Message tonight is buckles, bases,
boards, and bars. And I wasn't being clever when
I chose that for the title. Turn to Exodus chapter 26, and
you'll see clearly. Exodus chapter 26. In verses 6 through 30, the Lord
God commanded Moses in the making of the tabernacle to make 50
taches, that is, 50 buckles of gold and 50 buckles of brass. He commanded him to make 48 boards
overlaid with pure gold, and each board was to have two sockets
of silver, that is, two bases, two foundation sockets of silver. And there were to be 15 bars
of shidom wood overlaid with gold. Let's begin reading in
Exodus 26, verse 6. Exodus 26, verse 6. Thou shalt make 50 taches, 50
buckles of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches,
and it shall be one tabernacle. Verse 11. Thou shalt make 50
taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops and couple
the tent together that it may be one. Verse 15. And thou shalt make boards of
the tabernacle, or boards for the tabernacle, of shittum wood
standing up. Ten cubits shall be the length
of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of one board. Two
tenons, that is two hands, shall there be in one board, set in
order one against another. Thus shalt thou make for all
the boards of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make the boards
for the tabernacle, 20 boards on the south side, southward.
And thou shalt make 40 sockets of silver, 40 bases, 40 foundations
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. And they shall be coupled together
beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it
unto 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, sixteen sockets, two sockets
under one board and two sockets under another board. Verse 26,
and thou shalt make bars of shittum wood, five for the boards of
the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards
of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards
of the side of the tabernacle for the two sides westward. And
the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end
to end, and thou shalt overlay the boards with gold. and make
their rings of gold for places for the bars. And thou shalt
overlay the bars with gold, and thou shalt rear up the tabernacle
according to the fashion thereof which was showed thee in the
mount." Now, what's the significance of these buckles and bases and
boards and bars? What do they all mean? as we
seek to understand the significance of the tabernacle. We cannot
do so except as we follow the direction given by God the Holy
Spirit, particularly as it's given in the book of Hebrews.
Four times in the book of Hebrews, as God the Holy Spirit gives
us an explanation concerning the Levitical law and the Levitical
ceremonies, all of which were involved in the tabernacle and
temple worship of the Old Testament, four times he tells us how we
are to understand the tabernacle. In Hebrews chapter 8 and verse
5, it's described as a shadow of heavenly things. In chapter
9 in verse 23, the spirit of God tells us that in the tabernacle,
we see the patterns of things in the heavens, shadows of heavenly
things, patterns of things that are in heaven. And then in chapter
9, verse 24, it's spoken of as figures of the truth. They are
representatives or types of that which is true. In other words,
when Moses and the children of Israel carried about the tabernacle
and erected the tabernacle and worshiped God in the tabernacle,
they were worshiping God in that which was carnal and physical,
but it was intended and designed and made to be a type, a figure,
a representation of that which was true. Not that which was
to be true, that which was true. The tabernacle was only a picture
of what God showed Moses in the mount. It was a picture of the
revelation of his grace. It was a picture for the time
of our infancy, as it were. When children are children, they
have to have pictures. You show them things by pictures.
And now that we've come to maturity in the gospel age, the pictures
are done away. And then in chapter 10, in verse
1, we're told that this tabernacle and all the services and sacrifices
in the tabernacle are a shadow of good things to come. A shadow. Something stands here, the sun
behind it, and it casts a shadow. The tabernacle is a big shadow
of that good thing, which was to come Christ Jesus, the Lord. In other words, the things that
we read about here in Exodus were designed by God to be shadows,
pictures, types, and examples of true worship. Shadows, pictures,
types, and examples of all concerning God's grace in Jesus Christ the
Lord. Certainly the tabernacle represents
Christ our Redeemer who tabernacled in human flesh while he was on
this earth. The tabernacle certainly represents the Church of God
universally. It represents each local church.
It represents the Church of God as spoken of with individual
believers, so that you and I ourselves are represented in the tabernacle.
