All right, I have two volunteers
that are going to read for us this morning. Hebrews 8.1, Maggie's
going to read verse 1 for us, and Lucy's going to read verse
2. Stand up, would you? Read nice and loud. Now this is a very important
study, this study of the tabernacle. Everything surrounding this tabernacle
is a picture of Christ. One of the writers said you meet
Christ going around every corner of the tabernacle. And that's
true because every stitch, every element that's used in making
the tabernacle, all of it, to the most minute detail is a picture
of Christ. So you do meet Christ around
every corner because this tabernacle, and I'll show you this, Lord
willing, this morning, is given to us as a picture of Christ
to tell us a man is coming. And that's how we meet and worship
God. The tabernacle tells us someone's
coming. I taught this lesson in Bible
school to our children. You're all his age, years ago.
And one of the children said, I know the whole Old Testament
tells us someone's coming, someone's coming, someone's coming. That's
what they were taught in their classes when they were little,
when they began Sunday school class. Someone's coming, someone's
coming, just like a train clicking down the track. Someone's coming,
someone's coming. But she said the tabernacle screams,
someone's coming. And God tells us specifically
in his word how the tabernacle is a picture of Christ. It's
a picture of a person. And it's also, you can tell it's
important because of the amount of space scripture gives to the
tabernacle, to the instructions of the tabernacle. Everyone universally
seems like it's very taken up with the law. Everyone's interested
in the law. God's Word devoted two chapters
to the giving of the law. God's Word devotes 10 chapters
to the instructions of the tabernacle because every one of those details
is a picture of God's Son. Even when God gave Moses the
instructions for the tabernacle is a picture of Christ. Remember,
Moses was up on the mountain. God was giving Moses the law.
In Exodus 20-24, God gave Moses the law. Then in Exodus 25-31,
he begins to give Moses the instructions for the tabernacle. What was
going on when Moses was up there on the mountain? Remember, he
was up on the mountain. He's up there for 40 days. The
people said, he's not coming back. Remember what they did? They made him an idol. They said,
we better make us an idol. And they made an idol. They made
that golden calf. And Aaron said, this is the God
that brought you out of Egypt and brought you here. They were
worshipping an idol. Before the people did that, before
they sinned, God had given the instruction for how he's to be
worshipped. Before they sin, God had given the instruction
for the way that he's going to forgive their sin through the
sacrifices that are offered at this tabernacle. Before they
sin, God gave the picture of his Son who would come and put
that sin away. That's why we say all the time,
before there was a sinner, there was a Savior. Before God ever
created the world, He had ordained His Son. He's the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. He had already ordained His Son
to come and be the Savior of a people who, as of that moment,
hadn't sinned yet, not physically, on earth. Now look over in Exodus
chapter 20. When Moses was up there on that
mountain, God gave Moses the law, the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20, verse 3, God says, Thou shalt have no
other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water underneath
the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
under the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. Well, for
the children of Israel, it's too late, isn't it? Before they'd
even received that law, what had they done? They made a graven
image. They bowed down to it and they
gave that graven image the glory for delivering them from Israel
instead of God. It's too late. You and me don't
need the law. We don't need the law. We need
grace. It's too late. We can't keep
the law. We need this one who's coming that this tabernacle pictures.
who will put away our sin. This is the way we can meet with
God through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's
who the tabernacle represents. Now look over at John chapter
1. This is an important study because
God's Word leaves absolutely no doubt. This tabernacle is a picture of Christ, represents
the person of Christ. John 1 verse 14. Do I have a
volunteer now to read this verse for me? Stand up and read it
nice and loud, verse 14. That word dwelt, you just read?
