065. Moses--The Tabernacle

Moses--The Tabernacle

Exo 39:42-43. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and behold they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: And Moses blessed them.

If reason were to maintain its full dominion in man, were the senses perpetually under the control of the mind, a motive to religion would be continually supplied from the natural impulse of a grateful and affectionate heart. The vast universe would become one great temple; every pebble, every plant, every star would be a witness for God; and the heaven-born spirit would arise on the wing of every bird, of every breeze of air, to its glorious Author. But man, degraded by sin, blinded by passion, involved in error; man, impaired in understanding, groveling in affection, in captivity to sense, needs to be frequently admonished of his obligation to, and dependence upon God, his Creator and Preserver. He needs forms, and seasons, and places of worship; the heart must be approached through the channels of sense; and our acquaintance with the Father of spirits must be preserved, by means of things seen and temporal. Hence a sabbath, a tabernacle, a temple; sacrifices, sacraments, sermons, are the institution of Heaven; are the ordinances of Him “who knows what is in man,” and what is necessary to man.

It is easy to conceive what the world would be, destitute of the modes and offices of religion, when we consider what men are, with the advantage of “line upon line, precept upon precept,” revelation upon revelation. The religious ceremonies and services in use among ancient nations, whatever were their origin, become respectable in our eyes, merely from their antiquity: but when to antiquity is superadded divine authority; when we behold the great JEHOVAH condescending to describe and to appoint the rites of his own worship, to exhibit a model of all the instruments to be employed in his service, we feel something more than respect; we are filled with veneration: we break out into the exclamation of Solomon. “Will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth?”

Moses had now finally descended from the mount, furnished with complete instructions for settling the civil government and the religious polity of the nation which God “chose, to place his name there.” Under the direction of men divinely inspired for the work, he addresses himself to the execution of the plan which God himself had vouchsafed to delineate. From the liberality and zeal of the people, materials are speedily and amply supplied. Through the skill and assiduity of the artists, the business is speedily and successfully dispatched: and, on the first anniversary of the departure out of Egypt, the tabernacle is ready to be reared up.

It is not my design to attempt a minute description of that sacred structure, and of its furniture. But I find it impossible to pass them by entirely, as I apprehend a few remarks of a practical nature, fall directly within the design of these exercises, and may, by the divine blessing, render the awful monuments of religion in the wilderness, instructive and useful in gospel times. The name and the nature of the tabernacle were, perhaps, intended to be emblematical of the whole dispensation, of which it was a leading instrument. A tent, or tabernacle is a temporary and portable habitation, suited to a state of journeying or warfare; and this, in particular, was to be the guide to Canaan, to give the signal of motion and of rest; to lead the way to victory and peace: and when full possession was at length given, the tabernacle transferred its transitory glory, to the stationary glory of the temple; or rather was consolidated into one glory with it. Thus, all the positive institutions of religion are designed to be our monitors, guides, and comforters in the wilderness; to introduce us into the promised land; and then the objects of faith shall become objects of vision, and the redeemed of the Lord shall worship together in that temple, from which there is no more going out.

Jehovah declared himself not only the spiritual Head of the Israelitish church and nation, but also their temporal Sovereign; the supreme Head and Governor of their political economy. As such, he gave commandment to pitch a tent for the leader and commander of his people, from whence orders were expected and issued; over which the royal standard was seen perpetually hovering in the dreadful glory of a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night. And the final fulfilling of the Scriptures is the gathering into one, to the standard of the Redeemer, “a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,”[*]Rev 7:9 when at the sounding of the seventh angel, there shall be “great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.”[*]Rev 11:15 From the contemplation of a tabernacle constructed of parts that might be separated, and joined together again, as occasion requited, we are led to contemplate the “city of our solemnities,” Jerusalem that is above, “a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.”[*]Isa 33:20-21 The fabric in the wilderness was not a design of human skill, nor fashioned according to models seen in Egypt, but planned of infinite wisdom, erected, to a single pin, according to a pattern shown to Moses on the mount. In things which relate to the management of this world, a latitude is given to the exercise of human prudence and discretion; but in what regards the immediate worship and service of God, men are tied up to an iota and a tittle. “Thus saith the Lord.” The work of God is perfect, his law is perfect, his word is perfect, none can with safety add thereto, or diminish from it. A holy and a jealousGod has fenced himself and his ordinances as with a wall of fire, which presumption attempts to break through at its peril. “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophesy of this book: if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophesy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”[*]Rev 22:18-19 When we consider the dreadful import of these words, who but must tremble to think on the rash, the irreverent, the profane use that is daily made of the name and the book of God. Is it thus ye requite your Maker, foolish creatures and unwise? “He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?[*]Job 9:4 The tabernacle consisted of three several apartments one within another--the court, the holy place, and the most holy place, or the holy of holies. The temple of Solomon was built upon the same plan. And the earliest Christian churches preserved something of a resemblance to it. For they consisted first, of a spacious porch, where the penitents who implored the prayers of the faithful, the catechumens, the Gentiles, the Jews, and the heretics, were stopped short. The second compartment was the Naus, the nave, or body of the temple, where the faithful assembled, and performed their devotions; and the third was the Beema, or choir, into which ecclesiastics only were admitted, and in which were placed the altar, the throne of the bishop, and the stalls of the clergy.

