Exodus 26 Bible Study (The Tabernacle) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you can stand with me. You don't have to open your Bibles just yet. We're gonna we're gonna pray together. Let's just ask the Lord for his intervention and for his help tonight. Father, we come before you so grateful for your presence in this place, and we ask, Lord, that you would give us the right hearts and the right minds to receive from you.

Lord, give us the ability to understand what you wanna say, and we just ask for the spirit of wisdom and revelation to be evident in this house. And not just in this house, but more importantly in our hearts, lord. We wanna leave here transformed, loving Christ all the more. He deserves it. And, lord, we just pray that nothing, no distraction, no demon, no anything would rob what you wanna invest in us tonight.

And so we look to you by faith, and we pray that Christ would be exalted and glorified in our lives through this bible study. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. We have come to the place in Exodus concerning the tabernacle where we are now going to touch on the very tabernacle itself.

We have touched on three pieces of furniture already. Can somebody name them, please? What was the first one? The ark of the covenant. What was the second one?

The table of showbread. And the third one? The golden lampstand. And so now we've come to Exodus chapter 26, and it's quite lengthy. And so instead of standing and reading together, I'm gonna ask some people to participate.

And so if your voice is louder than the normal voice, it's better. And so I need one person to read from Exodus 26. Before you read, I'm just gonna give it to different people. Just lift your hand if you can do these verses. Okay?

I need somebody to read from verse one to verse six in Exodus 26. Paul, I need somebody in Exodus 26 to read from seven to 14. Tim, I need somebody to read from 15 to 25. Evan, so we have three covered now. I need somebody to read from 26 to 30.

Marfil, I need another person to read from 31 to 35. Andrew, and lastly, two verses 36 to 37. Now as you guys are reading, Sophia, as you guys are reading, don't mind me if I if I interrupt. Okay? I might interrupt.

And here's the purpose of this. Because there's so much detail, as you guys are reading, I'm going to attempt to draw this as we as we do it. Okay? Because when it comes to this, it's very helpful to to just visualize it. And maybe this is a tool that you can develop in your own study where you come to a chapter like this where there's so much instruction.

Take it upon yourself as though the Lord was speaking to you to write these things down like he did to Moses. Take a blank piece of paper and take the time to to just go over and write down the different pieces, and it just makes it a lot more interactive. Verse one to six. Who can who's starting us? Please lead us.

Moreover, thou shalt make the tabernacle with 10 curtains of fine twined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet. With cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them. The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits, and every one of the curtains shall have one measure. The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another. And thou shalt make loops of of blue upon the edge of the one curtain, from the salvage and the coupling.

And likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, and the coupling of the second. 50 loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and 50 loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second, that the loops may take hold of one of another. And thou shalt make 50 taches of gold and couple the curtains together with the taches, and it shall be one tabernacle.

If you're gonna take anything from that, take this. We have our first curtain. This curtain has four different colors, and it has the cherubim, embroidered in it. Alright? So this is number one.

Now we have seven to 14. Who's reading seven to 14?

You shall also make curtains of goat's hair for a tent over the tabernacle. 11 curtains shall you make. The length of each curtain shall be 30 cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The 11 curtains shall be the same size. You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain, you shall double over at the front of the tent.

You shall make 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. You shall make 50 clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together that it may be a single whole. And the part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. And the extra that remains in the length of the curtains, the cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side to cover it. And you shall make for the tent a covering of tanned ram skins and a covering of goat skins on top.

Okay. So verse 14. Now if you missed verse 14, we don't just have one curtain. From seven to 13, we're talking about another curtain here, and that's the goat hairs, I believe. And now we have in verse 14 with two different types.

What was that, Tim, in verse 14?

Tan ramskins. Yeah. Goat skins.

Now in the King James in different translations, you'll you'll see Paul. You have the King James. What does it say in verse 14 concerning the second curtain of that one? Badger skins. Okay?

So the Hebrew is a little complicated there, so some people debate what kind of animal is being used. Nevertheless, up to this point, from one down to 14, we have four different types of curtains. Okay? So that's that's what we're left with right now for the tabernacle. God instructed that there would be four curtains.

And the details of that, we won't draw it out, but just to get the general idea, this is what we're left with. Now we're building something here. Okay? So now we're going to the second part here where there's a different set of things that need to be built. And, whoever is next, please read.

