Review Of Exodus 26

— by Victor Fawole

I welcome everyone to Exodus 26 – as God gives descriptions of the exterior coverings for the Tabernacle. The detailed presentation we read is clear evidence that the Holy God desires a personal relationship with sinful men and He demonstrates His compassion and love for the fallen man. He ultimately fulfilled that in Jesus – Immanuel – Who came to earth to “tabernacle” with men (Matt. 1:23, John 1:14), died as the sacrificial Lamb of God (John 1:29) so that men might forever “tabernacle” with God in Heaven.

Let us review:

1. THE FABRICS

Exo. 26:1 “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim you shall weave them.

In yesterday’s review, we learnt the spiritual significance of these items. I love how God gave Moses the interior plans for the tabernacle before the exterior. They started with the interior furniture and then worked out from the inside to the outside. Man enters the Tabernacle from the outside, but God builds it from the inside. This is the same pattern that God works in believers (Phil. 2:13).

There are 4 layers of curtains (fabrics) around the Tabernacle:

• the inner fine linen curtains (Exo. 26:1-6),
• a curtain of goat’s skin (Exo. 26:7-13)
• ram’s skin dyed red (Exo. 26:14)
• badger skins (Exo. 26:14).

In the Bible, fine linen symbolises righteous acts. One of the many benefits we enjoy as believers is that Jesus imparted His righteousness to us, making us blameless and holy with His blood (2Pet. 1:4; Col. 1:22). At the Marriage supper of the Lamb, we will each be given “fine linens”, symbolising our complete transformation in Christ (Rev. 19:8, Rev. 3:5). Man’s best works (righteousness) outside Christ are filthy rags before God (Isa. 64:6). Anyone who does not accept the gift of the robe of righteousness that Jesus offers, but tries to show up in his own righteousness will be thrown out of the wedding feast (Matt. 22:11-13).

Knowing that we have received fine linens in Christ, we are admonished to live in line with that purity. Staying “unstained” from the world is part of our undefiled devotion (Jam. 1:27). We are to humble ourselves and let our outward acts of holiness be motivated for the glory of God and not self-glory.

2. THE FRAMES

Exo. 26:15 “And for the tabernacle you shall make the boards of acacia wood, standing upright.

Without being bored by the details of the frames (boards) given in this section, I’d love to draw our attention to the silver sockets repeatedly mentioned. The boards were to sit on the silver sockets. Silver is associated with redemption and payment for sin (Exo. 21:32, Lev. 5:15, Lev. 27:3,6, Num. 18:16, Deut. 22:19). This points to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, Who was also betrayed for silver (Matt. 26:15).

Silver is also a symbol of refinement (Psa. 66:10, Zec. 13:9, Mal. 3:3). Every believer is refined whenever we go through testing and trial. That is why we are admonished to welcome trials with joy (Jam. 1:2-3).

I’d also love to draw our attention to the gold covering of the boards. As I mentioned in yesterday’s review, the golden covering of the wooden boards is a pointer to the hypostatic union of divinity and humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ.

3. THE FURNISHINGS

Exo. 26:31 “You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.

This is the part that talks about the veil and the screen. Let us consider them one after the other.

• The Veil:
  The veil showed that sin has separated man from God (Isa. 59:2). Whenever God looked down from heaven, He observed that nobody was holy / without sin (Rom. 3:10-11, Psa. 143:2). The veil barred the sinful man from entering the Presence of the Holy God. The colours of the veil are specifically blue, purple and scarlet. The significance of these was explained in yesterday’s review. Blue represents the heavenly nature of Jesus Christ, purple represents the Kingly royalty of Jesus, and scarlet represents the sacrifice for sins that Jesus made.

The veil also points to Jesus’ flesh (Heb. 10:20), and His death caused it to tear from the top to the bottom (Matt. 27:51). His blood has made us clean (Heb. 9:8-15). We can now enter the Holy of Holies every day with confidence (Heb. 4:16). As long as the inner veil remained in the tabernacle, man had no free access to God except through a high priest, and that is only possible once a year on the Day of Atonement (Heb. 9:6-8). It is only by the atonement through the blood of Christ that the way to the throne of grace is opened to us.

• The Screen Door:
  The screen door leads to the Tent of Meeting (Exo. 26:36-37). This screen is similar to the veil in colours, and also separates the holy place from the holy of holies. However, it has no cherubim and it was made by a weaver, not a skilled craftsman. It symbolises Jesus. He is the door, the way, the truth, and the life (John 10:9, John 14:6).

Dear Gogolights, we cannot be thankful enough for what Christ has done for us. If we take every single second of our life in gratitude, it cannot match the greatness of His sacrifice. God was mindful of us, and that is why everything pointed to Christ. In Christ, we have the perfection of sacrifice, perfection of atonement, perfection of redemption, and perfection of salvation. Hallelujah!

Tag five people and tell them: JESUS HAS TORN THE VEIL IN MY FAVOUR!

God bless you for reading. We shall continue tomorrow.

Grace to you, Church!