LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Tabernacle (The Materials)
From verse 15 to verse 30, chapter 26 of Exodus tells us about the materials of which the tabernacle was built, that is, the boards, its sockets, tenons and bars.
The boards were of acacia wood, and were to be very straight. The wood represents humanity, and each board symbolizes Christians in particular. The acacia is not a straight tree, so it had to be subjected to some process to obtain suitable boards. Thus the Christian needs to be treated by the Spirit in order to be "straightened" and built up in the spiritual house of God.
The boards had a very special measure: they were a cubit and a half wide and ten long. The ten represents humanity, and the cubit and a half -an incomplete number- shows us the insufficiency of each board in the House. Each needs another to reach the measure of three cubits - and three is the number of God. A Christian is not a church, but where there are two or three gathered together in the name of the Lord, there he is in the midst. In the house of God, no Christian is self-sufficient; at least one other is needed to complete the measure.
The tables were of wood, but they were overlaid with gold, which represents divinity. Thus, the vile aspect of man is covered by the divine nature. The tables rested on silver sockets, and silver is, in Scripture, the metal of redemption. The tables no longer have roots in the earth -as when they were trees- but are supported by the work of the cross.
To give direction and straightness to the whole of the boards, five bars were placed across them, which were also of wood, overlaid with gold. The middle one passed through the middle of the boards from one end to the other. These bars represent the five ministries of Ephesians 4, which have been provided by God to give shape and direction to the church. Of the five, the most important is apostleship, which is the middle bar. The bars are held together by golden rings, which represent the grace of God that sustains them, to unite the House.
The House of God cannot take its proper form without these ministries provided by God. For a long time the church has ignored this, for which the edification has been deficient. The responsibility has usually fallen on one man, who fulfills only one of the five ministries.
This section closes with the following words: "And you shall build the tabernacle according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain" (v. 30). So too, the building of the House today must take into account God's model for his church. What model? The model that is foreshadowed here.