But put it all together, and the tabernacle was a foreshadowing
of God's great salvation in and by Jesus Christ the Lord. And
may God, the Holy Spirit, give us grace whenever we open the
scriptures and read. I took time today to do a good
bit of reading, trying to prepare for this message. And I asked
God to let me, as I approached the tabernacle, come to the tabernacle
like Simeon of old came to the temple. You remember how the
scriptures described Simeon? He was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. He was seeking God's Savior,
Christ Jesus, the Lord. Simeon, that old man, knew that
he was living at the time, about the time, when the Lord God had
promised the Messiah would come. He knew, judging from the scriptures,
that this is about the time when Christ must appear. And he kept
going to the temple. Can you imagine getting up every
morning, going to the temple? That old man going to the temple,
God, let me see him today. Oh, may this be the day. And
one day he walked in, and he saw God's Christ. He picked him
up in his arms, and he said, this is all I've lived for. Let
me die now. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
When you come to the tabernacle in the book of God, ask of God
to give you eyes to behold the Savior. And when you leave, That's
Tabernacle. If you are allowed to see Him,
then you will go away like the disciples as they walked the
road to Emmaus and say, did not our hearts burn within us as
He spoke to us by the way? Turn back to Exodus 25. Let's
get started. Back in the 25th chapter, God
gives the command to build the tabernacle. Look in verse 8. God says, let them make me a
sanctuary. Now, here's the reason. That
I may dwell among them. Oh, I find that astounding. Does
God, the holy, infinite, eternal, self-sufficient God, does God
He who alone is God, He who made all things, who's above all things,
who rules all things, who disposes of all things, does God desire
to dwell with us? More than we have ever dreamed
of desiring to dwell with Him. Make me a sanctuary. Make me a dwelling place that
I may dwell with you. God says to Moses, you have my
people to make me a tabernacle. These who make the tabernacle
are commanded to make a tabernacle that represents God dwelling
with man. God Almighty desires to dwell
with His people. He is determined to dwell with
His people. He purposed from eternity that
He would dwell with His people. And He does dwell with us, but
He will dwell with us only in a way that is altogether consistent
with His own holy character and being as God. He says to Moses,
now Moses, you command my children to make me a sanctuary wherein
I, God, may dwell with them. Make a sanctuary that shows them
how I can dwell with them. Make a sanctuary that shows my
people continually. day after day, morning, all day
long, evening, as they bring the morning and evening sacrifices,
as the priest of God go about the business of maintaining the
tabernacle, as they come in their annual feast and in their monthly
feast and in their weekly sacrifices and in their daily sacrifices,
so that they will be continually shown how it is that I can dwell
with them and they dwell with me. Those who made the tabernacle
were a chosen covenant people. They were a people who had just
been redeemed, redeemed by the precious blood of a paschal lamb
exactly according to God's purpose, portraying Christ, our Passover
sacrifice for us. They were a people who had not
only been redeemed, but they had been distinctly sanctified
cleansed and made holy ceremonially, God bringing them through death
and out of death across the Red Sea, baptizing them unto Moses
so that ceremonially they stand before him a people redeemed
and a people made holy and clean. Therefore, the Apostle Paul tells
us, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? and the spirit
of God dwelleth in you. God, by all that is represented
in this tabernacle, has made us his dwelling place, and has
made himself to be our everlasting dwelling place. Look in chapter
25, verse 9. God took Moses up into the mountain,
and he showed him a pattern, a pattern. according to which
he was required to make the tabernacle. He showed Moses the accomplishment
of redemption by the sacrifice of God himself in human flesh. Are you sure that's what he showed
Moses? I am absolutely certain that's what he showed Moses.
He said to Moses, see, saith he, that thou make all things
according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." When Moses
stood on another mount in the Garden of Gethsemane with the
Son of God, with God's prophet Elijah, do you remember what
they spoke to the Savior about? Moses and Elijah spoke with the
Lord Jesus. I'm sorry the mouth of transfiguration
before he went into the garden they spoke with the Lord Jesus
about the death that he should accomplish at Jerusalem You know
the word that's translated death there The death he should accomplish
It's the word Exodus that Moses stood with the Lord Jesus on
the map of transfiguration and spoke to him about the very thing
we're reading here in the book of Exodus, the exodus he should
accomplish at Jerusalem. Look in verse nine, according
to all that I show thee after the pattern, not patterns, the
pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments
thereof, even so shall you make it. make the instruments, make
all the lampstand, the table of showbread, the altar, the
laver, the mercy seat, the ark, everything, the curtains, make
it all after this one pattern that I showed you. Look in verse
40 of chapter 25. And look thou, you make dead
certain, Moses, that thou make them after their pattern, not
patterns, pattern, which was showed thee in the mount. You
make dead certain that everything in this tabernacle is made exactly
as I have shown you concerning the person and work, the accomplishments
of my darling son and the sacrifice of himself. Because these carnal
things had spiritual meaning, they were to be made according
to the heavenly pattern, according to the revelation of God given
to Moses, the tabernacle, like salvation. was all together according
to God's purpose and decree. What does that mean? Everything
was done according to God's will, according to God's purpose. No
man's thought or opinion was sought and none was taken. In other words, man contributed
nothing. Man had nothing to say in the
affair. Man controlled nothing in the affair. Man didn't put
his two cents in. Everything was done purely to
show the greatness and the glory of God in Jesus Christ crucified. Everything was designed to display
the marvelous scheme of redemption that Christ Jesus would accomplish
by his incarnation and death. Look in verse 2, chapter 25.
