Alright brethren, let's turn
to Exodus 26. We're going to begin reading in verse
31. Exodus 26, 31. And thou shalt make a veil of
blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen of cunning
work with cherubims shall it be made. And thou shalt hang
it upon four pillars of shittum wood overlaid with gold. Their
hooks shall be of gold upon the four sockets of silver. And thou
shalt hang up the veil under the tatches that thou mayest
bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony. And
the veil shall divide unto you. between the holy place and the
most holy. And thou shalt put the mercy
seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. And thou
shalt set the table without the veil, and the candlestick over
against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the
south, and thou shalt put the table on the north side. Now,
we see here that God commanded this veil be hung for this purpose,
to divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. It was to put a division. That was the purpose of this
veil. Now, spiritually, we know God is holy. This holy place,
this most holy place, this is where God's presence was over
the mercy seat, over the ark. And so to enter through this
veil, you're entering into God's presence. But the veil that divided
teaches us a lesson. Because we sinned in Adam, We
cannot come into God's presence. We're divided from God. We're
separated from God by our sin. God's holy. God is holy. That means it has to be perfect to be accepted
of God. You have to be holy like God
is holy for God to receive you. You have to be righteous as God
is righteous for God to receive us. So because we've sinned,
that veil, which was the only way into God's presence, that
veil separated us from God. It divided us from God. So we see that the only way to
enter God's presence above the mercy seat was to go through
the veil. And so the veil pictures Christ. pictures Christ who has consecrated
for us a new and living way into God's holy presence. This veil
picture, just as it was the one way into God's holy presence,
so Christ now is the one way into God's holy presence. Let
me show you this. First of all, we see Christ in
the materials used to make the veil. Verse 31 says, Thou shalt
make the veil of blue and purple and scarlet, and fine twined
linen of cunning work with cherubim shall it be made. The veil was
made like that linen covering that we saw. Again, it pictures
Christ's holiness. See, he is as holy as God is
holy. So he could enter into God's
presence. He is God, the Son. Now remember blue, the color
blue, Christ is God from heaven. Blue representing heaven. Christ
is God from heaven. The scarlet, color of blood,
Christ is the man who shed his blood to put away the sin of
his people. And then you combine blue and
scarlet and it makes purple. That is the color of royalty.
And Christ is our royal high priest. He's the king priest.
That's who he is. And then you see this fine linen. That means it was the very best
linen. It was the very best fabric out
of all the fabric. It was the very best. Christ
is the very best. He's the very best out of all
mankind. Christ is a perfect man, a holy
man. You and I and everybody else
in this world come forth unholy, unrighteous. Christ is a holy,
perfect man. For such a high priest became
us. That's Hebrews 7.26. That means
such a high priest was necessary for us. who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens.
We read that he, through the Holy Spirit, offered himself
without spot to God. And that's how he had to offer
himself. He had to be holy. The linen here being twined,
is fine twined linen, means that it was strong. The way it was
made, it was a strong fabric. Christ is the righteousness of
his people and he's the holiness of his people. That means he's
all our strength with God. He's all our strength. We can't
come into God's presence any other way. Christ said, I'm the
vine, you're the branches. Without me, you can do nothing.
He is our strength. And then this veil was made of
cunning work with cherubims. Now cunning work was different.
I can't remember if I told you this or not. Cunning work's different
from needle work. Needlework would have made the
cherubim just be on one side of the linen if it was done with
needlework. Cutting work means it was embroidered
so that the cherubim was on both sides of the linen. It was double
sided. Now Christ and his people are
one just like these cherubim were one with this holy Lennon. Christ and his people are one.
He said in John 17, that's the Lord's true prayer. The Lord's
prayer is John 17. It's not that prayer where he
taught us how to pray. That was just him teaching us
how to pray, but the Lord's prayer is John 17. And he said there,
Father, thou in me, and I in them, that they may be made perfect
in one. And that's what we have here.
We have these cherubim one with this holy linen veil, which pictures
Christ. And that's, we're one with Christ.
And so, and also, you see here, like this double-sided, these
cherubims were, it was double-sided. They were on the one side and
the other side. And Christ has rewarded his people
double. That's what the scripture says.
It says, Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,
for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her
sins. You see, everybody will tell
you, most everybody will tell you, don't look to yourself for
righteousness, to be justified. Don't look to yourself. But then
they'll turn around and tell you that sanctification, being
made holy, is a co-effort between you and Christ. It's not so.
