The Sanctuary of God

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“The Tabernacle is the key to the divine plan, which alone explains the “mystery” of this Gospel age, which is the church and her special call to the privileges of sacrifice now and of glory by and by."

"And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after." Heb 3:5

The thought clearly is that the house of servants under Moses, and all which pertained to it was designed by God to be a testimony, or a setting forth by types, of things which would take place later on a higher and grander scale -- "a shadow (or type) of good things to come (the antitype)." Heb 10:1

In this study we will be taking a look as some of these “shadows”, as they relate to the Tabernacle as well as their antitypes. No other Apostle expressed more the importance in understanding the Tabernacle and its various services and ceremonies than did the Apostle Paul; in fact he considered them key to understanding the means by which entry is made into the body of Christ and into the spiritual phase of the kingdom.

As he states in Eph 3:1-11:

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation (the administration or stewardship) of the grace (a special favor) of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery [the church] as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you (a special class who understand this mystery) may understand my knowledge (my understanding of) the mystery of Christ (the “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” Phil 3:14), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed (during the acceptable time, 2 Cor 6:2) by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets (teachers): that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace (this special favor, Titus 2:11) was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ (announce the glad tidings), and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery (what are the conditions of participation in the mystery), which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose (the Divine Plan of the ages) which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord…”

The Sanctuary of God

“The Tabernacle which God commanded the people of Israel to construct in the Wilderness of Sin, and in connection with which all their religious services and ceremonies were instituted, was, the Apostle Paul assures us, a shadow of good things to come. (Heb. 8:5; 10:1; Col. 2:17) In other words in its various features, viz. its layout, its furnishings and etc. as well as in the typical ceremonies that were performed in it all of these together depicted the Divine Plan, but more importantly the way to membership in the body of Christ and to a heavenly inheritance.

In fact, the whole nation of Israel, as well as its laws and its religious services and ceremonies, was typical. This being true, our understanding of the plan and work of salvation now in progress, as well as their (i.e. Natural Israel’s) future development, cannot fail to be greatly enlightened by a careful study of those "shadows" which the Israelite's, for our edification, were caused to repeat year by year continually until the Gospel age introduced their antitypes--the realities. 1 Pet. 1:11; Heb. 10:1-3

It is not simply to gain a historical knowledge of the Jewish forms, ceremonies and worship that we come to the investigation of this subject, but that we may be edified by understanding the substance (the reality or antitype) from an examination of the shadow--as God designed in arranging it.

We shall fail to attach sufficient weight and importance to the shadow unless we realize how carefully God guided and directed all of its details. First, he took Moses up into the mount and gave him an illustration of the manner in which things were to be made; Secondly, he charged him to be careful of every particular--"See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." (Heb. 8:5; Exod. 25:40) So, too, with all the minutiae of the service: every jot and tittle had to be exactly performed in the type, because it illustrated something greater and more important to come afterward. And in order that these shadows might all be exactly performed, and that the people might not become careless, the usual penalty for any violation was death. For instances see Exod. 28:43; Num. 4:15, 20; 17:13; 2 Sam. 6:6,7; Lev. 10:1, 2

Realizing God's care in making the "shadow" (his exactness in its construction and insistence that every minute detail associated with its services be exactly performed upon penalty of death) should not only give us confidence in its correctness, that not one jot or tittle of it shall fail until all be fulfilled (Matt. 5:18), but should also awaken in us so great an interest in God's plan as would lead us to examine closely and search carefully for the meaning of those shadows. And this, with God's promised blessing, we now purpose to do, assured that among those who are truly God's consecrated ones--his children begotten of his Spirit--"he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened."

Excerpts were taken from “Tabernacle Shadows of Better Sacrifices”, T11, 12

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