You know what that word literally is? Tabernacled. The Lord Jesus Christ came and
he tabernacled among us. John was referring to this tabernacle. He tabernacled among us in human
flesh. And Revelation 21. I'll show
you this again. Revelation 21. This tabernacle
was always given to us to picture a person. It's not a thing. It's
a person. Revelation 21, verse 2. And I,
John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he." It doesn't say an it, does it? He, the tabernacle that this
is a picture of is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. That tabernacle is given to us as a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, before we start studying
all the different elements and the different furniture that's
in the tabernacle, I'm going to give you eight or nine different
ways, just kind of as an introduction to our study, that the tabernacle
is a picture of Christ. The first one is this. Look back
at Hebrews chapter 8, where we begin. The Lord told Moses, You be sure
to construct this tabernacle exactly like I tell you. In verse
5 of Hebrews chapter 8. I got another volunteer. Verse 5, uh-huh. Admonished. Why was it so important that
God told Moses, you be sure to make all these things exactly
like I showed you. Don't change them. Because every
one of these elements is a picture of Christ. Every one of these
elements, all the pieces of the furniture, all are going to show
us how Christ is going to come and save his people from their
sins. If we're going to approach God, we're going to do it through
his son, this one who's coming that's represented in the picture
by this tabernacle. If we're going to worship God,
it's going to be through him. If we're going to be accepted
of God, it's through him. So you be sure to make everything
exactly like I told you. Because when the Lord Jesus Christ
came to this earth in a tabernacle among us, God prepared, the Father
prepared for him a body. And the Father, God the Father,
is the architect of this tabernacle, just like He prepared His Son,
a body, and every detail is important. Just like everything that our
Lord did when He was on this earth, none of it was unimportant. Nothing He did was wasted. Everything
He did was concerning the salvation of His people, just like every
element of this tabernacle is a representation of Christ and
how He saves His people from their sin. The tabernacle is the only place
that God would meet with men. God didn't meet with all the
other nations of the earth. He only met with Israel in this
tabernacle. That's the only place. Now look
back in Exodus 25. The tabernacle shows us how a
holy God can dwell with the sinful people. There's no doubt Israel's
a sinful people. They made that golden calf and
worshiped him. They're a sinful people. Well,
how can God dwell with them in this tabernacle? He can meet
with them and have mercy on them through the person that this
tabernacle represents. In Exodus 25, verse 22. Do I have another volunteer? They're all looking down. Blaine,
would you read that for us? You're going to be too shy? All
right, well I won't make you. When I was your age, Henry made
me read. I won't make you. Verse 22, excuse
me, I'll read it. And there I will meet with thee,
and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from
between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony
of all things which I will give thee in commandment of the children
of Israel. There I'll meet with thee at
the mercy seat. That's where God's, His Shekinah
glory shone above the mercy seat. This is how God can meet with
sinners like you and me, at the mercy seat. And that mercy seat,
we'll see this as we get into our studies, is a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The only place God will meet
with sinners in mercy is in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy
and truth can only be met together in the Lord Jesus Christ, in
His person and in His sacrifice. Third, the tabernacle was a place
of worship. And that's a picture of Christ.
Christ is our sole object, the sole affection of our worship. You know why your parents bring
you here every Sunday and every Wednesday? It's not so you got
some friends, so you can see your friends and visit your friends.
I love my friends. I mean, I love seeing you all.
I mean, I just I look forward to it. It's just the people I
love the most. But that's not why we gather
here. We gather here for one reason, to worship the Lord. That's the only reason we meet
together. And Christ isn't just a place of worship. We worship
him in spirit and in truth. The only way sinners can approach
the Father is through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the blood
of his sacrifice and through his righteousness. And we're
here to worship Christ, not worship things about Christ. not learn
things about Christ. We're here to learn of Christ,
to be pointed to Him and learn of Him and be accepted in Him.
Fourth, the layout of the camp is a picture of Christ. You know,
as Israel moved through the wilderness on their way to the Promised
Land, when they'd pick up camp and they'd go to a new place
and they'd set down their camp, the first thing they'd do before
they did anything else is re-erect the tabernacle, put it up. It
was the center of the camp. And all the tribes had a specific
place that they would camp. They didn't just go wherever
they wanted to, they had a specific place around the tabernacle where
they would set up their camp. The whole camp was organized
by the tabernacle. Once you saw where the tabernacle
was, then you'd know where you were supposed to go. Because
your place was designated around the tabernacle. And that's Christ
as a believer. The existence of a believer.
is organized by Christ. Once you see where He is, then
you know where you're supposed to be. Now, I'm going to give
you a piece of advice. It's going to be a while before
you go off to college, but when you do, go someplace where you
can hear the gospel preached. And when you get up, grown up,
and you get a job, you've got a decision to make on where you're
going to live, live someplace where you can hear the gospel
preached. Once you know where Christ is, then you know where
you're supposed to be. Find out where he's preached,
and that's where you're supposed to be. And if you have an opportunity
to go to some city where the gospel's not preached, I can
tell you right now, you're not supposed to go there. Find out
where Christ is, then you know where you're supposed to be.