Some learned men have given it as their opinion, that the Grecians borrowed their noble and beautiful style of architecture, from the perfect Hebrew models described in the sacred volume; that it was transmitted by them to the Romans; from whom it has descended to all the provinces of their great empire, and continues to be the ornament and the glory of the modern world. Indeed, it seems to be something more than human invention and art, that, through the lapse of so many ages, so many revolutions of empire, so many changes of taste and opinion, the same arrangement and proportions should excite universal admiration, and yield universal delight; and that the slightest deviation from the principles of that noble art should instantly be observed, and universally offend the eye. Does it not seem as if he who formed the eye, had also deigned to design the model of what would fill and please it? The court, then, was rather the large space of ground in which the tabernacle was erected, than any part of the tabernacle. Its form was an oblong, whose length was double its breadth, being an hundred cubits by fifty, that is, according to the most approved calculation, an hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five. It was encompassed on all sides by curtains of fine twined linen, fixed to fifty-six pillars of Shittim, that is, as the seventy interpret it, incorruptible wood, filleted with silver, of the height of five cubits, or seven feet and a half. The gate or passage into the court was a hanging of twenty cubits, curiously embroidered, and supported by four pillars of the same materials and workmanship. On all which particulars, I shall detain you to make this only remark: when we see the great God condescending to give directions concerning the formation and use of the most minute implements pertaining to sanctuary service, of pins, rings, loops, and hooks, man is taught to consider nothing as beneath his notice which can affect his own credit, usefulness, and comfort, or the same, virtue and happiness of his neighbor. “Let all things be done by us decently and in order.” Be it the glory of a fabulous Jupiter, that it is beneath his dignity, and inconsistent with his higher occupations, to attend to small matters. It is the glory of the living and true God, the Maker and Preserver of all things, it is the excellency of his administration, the beauty of his providence, that “the hairs of our head are numbered of him.” “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”[*]Mat 10:29 On entering the court, the objects which first presented themselves were, on the one hand, the altar of burnt-offering, and on the other the laver for the priests to wash in. The materials and form of these two instruments of divine worship, have afforded to the learned and ingenious, many curious subjects of speculation, some of which might perhaps amuse, but could not greatly edify you. As the whole service of the tabernacle was typical, and represented the “shadow of good things to come,” it will not, I trust, be deemed a mere flight of imagination to suppose, that by the altar of burnt-offerings, and the use to which it was devoted, the great atonement, the means of pardon and acceptance with God were shadowed forth; and that by the laver and its use, on the other hand, was represented the purity which becomes all who approach to a pure and holy God. In their nearness to, and union with each other, they exhibit that which brings the guilty near unto God, and that which fits them for communion with God. Justification freely by the race of God, “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;” and sanctification by the Spirit of God, whereby we are prepared to be “partakers of the inheritance of saints in light.” An altar without a laver were to encourage the offender to “continue in sin, because grace abounds;” a laver without an altar would be to inspire a vain confidence in an external and imperfect righteousness, to the neglect of that which is of God by faith, and which purifieth the heart. In conjunction, they represent man’s happiest state, and highest glory, sin forgiven, and nature renewed.

