A Spiritual Exercise
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This ends the description of the tabernacle, the pattern God gave to His people to reveal heavenly truths. It all speaks of Christ. It all symbolizes Him and His work for us and our privileges and responsibilities in Him. Believers in Christ now can use thoughts and meditations about the tabernacle to see clearly how they should approach and worship God. In spirit we come with our offerings to the entrance of the tabernacle compound which speaks of Christ “the gate” (John 10:7). The ordinary Israelite could not enter the tabernacle or the compound, but we as New Testament believers are also priests (1 Pet 2:5, 9), so we enter and the glories of the new covenant begin to open to our view.
First we approach the altar of burnt offering. There we look on the fire and the poured out blood and the animal sacrifices burned to ashes, and remember again the Lamb of God, the one great sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, the blood and life of the Lord Jesus poured out for us on Calvary (John 1:29; Rom 3:25; 2 Cor 5:21). He was both sacrifice and High Priest who offered the sacrifice (Heb 8:1-3; 9:11-12). Sacrifices were to be offered daily on the tabernacles literal altar, but on Calvary Jesus was offered once and for all for our sins (Heb 10:10-14). That one sacrifice cannot be repeated, it is not necessary that it be repeated, and no one should even dream of trying to repeat it. But daily we should keep it in memory and bow in adoration at His feet.
At this altar we remember too our death in Him (Rom 6:3-4, 8; 2 Cor 5:15; Col 3:3), and as New Testament priests we here offer our sacrifices – our praises, and all that we are and all that we have and all that is within us (Rom 12:1-2; Heb 13:15-16; Luke 14:33). We take our proper place of death to self and lay ourselves, as it were, on the altar to be a burnt offering for God alone, and as those risen from the dead in Christ (Eph 2:5-6) move forward to live for Him (Lev 1:3-17; Luke 9:23; 2 Cor 5:15).
From the altar Christ our great High Priest leads us to the basin or laver filled with water, and there by using the Word of God and by the Spirit of God we wash away any defilement, any uncleanness there may be in our thoughts, motives or behavior (2 Cor 7:1; Heb 10:22).
Still as priests we continue on with Him to the tabernacle building itself, the Holy Place, and enter. There we stand in the only light in that place, the light of the seven-branched lampstand which speaks of Christ (John 8:12). And there we resolve again to walk in His light and behave as children of the light (Eph 5:8-9; 1 John 1:7). And there we view the bread on the table and partake of the Bread of life which it symbolizes (John 6:35). We feed on Him by meditating on His excellent qualities and deeds and how they relate to us, and by opening our hearts afresh to His presence. In this way of faith we receive strength from Him for our daily walk as pilgrims in a fallen world. And there in the Holy Place we see Christ as our intercessor and mediator (Rom 8:34; 1 Tim 2:5), symbolized by the altar of incense, and offer our prayers to mingle with His. And then we face the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, the holy of holies.
In Old Testament days no ordinary priest dared go through that curtain, but only the high priest, and that but once a year (Lev 16:2, 34; Heb 9:7). But we, the New Testament priests, can enter there, can enter every day, and any time of day or night. Christ the great High Priest has opened up a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh (Heb 10:19-22). He takes us by the hand and leads us in. We are united to Him, are members of His Body, and so enter with Him (1 Cor 12:12-13). And there again we see the altar of incense, Christ our intercessor and mediator (the altar of incense was sometimes in the Holy Place and sometimes in the Most Holy Place – Heb 9:3-4, perhaps signifying that Christ can be in more than one place at the same time, in God’s presence in heaven and with us here on earth).
And there is the Ark with its atonement cover, speaking of its heavenly counterpart that is sprinkled with the blood of Christ which enables us to approach infinite holiness (Heb 9:12; 10:19; 12:24). And there above the cover are the cherubim. And there between the cherubim is the cloud of glory, the presence of the eternal God, the Creator of the universe. And here we bow in His holy presence, with Christ our great High Priest at our side, being united to Him, and present ourselves to God our Father. And in the Spirit we worship Him and pray for our needs and intercede for others. And He hears us because we have come in the way He has provided and appointed. And He wants us to come and welcomes us with love and compassion and mercy and grace (Heb 4:16).
The Old Testament priests were active every day in the tabernacle. A daily spiritual exercise such as the one suggested above would not be without value to us who are New Testament priests. For the tabernacle reveals something of the glory and love and power of Christ, and reminds us that each day of our lives we need to be aware of His sacrifice for us, that we need to bring Him the offering of ourselves, that we need to be clean, and can be clean, in all that we do, that we need His light on our daily path, that we need to get our strength each day by feeding on the Bread of life, that we need His constant intercessions for us, and that we need to pray ourselves and worship lowly and gratefully at His throne.
Certainly we should all remember these truths daily and apply them in our lives. Of course, a mere ritual, going through the forms of worship without proper understanding or without heart, is an empty and useless thing (John 4:24). But making use of the tabernacle to remember all the wonderful truth God revealed through it, and heartily entering into that truth, can be of great benefit.