And our text this morning is
Nexus 27, beginning in verse 9. And thou shalt make the court
of the tabernacle. For the side southward there
shall be hangings for the court, a fine twine linen of an hundred
cubits long for one side. And the twenty pillars thereof
and their twenty sockets shall be of brass. The hooks of the
pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise for
the north side in length, there should be hangings of 100 cubits
long. It has 20 pillars and there are
20 sockets of brass. The hooks of the pillars and
there are billets of silver. And for the breadth of the court
on the west side should be hangings of 50 cubits. There are pillars
10 and there are sockets 10. And the breadth of the court
on the east side eastward should be 50 cubits. The hangings of
one side of the gate should be 15 cubits. There are pillars
3 and there are sockets 3. And on the other side should
be hangings of 15 cubits, their pillars three and their sockets
three. Now this court fence was about 150 feet long, about 75
feet wide, about seven and a half feet tall. And it went all around
this court of the tabernacle. And this fence marked the clear
division from the place where God dwelt here in the tabernacle
And where men dwelt here outside of the tabernacle. And this fence
was made of white linen. And this white linen is a picture
of the holiness of God. God's chief attribute is His
holiness. And that's what someone, the
first thing someone would notice as they would walk up to this
tabernacle is this white fence that went all the way around
it. There is no imperfection. None. Not even the slightest
imperfection in the character of God. All of His ways are perfect. All of His works are perfect.
He's perfect. Look over in Isaiah chapter 40.
God's name is holy. The whole triune God is holy. The Father is holy. His name
is holy. Holy and reverend is His name.
In Isaiah 40 verse 25, To whom then will you liken me, or shall
I be equal, saith the Holy One? This is the Father. His name
is the Holy One. How many times in Scripture do
we read about God the Son? What's His name? The Holy One
of Israel. And the Spirit of God, what's
His name? The Holy Spirit. Now God is holy. And John talked about this Wednesday
night in his message. The first thing that God teaches
someone when He saves them is God is holy. That's what he taught
Moses at the burning bush. The first thing God told him
is, take your shoes off, for the ground whereon you stand
is holy. Now God is holy. Isaiah saw those angels flying
around the throne of God, and what was their cry? Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of hosts. And that's not just something
that the Old Testament saints saw. Look over in Revelations
chapter 4. Everyone is very familiar with
that passage there in Isaiah 6, but look at Revelations chapter
4. This is the cry of the saints
in glory, in eternity. Revelations 4 verse 8. And the four beasts, it's interesting,
John the Baptist, or John the Apostle, Had lived in a different
time and so forth, Esau had the same vision as the prophet Isaiah
all those years ago. It's the same gospel, the same
message, the same vision. In Revelations 4 verse 8, And
the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they
were full of eyes within. And they rest not day and night,
saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and
is, and is to come. Now, you see, everything about
God must be holy. In no circumstance can God violate
His holiness. He cannot do it. And that's the
problem with religion today, with man-made religion. It stems
from not knowing that God is holy. That's the problem. They
know that God is love, and that's true. He is. They know that God
is gracious, and that's true. He is. They know God is merciful,
and He is. But what they don't know is God
is only gracious in a way that will not violate His holiness. God is love, that's true. But
what they don't know is God only loves holy things and holy people. They must be holy. In Habakkuk
1 verse 13, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil. Thou
canst not look on iniquity. God's so holy, He can't even
look on iniquity. God must punish sin. Now, He
does forbear for a time, but now I'm telling you, there's
coming a day God's going to obliterate sin. He's going to put it away
because He cannot look on it. He must punish sin. He can't
overlook sin because God's holy. And God cannot and God will not
allow a sinner in His sin to stand in His presence. He will
not do it because He's holy. The only way to stand, to be,
to exist in God's presence is to be holy. And remember, there's
no degrees of holiness. You're either perfectly holy
or perfectly sinful. There's no in-between. So if
you're going to be in God's presence, you have to be as holy as God
Himself. That's the requirement because
God is holy. Well, I don't think any of us
are foolish enough to think that we're holy, or any part of us
is holy, so we're separated from God. Our sins have separated
us from God, just like this white fence separated the people from
where God dwelt in His glory. And this fence, this white fence,
stands in stark contrast to where men lived. The children of Israel
lived outside this this fence and all their camps that God
had assigned for them to live in, and you know what their tents
were made of? Dark goat's hair. Those black
fences or tents that men lived in stood in stark contrast to
this pure white fence that went around the tabernacle of God.
