covering that would be over the literal dwelling place, the proper place of God.

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And so if you would imagine in your mind's eye that the tabernacle is constructed in a rectangular shape, it is roughly 15 cubits wide or 15 feet wide by 15 feet tall by approximately 45 feet long.

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The interior of this structure is divided into a two -third section and a one -third section.

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And at the end of the chapter, we talked about the veil that is constructed to separate the holy place from the holy of holies.

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That construction is what divides this two -thirds and one -third. The holy of holies would be a 15 by 15 by 15 piece of the pie and the rest would be a 15 by 30 section, 15 foot tall.

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And of course, as we have already discussed, the Ark of the Covenant rests within the holy of holies and in the holy place we find the table of the presence and the lamp stand.

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A second reminder as we walk into this is that as we look at this construction, the holy place is where the day -to -day ministering of the priest would occur.

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So this is where the work would actually happen on a day -to -day basis. The holy of holies was entered only once per year and only by the high priest and only after a proper preparation and cleansing.

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The tabernacle proper is what scripture describes as being covered by these 10 identical curtains fastened into a singular unit.

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So as we enter this description, one of the first things that we see in verse 1 is that the curtain material is specifically defined for us and what is very specific about the definition of the material is the colors that are used within it.

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Now although the first description doesn't contain the word, the understanding is that this type of material has a base color and so we see here, moreover you shall make the tabernacle with 10 curtains of fine twisted linen.

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Fine twisted linen in and of itself is a white structure. It's important that we recognize that this purpose is being done so that God defines for us in Exodus 25 verse 8 where he says, let them make a sanctuary for me that I may dwell.

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His desire is to dwell among his people, the covenant people, and he would be intricately intertwined into their lives.

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Douglas Stewart is helpful here. He writes, simply God wanted his people to understand that their ultimate purpose was to dwell with him.

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He gave them a small sample of what it was like to have him dwelling with them and required them to relocate their selves and their homes around him, around his home, his teaching, giving us the principle that God's people belong in proximity to him.

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Now this truth has not changed. God still desires for his people to dwell with him so much so that he sent his son literally to dwell with us to make it possible that we be reconciled with him through the atoning work of Christ on the cross.

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That is, he dwelled with his people Israel in the tabernacle so he dwells within us in the person and work of the

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Holy Spirit. Secondly, we need to be reminded that this covering is also a part of the shadow or type of Christ to come, which brings us to the details regarding the construction.

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Note each here, each of the four colors mentioned, each cover, each color carries with it symbolism that continually points us towards Christ.

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As I briefly mentioned, the first color mentioned here is white.

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Now again, the term white is not found, but the type of fabric this is, this fine twisted linen, would have been naturally white.

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This linen was not just linen, not just a basic linen, but it is a higher quality.

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It is a finely twisted linen. Now you may recall from our previous study regarding the implements in the ark and the table of presence, the table of the bread of presence, and the lampstand, that the closer you got to the presence of God, the purer the materials, the higher the quality of the material.

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And if you look closely at this entire passage, you'll notice that this hasn't changed at all. We start in the inner works and we see gold claspings later, we will see bronze claspings.

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But the linen being of the highest quality, finely spun, twisted, so that it would almost have a silky quality to it.

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And it would have been pure white reflecting the holiness of Yahweh, pointing us towards the holiness of Christ.

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A holiness that despite the best efforts of the enemy, Christ maintained.

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A holiness that is imperative, that we understand, because it is that holiness that purchased the opportunity for us to enter.

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Had he not been perfectly holy, had he not been perfectly pure, had he not paid the debt in a perfect manner, none of us would have access.

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The bride described in the marriage supper of the lamb in Revelation chapter 19 verses 7 and 8 is described in this manner.

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Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to him for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.

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And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean.

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For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Righteous only because of the work on Calvary's cross.

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Righteous only because Christ paid the penalty. Righteous only because we were, as Ephesians 2, 10 says, his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

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God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in him. These good works are those righteous acts that clothe the bride of Christ at the marriage supper of the lamb.