We dare not look to ourselves for righteousness and we don't
look to ourselves for holiness. Christ, if you read 1 Corinthians
1.30, what does it say? It says, of God is Christ made
unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He's all. He's all. So secondly
now, let's see Christ in the hanging of this veil. Now look
here at Exodus 26, 32. It says, And thou shalt hang
it upon four pillars of shittum wood overlaid with gold. Their
hooks shall be of gold upon the four sockets of silver. Now this veil was thick and heavy. It was heavy. And so it took
four pillars to hang it. There was first just a room like
this and then in the middle of this room they put four pillars
and they hung this fine twine linen and that was the holy place. Outside was called holy but within
there it was the most holy, the holiest of holies. And so they're
hanging this veil on these four pillars of chitim wood overlaid
in gold. And so this whole veil's hanging
on those four pillars. Now we're told in Hebrews 10,
and we're gonna go there in just a moment and see it, but we're
told in Hebrews 10 that this veil represents Christ's flesh,
his humanity. So if you see Christ's humanity
typified here hanging on these golden pillars, Then the golden
pillars are a good type of His divinity, of His Godhead. And you see, this is something
I'm so weary of hearing, when we speak of, when we quote the
scripture that says, the Lord laid on Christ the iniquity of
us all. When it says, He made Him who
knew no sin, sin for us. And men want to say, oh, you're
saying Christ was a sinner and you're saying He was corrupted.
No. No. He had to be holy within. He had to be holy within for
this sacrifice to be accepted. He had to offer Himself without
spot to God. But at the same time, the Scriptures
tell us that he who knew no sin was made sin. Both those things
are always given to us. He knew no sin, but he was made
sin. And then you read in the Psalms
that while he was made sin, while he was bearing the guilt of his
people and was viewed by God as guilty, he was touched with
all the feelings of our sins. And God separated Himself from
him, and yet the Lord Jesus never ceased looking to the Father.
He never ceased being faithful and holy in His heart. Never. So both of these things are necessary. What we see here is you see the
humanity of Christ being upheld by these golden pillars by His
Godhead and His divinity. How could He be made sin for
His people and yet never be corrupted because His Godhead upheld His
humanity like these four pillars upheld this veil that pictured
His flesh. Do you get that? You see that
picture? Somebody tell me, you see it?
Okay. All right. So then the Ark of
the Testimony was placed inside the holiest of holies within
the veil. He says here in verse 33, and
thou shalt hang up the veil under the thatches, that thou mayest
bring in thither within the veil the Ark of the Testimony. Now
this is the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of the Testimony, and
we know that it pictures Christ, it pictures our mercy seat, propitiation,
propitiation and mercy seat are the same thing. This is the place
of mercy in the Ark. And so, when you behold this
Ark going inside the holiest of holies, just like the high
priest, he could go in the holiest of holies one time a year, and
he had to go in with blood, and he sprinkled that blood on that
mercy seat above the ark, above the law of God. So as we see
this ark going in to the holiest of holies, just like we see the
type of the high priest going in there, we see Christ entering
into God's presence on behalf of His people. Now let's go to
Hebrews 9, and let me show you that I'm not making this up,
that it's actually in the Word of God. Let's go to Hebrews chapter
9. It says here, it says, then,
verse 1, then verily the first covenant, the old covenant, had
also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. For
there was a tabernacle made. That's what we're looking at.
The first wherein was the candlestick and the table and the showbread.
It's called the sanctuary. It's called the holy place. And
after the second veil, now that's the veil we're looking at today.
After the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of
all, which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant.
overlaid round about with gold, there's the Ark of the Testimony,
wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that
budded, and the tables of the covenant, the tables of the law,
and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat,
of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these
things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the
first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God, but into
the second, went the high priest alone, once every year, not without
blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people."
Now what did that signify? What did that typify? The Holy
Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was
not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet
standing. which was a figure, it was a
type, it was a picture for the time then present in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that
did the service perfect. It couldn't make anybody perfect
as pertaining to the conscience. It stood only in meats and drinks
and different washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until
the time of reformation. Now watch this, but Christ being
come, a high priest, He's our high priest of good things to
come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. We've been seeing
how everything about this tabernacle pictures Christ. He's the tabernacle. Look, not made with hands, that
is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by His own blood. Watch what He did. He entered
in once into the holy place. He entered into the holiest of
holies. He entered into God's presence, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. You see that? What is redemption? What is eternal redemption? Well,
eternal means it'll never be undone. And redemption means
you've been purchased. You've been bought. That tells
me this. Christ obtained it. He obtained
the eternal purchase of somebody. That means they will never be
found cast away in hell. Because He purchased them. They're
His purchased possession. So if you see men going through
life never believing on Christ, that means Christ didn't die
for everybody, did He? Because He's not going to lose
His people that He obtained eternal redemption for. He's going to
bring them to behold Him and rest in Him. He obtained eternal
redemption for us. That's who it's speaking to.