Just like the blackness of our sins, It stands out in dark contrast
to the holiness of God. You can tell there's a difference
between us and God. His pure white holiness and the
blackness of our sin. And even our so-called righteousnesses,
the very best that we can produce are black. They're filthy rags. They're abomination in God's
sight. The best that we can produce
is something that's black with sin. fence. And there is no way around
the holiness of God. Man-made religion, what men try
to do is find a way around the holiness of God. My daughters
can find a way around my justice. You know, it's just the way a
parent is. You're weak and you love them. God's not like me
and I'm thankful. There's no way around the holiness
and the righteous requirement of God. This fence goes all the
way around the tabernacle. You can't walk around it until
you find a hole. It goes all the way around. It's seven and
a half feet high. You can't look over it. And it
goes all the way to the ground. You can't crawl under it. It's
a perfect holiness. There are no loopholes in God's
holiness. God's not just going to say,
well, I'm going to overlook you. No, God's holy. There's no way
around His holiness. But now listen, holiness, God's
holiness is not a hard, mean, unjust characteristic of God. Not at all. God's holiness is
not an ugly characteristic of God that's against us. Now, I
tell you what's ugly in this equation is us. In our sin, that's
where the ugliness comes from. But God's holiness is not ugly.
It's not an ugly requirement of God that's against us. Look
at Psalm 29. This is the thing of beauty.
Psalm 29. In verse 2, David says, Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. God's holiness is a beautiful
characteristic of God. So this wall marks the clear
division between where God dwelt and where men dwelt. But I'll
tell you what this wall or this fence is also a picture of. This
is a picture of Christ and good things to come. This wall touches
where God dwells. And it also, at the same time,
touches where men dwells, doesn't it? It touches here where God
dwells and out here where men dwells. And that's a picture
of Christ the mediator. There is one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And that's what this wall
is a picture of. A mediator is a go-between who
can touch both warring parties. who can talk to both parties.
Both parties will listen to him and the mediator can satisfy
both warring parties. He can grab hold of both of them
and satisfy them both. Now that's important for us because
men by nature are at war with God. The carnal mind is enmity
against God and we are at war with God. We're born with a nature
that hates God. Everybody wants to talk about
how they love God. Not by nature they don't. Men by nature hate
God. And at the same time, God's angry
with the wicked every day. God's not up there just begging
someone if they'll accept Him. God's angry with the wicked every
day because God's holy. But Christ, in this gulf, God's
angry with the wicked and men hate God and wouldn't take the
first step towards Him if they could. There's a great gulf between
God and men. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the
great mediator, came and He bridged that gulf. He touched both parties
at the same time. He's God. He's God's beloved
Son, so He can touch God. He's at the right hand of God.
He can touch God. And at the same time, He became
a man, so He could touch men and bring men to the Father.
Now that's a touch. I'm telling you, if He's ever
touched you, you know what kind of touch that is. He's the mediator
that touches God, that is God, and at the same time, touches
men. And I'm telling you, it's a touch.
But it's more than just, now, just a touch. It's not like,
you know, us touching somebody, pretend like we're going to heal
somebody, or laying our hands on someone. The touch of God,
the touch of Christ, the Mediator, makes a difference. Because not
only does Christ touch both God and man, He satisfies both God
and man. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
Son, became a man. And He satisfied His Father in
His life by producing a perfect righteousness. He satisfied His
Father. He honored the law, magnified
the law, and the father was well pleased with the life of his
son, the righteousness that he produced. It's the only righteousness
God will ever accept. He's so pleased with it. He's
so satisfied with that righteousness. It's the only righteousness he'll
ever accept. And when God's son became a sacrifice
for sins, the sins of God's people were imputed to him. There at
Calvary, that's where we see how holy God is. How truly holy
He is. Because when He imputed the sins
of His people to His Son, what did the Father do? He killed
His Son. He absolutely crushed Him. He set the fire of His wrath
against those sins. And even though that was His
only Son, God turned His back on Him. And killed Him. Because
God's holy. And the Father was well pleased.