And for the tabernacle, you shall make

the boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 10 cubits shall be the length of the board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. Two tenons shall be in each board for binding one to another. Thus, you shall make for all the boards of

the tabernacle, and you shall make

the boards for the tabernacle 20 boards from the south side. You shall make 40 sockets of silver under the 20 boards, two sockets under each of the boards for its two tens. And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there shall be 20 boards. And there are 40 sockets of silver. Two sockets under each of the boards.

For the south far side of the tabernacle westward, you shall make six boards. And you shall make also make two boards for the the two back corners of the tabernacle. They shall be coupled together at the bottom, and they shall be coupled at the top by one ring. Those shall be for both of them. They shall be for the two corners.

So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, 16 sockets, two sockets under each of the boards.

Alright. So what do we have here now? We have this interesting set of frames. I'm sorry, guys, if you're back there and you can't see this, but hopefully you get the idea of just the surrounding elements here. We have three different boards here that are supposed to be created.

There's one for the north side, the south side, and the rear. And not only that, that there's these silver bases and these two tenons, these two connecting pieces in each frame. So there are these frames. I'm just putting them together for the general picture. And these parts are gonna connect to the silver base for the for the frame of the outward part of the tabernacle.

Okay? This needs to cover this when it's all connected. Without this, there's no purpose of this. This is gonna lie flat on the ground. So these things now, they're gonna be connected in a moment, and they're gonna they're gonna serve for the outer structure, the outer part of the sanctuary.

Now we have a last part here. Whoever's leading the the the next part of the scripture, please read.

You shall make bars of cation wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, the five and five bars for the frame of the other side of the tabernacle, and five for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear west. The middle bar, halfway up the frame shall run from one end to end to the other. You shall overlay the frames with gold and make there two rings of gold or holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold. Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.

So now we have these things called bars. There's five bars, and the purpose of these bars now are to place them in each frame. There's three frames. Now you're gonna have five bars here. One, two, three, four.

Now people debate how these things are gonna be placed, but the whole point is to connect these frames together. If you don't have the bars, you have flimsy frames, and you have the danger of these frames collapsing even though if they're they're put into the foundation of the silver. But what's interesting is that one of the bars runs right through the end. And so that's that's true of each one, the north piece, the south piece, and the the rear here. You have these bars, and you have one running right through in the middle.

Now we have a we have a couple last pieces, and then we're gonna get into this together.

And you shall make a veil blue and purple and scarlet yarns and and fine twined twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold with hooks of gold on four bases of silver. And you shall hang a veil from the clasp and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil, and the veil shall separate you from the holy place from the most holy. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

And And you shall set the table outside the veil and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side.

K. So now we're going into interior. And now what we see here is anybody by hearing that, what is this? What what veil is this for? Yes.

The the holy of holies. So this veil, what it's gonna do, it's gonna separate between the most holy place and the holy place. What's behind this? The ark of the covenant. Correct.

Now we have two verses left.

He shall make a queen for the entrance of the tent, of a blue and purple and scarlet yard, and five twine linen embroidered with needlework. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five pieces of bronze for them.

Okay. So now we have this curtain. Now what's this veil? If you if this is the inner part, which one's this one? So this one is the veil that leads from the court into the holy place.

So this is the first veil that you're gonna see and I I apologize. There's there's pillars here, five golden pillars. What what material was that of thirty six and thirty seven? Acacia wood? Was it covered in gold or no?

So you have five golden pillars. That's what you're coming into. This is the next veil you see. So so this is what it looks like. And so we're gonna put this together and see what happens.

And this is just really making it interactive here. And so the whole idea is if this doesn't come off, we're gonna have to use our imaginations. Okay? But the whole point is that the reason why I wanna do it this way is that maybe you can incorporate this in your own personal study where you take a piece of paper and you find it within your time to be able to draw out the instructions, and it helps you visualize what can be confusing otherwise. Let's work with that.

So what do we have here? We have the we have the things. We have the the covers. We have the frames, and we have the golden bars. And so you've seen it probably before on video, but we're gonna do this together.

So we have the what? We have the one wall. This is let's just say this is one wall here with the silver. Let's say that's the south wall. Now we have the rear here with the two connecting parts here.

Then you have the north. K? That's our first veil there. And for the sake of time, I won't do this. We have four different covers.

That's the tabernacle. Now here here's the purpose of all of this. All of those things speak of something concerning us and Christ and the church. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna get rid of that and now dive into the scriptures. So we have this piece, this structure, and I want us to focus firstly on the silver bases.

