Before turning with me tonight
to Exodus chapter 26, I want to read a couple familiar passages
of scripture to you found in 1 Corinthians. If you have your
Bible, I would like for you to turn to these scriptures. I think
it's always spiritually beneficial and profitable to see them for
yourselves. The first passage is found in
1 Corinthians chapter one. I'll give you a moment to get
there, 1 Corinthians chapter one. Let's begin reading in verse
20. 1 Corinthians chapter one, verse
20. The apostle Paul writing to the
church at Corinth here begins verse 20 with a question, several
questions. He says, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? You know, that's easy for God
to do. Verse 21, for after that, in
the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, meaning the world's
wisdom, their wisdom, knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. for the Jews require
a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Now look at chapter two, verse
one. Paul said, and I brethren, when I came to you, came not
with the excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto
you the testimony of God. That's the gospel. The gospel
is the testimony of God. Then in verse two, Paul writes,
for I determined not to know anything among you, save or except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So we see from these verses that
it pleased God by what the world calls the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And we see what that message
is. It's Jesus Christ crucified. This was the message that Paul
was determined to preach. He was determined to know just
one thing among those whom he preached to. And that was Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. We don't just preach Christ.
We preach Christ crucified. We don't just preach crucifixion. We preach the crucifixion of
Christ. That was Paul's only subject. In his epistles, Paul dealt with
many things. He corrected the different churches
on many errors that they had fallen into. He encouraged them
in their redemption. But when he preached the gospel,
the message was always the same. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
who Christ was and what Christ did. And this must be the message
that we preach. If sinners are to ever be saved,
it pleased the Lord to save sinners that way. So let's keep that
in mind as we get into our study tonight. My task and responsibility
is to preach Christ crucified from every text that we study
tonight in Exodus chapter 26. Turn with me there if you would.
Exodus 26, beginning in verse 15. Our subject tonight on the
tabernacle is concerning the golden boards and silver sockets
or Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's the same subject. Who Christ
is and what Christ has done. Not who we are, not what we've
done for God, no. But who Christ is and what He
accomplished on the cross of Calvary. Now the tabernacle in
the wilderness had a courtyard with a cloth fence around it. And in that courtyard, as you
know, was a building with two rooms, the holy place and the
holy of holies. And we've already thoroughly
considered the four coverings of the tent, the tabernacle.
And we saw Christ in almost every detail of those coverings. But
first tonight, let's talk about the boards. Exodus 26, look at
verse 15. And thou shalt make boards for
the tabernacle of Shittim wood standing up. 10 cubits shall
be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the
breadth of one board. Two tenons shall there be in
one board, set in order one against another. Thus shalt thou make
for all the boards of the tabernacle. Now look down at verse 23. And
two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle
in the two sides. And they shall be coupled together
beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it
unto one ring, and thus shall it be for them both. They shall
be for the two corners." And then look at verse 29. And thou
shalt overlay the boards with gold. Now, first and foremost,
these boards picture Christ. Just as the Ark of the Covenant
and the Table of Shewbread were made of shiddom wood, you remember
that, or acacia wood, they were covered with gold, and so were
these boards. Just like the Ark and the Table,
we again see in these boards the two natures of the Lord Jesus. Shittim wood is actually translated
in the original Greek as incorruptible wood. And that pictures the human
nature of our Lord and Savior as the untainted God-man. Truly, he is bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh, yet without sin. Only the incorruptible God-man
could redeem us. And it was not simply that Christ
assumed a human body, but that He became a man in the full sense
of the Word. He became a man with a spirit,
soul, and body. How do I know that? God's Word
tells us that. It says, "...in all things it
behooved Him to be made like His brethren." Hebrews 2.17. In verse 14 of that same chapter
of Hebrews, It says, for as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he, being Christ, also himself likewise
took part of the same. He's called the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2.15. And according
to Hebrews 10.5, he said, a body has God prepared me. And then
we have the gold, overlaid on the Shittim wood and these boards,
and that pictures our Lord's divine nature and deity. In becoming
a man, the Lord of glory took unto himself a spotless and perfect
humanity. In Luke chapter one, verse 35,
he's called that holy thing. First Peter 2.2 says, the son
of man did no sin. 1 Corinthians 5.21 says that
he knew no sin. 1 John 3.5 says in him was no
sin. He forever remains the holy one
of God. And he didn't die. This is so
important. He did not die from pain, suffering,
and weakness. No, he voluntarily laid down
his life for his elect people. So what is our message? You know
what it is. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know, all the years that
I was in religion, God was preached to me as unapproachable. He was
the untouchable and unapproachable judge of the universe. And Christ
was always portrayed as one who was something or someone less
than God. He was God's son. but not quite
on the level of God. He was one who was somewhat inferior
to God. He was one who loved everyone
and was sympathetic with everyone and would compromise and forgive
everyone when God wouldn't, or when God couldn't. But that's
not so. Jesus Christ is God. Scripture's
very clear. All power and judgment has been
put into His hand. And as God the Son, in him is
found the fullness of the Godhead in a body. He who was God became
a man." Now, I know this may seem elementary, but I don't
want to assume that everyone listening knows this. Why did
God become a man? That's a very important question. How God became a man is not something
that we can easily understand, but we're certainly told why
he became a man in the scriptures. Well, there was no other way
that we could be saved. Sinful men and women can't be
redeemed unless God's law is completely honored and perfectly
satisfied. And it's the same with God's
holy justice. It must be perfectly satisfied. Sin cannot go unpunished. Death
is sin's wages. God's too holy to excuse sin. The scripture says, he by no
means can clear the guilty. The soul that sins shall die.
