Crystallization-Study of Exodus (4)
Message Ten
The Eightfold Significance of the Tabernacle
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
And you shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under the next board for its two tenons—Exo. 26:19.
Now the tabernacle you shall make with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet strands; you shall make them with cherubim…—Exo. 26:1.
And you shall make a covering for the tent, of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of porpoise skins above it—14.
Word of Appetizer
The width of each of the boards of the tabernacle was one and a half cubits, indicating a half measurement of three cubits. What does this signify?
This signifies that every believer as a half unit needs to be matched by another to form a complete unit of three cubits for the building of God’s dwelling place. We must remember that we always need another member to make us complete in the principle of the Body.
Spiritual Burden
We need to see and experience the redemption of Christ, the manifestation of the divine nature, and the transformed human nature.
We need a firm and unshakable standing in the Body, and we must always be willing to be balanced by others.
We must be joined with others by the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit with the holding power of the divine nature.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
We need to see and experience the redemption of Christ, the manifestation of the divine nature, and the transformed human nature.
We need a firm and unshakable standing in the Body, and we must always be willing to be balanced by others. Each member of the Body needs to be completed for the building up of the church.
We must be joined with others by the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit with the holding power of the divine nature.
God’s building, the church, is covered by a “fourfold” Christ. We need to become pillars in the Triune God.
The Experience of Life
The glory and beauty of the Lord Jesus in His humanity cover, protect, and embrace all His believers as the church.
Christ as our covering (the covering of the porpoise skins) enables us to stand against Satan and all his attacks.
Practice and Application
Every believer as a half unit needs to be matched by another. We always need another member to make us complete in the principle of the Body.
We need to become pillars in the Triune God. The pillars at the entrance of the tabernacle and those within the tabernacle provide entrances for sinners to be saved into God’s dwelling place.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
And you shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards…—Exo. 26:19
And he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up—Exo. 36:20.
Seeing and Experiencing: the Redemption of Christ, the Manifestation of the Divine Nature, the Transformed Human Nature
I. We need to see and experience the redemption of Christ:
• The one hundred silver sockets, upon which the entire tabernacle rested, sockets signify stability for standing; the redemption of Christ as the solid base for the believers’ standing in God’s dwelling place.
II. We need to see and experience the manifestation of the divine nature:
• The manifestation within the tabernacle was the gold, what we manifest, express should be nothing other than the glorious divine nature of Christ
III. We need to see and experience the transformed human nature:
• The gold of the tabernacle overlaid the acacia wood, signifying the transformed human nature.
Key Verses (2)
…two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under the next board for its two tenons —Exo. 26:19.
Ten cubits was the length of a board, and one and a half cubits, the width of each board—Exo. 36:21.
And you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle—Exo. 26:26.
Two Tenons Are For Balance; to Be Completed for the Building Up of the Church; Be Joined with Others by the Holy Spirit
IV. We need a firm and unshakable standing in the Body, and we must always be willing to be balanced by others.
V. Each member of the Body needs to be completed for the building up of the church, and there is the need for reinforcing when a turn in the Lord’s move is made.
VI. We must be joined with others by the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit with the holding power of the divine nature.
Key Verses (3)
Now the tabernacle you shall make with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet strands; you shall make them with cherubim…—Exo. 26:1
And you shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains you shall make—v. 7.
And you shall make a covering for the tent, of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of porpoise skins above it—v. 14.
And he made for it four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold; …he made a screen for the entrance of the tent …And its five pillars with their hooks…—Exo. 36:36-38
Being Covered by a “Fourfold” Christ; Becoming Pillars to Provide Entrances
VII. God’s building, the church, is covered by a “fourfold” Christ:
• The first and innermost layer of covering, forming the ceiling of the tabernacle was made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet strands with cherubim.
• The second layer of covering, the goats’ hair, typifies Christ as the One who was made sin for us.
• The third layer of covering, the rams’ skins dyed red, typifies Christ as the One who accomplished redemption by dying and shedding His blood to meet God’s need and ours.
• The fourth layer of covering, the porpoise skins, signifying that Christ as our covering enables us to stand against Satan and all his attacks.
VIII. We need to become pillars in the Triune God, signified by the nine pillars in the tabernacle; at the entrance to the tabernacle five pillars supported the screen, and at the entrance to the Holy of Holies four pillars supported the veil.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 The foundation of the tabernacle was of silver (Exo. 26:19).
(Please explain that the one hundred silver sockets, upon which the entire tabernacle rested, signify that the church is built on the basis of the redemption of Christ.)
T2 The manifestation within the tabernacle was the gold (2 Pet. 1:4).
(Please explain that within the church, what we express should be nothing other than the glorious divine nature of Christ.)
D2
T1 The building of the church has depended very much upon the transformed human nature (Exo. 36:20, 31, 36).
(Please explain that the standing strength for the tabernacle was with the acacia wood, and the acacia wood signifies the transformed human nature.)
T2 Two tenons are for balance (Exo. 36:22).
(Please explain that we must always be checked and confirmed by others that we may have the balance; otherwise, we will be peculiar.)
D3
T1 The width of each of the boards of the tabernacle was one and a half cubits (Exo. 36:21).
(Please use experience to explain that we always need another member to make us complete in the principle of the Body.)
T2 The doubling of the corner boards (Exo. 26:23).
(According to Acts 13, please explain that at each turn in the Lord’s move, there is a need for doubling, strengthening, reinforcing.)
D4
T1 All the boards of the tabernacle were joined together within the gold and by the golden bars (Exo. 26:15-30).
(Please explain that we must be joined with others by the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit with the holding power of the divine nature.)
T2 In order to become one entity as God’s dwelling place, the forty-eight boards in the tabernacle had to be united in oneness (Exo. 26:29).
(Please explain that the oneness of the boards of the tabernacle was not in the acacia wood but in the gold that overlaid the wood.)
D5
T1 The covering of the tabernacle consisted of four layers (Exo. 26:1-14; 36:8-19)
(Please explain the significance of the fourfold covering of the tabernacle.)
T2 God’s building, the church, is covered by a “fourfold” Christ (Exo. 28:2; 2 Cor. 5:21; Col. 1:14; Isa. 53:2).
(Please explain what aspects of Christ the picture of the coverings shows us.)
D6
T1 There were nine pillars in the tabernacle (Exo. 36:36, 38; Rev. 3:12).
(Please explain the difference between the pillars and the boards.)
T2 The pillars are good for entrance (John 10:9).
(Please explain that the pillars at the entrance of the tabernacle and those within the tabernacle provide entrances for men as redeemed creatures to come into the Triune God.)