So I want us to look at verse 19 of chapter 26 and verse 21. What does it say here? That there are gonna be 40 bases of silver you shall make under the 20 frames. And verse 21 tells us, and there are 40 bases of silver. And then for the rear, there are more.

And so we have to understand these frames aren't a specific foundation. Now here's the natural question again because here are the people going through the wilderness. Where's the silver gonna come from? It's gonna come from the people. And and they've they've received some of this material from Egypt leaving.

And so there's silver here, and Exodus 30, turn there, verse fourteen and sixteen tells us what they are to do with this silver. Fourteen and sixteen is the focus, but let's go to verse 11 and see what is said here. There's this thing called the census tax, and it says here that the Lord said to Moses, when you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. And so it's established now that there's gonna be this census tax, that whenever a leader or whenever God institutes the people to to number those that are living, to number those that are in the nation, that there is supposed to be a tax given as a response. So the nation now is under a census, and they come to your district and they count the people as a response.

You're gonna give a piece of silver. And that giving of a piece of silver is almost an act of worship that there is a payment being made. There's a ransom for your life. Now look at verse 14. There's there's even a a term for this.

Everyone who is numbered in the census from twenty years old and upward shall give the lord's offering. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less. Then the half shekel when give to the lord's offering to make atonement for your lives. This is called the atonement offering per se. Not the the day of atonement, but there's an aspect of atonement here.

There's this there's this realization from the people that I need atonement. I need deliverance. I need something to make amends for my sin. That's the action that's taking place in this census tax. You shall make the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of the meeting.

So now they're gonna take the silver and use it for the service in the tent of the meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord so as to make atonement for your lives. So when you give this tax, when you give this as a response of you being a part of the people of God, you are saying, I need atonement. I need help. And this was an act of worship. So this is called the atonement money of all things.

Now that's pretty significant. That's very important because there's a story about a census. Remember this in the Old Testament? Remember first Chronicles 21? You can turn there if you want.

But if you're familiar with the story, there's a there's a particular story, and this chapter here sheds so much light to why something happens to a particular man named David. In first Chronicles 21, what does it say here? It says then Satan stood against Israel, this is way after this time in Exodus, and incited David to number Israel. Do you guys remember this? So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, go number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report that I may know their number.

Now here's an interesting reaction. But Joab said, may the Lord add to his people a 100 times as many as they are. Are they not my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?

Now what's wrong with numbering people? And I just wanna open it up. Is is is is there an idea of reading this text? What comes to mind? Because what happens after this is David's heart is struck.

He's convicted, and God brings judgment.

So

that's a popular understanding. And when you read at first Chronicles 21, that's kind of the understanding you get that that David's kind of getting puffed. And he he wants to flex his muscle in a way and say, let's count how many guys we had. And he's kinda showing that it's based on the large number and it's based on what they've done in their own strength. That that we kinda get that from there.

And and maybe there is that kind of motivation. Is there any other idea from reading first Chronicles 21?

Back to God's promise to Abraham if any man can number, like, the stars, they can number your children.

Okay. So this idea of of counting the impossible, is that what you're trying to say? Okay. Any other idea?

They they didn't take the census tax here. Right?

And that's the conclusion that we can come to. The only logical conclusion because many people point to this this text, and if you read on later, it says that the people of Israel suffer. David is left with these options, and he says, you know, instead of being at the hands of my enemies, the Lord is way more merciful, so let let the Lord deal. And and he smites so many people. But that doesn't make sense unless we connect it to Exodus 30.

And we realize this, that there was a census, but there was no tax. There was no money received. Nobody gave money. And so the temptation from the enemy was to do it in that way. And what did verse 11 of Exodus say?

The Lord said to Moses, when you take a census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life. And what happens if they don't? That there may be may be no plague among them. Because you know what Satan wants to do? He wants people to be convinced that they don't need atonement.

If the census tax was an acknowledgment that I need atonement, if the census tax was to say I'm in need of somebody to make amends for my sins, and he tempted them to do so without giving the money, they were acknowledging that we're okay. We don't need atonement. And that's what he wants to do today with people. For you not to acknowledge that you need forgiveness of sin, for you not to acknowledge the cross and to think that you can attain your own righteousness and that you can walk in this life and your own strength and and inherit eternal life apart from Christ. This is why god was offended.

And this is why Satan tempted, and this is why the people suffered. Because many people point and say, it's David's sin. Why did the people suffer for David's sin? Well, no. They sinned too.