You've heard me say those things hundreds and hundreds of times.
The debt of our sin requires our death. So how can you and
I escape this death? Just one way. in, by, and through
a sacrifice, a sacrifice that is without spot, without blemish
or any such thing, Ephesians 5, 27. And that's why Christ
and Him crucified is the gospel message. You see, God cannot
die and man cannot satisfy. So God became a man in order
to do both. And that man is Christ Jesus. And that's what we see in these
boards of the tabernacle. We see who Jesus Christ is. He's God. Now, where did these
boards come from? Well, they were trees that were
cut off out of the land of the living. Isn't that where they
came from? Somebody sawed them down. Somebody laid the ax to
the root and cut them down. And our Lord was cut off out
of the land of the living. That's what the scriptures say.
He was cut down. Men with wicked hands crucified
the Lord of glory, but it was by the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God. And being the perfect sacrifice
and the perfect substitute, death and the grave couldn't hold him.
He's risen, he's raised up and preserved in his golden deity. So we see that the sides of the
tabernacle here were comprised of these boards made of cut down
shed of wood and overlaid with gold. And we see that each of
these boards were held up by a foundation. They stood upon
a base of silver sockets. Verse 17 tells us that. It says,
two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against
another. Thus shalt thou make for all
the boards of the tabernacle. Now each board would have two
tenons. Tenons, if you have a marginal
Bible, are said to be hands. These boards fit into these silver
sockets, which served as the foundation. Look at verse 18. And thou shalt make the boards
for the tabernacle, 20 boards on the south side, southward,
And thou shalt make 40 sockets of silver under the 20 boards,
two sockets under one board for his two tenons and two sockets
under another board for his two tenons. And for the second side
of the tabernacle on the north side, there shall be 20 boards
and there 40 sockets of silver, two sockets under one board and
two sockets under another board. And for the sides of the tabernacle
westward, "'Thou shalt make six boards, and two boards shalt
thou make "'for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.'"
Verse 24, "'And they shall be coupled together beneath, "'and
they shall be coupled together "'above the head of it into one
ring. "'Thus shall it be for them both. "'They shall be for the two corners. and they shall be eight boards
and their sockets of silver, 16 sockets, two sockets under
one board and two sockets under another board. So there were
40 sockets of silver for the 20 boards on the South side and
the same provision was made for the 20 boards on the North side.
Then we see in verse 25, we learn that There's eight boards at
the western rear that also had two sockets each. So that was
96 silver sockets in all. Each board was maintained in
its place by the two tenons or hands or sockets as they're called. which fitted into and they were
grasped by those silver sockets and hands. 96 silver sockets
formed the foundation upon which the structure of the tabernacle
was formed. Now that's a lot of silver, over
five tons of silver, right at 10,000 pounds of it. That would
be about $1.8 million today. Now this is what I want you to
see. Remember what our message is? It's Christ and Him crucified. Now, it is in these tenons, these
hands, these sockets, whatever you want to call them, it's in
them that we see the preciousness of our redemption. What makes
our redemption so precious is the fact that all the silver
used in connection with the tabernacle came from atonement money. That's where they got all this
silver. Turn over a few pages and look
at Exodus chapter 30 with me. Exodus chapter 30 verse 12. I want you to see this. Exodus chapter 30 verse 12. When thou takest the sum of the
children of Israel after their number, what God is telling Moses
here is to take a census. And when he did, he says, then
shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord. When
thou numberst them, that there shall be no plague among them
when thou numberst them. Now look at verse 14. Everyone
that passeth among them that are numbered from 20 years old
and above shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich man,
the rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less
than half a shekel when they give an offering unto the Lord
to make an atonement for your souls. Verse 16, and thou shall
take the atonement money of the children of Israel and shall
appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
that it may be a memorial, that it might remind the children
of Israel before the Lord to make atonement for your souls. Now it's interesting here that
God required the same from each of them. The rich gave no more,
the poor gave no less. Their atonement required the
same from all. The silver came from atonement
money. the atonement money of the children
of Israel, according to verse 15. How true that is of our atonement. God requires the same from all. God requires the perfect righteousness
of Christ. And only Christ can give that
perfect righteousness. None can be redeemed apart from
the Lord Jesus and the atonement that He alone can provide. Christ
is our foundation for atonement. Isaiah 28, 16 says this. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. And he that
believeth shall not make haste. In Matthew chapter 16, verse
18, speaking of himself, Christ said to Peter, you remember this?