Remember, God required the children of Israel to bring materials. You can read these eight verses
in chapter 25 again and read the list of materials. These
materials by which the tabernacle was to be made. But he would
only accept those things which the children of Israel offered
with a willing heart. He commands them to bring sacrifices. And he said, now, Moses, bring
only that which folks bring with a willing heart. Look in verse
two. Speak unto the children of Israel
that they bring me an offering of every man that giveth it willingly
with his heart. He shall take my offering. How
on this earth Can an offering be commanded and be given with
a willing heart? How can you give something willingly
that God commands you to give and holds you responsible to
give? The fact is, you and I will never worship God, serve God,
give ourselves or give anything in sacrifice and devotion to
God except by an irresistible command of his free grace. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. He gives his own a willing heart
to worship him, a willing heart to serve him, a willing heart
to devote themselves to him. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. But where did these pilgrims,
these folks, they've been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. What
have they got? They're paupers. They went down
into Egypt poor and just got poorer while they were there.
They're paupers. How can they have anything? Where
did they get the material, these precious stones, the gold, the
silver, the scarlet, the wool? Where did they get the stuff
to bring with a willing heart to give to God? Turn to chapter
12. Exodus chapter 12. Oh, they must have got a committee
together and had some bake sales and yard sales. Set the children
to go door to door, cut buckets in their hand, begging, stand
out in the street light and beg folks to give. Moses start browbeating
folks to death, saying, you got a tithe, or God will get it out
of your hide. Well, that's not the way they did it. That's where
churches do things. Churches where God is not. Churches
where the Spirit of God doesn't work. Not the way God does things. Look in Exodus 12, verse 36.
And the Lord gave the people a favor in the sight of the Egyptians,
so that they lent unto them such things as they required and they
spoiled the Egyptians. The children of Israel went out
of Egypt loaded down with wealth. What do y'all need? Oh, we need
some necklaces. What do you need necklaces for?
You're going to go sacrifice to God. We need some earrings.
We need some bracelets. We need some kneading troughs.
We need some pans. We need some silver. We need
some gold. What for? God said we need it. Well, here,
take it. Take it. And they went out loaded
down. And then the time would come
when they would need some weapons. And they went out and took those
right off the soldiers who were destroyed in the Red Sea. They
spoiled the Egyptians and they brought with willing heart these
folks freshly redeemed. They could still smell the blood
on the doorpost. They could still taste the lamb
in their mouths. They were freshly redeemed. Freshly
brought out of death. Freshly made alive. And they come with a willing
heart. What was it you wanted, Moses? Gold, I got some of that. Silver, yeah, here, take this. What did God say? What did God
say, give him? Precious stones, here they are.
Turn to chapter 36, verse six, watch this. Let's see if they give with a
willing heart. Moses had to do something I've
never heard tell of a preacher having to do, except Moses. Never
heard a gentleman of the preacher ever do this. He said, stop giving. He said, stop. We got enough.
Everything's needed been taken care of. Look at this. Moses
gave commandment. And they caused it to be proclaimed
throughout the camp, saying that neither man nor woman make any
more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people
were restrained from bringing. God make me such a giver. The
people were restrained from bringing. Now skip over to chapter 31 for
just a minute. And we'll get to our text. Let me show you the workmen God
used to get the job done. I saw this today and I just had
to include it. Chapter 31, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uriah, the son of
Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit
of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner
of workmanship. to devise cunning works, to work
in gold, and to work in silver, and to work in brass, and in
cutting stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to
work in all manner of workmanship. Man, this fella had some gifts.