They didn't give their tax. So this is why we need to understand the whole scope of scripture so that we can make these connections because the Bible answers the Bible. And we see here that this was a sin. And so when they gave this now you have to go to Exodus thirty eight and twenty seven. When they gave their silver, there was a portion of it given for something.

Exodus thirty eight twenty seven tells us, the 100 talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary. And the bases of the veil, a 100 bases for the 100 talents, a talent base. So when they gave this, a portion of the silver was going to build the bases that we just drew out here. And so every time those priests would go in or every time they'd erect that that structure, they would know that the foundation is atonement. And this is true of you and me, tabernacle of God, temple of the Holy Spirit, dwelling place of the Almighty, that your life and if this tabernacle is a picture of our relationship with God, God wanting to be in our lives and and live in us, it cannot be experienced apart from the foundation of atonement.

If you do not have a revelation of what Jesus Christ did for you, if you don't understand that you've been ransomed, if you don't understand that it's by grace that you are saved, you can try to build all you want. You're not gonna have a sustaining relationship with God. You're not gonna have a genuine relationship with God. It needs to be based on the revelation of your need for Christ and his payment for you. Otherwise, you're in trouble.

Otherwise, whatever you build, all the piety, all the religiosity, all the things that you do, like millions are today, is not hosting anything. The church needs to be built on that foundation. Without the silver bases as we drew out, those frames would not be placed properly. They would not stand firm. And let's just say you and I are those frames, that those frames were connected to that base and so does your life.

Your life stands on that truth, on the gospel truth. And I remember I was it was just earlier today because I I have had many conversations with my own dad about the tabernacle. He loves the old testament. So before bible study, we're just conversing with him, and we're talking about the different pieces, and we came to the silver bases, and he's and he brought this to my attention. And I'm I never thought of that.

That's so true. He says, you looked at the different pieces. Correct? Yes. Did you notice that in the tabernacle there's no flooring?

No, dad. I I didn't notice that. Why? Well, because the silver base was the foundation, and the frame is a picture of us, and the ground represents the world. So that when you base your life on Christ, you're separated from the world.

You don't touch the world anymore. Your life is upon Christ, and the only interaction you have with this world is through Jesus, that redemption, that atonement. Jesus Christ is the foundation of your life. That frame was not supposed to touch the earth. There was separation that occurred between the earth and the frames.

And that is true for you and me. You are separated from this world because you have built your life on the rock. You have built your life upon the promises and the truth of Jesus Christ. And any interaction you have with this world is through that lens and that foundation, nothing else. But there's something that we touched on here, not just the frames, because those frames needed to be connected together.

And listen, the church, the church is built on that foundation. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. And so we, we place ourselves on that foundation, but we touch on these five bars because you can place all those frames and they can all have the same foundation, but there was something that was needed to sustain and to secure those frames from moving over and being shifted so easily. And so there's those five bars. Those five bars would go through and would establish those frames for not being knocked over by the wind so easily or being pushed over so easily.

And here's the remark I wanna make that though we shouldn't be caught up in the number five with those poles, though we shouldn't be caught up with the significance of what it means, there is the understanding again that the church is built on the revelation of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, his atonement, and that it is sustained and kept firm and immovable, not by poles, but by certain practices. That there are certain practices and principles that the church must develop in order to be strong and immovable and unshakable and uninfluenced. And for there to be a unity amongst the church like those frames, we don't need poles like the tabernacle. We need certain practices. And there are some practices that we could there are many practices.

We have the whole counsel of God. But for the sake of the fun of it, let's look at five. Let's look at five like there was five poles. Let's look at five practices, foundational things that the church must be identified with and habitually continue in in order to maintain that unity. Can you think of a scripture that talks about the early church and their practices?

Acts two.

Acts two. Thank you. That's right. Acts two forty two. Acts two forty two.

You can turn your bibles there and perhaps you're familiar with this verse. Acts two forty two. And if somebody if somebody gets to actually 42 I said I wasn't gonna write on it, but I I will write on the board. I apologize. Acts two forty two.

If somebody's there, could you could you read it out loud, please?

And they continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread to make things.

Here are polls. Here's our frame. I apologize if you can't see it. So so let's look at this. Frame.

We have the frame. We have the polls. What's the act what does it say in first, Acts two forty two? Apostle's teaching? This is number one.

We look at what? Number two, fellowship. We have number three, breaking bread. And the last one?