He said, and I say unto you that thou art Peter and upon this
rock, he's not talking about Peter, he's talking about himself,
the solid rock. And he said, I will build my
church and the gates of hell should not prevail against it.
Now stay with me on this. This is absolutely beautiful.
You remember what all these things picture? I ask you again, do
you remember what our message is? It's not just Jesus Christ,
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So we see that these silver sockets
typify our redemption accomplished and full atonement made by Christ
for God's elect, for His people. And this silver socket foundation
was no doubt precious and very costly. It cost every person
over the age of 20, the same amount of silver. But the beautiful
thing about our redemption and our atonement is that our justification
is freed to us, free to us, but it costs Christ everything. Romans 3.24 says it best, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is
where? In Christ Jesus. And the beautiful thing is this,
our foundation is even more sure and more precious than these
silver sockets were. Peter tells us that in 1 Peter
1 verse 19 and 20. He said, for as much as you know
that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood, the precious blood of
Christ. as a lamb without blemish and
without spot, who barely was foreordained before the foundation
of the world was manifest in these last times for you. Christ Jesus, by His own precious
blood, paid the ransom for each of His elect. He purchased us
from the curse of the law. He redeemed us. Paul said to
the church at Ephesus, we're his workmanship. We belong to
him. We're his possession. And these
silver sockets were that solid foundation of redemption that
held up the entire tabernacle. And so it is with Christ, our
foundation. He's our redemption accomplished. It's Christ, the solid rock,
the sure and firm foundation that holds up the church of Christ. Acts 4, verse 11 says, this is
the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Did you hear that? Oh, I wish
the world would preach that, don't you? There's no salvation
in any other but in Christ. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. or the foundation of the tabernacle
in the wilderness wasn't the sand of the wilderness, it was
the silver sockets, firm as a rock, as is Christ our foundation and
His redemption accomplished for us. Isn't that what the Lord
said in Matthew chapter seven? Verse 24, he said, therefore,
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will
liken unto him unto a wise man which built his house upon a
rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the house, and
it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand."
Friends, Christ is our foundation. And if we build on him, our house
will not fall. Israel didn't add to the Tabernacles
Foundation, that foundation was already laid. And we don't add
anything to Christ accomplished Redemption by our works. We serve God and we're accepted
by God upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And what He's done is our firm
foundation in the redemption that He accomplished for us.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11. What
a beautiful picture the golden boards and the silver sockets
give us of Christ and Him crucified. That is the message we preach. And that's the only thing that
we desire to know among sinners. Do you know who Christ is? He's
God. Do you know why He came? Well, He came to be the sacrifice
and the substitute for those that God gave Him before the
foundation of the world. Yet a lot of folks don't seem
to have a true understanding as to what Christ actually did
to redeem us from the curse of the law. Well, He was made a
curse for us. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
You think about that. He took all the sin of all God's
elect throughout all time upon himself. And he satisfied God's
justice because he was a perfect sacrifice and substitute. And
God's holy justice could not keep him in the grave. No, it
had to release him. I remember reading an interesting
article one time about movie stand-ins. You know what a movie
stand-in is? There was one man in particular
that was a stand-in for Tom Cruise in the movie Mission Impossible
2. Now that sounds pretty impressive and glamorous to tell folks that
you're a stand-in for someone like Tom Cruise. But really,
the man that was said that there was nothing glamorous about it
at all. Actually, it was very hard and trying work. You see,
a stand-in is someone who replaces the movie star in scenes that
are dangerous, like a stuntman, or just plain uncomfortable. You see, instead of the star,
the movie star, standing for hours at a time in order for
the cameraman to get the right shot or for the director to get
the lighting just right and the props just so, these stand-ins
would often, for long periods of time, stand out in the weather,
getting drenched in the rain and burn up in the sun and in
the heat. And this man who was a stand-in
for Mr. Cruz said that when everything
was just right, that Tom would walk out of his air-conditioned
RV or get out of his air-conditioned Ferrari sports car once the scene
was ready and they were ready to shoot the footage. And he
said that it was obvious to all that there was a great difference
between being the star and being a stand-in. I said all that to
say this, the Lord Jesus was much more than just a stand in
for his people. He endured much more than just
a little discomfort. While he endured the excruciating
pain of being nailed to a cross, he suffered and endured the wrath,
the judgment, and the separation of being forsaken of God. He
Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. And it
was by His wounds that His people were healed. He suffered once
for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring
us to God. He died the just for the unjust. Christ came to die for the ungodly. Therefore, he had to be made
like unto his brethren in every respect. He suffered once for
sins, the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God."
I love to think about that. Do you see Christ crucified in
the golden boards and in the silver sockets? The Lord said,
Moses wrote of me, And He certainly did. I pray that God will enable
us to keep seeing Christ and Him crucified in every message.
That's my prayer. Every time that I study, Lord,
show me Christ and Him crucified. Show us plainly from the scriptures.
You see, it's in Him and what He did that we have life. No
other way.