He was well pleased with that sacrifice. He was well pleased
with that blood. And God was reconciled. And you
know how I know God was satisfied? And God was reconciled? He raised
His Son from the dead. And God's reconciled! Christ
satisfied the Father. And He satisfies men. When God
moves in power and grace and reveals Himself and saves a man,
saves a woman, what do we see? We say, I see! Just years, I mean, I grew up
being taught the gospel both at home and at church. I'd sit
there and sit there, and one day I thought, I see! Where have
I been all this time? I see! What did you see? You
didn't see doctrine. You didn't see things that happened
to be true. What you saw is the same thing
Isaiah saw, the same thing John saw. It's not a thing, it's a
person. You saw. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now I
see Him. And when you see Christ, He becomes
your beloved. He becomes your soul's desire. And I'm telling you the truth
this morning. I am well pleased. I am so satisfied with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Aren't you, Mike? Aren't you
satisfied with Him? Oh, He just satisfies my soul. I am so satisfied to put all
of my hope of salvation in him. I'm satisfied. Paul said in 2
Timothy 1 verse 12, I know whom I have believed and I'm satisfied. I'm persuaded. I'm confident
that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. Oh, I'm satisfied. Now Calvary. God was reconciled. He was satisfied. He was reconciled because of
the sacrifice of His Son. Men are reconciled into new birth. Look over at 2 Corinthians chapter
5. If men are going to be reconciled
to God, we've got to be given a new nature. The nature that
we're born with is carnal. It's flesh. It'll never be anything
but flesh. That nature will never be satisfied
with Christ. So we're reconciled in the new
birth, when God gives us a new nature, and that nature is the
one that's satisfied and pleased with the Lord Jesus Christ. 2
Corinthians 5, verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. He's a new creation. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, by this mediator. and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation, to wit, namely, this is our ministry, that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. God's reconciled through the
death of His Son. Now you be reconciled. Now what
on earth would cause a sinful man to be reconciled to God?
Verse 21, for He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And when you've been made the
righteousness of God in Him in the new birth, you're reconciled. You're satisfied with the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the mediator that satisfied
both God and men. Now, this fence is just a picture
of that. Just a picture of the mediator.
Christ is so much better. He's so much better than the
picture. Everything that went on in this tabernacle, everything
that went on inside this fence and all this activity, you know
what all that activity was? Law and ceremony. That's all
it was. There was never any saving, redeeming
power in all the activity that went on in this tabernacle, in
this covenant that God gave Israel. But Christ is better. Look at
Hebrews chapter 8. You know, this fence is a picture
of Christ the mediator. He's a mediator of something
a whole lot better than what went on in this tabernacle. Look
at Hebrews 8 verse 6. But now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry by how much also he's the mediator of a better
covenant, which was established on better promises. And it's
better because he's a better mediator. He's the perfect mediator. Now that's the fence, the white
fine linen that it was made of. But now the fence was held up
by these 60 pillars. And Scripture is not entirely
clear what the pillars were made of. We know the sockets, these
sockets that they stood in, you know, there's a post and it sits
down in this socket. The socket was made of pure brass.
And we have good reason to believe that the pillar itself was not
solid brass, but it was made of incorruptible wood covered
with brass. Now that incorruptible wood,
it's a picture of the humanity of Christ. It's wood, but it's
incorruptible. It won't rot. And that's how
Christ came. He was a man. He was a real man,
just like we are, yet without sin. And because He was without
sin, He could never corrupt. Even in death His body didn't
decay or corrupt because He's perfect. He put all that sin
away. And the brass, is a picture of the deity of Christ. Now,
brass, first of all, is known for its strength. You can't hardly
change it or bend it. And it's able to withstand fire
and not melt. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He withstood the fire of God's
wrath against the sins of His people. The sin that was imputed
to Him, the fire of God's wrath fell on Him, that all-consuming
fire fell on our Lord Jesus Christ because of the sin that was imputed
to Him. And He was not destroyed. In
that fire, He was not destroyed. Instead of Him being destroyed,
He destroyed sin, death, Satan, and hell. He put it away for
His people because He could withstand the fire of God's wrath. And it's this white holiness
that this fence represents. It was His holiness that gave
Him strength to be able to withstand that fire. That fire couldn't
find anything in Him to burn. All searing, destroying fire
searched for sin and could find in Him no sin. That's why He
wasn't destroyed. Now that fire would eternally
destroy every one of us. In a moment it would destroy
us because all we are is sin. It would just turn us to ashes.