Amen. Ah,

This is what the early church looked like. This was their foundation, Jesus, and these were the things that kept them together, that kept them unified, that kept them secure. You know what that tells about you and me? You're not supposed to be a lonely frame. This is not what you're supposed to look like.

Okay? That's not you. You need to be connected with other frames, and you need to practice, we all do, certain things in order to maintain and host the presence of God like the tabernacle. K? We can't come up with our own principles here.

We can't make up what church wants to be. No. The scriptures have given us the instructions. And the best blueprint is the book of Acts to see their practices and to see their habits and to see their sacrifice and to see their faith and to see what they did. And so prayer, teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread.

And perhaps some don't feel as connected with other believers because they probably come for this, but they don't do this, and they they don't do that much, and they really don't do that. That's, like, last option, prayer if you guys can't see it. And so so you come for the teaching, but but you're not here for fellowship afterwards? You don't break bread, the the beautiful practice in which the Lord instituted for us? You don't you don't pray?

Do you wonder why you kinda feel isolated? Do you wonder why you probably don't feel as close as others are? But when you when you come to this place and it's amazing that teaching is a corporate experience. It's not an individual experience. You've heard you've heard it said before I'll say it again.

As one preacher said it, YouTube is a terrible place to go to church because teaching is supposed to be received not just individually, corporately. So when you come Sunday, when you come Fridays, it's a corporate experience of hearing God speak to a specific house. And when you're not there, you can miss out on what God wants to say specifically. And how many, maybe you've said it, you've missed a day or two, and you hear what God has said and God has done through his word, and you go, why did I miss it? And there was a corporate element that was forfeited.

And there was an experience that was there amongst one another under the teaching of God's word that required your presence. You really wanna feel close to one another? This is my personal opinion. Disagree with me. If you like, you really wanna feel united, come to prayer.

This one is so neglected, is it not? But there's something here when you come with other believers and and you cry out to God and you pour out your heart and you pray for one another and you're in the presence of God together. There's something that melts between your hearts and others. And so fellowship, breaking of bread, these things need to be incorporated. I know this is this is not the only things, but this is what this is what described the early church, and it kept them together.

But there's one more bar missing. There's a bar that went through. We have four here, but there's number five. Can anybody guess what number five is?

It was an order to the holy spirit.

Okay. That's that's I I I I totally value that. And I know this is a little harder, so whatever answers are there, it's it's all good if it's bible. Colossians three fourteen. Colossians three fourteen tells us the the centerpiece of connecting the frames together.

Though you have all these practices, there needs to be something that goes from one end to the other. And above all, these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Love. Love for one another. Sacrificial love.

Agape love. That needs to be the connecting element and the centrality of all that we do. What's prayer without love? What's fellowship without love? What's teaching without love?

So the the middle part, I would argue, is that, that our hearts are connected one to another with this Christ like, agape, not me centered love. And even even as you hear this, you probably can feel the strength in that. But it can all be theory and just whiteboard material unless we practice it. So I encourage you this summer, the temptation will be to pull away from these binding elements. Fight for those things.

Stick close to one another in those things. And remember, fellowship is not goofing around. That's not what fellowship is. It's not like spiritual, spiritual, spiritual flesh. That that fellowship is sandwiched between those truths.

It's Christ honoring, Christ centering fellowship. So all those things need to be considered. So we talk about now, not just the bases, not just the frame. Now that we have that built, we need to touch on the covering. How many pieces of curtains were there?

How many pieces of curtain from one down to 14? There was a first one, fine linen, scarlet red, blue, purple with cherubim embroidered on it. That's the first one. The one with goat hairs, goat skins, and then badger skin. So total of four.

Total of four. So now that you have these things set up, you have the frames, you have the base, now we can throw on the curtains. So there's no ceiling though. Right? There's no entrance from the east.

That's a veil. There's no walls. And there's no ceiling. It's because that first curtain with all the imagery on it and all the beautiful colors would be the first thing laid on top of it. You know what that means?

That when the priest would walk in, he would look up and he would see those different colors, and he would see those cherubim embroidered on those those different magnificent splendorous colors. And it would just add to the holiness experience that we're in the presence of God. God is in the midst. Here are his angels that protect his presence. So that's the first thing you would see.

You would think one curtain's enough, but let's add three more. So they add another one and then another one, and then another one. And the last thing is, according to the King James, badger skin. And so you have four layers of heavy thick curtains. And now we have to connect this with something to do with the lamp, if you remember last week.