And that's the way the children of Israel were. The tabernacle was the center
of the camp. Christ is not just the center
of a believer's life. I hate it when I hear false preachers
say, Oh, Jesus wants you to make him number one in your life. No, he does not. That's blasphemous. God doesn't want anything. What
he willed to do, that's what he does. Whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he in heaven and earth and the seas and all
deep places. God doesn't want anything. Certainly
Christ is first in a believer's life, but much more than that. Christ is our life. He is the
believer's life. And I worry when I see people
finding every excuse in the world so many other things to do on
a regular basis other than come to the worship service. There's
times you have to be somewhere and go somewhere, or you're sick
or whatever, and I'm not saying anything about that. I'm talking
about on a regular basis. There's a problem. If somebody
can find a reason to be somewhere other than where God's Gospels
being preached. When Christ is your life, the
worship service is not just some appointment you're supposed to
keep a couple times a week. It's a daily walk with Him. It's
a daily prayer. It's reading His Word. It's walking
in His ways in holiness and righteousness. It's more than just having our
life centered around Christ. He is our life. And I'll tell
you something else about the layout of this camp. God's a
God of order. Everything he did in creation
is order. When he tells us how to meet
together and worship, it's in an orderly fashion. Well, the
layout of this camp was orderly. It wasn't just chaos. Everybody
knew where they were supposed to be once the tabernacle was
built. Well, outside this gate, this
gate always pointed to the east end, where the sun would come
up. You know what tribe camped outside that gate? Every time,
when they built the tabernacle, The tribe of Judah camped outside
that gate on the east end. And that's no accident. Even
that's a picture of Christ. Every time you would come to
the tabernacle or you'd leave the tabernacle, you know what
you had to do? You had to go through the tribe
of Judah. And you know why that is? Because Christ came from
the tribe of Judah. He was born of the tribe of Judah.
Mary was from the tribe of Judah. God ordained it that way because
that's the way he made Jacob prophesy, the Messiah's coming
from Judah. Fifth, the tabernacle was meant
to be temporary. It wasn't meant to be used forever.
It was just built for a temporary use. It was just for the time
that the children of Israel were in the wilderness as they were
on their way to the Promised Land. The body of Christ was
prepared for temporary use. He didn't come to this earth
to set up a kingdom and reign eternally, did he? He came to
the earth to die. He came to this earth to be a
sacrifice for the sins of his people. He was just here in the
wilderness of sin for a temporary time to establish righteousness
and suffer and die for the sins of his people. The tabernacle
was used in the wilderness less than 35 years. We read in various
writers that say this, and I think they're probably right. Our Lord
Jesus spent about 33 or 34 years as a man on this earth. Just
about the same amount of time a tabernacle was used in the
wilderness. But now, the tabernacle is long gone. It's completely
gone. Nobody knows where anything from
this tabernacle is anymore. The ark, the mercy seat, the
altar, it's all gone. Christ is not gone. He dwells
eternally in the heavens. He put the sin of His people
away. This tabernacle is just a picture,
and that's all it is. It's a picture, a representation
of Christ, given to us to teach us of Christ, the Messiah that
is coming. Christ didn't just give us a picture of salvation.
He didn't give us just a picture of how He's going to make His
people righteous. He made His people righteous. He did put
the sin of His people away, and because He did that, He satisfied
His Father, He pleased His Father. has given him a name which is
above every name. And he sits in exalted flesh
in glory on the throne of heaven at the right hand of the Father.