Christ was unaffected, just like brass when you put it in the
fire. And if you are in Christ, if by God's grace, He has put
you in His Son, in Christ, this fire will never touch you. The
fire of God's wrath will never touch you, because Christ has
shielded you from it. He's already bore it, and that
fire of God's wrath against your sin will never destroy you. Because it's already fallen on
Christ. And God's satisfied. We just saw that in the mediator.
He's satisfied. And the fire of trial will not
destroy you either. The brass that this represents,
Christ, our strength, will keep you safe from the fire of trial
too. Look over to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, verse 1. John and I were just talking
about these verses last, I think it was Wednesday, and he put
an article in the bulletin about it today. But now, thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, now he didn't say I redeemed you so you won't pass through
the waters. He says when you pass through the waters. I will
be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow
thee. When thou walkest through the fire, and he didn't promise
us you're not going to go through the fire, just the opposite,
he promises you will go through the fire. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. The flame, he promised, will
not kindle upon thee. And I'll tell you a fulfillment
of this scripture. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They heated that furnace up seven times, hotter than it was wont
to be, and threw those three men down in that fire. And Nebuchadnezzar
looked to see them being destroyed, and he said, boys, didn't we
throw three men down in there? And they said, yes, king, we
did. He said, I see four men, not destroyed, walking. They were walking through the
fire. And he, who is the fourth one? He said, he has a figure
like unto the Son of God. the brass. When you walk through
the fire, I'll be with you. And it's not going to kindle
upon you. They brought the three of them out. They didn't even
smell the smoke on their clothes. That fire did not kindle against
them. That's what this brass is a picture
of. You're safe in Christ. Now, brass is known for its strength. And never one time in Scripture
do we read of this fence falling over. These posts held this fence
up, the wind storms that had to be common in that desert,
never blew this fence over. We never read of it. And that
just shows you, you can't get around the holiness of God. You
can't wait around until the fence blows over and look for a place
you can walk in, because it's not going to happen. His holiness
will not be moved. But this is also a picture of
the strength of Christ our Redeemer. He is the mighty conqueror. And there is no doubt He will
eternally save everyone for whom He died. If He shed His blood
for you, you shall be saved. You shall be glorified. There's
no doubt about it. And Christ is the believer's
shelter. No one hiding in Christ will
ever be found guilty. You'll never be ashamed hiding
in Christ. You'll never be shaken. You can
trust the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll never be shaken. That's
what this brass, the strength of this brass represents. He'll
never be shaken. And if you're in Him, you won't
be moved either. You won't be moved because He
won't be moved. And this wood, the incorruptible wood and the
brass that is put together, It's a picture of Christ, the God-man. He's both God and man together. And that's a theme that runs
through this whole tabernacle. We're going to see it over and
over and over again. The God-man. A man is coming. Look back a few pages at Isaiah
32. This tabernacle is telling us
in picture a man is coming. In Isaiah 32, verse 2. And a man shall be as a hiding
place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land. A man is coming. And that's what
this wood and brass together represent. The God-man is coming. Now on top of these pillars there
were silver fillets or tops. And that silver, and we're going
to look at this more in another lesson, I've got time to develop
it in talking about the silver, but it's a picture of redemption. And this God-man, the reason
this silver is on top of this picture of the God-man, is this
God-man is coming to pay the ransom price for the souls of
his elect. Now, we're not redeemed with
silver and gold, with the silver that's on here, all this gold
and riches that's seen in this tabernacle. We're not saved with
something as trite as silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Christ that paid the ransom price. And that's what
this silver represents. And here in a couple of weeks,
we'll spend some time looking at that. But the last thing I
want us to look at this morning is these cords and pins that
held these posts in place. These cords were made of fine,
of linen, and linen is grown from the ground. That's a picture
of Christ, the humanity of Christ. And the pins were made of brass. And again, that's a picture of
the deity of Christ. And the cord and the pin together
is a picture of the God-man. It just runs through this whole
tabernacle, the God-man. And the brass that the pins are
made of will never rust or decay. They spend a lot of time driven
down in the ground, but the ground's not going to change them. If
there's any moisture in the ground, it's not going to rust them.