What would those things do concerning the lighting inside of the tabernacle? Eliminate any possibility for natural lighting to penetrate through. And so guess what? It's dark in there. It's very dark in there.

And the only source of light is what? The golden lamp stand. And so God is making a statement again through this is that the only source of light that will give you direction to know how to worship God and relate to God is the light of the world, Jesus Christ. He's showing them that. And now that we have a picture of the walls, it's even more beautiful.

You just visualize it. You just step into the holy place for a moment and realize that those walls, these frames were not wooden. They were covered in gold. So when you step in, you see that lamp lit and that light is bouncing off of the walls and you see the reflection of yourself kinda hazy. You see the different furnitures there.

It's beautiful. It's glorious. But why else for these four layers? Can anybody think why else there would be four layers on top of this? You don't have to turn there.

But we see another practice of this in Numbers chapter four that there are these specific groups that had to take down this type of remember, this was not permanent. This was portable. Can you imagine as we just talked about all the things they had to disconnect and all the things that they'd remove and then put on their shoulders and put on different things so that they can move forward to the next? And sometimes God would stay for one day. Remember his cloud led them by day.

His fire led them by night, and sometimes he would park for one day. So you know what that means? Let's do it. We gotta put this thing up. We gotta erect it.

And then the next day, he can move. And so it was unpredictable, but there's sacrifice. If you want god to lead your life, it requires sacrifice. It requires a constant yielding. It requires constant attention.

It requires you to say, whatever the cost may be, God, as long as I know that I am being led by you in this life, as long as I know that you are the one that is dictating what I do day after day, and that it's your will that I'm in. If I have to pick up my house and move, I'll do it. If I leave my family, leave my friends, as long as I know, because guess what? There is no greater place to be than in the center of God's will. There is no greater peace.

God can put you in an igloo on the North, and you can still have this brilliant blazing peace and fire in your heart because you know you're doing God's will. So whatever come may, let it be. I'm willing to do whatever God wants me to do. One day, and we have to take it down and bring it back up, as long as I know that I'm in the presence and the will of God, I'll do it. But each furniture according to numbers four so when they would take those things, they had to cover.

They had to cover those different pieces of furniture. They had to cover the lampstand. They had to cover the the table of showbread. They had to cover the Ark of the Covenant. And so one idea there is the understanding of holiness, that no eye was supposed to behold these pieces of furniture.

But there is a practical element to covering them. Why else would you cover them as you're transporting from one place to another? Protection. Protection. You wanna guard those things.

You don't want any outside influence to contaminate or to pollute what is holy. And this is not just random thought. This is Ezekiel sixteen ten where God gives an image about how he's treated his people at one point. And the reason why I'm re reading in the King James is because it connects with the material that we're talking about here in Exodus. I clothe thee also with broided work and shaw thee with badger skin.

And I girded thee about with fine linen and covered thee with silk. So the idea is he's giving this imagery of how he took Israel from a place of of nakedness and loneliness and clothed her. And and he says specifically, I put on your feet. I gave you sandals made out of badger skin. The idea there is, I think, less of fashion and more of the idea that I've supplied, and I've protected, and I've guarded you.

You know? Walking around in the wilderness is not very fun with bare feet. And so it's the idea of protection. And so we can connect that truth with the fact that when those elements were being placed on top of the structure of the tabernacle, there was a sense of protecting that which is holy and not letting bad weather or animals or anything come in. Thank you.

Come in and mess around with the things that are to be precious and sacred. So I ask you individually of what means are you taking upon your own life to protect what God wants to invest in you? By what length? I mean, they could have covered it once, but they went four. Let's just be extra careful.

God is giving instruction, covering. Covering that which is sacred. Covering the thing in which God and man met. Now that's not a building anymore that's used. We have to ask that question.

What do I let into my life? Is there any open door in my life that would come in? Dust and dirt and those things that would take something so beautiful and so precious and to be stained and marred. You and I have a calling to be holy. You and I have a calling to be aware of what God wants to do in you and me, and to protect it with everything within us.

If there's any motivation for you to live holy, let it be this. I wanna guard my relationship with God. The same way that tabernacle was, the meeting point, and they shielded that beautiful structure, Would you do the same for your mind? Would you do the same for your heart? Guard your heart above all else, above all things for out of it is the wellspring of life.

You don't give your heart over easily to things or to people. You guard your mind. Again, it's it's that line. Right? It's that line.