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They are the ones that made it possible by the sinless ways and righteous acts of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Interestingly enough, the text then goes on to describe three other colors.

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Now what is difficult to really comprehend from this text, but these three colors are used to create the design of the cherubim.

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What is not completely clear, because it is not literally spelled out for us, is whether these cherubim were skillfully and artfully woven within the web and weave of the cloth or if they were later embroidered after the cloth was made.

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The use of the term here, the end of verse 1, skillful designer, indicates that this work was performed by a master, someone extremely skilled at their craft, someone who would have only been the right person to craft the dwelling place of Yahweh.

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Now my personal observation here regarding whether the cherubim were embroidered or whether they were woven into is that this curtain is the closest covering to the holy place.

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As the closest covering to the holy place, it would have been of the highest quality.

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Being of the highest quality and constructed by this thoughtful and ingenious worker, it follows to me at least that these cherubim would have been woven into the very fabric.

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The difference being the level of mastery that would have been necessary.

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I would observe along these lines the importance that is given in verse 6 to the tabernacle being one unit as opposed to something being attached on the outside that it would have actually been a part of the integral fabric.

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If it had been embroidered, it would have also been more susceptible to wear and tear. Now regardless of the actual construction, what we see are three colors that are described here as blue, purple, and depending upon your translation, either scarlet or crimson.

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Each of these colors represent different characteristics of Christ.

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Now there are naysayers out there who would say that this passage and these colors have absolutely nothing to do or tell us or there is no symbolic symbolism involved.

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If this is the case, then my question would be why include this description?

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Why add the specific colors if they have and serve no purpose? Blue typically in scripture is a celestial or heavenly color and reminds us that even as Christ walked this earth truly man, he was never separated from the truth of being truly

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God. In writing his book, Gleanings from Exodus, A .W.

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Pink often quotes someone that he only refers to as C .H .M. In this particular passage, he quotes him and he says, though he was very man, yet he ever walked in the uninterrupted consciousness of his proper dignity as a heavenly stranger.

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He never once forgot whence he had come, where he was, or whither he was going.

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The spring of all his joys was on high. Earth could neither make him richer nor poorer.

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He found this world to be a dry and thirsty land where no water is, and hence his spirit could only find its refreshment above.

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As we study through scripture, again blue represents the celestial or the heavenly. Purple often is used to describe and represent the color of royalty.

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John chapter 19 verse 2, as Jesus is being crucified and is being beaten, it says, and when the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and they put a purple robe about him.

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Matthew was diligent in his use of purple in his gospel as he lays out clear evidence of Jesus as king, demonstrating him to be king of Jews, but we know that he is also king of kings and Lord of lords.

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Finally, we come to the crimson or scarlet. The most obvious of the several connections that can be made to the person of Christ is his spilled blood on Calvary's cross given for our sins, but it also can represent the sufferings of Christ, not just his sufferings on the cross.

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We often so diligently point to Christ's work on the cross as the only point in which he suffered, and what we miss is that over and over again in the

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New Testament gospels we are told that he is suffering, and he is suffering because what he sees and what he experiences and what he comes face to face to on a daily basis is the moral corruption and depravity of man.

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Verses like Hebrews 2, 18, for since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to help those who are tempted.

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Mark 8, verse 12, and sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, why does this generation seek a sign?

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Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. A verse we talked about just last week from John 11, verse 38, so Jesus again being deeply moved within came to the tomb.

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Now it was a cave and the stone was laying against him. We talked about how that deeply moving was this heart -crushing reality of what he was seeing, the effect of sin in the world.

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Luke 19, verse 41 records that as he approached Jerusalem and he saw the city, he cried over it.

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And finally, Luke 22, 44 records for us that as he knelt in the garden, that as he prayed in the hours leading up to his arrest, his trial, his crucifixion, his death, that as he prayed in the garden, and being in agony, he was praying very fervently and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground.