Sixth, the tabernacle is where the family of the high priest
was fed. Now the family of the high priest, the tribe of Levi,
they couldn't own anything. They didn't plant crops, they
didn't do anything to earn money. All of their time was spent serving
the Lord, and they were supported by the tithe of the people. And
when they ate, they ate the showbread that was on the table of showbread.
We'll see that in a few weeks in the tabernacle. They ate the
flesh of that burnt offering that they offered as a burnt
offering for the sin of the people. And all that's a picture of Christ.
Christ is the true bread from heaven. He is the bread of life,
and believers eat Him. That's where we get our nourishment.
from hearing Christ preached. And believers eat his body. The
body of Christ was roasted with fire. His body was roasted with
the fire of God's wrath against the sin of his people. And his
people eat his flesh and drink his blood that was freely shed
for us. I've been preaching in different places all across this
country for twenty-some years. This is universally true. Joe
attested this. No matter where they are, believers,
they have different cultures, different backgrounds. Joe, every
believer has an appetite for Christ, don't they? It's easy
to preach to believers. They have an appetite for one
thing, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now seventh, if
you saw this tabernacle from the outside, you wouldn't be
impressed. It didn't look like much. The
outside of the tabernacle gave no hint of the glory that was
inside of it. All you'd see, it just looked
like a common tent covered with badger skin. It doesn't look
like anything impressive. Well, the same thing's true of
our Lord Jesus Christ. His physical appearance was not
so impressive that masses of people followed him, wanted to
be around him. You know, you see these paintings of a hippie
with long hair and this glow around his head? That's not Christ. He didn't look special. He didn't
look anything different than anybody else. Matter of fact,
he looked worse. He just, he didn't look, nothing special
about his appearance. People thought, this is just
an ordinary man. There's nothing special. We know
his father and his mother. We watched him grow up. Isaiah
said, there's nothing special. There's no beauty about him that
we would desire him. That's all people could tell
when they looked at Jesus. They just saw he's a man. They
couldn't tell from his outward appearance he's the Son of God.
Well, that's just like this tabernacle. It just looks like a common tent.
But if you could pull back those coverings, as we'll do over the
coming weeks, if you could pull back those coverings, you'd see
the glory and the riches of that building. You couldn't see it
from the outside. You had to be able to look on
the inside to see all the glory and the riches of that building.
Well, if God's given you eyes to see Christ, Then you see the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You have to be able to
see Him. Now, looking at it, still in Exodus 25, here's the
eighth thing. Except for the silver that was
used for the foundation of the walls, everything that was in
this tabernacle, everything that was used to build the tabernacle,
was given willingly as an offering. In Exodus 25, verse 1. Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering
of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart. You should take
my offering. And then all these next verses talk about all the
things that they were going to bring, gold and silver and brass
and the different linens and threads and so forth. Every item
that they brought, and we'll look at this in the coming weeks,
every one of them is a picture of Christ. Now look over in Exodus
35. Next is 35 verse 21. And they came, everyone whose
heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing,
and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle
of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the
holy garments. They all came bringing all these
different things. Now look over at chapter 36. How willing were these people
to bring this offering to the Lord? Chapter 36 of Exodus, verse
4. And all the wise men that wrought
all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work
which they made. And they spake unto Moses, saying,
The people bring much more than enough for the service of the
work which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment,
and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying,
Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering
of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained.
They had to make them stop bringing stuff. For the stuff they had
was sufficient for all the work to make it. And too much. They
had more than they could use. They had to tell people, quit
bringing stuff. We don't have a place to put it anymore. We've got too much.
That's the amazing generosity that the Lord gives his people.
