Foreword

The Tabernacle of the Congregation may be the greatest of the biblical types of God's plan of redemption in Christ. The last half of the Book of Exodus describes the construction of the Tabernacle, and references to the Tabernacle and its furnishings are found throughout the Scriptures.

As we understand it, the Tabernacle of the Congregation is a Divine type, or illustration, of the following four eternal realities:

The Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The growth of the believer from the time he receives the blood atonement by faith until he is in Christ's image and is in perfect, restful union with God through Christ.

The growth of the Christian Church from unformed gatherings of believers to the perfected Wife of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem.

The establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

In the present essays we shall emphasize the second of the four realities—the growth of the believer from the time he receives the blood atonement by faith until he is in Christ's image and is in perfect, restful union with God through Christ.

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

(John 17:23)

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

(Revelation 21:3)

Description of the Tabernacle of the Congregation

Chapters 25 through 40 of Exodus tell us much of what we know about the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the dwelling place of the Lord. It was an oblong wooden building, covered with gold, and roofed over with cloth covered by animal skins. The building was about forty-five feet long by fifteen feet wide by fifteen feet tall.

The gold-covered boards from which the building was constructed stood upright, having two tenons (projections) on the bottom that were inserted in silver sockets placed on the ground.

Four layers of material were thrown over these upright boards, forming the roof. The outside layer of material was badgers' skins (probably dolphins' or porpoises' skins), so that the appearance of the sides and back (west end) of the Tabernacle was rough and plain.

There was a beautiful Veil made from blue, purple, scarlet and fine twisted linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into the material. The Veil hung inside the building on four gold-covered wooden posts standing on bases of silver.

The Veil was placed two-thirds of the way toward the far end of the building, partitioning off a room cubical in proportion, fifteen feet on a side. This was the Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place.

The remainder of the building was called the Holy. In English we add the word place, calling it the Holy Place.

The Tabernacle building or Tent of Meeting, stood in an area referred to as the Court, or Courtyard, of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. The Court was surrounded by a fence of linen hung on posts, or pillars, standing on sockets of bronze. The fence of linen was about one hundred fifty feet long by seventy-five feet across by seven and one-half feet high.

To be continued.