The person who fears the Lord says, I don't wanna go near that line. If that line is sin, if that line is sin, I'm not gonna try to come as close as I can to say, okay, what part is not sin and what part is the cliff where I fall off? No. I go as far as possible from that line. I want nothing to do with it.

I'm not just gonna put one layer. I'm gonna put four layers. I'm not gonna let anything come in. Risk free. Danger free.

If anything's gonna penetrate, it's gonna take a lot of power for it to penetrate. Imagine they got lazy with that. Guys, come on. Guys, not that serious. Let's just put on one layer.

Let's not put on four. And they let their guard down. No. There is instruction that they were to lift those things. I don't know how they did it.

They They were to lift those things and throw it over that tabernacle, and they were to make sure that it would be free from any outside influence. And as we come near to the end, we're talking about the veils, and I wanna speak about the inner veil from verse 31 to verse 33. So we come back to Exodus 26. You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twine linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it, and you shall hang on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold on four bases of silver, And you shall hang the veil from the class and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil, and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy.

When you think of that veil, what do you think god is trying to say when he's asking him to put that thing up? What's the statement there? Yes, Nahan?

That his presence would kill them?

Yes. So the same god that came on Mount Sinai to meet with his people in Exodus 19, and it says he came down in a thick darkness. He covered himself in thick clouds, less the brilliance of his holiness disintegrate. The very people that he longs to be with is the same God that wants to dwell with him on a more permanent level and says, it's not possible. Although my heart desires to be in close proximity with you, sons and daughters of Adam, my presence will destroy you.

And so here's a veil, not only to protect you, but to forever be a reminder that this is all your fault. That offends us, does it not? But as beautiful as that veil was, it was a constant reminder that the same way there are cherubim in Genesis three that were there to guard them from coming back in to the presence of God because of their sinfulness, that they also are guarded from going to the presence of God by these cherubim embroidered on this veil. Can't come in. And as beautiful as it is that God at this point in history longed to be with his creation, there's still limitation.

There's still limitation. There's still a hindrance. There's still something that's blocking them from coming to that face to face. And so you know what happens to these priests, especially the high priest? I was terrified.

Let me just read this. You don't have to turn there, but let me just read this. Leviticus sixteen two. The instructions for the day of atonement when the priest would go in, the high priest would go in and make that sacrifice for the nation. And the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron your brother listen to this language.

Think of it in light of the new covenant. Tell Aaron. Tell him, what? Not to come at any time into the holy place inside the veil. I wanna be with you, nation of Israel.

I wanna be with you, people of God, but you have no right to come in whenever you want. You can't just waltz in whenever you want. There's a day and there's blood that is required. And so, yes, I am this God of love. Yes, I am this God that desires intimacy with you.

But your sin separates me and you. And so you have no right you have no right to open that veil and to step into my presence whenever you feel like it. Remember that. Can you imagine? Let's let's think of let's just be a priest for a moment and you have that desire to be in God's presence.

You want to commune you wanna come as close as possible. And as you step into that holy place, you're faced with this thick veil with these angels there embroidered on it just to remind you that you cannot come in whenever you want. What a tension. What a frustration. What a statement that God makes with this peace.

You can't come at any time. You don't have that confidence. You don't have that boldness. You don't have the holiness necessary to step into my presence. But Hebrews 10 tells us something else.

Hebrews 10 verse 19 says, therefore brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is his body. You you you see the comparison between Leviticus 16 and and Hebrews 10? Hebrews tells us you have confidence to enter to the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. Leviticus 16 is you have no right to come into this place whenever you want. You can't.

Don't you dare. But you know what the attitude is now? How can I not enter into the presence of God since Christ through his body made it available for me to come into the presence of God whenever I want, wherever I want? Welcome to the new covenant. You know what that means?

Mark fifteen thirty eight tells us what? That that veil was ripped how? From the top to the bottom. Meaning what? That

God

did it. It was God who ripped that veil from the top to the bottom. As soon as that right sacrifice was made, it's almost as though God with excitement wanted to get rid of that veil. For what? Us to enter in.

Not just for you to enter in, but for him to enter you. So that presence that was there in that most holy place would now come and flood your heart, would flood your heart now because you become the temple of the Holy Spirit. So people often think it's now for me to go in. True. But it's for him to get in you now.

That veil, that it's it's done. It's over. There's no need for this piece of furniture anymore. It says that through his body, through the curtain that is his body, because of his broken body, now you and I can have unbroken fellowship. That broken body gave us the way into face to face communion with God.

