9.33 The tabernacle is the shadow of Christ

Yesterday, we showed that Moses was divinely instructed to build the tabernacle according to the pattern showed on the mountain. This is because the physical tabernacle was a shadow of the real tabernacle – the substance which is in Christ.

You may ask, how is Christ revealed in the tabernacle? In fact, the revelation of Christ is shown throughout the tabernacle. First of all, the aerial view of the tabernacle is in the shape of the cross.

Then the colors of the coverings of the tabernacle are in the color of purple, red, white and blue. These colors represent the 4 gospels of Christ. The color purple is the color of kingship. This is the book of Matthew which portrays Jesus as king of the Jews. Red is the color of suffering. This is the book of Mark which reveals Jesus as the suffering servant. White is the color of perfect humanity. This is the book of Luke which reveals Jesus as the perfect man. Blue is the color of divinity. This is the book of John which reveals Jesus as the Son of God.

Outside the tabernacle, the twelve tribes of Israel encamped around the four sides of the tabernacle. The flag of the four tribes on the four sides carry the picture of the Lion, Ox, Man and Eagle. Again, these point to the Four Gospels that we talked about in the earlier paragraph. The lion is the king of animals which point to Jesus the king of the Jews. The Ox is the servant among animals that labor silently. It points to Jesus the suffering servant. The Man points to Jesus the perfect man, while the eagle is the king of the sky, pointing to Jesus the divine Son of God from heaven.

Inside the tabernacle, every furniture point to the inner working of Christ within the believer. The Brazen Altar points to Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. The Brazen Laver points to Jesus our sanctification. The Golden Candlestand points to Jesus, our baptizer in the Holy Spirit. The Table of Showbread points to Jesus our Bread of Life. The Altar of Incense points to Jesus, our High Priest. The Mercy Seat points to Jesus, the Lamb upon the Throne.

We do not have time to get into the details for now. We will cover these in future. But what is important is for us to know that there is no insignificant detail even in the Old Testament. Everything points to the revelation of Christ. They point to the ministry of Christ in us - the temple of the Holy Spirit.

If we walk away from the passage trying to follow some ritual, all we get is the form without the substance. But if we see Christ through the passage, we can enter into a deeper walk with Christ, and enjoy the true substance of Christ in our hearts. This is the privilege we have in the New Covenant – to read the Bible with unveiled hearts.