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These three colors woven together to reveal the cherubim. If you remember from our discussion around the

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Ark of the Covenant, the cherubim were a symbol of the judicial authority of God which he has granted to Christ, specifically given so that he can and does come to judge all.

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As we move from the description of the fabric itself, we move into the construction of the curtain.

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And it's interesting to note here as we move into this, that this curtain, because it is the inner wall and inner ceiling of the tabernacle, would only be seen by those who had the authority to enter.

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The priest, the only people who would have been exposed to this fabric in its state of constructing the house of God would have been the ones chosen by God.

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Today, to those people who are not the people of God, the truth of God remains hidden.

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It remains a mystery. It remains something that they simply cannot grasp.

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Paul, writing to the church in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18, states, for the word of the cross, that's the gospel, for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

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Again, Pink is helpful in a full and robust understanding of this truth, where he writes, the unregenerate have no capacity to discern his excellencies.

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A good man, the best of men, he, being

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Jesus, is acknowledged to be. But as the holy one of God, represented by the white, the

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Lord from heaven, represented by the blue, the king of kings, represented by the purple, and the one who because of his sufferings will yet come back to this earth and reign over it in power and glory, represented by the scarlet, he is unknown.

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But notwithstanding, there is even now a company that is an holy priesthood.

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And they, having received an unction, a divine anointing, recognize him as the altogether lovely one.

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You see, it's important to note that although the curtain is not seen by everyone, although the curtain will not be revealed to everyone, although the curtain cannot be understood to everyone, it is nonetheless described to everyone.

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Much like the curtain, the gospel will not be understood by everyone. It will not be received by everyone.

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It will not be believed by everyone. It is not for everyone. It is for the elect of God, but the difference is it is still to be preached to everyone, revealed to everyone, announced to everyone, and proclaimed to everyone.

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Charles Spurgeon once stated, if God would have painted a yellow stripe on the back of the elect,

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I would go around lifting shirts. But since he did not, I must preach whosoever will.

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And when whatsoever will believes, I know that he is one of the elect.

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And so as scripture continues here in verses 3 and 4 to describe these curtains, it basically teaches us in these first, in verses 2 and 3, that these curtains are to be identical, and then they are to be joined together in two sets of five.

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So as these curtains are joined together in two sets of five, those two sets are then described in verses 5 and 6 as being joined together to make one total unit.

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And the description that we are given of this joinery is very specific.

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It is very detailed. It describes for us a series of loops and corresponding clasps, or some older translations even use the translation of tacks.

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And so as these two come together, they would make a single unit. But the loops and the clasps were also to be made in a very specific way, and they signify a specific reality as it relates to Christ.

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Now, we've already talked about the use of gold that would be used in the clasp as we've talked about other parts of the tabernacle, and that it was only proper that the closer that one would become to the presence of God, the literal presence of God residing above the ark, the more finer the material or the metal that would be used there.

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Now, that this construction method was of God and not man should be obvious in the use of the materials.

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You see, if man were to design these clasps or tacks, we would want a material that would not wear out, something that would last.

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We would not be as concerned about the purity of the material as we would the strength and durability of the material.

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Gold, is an extremely soft metal. As such, it stands, if not handled properly, as one that is easily damaged or bent.

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But you see, the concern of God here is not the durability in the sense of how well it stays in place, but the purity.

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The gold clasp will then be placed into what is described as loops. Again, the color is specified, and again, some would say this color carries no significance.

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However, we see just down in verse 10, some additional loops described for us that contain no color mentioned.

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As the covering for the tabernacle, the tent is described in verse 10, it says, you shall make 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the one set and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is the outermost of the second set, no defined color.

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Again, as previously mentioned, the color blue characterizes and describes the color of heaven or the celestial color.

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Christ's entire life was characterized by obedience. The reality that he was from heaven, that he lived in heaven, and he was returning to heaven drove this obedience.

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One theologian, Pastor Samuel Rideout, wrote the following, no life ever was so perfectly given up to God as was his.

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Heart, soul, mind, and strength were all and always for God.

