The Tabernacle: The Holy Place and The Holy of Holies

Praise the Lord for that. That the Lord takes the dropout, just like he took Peter, James, and John. Don’t you think those guys weren’t so dissatisfied with Judaism? I can see them scoffing at the temple. I think it was their love for the Lord; they were disgusted with the system and didn’t want anything to do with it; they were just typical misfits. Alright, God turned them into His children, for a job. I don’t know who the people are going to be in our land; I cannot say what God will do, but I sense his work, and I believe that you, too, sense his call to the church. And now we have come to the business of the building of the church. Tonight, we have to look at the scene of the tabernacle. Now I don’t know what you did this afternoon, but I want to plant my feet firmly here and say to you: what I said to you this morning, I did not say lightly. We cannot go on not seeing the Lord. We just can’t. We have got to wholly, completely, offer ourselves on the outer altar of brass. We have got to come and be utterly exposed at the laver. There has got to be a boundary line around this precious temple of God that utterly separates it from the world.

Now then, we come. We come to this building. Brothers and sisters, here it is. We’re going to be here two or three days. This is precious. By the way, please be here in the morning if you possibly can. I really feel that tomorrow morning is so important, in what we’re looking at tonight. These two agree with one another. Alright. We are now getting inside. What is the first thing that happens when you come inside the court, and you approach, and you begin to move inside the tabernacle? For the tabernacle, what’s right there on the outside to get in? To come into the tabernacle itself. We passed the altar, the outer altar of brass. Okay, listen. As you come into the tabernacle, there is a table. It is made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold.

Now then, the table is within the holy place, and you come into the holy place, and there, to one side of the holy place, is a table. The table is 2 by 1 by 1.5, and that’s, I think, the measurements I gave you this afternoon, which I was not correct about. Alright, it has a beautiful…it is of gold, overlaying acacia wood. Acacia wood is a fine, hard, strong, sturdy wood. Throughout the Scripture, almost without exception, you can be sure that wood always speaks of humanity. But it has been overlaid with gold, which always speaks of the divine nature of God. You see, gold is pure. It is an element. It is not only an element, but it is one of the unique elements in that no matter whether it’s cold or hot, whether it’s sliced, no matter what you do to it, its appearance never changes. You cannot change the character of gold. It is always a picture of God’s nature.

Now, Brothers and sisters, up until we got to the tabernacle, we have seen no gold. We have only seen brass. I said to you this morning that the tabernacle comes out of brass; it’s not brass, but it comes out of brass, and you have got to go through brass before the tabernacle can be built up. Yes, sister, you’ve got to go through the judgment of God in order to get into the building of God. You have got to be judged. Praise the Lord, sister.

We began in Genesis 1 and 2 with three ingredients. Quickly, what are they? What’s the first one? Gold. What’s the second one? Bdellium. What’s the third one? Onyx stone. Did someone look up bdellium? Bdellium is one of two things. It is either pearl or it is resin. That’s what it’s called out here – resin on the West Coast. Now, there is no question: it is a pearl, but if there’s any doubt, I would say the principle is basically the same. For the pearl, there has to be the oyster wounded, and then the oyster secretes something of its life around the wound, the sand, and gradually, a pearl is built up. Now, this is the work of Christ in crucifixion that has nothing to do with redemption. This is Christ taking something out of the wound of Himself and having His life build up something new that comes from His own existence through the wounding.

Now then, you have the same thing in resin. There is the tree that is wounded, and out of it pours the life, and it is something very sweet and tasty. There is something that pours out of the wound. Now then, brothers and sisters, I’m just wondering if you know: when we come into the temple and when we come into the tabernacle, is pearl ever mentioned? There is no pearl. Now there’s a pearl in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, and there’s a pearl in Revelation 21 and 22, but in all the other places it is gold, silver, and stone. Now then, somebody in here by now has figured out why. That’s just so clear. Why, brother? Why? After the fall, it’s silver. It’s not pearl after the fall. After the fall, silver is always redemption. That which was the pearl must now redeem.

We see the Father in the gold. We see the Son in the pearl. We see the Holy Spirit in the stone. The New Testament tells us who works on the stone: it’s the Holy Spirit. But the work of the Son was to transmit life to man. That was the work of the Son, and he was crucified before the foundation of the ages that he might impart to you His life, that you might express His image, and have His authority. But who not only had to be the life-giver, but also had to condemn sin to be the redeemer. So, He gave up the position of pearl to give life, and He became the silver to redeem us.

From Genesis 3 to Revelation 19, you have the gold, the silver, and the stone, but when Satan is cast into the pit, there is no more silver. Redemption is something in time. It has a beginning, and it has an end, but God’s work of allowing men to have the life of God was His eternal purpose. When he has put an end to Satan, Jesus Christ is once again the pearl of great price. That is what Jesus Christ has produced out of His life. Do you know what the pearl of great price is? It’s the corporate man. It’s the universal church, and when you see it, you’ll sell everything that you might have the pearl.

We come now to the gold inside the holy place. Here is gold overlaying acacia wood; solid, good, firm wood. There is God’s desire to make humanity a greater humanity, the humanity of Christ. And then there is the overlaying of the gold on the table, and around the table, there is a border. We come into the tabernacle. All of this is a picture. Will you please remember that this is not the tabernacle I’m talking about? Be very clear. I am not talking about the tabernacle. I am talking about something that is in the way of gaining…I mean… when I say the way, I don’t mean it’s an obstacle. I mean, it’s part of the going into. It’s the process of going into. It’s in the way of entering into the tabernacle.

The first thing that you come to is a table of wood overlaid with gold, and upon the table it is the showbread. It is lying there on the golden table. It’s the bread. This is so significant. God has something to impart to you, and the first picture, the first illustration that He gives to tie this into the tabernacle, the first touch of the building of God is a golden table, and on it is the bread, and brethren and sisters, it’s showbread. It’s bread on show, and when the priests of God, or the people of God…let us just say the priests of God…come into the tabernacle, the first thing they do is they go over…the first thing you do is you go over, and you eat bread. You have to partake of the bread, and the bread is a picture to us of how we might be as that table is.

Right now, we are like Adam, formed into clay, but God wants to put gold into you. He wants to overlay your humanity with gold, and brothers and sisters, in order to have the tabernacle…but more than the tabernacle…in order to be built in the building, you have got to eat the bread. I believe it’s in 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1. There are so many verses in here that we think only apply in a New Testament way, but they don’t at all. 2 Peter 1.3. A Jew would read this and know immediately what it meant. According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to the glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by thee you may learn…doctrine? By thee you may…speak in tongues? By thee, you may…get a master’s degree in theology? Is that what he says? By these precious promises, you may become what? Partaker. Partaker.

While you were sitting there eating tonight, what were you doing? You were partaking of food, and it came into you, and tomorrow you’ll come out a half a pound more than you were today. You will have partaken of it, and it will have worked itself into you, and you will have had that food come in and become a part of you. We are partakers of the divine nature.  God wants to work gold into you. He wants to put gold in the clay. How do you get the gold into the clay, brother? How do you mingle humanity with divinity? You come to the table, and you eat the bread. You eat it. You have to come to the bread and just take it. Exceeding great and precious promises of divine life.