Israel was a stiff-necked, rebellious people. They were greedy. They
were stingy. But the Lord made their heart
willing to give to build this tabernacle, and they gave more
than they could use. God makes his people willing
in the day of his power. This is the most gracious, giving
group of people that I know, and I know why it is. The Lord
gave you a willing heart, the same heart that he gave the people
of Israel here. A sinner quits being selfish
and starts being giving. When we see how God freely gives
to us. He freely gives His grace. He
freely gives salvation. He freely gave His Son. The Lord
teaches us this. The Lord always gives you enough
to give. He always gives you enough to share. Always. How
did the Israelites get all this stuff that they brought? They've
been slaves for 400 years. Slaves don't own anything. How'd
they get all this stuff that they could give to the service
of the Lord? When Israel left Egypt, God made the Egyptians
want Israel to leave. And they wanted to leave so bad,
the Egyptians went in, they found all their most precious belongings,
and they gave it to the Israelites. And they said, here, take this
and get out. You want to know something? They just went into
their houses in the middle of the night or first thing in the
morning, and they found this stuff to give to the Israelites to
tell them, take this and get out. Is it an accident that they
specifically gave to the Israelites all these little things, even
thread, that the Lord would have them use to build a tabernacle?
That wasn't an accident. God put that in their heart,
to give to his people so they'd have to give to the service of
the Lord. God put that in their heart.
But mainly, I tell you this, this is a picture of the willingness
of Christ. to suffer as our substitute,
to be the sacrifice for the sin of his people. They didn't take
our Lord by force. He wasn't held captive against
his will. That mob came out to get him, and he just told them,
I am, and they all fell over backwards. They didn't have any
power to take him against his will. Pilate told him, he said,
don't you answer me. I've got the power to crucify
you or set you free. Aren't you afraid of me? Our
Lord said, no. You don't have any power except
what the power my father gave you. He wasn't taken by force. He went to the cross willingly. He suffered willingly because
he loved his people. And that's the only way they
could be saved from their sins, that he went willingly. And that
willing Savior is the sufficient Savior. God says the work of
salvation is done. Don't work any. Don't bring any
of your work to this matter of salvation. Just like Moses had
to tell them, quit bringing it. We've got enough. When Christ
died, what did he say? It's finished. The work's done. And his blood is sufficient. His righteousness is sufficient
to save all of his people. Our sin is great. We're great
sinners. But where sin did abound, grace
did much more abound. There's more than enough to save
every one of God's people. Now, there's no more sacrifice
for sin. In this tabernacle, this courtyard,
they offered sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice, rivers
of blood. Didn't put away one sin. We don't
offer blood sacrifices anymore. Why don't we still have the tabernacle
and offer sacrifices like this? Because Christ came and fulfilled
the picture. He offered the one sacrifice
for sin that put sin away forever. There's no more need for another
sacrifice. It's done. It's sufficient. The work's finished. And last, that makes Christ precious. That makes Him precious to His
people. That He would willingly suffer
and die for our sins. That makes Him precious. That's
why He's not just number one in our life. He is our life. They gave, the people gave to
build this tabernacle. 1,500 pounds of gold, 8,500 pounds
of silver, 8,000 pounds of brass. In today's money, that's worth
over $27 million. That makes, per square foot,
when you build a building, you measure how much it costs you
per square foot, $40,000 per square foot. HB, you've never
built a building like that, have you? $40,000 per square foot. That doesn't count the value
of the linen and all the purple and scarlet threads and all.
Just the gold, silver, and brass. Twenty-seven million dollars.
But if you looked from the outside of the camp, you're up on a hill
and you look down, you'd never know that. All you see is badger
skin. It just looks like an ugly little
tent. There's nothing special about
it. But if you're able to look inside, you saw the value of
this building. unto you therefore which believe."
He's precious. If God's given you eyes to see
the Lord Jesus Christ, He's precious. The non-believer, they think
this gospel we preach, they think that's nothing special. What's
good about that? I don't like that. It's like
somebody saw that badger skin. I don't want to live there. I'll choose a kid that looks
nicer. Alright. If God's given you eyes to see,
This is where all the treasure of Israel was. If God's given
you eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ, you see this. That's
where all the treasure of God is. All the treasures of God
are hidden in the Lord Jesus Christ. But they're not hidden
to you to have eyes to see. And to you, therefore, which
have faith, and to you which believe, he's precious. And over the next few weeks,
I'm not sure how many weeks there are, but there will be a few
weeks, And that's what we're going to see in this tabernacle. The reason it's precious is this
reason, not the gold and the silver and the brass, because
it pictures Christ, who is precious. All right. Well, the Lord bless
that to you.