Now look what he could do. He could cut diamonds. He could
work in silver. He could work in gold. He could
carve wood. He could carve stone. He was
filled with understanding and knowledge. Verse 6, And I behold,
I have given him Ahaliah, the son of Ahishmak of the tribe
of Dahan. And in the hearts of all that
are wise hearted, I have put wisdom that they may make all
that I have commanded thee. Bezalel led a whole crew of skilled
artisans. This man's name, Bezalel, means
in the shadow of God. Like God, the Holy Spirit, he
gave to every man his work. He assigned to each one the work
that he was to do. and taught him how to do it.
He told Bob Ponce, this is what you're supposed to do. Don Fortner,
this is what you're supposed to do. This is how you do it.
This is how you do it. And showed them how to do it.
Beazer Leal, this man who was uniquely gifted of God, foreshadows
for us God the Holy Spirit and his work in building his spiritual
temple, the Church of God, which is a habitation of God through
the Spirit. The Lord used a bunch of folks to make the tabernacle.
He used a bunch of folks. I mean there's a slew of them.
He used a bunch of folks. It takes a bunch of folks to
do this work. But it was the work of one man
distinctly. It was the work of a man in the
shadow of God. And God the Holy Spirit uses
a bunch of us. for the furtherance of the gospel.
He uses a bunch of us for the building of his kingdom. He uses
a bunch of us for the in-gathering of his elect to build his church
and his temple. But it's all the work of God
the Holy Spirit. It's his work or it's no work. Turn to chapter 35, let me show
you. Chapter 35, verse 30. Moses said to the children of
Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name the man in the shadow
of God, Bezalel, the son of Uriah, the son of Her, of the tribe
of Judah. And he hath filled him with the
Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner
of workmanship, so that it is his to devise curious works. to work in gold and in silver
and in brass. The work is His. Thank God He
uses us to perform the work. Now let's look at chapter 26,
first at the buckles. We've read the chapter already,
so I won't read these verses again except as needful. God required Moses and the children
of Israel to make 50 patches, 50 buckles of gold and 50 buckles
of brass. Now the number 50 itself signifies
something we ought to catch. 50 representing Pentecost. 50
clearly is a number representing God the Holy Spirit. Both gold
and brass are used through the scriptures as representations
of divinity. So these 50 golden and 50 brass
buckles are designed of God to show us something about the necessity
of the work of God the Spirit. Look what it says about it. Verse
6, Exodus 26, verse 6. Thou shalt make 50 patches of
gold and couple the curtains together
with the tatches. Now here's the reason. And it
shall be one tabernacle. Look at verse 11. Thou shalt
make fifty tatches, fifty buckles of brass, and put the buckles
into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be
one. What is it that holds everything
together in the church of God? What is it that brings us together
and holds us together and knits us together and binds us together? It is the work of God, the Holy
Spirit. He makes us one. He makes us
one in Christ Jesus, the Lord. It is the unity of the spirit
and the bond of peace that is our strength. I look at the basis. I know the boards are mentioned
first. But let's look at the basis beginning in verse 15 going
through 20 These bases in which the boards
are set are described here as sockets of silver Each board
had two tenons the word tenons means hands had two hands that
just Gradually another like those chairs we use during conference
interlocking chairs. They were interlocking and And
each board had beneath it two sockets, two foundations, two
bases of silver. And these sockets of silver running
around the tabernacle formed the basis, the foundation on
which the whole thing sat. These boards were set in the
foundation, not just on it, and held by the foundation, not just
attached to it, held by the foundation, and they were made to hold the
foundation. In Exodus chapter, what is it,
Exodus chapter 30, we're told that the children of Israel were
to be numbered every year. And when they were numbered,
every male in Israel was required to bring some atonement money. You remember what the atonement
money was? Each one, the same amount, they were to bring a
half shekel of silver. Every man in Israel, once a year,
as they were numbered, bring a half shekel of silver. And
then in the 38th chapter, we're told that this silver that was
brought for atonement was used to make sockets of silver for
the boards of the tabernacle. In other words, everything in
the tabernacle, everything, everything had meaning. Everything had cohesion. Everything had significance because
of just one thing, and that was atonement. Without atonement, this whole
thing, you got an image of it here, this whole tabernacle,
you know what happened with that? Without that silver base running
around the bottom of it, you know what happened with it? It
all collapsed. It fell apart, everything. Everything
is built on atonement. Everything is set in atonement. Everything has significance because
of atonement. Everything is held together by
atonement. Everything's secure by atonement. Turn to 1 Peter 1. I'll show
you a New Testament reference to it. Until I got to studying
this, I had never really understood what Peter meant when he said,
we're not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold. He's not talking about going
and buying a man back from slavery with money. He's talking about
what's portrayed in this tabernacle. He says in verse 18, for as much
as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things
as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, your meaningless,
empty way of life, received by tradition from your fathers.