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Yet this devotedness did not make him a recluse. There is not the slightest thought of that selfish monasticism with which human self -righteousness has linked the name of Christianity.

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He loved his father perfectly, but that was the pledge of his perfect life to man.

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No hands or heart were ever so filled with love and labor for men, but there was nothing of the sentimental or merely philanthropic in this.

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The loops of blue were on all, linking all with his father's will. He wrought many miracles, but we cannot think of these works of love ending there.

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He was manifesting the works which the father gave him to do. I must work the works of him that sent me."

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Pink quotes CHM again regarding the bringing together of the loops of blue with the clasps of gold.

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We have here described to us in the loops of blue and the tacks of gold that heavenly grace and divine energy in Christ which enabled him to combine and perfectly adjust the claims of God and man.

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So that in responding to both, that one and the other, he never for a moment marred the unity of his character.

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When crafty and hypocritical men tempted him with the inquiry, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?

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His wise reply was, rendered to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's, nor was it merely

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Caesar's. But man in every relation that had all his claims perfectly met in Christ, as he united in his perfect person the nature of God and the nature of man, so he met in his perfect ways the claims of God and of man.

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The reality is this. Christ being both truly

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God and truly man is an imperative understanding in the gospel, so much so that God foreshadowed this very reality in the curtains that would line both the holy place and the holy of holies, that would be united in one.

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And so as we conclude our reflection on these first six verses, it is important that we not lose sight of the enduring truths that we find.

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We see the intricate details of the tabernacle's construction, its furnishings, each element ultimately pointing us to the fulfillment in Christ Jesus.

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None of these instructions were arbitrary. None were just offhandedly made up by an individual, each being divinely crafted symbols teaching us about God's holiness, about God's desire to dwell with his people, and the necessity of approaching

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God on his own terms. The tabernacle is not merely a structure.

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It is a physical manifestation of God's covenantal promise to be present with his people.

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The passage here challenges us to consider how we as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit live our lives.

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To be sure, we are not fabricated of these specific details, but the purity of the fine linen reminds us of the righteousness that we receive by imputation from Christ, that it is only his righteousness that satisfies.

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The color and craftsmanship points us to his majesty, points us to his sacrifice, points us to his heavenly origins.

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The unity of the construction of the tabernacle curtain calls us to unity in Christ, reflecting his character as we interact with one another above all of these things.

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The exclusivity of this place, the reality that only those chosen by God are permitted to enter, permitted to see the beauty within, should compel us to reflect on not only this passage, but all of the privileges that we have in Christ Jesus.

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How often we take for granted the very word that has been given to us to know and understand him.

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The word that demonstrates his atoning work. The word that teaches us that the veil that we will talk about in a couple of weeks was torn, granting us direct access to the

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Almighty God. How often do we truly consider that direct access?

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How often do we truly think or take for granted this access?

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How often do we neglect the sacred duty of worshiping in spirit and in truth?

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I want to leave you with a question this morning. As you think over this text and as you go through your daily life this coming week, ask yourself this.

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If God's desire is to dwell with us and to make every aspect of his presence known in every aspect of our lives, so much so that he expected the

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Israelites to reorder their lives completely around him, placing him at the center, how do our lives reflect that reality?

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Are we recentering our lives around him or do we simply plug him in wherever we have an availability?

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I pray that this question stirs in your heart that it leads you to a renewed commitment to live as those who are set apart, as those who are reflecting the glory of the one who has called us out of the darkness and into his marvelous light.

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May our lives be a testimony to the world that we are indeed a people among whom

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God dwells. Let us pray. Father God, we thank you.

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We thank you for this demonstration of the reality of who

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Christ is. We thank you that it is shown to us throughout scripture,

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Lord, that it is not 66 separate books but one complete truth, that your word is final, final that your word is authoritative, that your word from the very first to the very last proclaims the

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Lord Jesus Christ. May our lives to the very last proclaim the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we love you. We thank you. We praise you and we give you all the honor and give you all of the glory, asking all of this in your most holy and heavenly name.