Now when Christ cried out, it's finished on the cross, when He
said it is finished, He was declaring The law is fulfilled. The law
is fulfilled for his people. And when he cried that out to
bear witness that the law was fulfilled, do you remember what
happened to the veil? The veil rent in two from top
to bottom. That thick veil that we're looking
at in our text, it split from the top to the bottom and just
opened up. What was that signifying? It's
signifying that our sins were put away by the sacrifice of
Christ. Now we're risen with Him. We're
righteous in Him. And that ripped veil declared
that there's now access into God's holy presence. One way. We're not entering through the
veil anymore. We're entering through Christ now who entered
in for us. Go with me to Hebrews 10 and
I'll show you this. Hebrews chapter 10. Look here in verse 14. For by
one offering he hath perfected forever them that are set apart. Them that are sanctified. Christ
perfected his people forever. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us. He's going to make us be born
again and He's going to bear witness to this in our heart.
For after that He has said before, this is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my
laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. See, we saw how Those
sacrifices of bulls and goats, they never made them perfect
as pertaining to the conscience. But here, when the Holy Ghost
bears witness, He bears witness in our conscience. He purges
our conscience from dead works. And He tells us, there's no more
offering for sin. So we stop working to try to
make ourselves righteous and holy before God. There's no more
offering to be made. Christ is the offering. Now watch
this. Verse 19, having therefore, brethren,
boldness, liberty, confidence to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath
consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, what is
this new and living way? It's His flesh. His broken body
and His shed blood put away our sin. He's the way. And having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, He's purged our conscience from dead
works to serve the true and living God. And our bodies washed with
pure water, we've been washed by the word of the gospel. Let
us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for
He is faithful that promised. Now, we're not entering by that
old dead way anymore. That way was dead. That veil
was not new and living. Christ is the new and living
way. He's the one way that a sinner can be cured of all our sin,
washed of all our sin, and enter into God's presence. It's through
faith in Christ. The Holy Ghost comes through
this gospel and bears witness in the heart of His child. You'll
be sitting there in the pew. There'll be two or three people
sitting beside you. You hear the gospel go forth
and the Holy Spirit will go into the heart of one and pass by
the others and reveal in the heart of that one that Christ
is the way. And that sinner will begin to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God. And that
sinner will for the first time realize, I'm a sinner and the
only way I can come into God's presence, the only way I can
come into God's presence is through faith in Christ. The one way. What did Christ say? He said,
I am the way. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Now listen, you're going to face
God and I'm going to face God. We're going to face God one day.
There's a judgment appointed. We're going to stand before God
one day. Now if you come before God in your works, in your own
so-called righteousness and so-called holiness, Scripture says you'll
be weighed in the balance and you'll come up wanting. You won't
be as righteous and holy as God. Oh, you might be more righteous
and more holy than some other poor sap, but you're not going
to be righteous and holy as Christ is. And that's what you've got
to have. You've got to have His righteousness and His holiness.
And if you stand there before God in judgment and you do not
have the righteousness that is required, Christ will say, depart
from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you. I never knew
you. But if you stand there robed
in the righteousness of Christ, Christ will speak on our behalf
and say, that one's mine. I've made him righteous. And
all our sin's been put away on the cross. Judgment's been settled
on the cross so that there's no condemnation. And God will
receive us. God will receive us. I think
I told you this story When I was in Franklin, Tennessee, a man
in the church, he had to end up going to court. And he was
sitting in court. and he didn't see his lawyer.
His lawyer had slipped in over in the corner and was seated
over here and he didn't see his lawyer. And these people kept
trying to represent themselves and they would go up before the
judge and the judge was just, I mean, he was just tearing them
up one side and down the other, telling them, you don't speak
the law, you don't understand the law, don't try to come before
me representing yourself, you need an advocate. You need somebody
representing you. You can't come before me. And
he was doubling their fines and doubling their jail time and
what have you because they didn't have a lawyer. And so Jay was
getting worried because he didn't see his lawyer in the courtroom.
And the judge called out his name. And Jay was about to stand
up. And when he did, his advocate
stood up. And he said, Your Honor, I represent
him. Jay didn't have to say a word.
He didn't say a word. His lawyer took care of the whole
thing with the judge and he walked out free. That's what I'm talking
about. Don't come before God without
an advocate. You have to come in the one way,
Christ, and He'll take care of everything for His people and
there's no condemnation. I pray now the Holy Spirit will
come. I pray He would use these words to penetrate the heart
of some lost sinner and really make you see Christ is the way
and make you believe on Him today. That's my prayer. Let's stand
together, brethren. Heavenly Father, we thank You
for this Word. We thank You for the pictures
and types of Christ. Lord, thank You for sending Your
Son. Thank You for providing the way
into Your holy presence. And Lord, help us now to trust
Him and hold fast our profession of faith without wavering. And
Lord, we pray that You would call out one of Your lost sheep
today and make them believe on Christ. Thank you for this day. Thank you for this place and
for these brethren. We pray, Lord, now that you'd
bless the message and bless our meeting together here in the
next hour. Forgive us our sins, Lord. We ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.