So the saying often goes with people, oh, to live in the old covenant days. Oh, to live in those days to see what Moses saw. And I get it. I understand the imagery. I understand the miraculous there.

But imagine feeling that tension. If you're not even a priest, you don't even have a shot. But even if you were a part of the Levitical priesthood, and even if you have to be a high priest, you still couldn't enter in whenever you wanted. And here you and I are, 2018. You can go home tonight, close your door, you're in the most holy place.

And God hears you with perfect attention. And God is willing to answer you with perfect power. And God is right there whenever you lift up your heart to him and give him your gaze. Welcome to the new covenant. And I don't know about you, but I don't want that to be frozen doctrine in my mind.

I want that to be burning in my heart. I wanna know, Lord, whatever whatever that means for me to come into the most holy place in this life in the now, You made the payment, and I wanna live it out. And so, Lord, here I am. I'm seeking your face. Wherever you are, Lord, I wanna be.

And that's true for this church. That's true for us. At the same way that this tabernacle was firmly fixed on these elements, May we be the same. And may we be motivated the same way they would have been motivated every time they put that thing up. Who knows what was going on through their mind?

Maybe mere duty, but think of yourself knowing that this is the structure in which God is going to meet with us. This is the this is the thing that's gonna that's gonna host the presence of God. And so you can imagine those that were assigned building this thing perhaps. Bibles here, I'm just giving some imaginative thoughts. And they're building this thing, this frame, and they're putting in the poles with great joy knowing that this structure is where we're gonna meet with God and worship him.

I hope that I hope that that's the same thing that we have when we do these things. That when we come to to hear teaching, that we would have the anticipation and the excitement that God is gonna speak. That when we come for fellowship, that we would believe that Christ would be fellowshipping with us. That when we break bread, that the revelation of his sacrifice would really come upon us. That when we pray about things, thank God that it's not just one person that can go into that room, but we can all enter in with confidence.

And to say, Lord, I wanna know what that looks like in real life. I wanna know what that looks like in real life. We're gonna pray in a moment, but I want us to just close in a moment. That acts two forty two verse, which speaks about the teaching and prayers, fellowship, breaking of bread. Verse 43 follows that, and it says, and awe came upon every soul.

And awe came upon every soul. And in light of even pastor Mazin's short message and understanding the tabernacle, I hope it's our desire that when we come together in this place that we would be in awe of what God is doing and God continues to do. You know what? The the closest thing, unfortunately, to a lot of people with churches, it's not aww, it's yawn. Yawn.

That's what you see mostly. In my experience, that's what I've seen mostly anything. Step into the house of God, you see more yawning than awe. And the awe the awe was not because of entertainment. The awe did not come from fleshly means.

It's because when those things were put together, God met them. God met them in a special way. The same way when those pieces were put together for that frame and that was erected, God was gonna meet with his people. We have that same opportunity. Week after week, we can come in here and be in awe.

And that awe can increase more and more depending upon our desire and our hunger for Him. Would you stand with me as we worship? Worship team can come up. And we're gonna we're gonna worship in light of the fact that Jesus Christ through his broken body has given us unbroken fellowship with the father. With faith in your heart and gratitude to say, lord, you paid that price for me to step with confidence into the most holy place.

And lord, we thank you that that's not bound to a geographical area. We thank you that's not limited to one person, one time a year. That, Lord, you ripped that veil from top to bottom indicating your desire to get rid of that piece that symbolizes separation between us and you. And we thank you, Lord, because we have the blood of Jesus on our side. Unlike the blood of Abel that testified against Cain, we have the blood of Jesus that testifies for us.

And so, Lord, help us enter in with an inward realization that, Lord, You want to know us, and that we're Your tabernacle. We're Your temple. Can we practice one of those poles today? Can we just, as we're standing, pray together in your own heart? You can pray a lot if you'd like to as long as it's not distracting.

But to pray in one accord, one heart, in thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus, that He's given us His blood to come through that most holy place, and that He would allow us by His grace, that as we come together and we connect on the foundation of Christ and His atonement, that we would be in awe. We would be in awe of who God is. Would you ask the Lord for that in your heart? Saying, Lord, bring us to greater degrees of revelation of the person of Jesus Christ. Would you meditate on that precious blood?

Put it your mind put in your mind Leviticus 16 compared to Hebrews 10. Leviticus 16, you cannot come in whenever you please. And Hebrews 10 tells me, I can come in whenever I want.