We read in 1 Peter 1 about how we have an inheritance that's
incorruptible, that's undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you. Why is that inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled? Because our inheritance is the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's not something that's in
Christ. Our inheritance is not something that Christ provides.
Our inheritance is Christ. And that's what this brass represents.
He'll never change. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He'll never change. And the brass
won't melt. It won't change in fire. And
that's a picture of Christ being tempted in all points like as
we are, yet without sin. He passed every test. We'd have
failed every one of them. He passed every test. He was
tested by Satan when he was offered the riches and glory of the world.
He didn't fail. He was tested by the Jews. They
hailed him as king of the Jews. He's riding in Hosanna. You know,
they wanted him to be king of the Jews and free him from Rome.
He didn't fail that test. He was tested by his own disciples.
Peter tried to get him not to go to the cross. He didn't fail
that test, and he was tested by the Father in the garden and
at Calvary. The Father tested him, and he
didn't fail. Thank God he didn't fail that
test. He's this brass that is our security. But this pen doesn't give us
an accurate description. The way it's translated, the
pen doesn't give us an accurate description of these stakes.
Other places in scripture, this word is translated as nail or
stake. You remember in Judges 4, Heber's
wife, they had this enemy Sisera, and she nailed his head to the
ground. She got him to go to sleep, and she nailed his head
to the ground through the temple. Well, that nail that she used,
that stake, is the exact same word that's translated pen here.
This is a big, long thing. It's a big stake that's driven
down into the ground. And so that these pins and posts
and they won't move. This is the nail. Isaiah talks
about the nail in a sure place. This is a nail in a sure place.
It's never going to move. The most foolish thing in this
world to argue about is the security of a believer. If you're in Christ,
you're eternally secure. Now, if you're out of him, you
have no security whatsoever. But in Him, He shall not be moved. And you won't be moved either.
He's the nail in a sure place. And these cords are tied to the
nails. And these cords held everything
down. Now they run over the tabernacle. They're nailed down over top
of the tabernacle to keep the coverings all down, you know,
in the wind. We don't have those on ours so we can take the coverings
off, you know, and look at what's inside. But they were there.
And they held everything down. And that's a picture of the drawing
power of Christ who draws his people to himself. He says, I've
loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness, have I drawn thee. Now, I know I'm about out of
time, but look quickly, Hosea chapter 11, right after Daniel,
Hosea chapter 11. These cords. our picture of Christ. And Hosea gives us a real good
indication of this. Right after the book of Daniel,
if you've got the authorized version, it's at page 1133. Hosea
11, verse 4. I drew them with cords of a man. I drew them with cords of a man
with bands of love. I was to them as they that take
off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat on them. I drew them
with cords of a man. And these cords are pictures
of Christ drawing his people to himself, but they're also
a picture of the holding power of Christ. That no man is able
to pluck them out of my hand. You know, in all the trouble
that this congregation faces, won't you leave? Won't you just
quit? Is it worth it? Our Lord asks
his disciples the same question. Will you also go away? And twelve
of them didn't. Why didn't they go away? The
same reason you don't go away. Christ wouldn't let them. He
bound them to Him with cords of love. Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5 verse 14, The love of Christ constraineth us. And that word
constrained means hold together. Held together by cords of love. But now the pins and the cords
must go together. Separately, they're of no use.
Drive the pins down as deep as you want in the ground, they're
not going to hold that post up if the cord is not attached to
it. Right? That's a picture of the person
and the work of Christ. It's a picture of Christ and
Him crucified. It's not just good enough to
have Christ come into flesh. He must be crucified. The person
and work of Christ cannot be separated. If you try to separate
them, there's no salvation. If Christ is simply a man, His
death on the cross is a failure. Because a man, there's no atoning
power in the blood of a man. If Christ is just a man, He's
got no power to draw His people to Himself. But the Lord Jesus
Christ is God. But God can't die. So He's got
to become a man. And if He doesn't die, there's
no salvation. He can't just come in the flesh.
He's got to die. If there's no blood shed, there's
no blood to apply. Salvation from sin requires that
the God made both live, produce a perfect righteousness, and
suffer and die. Put away the sins of His people
and be raised again. The person and work of Christ,
just like these pins and cords, cannot be separated. Or there's
no salvation. Alright, Lord willing, we'll
pick up there next week.