But you were bought with better money, with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
what was made manifest in these last times for you. The sin-atoning blood of Jesus
Christ is everything in the Church of God. Deny any aspect of the atonement. Deny anything regarding the efficacy
of Christ's shed blood. Deny any aspect of the accomplishments
of Christ at Calvary, and you destroy every aspect of the gospel. Every aspect. People talk to
me about fellows who deny Christ's accomplished work at Calvary
as if they, you know, these are, they're brethren, they just,
they just hate God, that's all. No, they're not brethren. Their
whole purpose is the destruction of the gospel, not the building
of the gospel. We stand on one foundation. Another foundation cannot be
laid. That foundation is Christ the
Lord. Alright, third. Look at verses 15 through 20
again. And look at these boards. These boards are fixed in the atonement. They're resting on the atonement. These boards typify those who
are redeemed of the Lord. They represent us, the Israel
of God. And they're always portrayed
in the number 12. You notice that? All the way
through scriptures. God's elect are represented whenever they're
represented by a number. They're always represented either
by 12 or some multiple of 12. Here are these boards, multiples
of 12 given. Each board was about 15 feet
long, 27 inches wide. Each board had two tenons, two
hands by which it laid hold of the other board and the socket
of silver. These boards I suspect say a
whole lot more than I can tell you. They certainly say much
more than you've imagined, I'm sure. Boards. In order to get a board, you
got to do some cutting. You got to cut down stout trees. And that's how God gathers his
elect out of the forest of fallen humanity. He cuts them down. If you would go up to glory,
you're going to have to come down in the dust. And you will
never come down in the dust till God cuts you down. It just ain't
going to happen. It ain't going to happen. You
can pretend it. You can stick your face in the
dust and come up dirty. But you're not going to come
down till God cuts you down. And when God cuts down the boards
from which he would build his tabernacle, his dwelling place,
he said that he's God dwells on high. He said, I'll look to
this man, the humble, the man who's a broken and contrite heart. I'll come dwell there. Before you can use them to build
anything, they've got to be dried. Completely dried up. Completely dried up. You take
some timbers, you get them cut, go down the sawmill, get fresh
cut timbers and build something out of it. And go back in six
months and look at the gaps. You can't, you can't do much
with it. These boards were used in this tabernacle for 40 years. For 40 years. And every time they set it up,
they set right in their place, fit right in the socket, and
fit together perfectly. How come? Because all the sap
was dried out of those boards. That's how God makes boards for
his tabernacle. He dries up the sap of pride
and self-righteousness. He just dries it up, makes you
to know what you are from the inside. And the boards had to
be, they were cleansed. Everything used in the service
of God had to be sanctified. But they weren't just washed
off. They were completely encased in gold. Completely encased in God we
are. Completely encased in Christ
our Redeemer. And the boards were each one
fitly framed together. They were joined together by
the God-given hand of faith. Not the hand of faith each laying
hold on the other. but the hand of faith each being
held to the foundation and holding the foundation. People love to act religious,
you know, and I have friends who do it. Sometimes I go along,
I don't usually want to pray, well, let's hold hands. Quit
acting silly. Just quit acting silly. This
is a symbol of our unity. No, no. This is a symbol of our
unity. We're held to the foundation. And being held to the foundation,
we hold the foundation. And thus, we are one in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Each board resting on the silver
sockets of blood atonement stood as one with every other board. What about the bars? Moses was
commanded of God to make 15 bars, strong bars of shittum wood overlaid
with gold. The bars encircled the boards
of gold like The arms of omnipotent mercy hold me. The bars, the strong bars of
gold held the boards upright. The strong bars of gold held
the boards in their place In the foundation, the strong bars
held these boards together. By these strong bars, these boards
were held constantly pointing heavenward. And that's where God dwells. In his tabernacle, which tabernacle
you are. if he's joined you to Christ.
Amen.