“The holy place,” which was properly the tabernacle, presented itself at the upper end of the court. Its dimensions are not laid down by Moses. Those who take it for granted that the tabernacle was a miniature representation of the temple from the measurement of that great edifice as described in the first book of Kings, make the length of the holy place of the tabernacle to be twenty cubits, or thirty feet. It was separated from the court by a curtain, within which none but the priests were permitted to enter, and where they officiated at the altar of the Lord, in the order of their course. Josephus affirms, that when the priests ministered in the holy place, the separating veil was drawn up, so that they could be seen of the people. Philo, with greater appearance of truth, maintains the contrary opinion. It is clear from a passage in the gospel according to Luke, that the priest who officiated in the holy place of the second temple, was out of the sight of the people; for it is said of Zacharias, when he was offering incense in the holy place, “the whole multitude was praying without;” that they waited for him, and “marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple,”[*]Luk 1:10;Luk 1:21. and they discovered not the cause of it till he made it known to them by signs.

Though we are not informed of the exact dimensions of the “holy place,” we know that it was a covered tent, with one fold of various materials upon another. First, ten curtains of equal size, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; embroidered with cherubims; and coupled together with loops of blue and taches of gold. Above these were extended eleven curtains of goats’ hair, hung together by taches of brass. These again were covered with rams’ skins dyed red; and over all there was a covering of badgers’ skins, probably as a protection from the injuries of the air and weather. The intention and meaning of this multiplied and variegated ceiling we pretend not to explain. Was it intended to represent the impenetrable recesses of the Eternal Mind; to check the folly and sinfulness of an over curious inquiry into mysteries which are intentionally concealed; and to teach men to make a wise and temperate use of known and revealed truth? Was it not sufficient to every pious Israelite, that the altar of burnt-offering and the laver of purification were under the open canopy of heaven, seen of all, accessible to all? And by this circumstance, did not even the law teach the open and unlimited extent of salvation by the great Atonement? Religion forbade, and the structure prevented, the body of the people from entering within the veil, or penetrating into the mysteries concealed under such a covering; one fold passed, another, and another, in almost endless succession, opposed itself. Woe be to him who makes a mystery of what God has graciously disclosed; and woe be to him who presumes to pry into what God has intentionally hid from his eyes. Thus sublimely sings the enraptured British Psalmist.

Chain’d to his throne a volume lies,
With all the fates of men;
With every angel’s form and size,
Drawn by th’ eternal pen. His Providence unfolds the book,
And makes his counsels shine:
Each opening leaf, and every stroke
Fulfils some deep design.

Here he exalts neglected worms
To scepters and a crown;
Anon the following page he turns,
And treads the monarch down. Not Gabriel asks the reason why,
Nor God the reason gives;
Nor dares the favorite angel pry
Between the folded leaves.[*]Watts,Horae Lyricae The furniture of the holy place is minutely described, and its meaning and use are not obscurely pointed out in many places of the sacred writings. It consisted of three articles, the golden candlestick with seven lamps; the golden altar of incense; and the table of shew-bread. Each of which might easily furnish matter for a separate discourse; but we confine ourselves to general ideas, and practical observations. The first piece of furniture in the holy place was “the golden candlestick to give light;” all whose appurtenances were of pure beaten gold. It was placed on the south side, that is on the left hand as you enter the tabernacle, directly opposite to the table of shew-bread. It was a talent in weight; which is about one thousand five hundred ounces, or one hundred and twenty-five Roman pounds, whose value, according to the calculation of the learned bishop of Peterborough, was five thousand and seventy-five pounds fifteen shillings and a fraction, of our money. It is the most generally received opinion, that all; or some of these seven lamps in the candlestick, were kept continually burning: that they were extinguished in turn, to be cleansed and supplied with fresh oil; and that their parts were made to separate for this very purpose. As the priests alone could enter the holy place, to them of course was committed the whole charge of lighting, trimming, and cleaning the lamps. It is much easier to ask many questions on this subject than to answer one. Why the number of seven lamps in one candlestick; that number of perfection, as some have called it, and under which so many mysteries are supposed to be concealed? Why should it burn in a place where no eye was to see its light, or to receive benefit from it, except a solitary priest? Wherefore this waste of treasure for no apparent equivalent use? To all such questions it must be replied, “Thus the great Lawgiver would have it.” “We know in part, and we prophesy in part. What he doth we know not now, but we shall know hereafter.” From this created, confined, imperfect, self-consuming light, we are led to contemplate that pure, eternal, undecaying light which communicates, of its own splendor, whatever glory any creature possesses. “We are led to Him who is the true light of the world.”

We silently turn from the tabernacle in the wilderness to adore Him who in the beginning said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” We are conducted in the visions of God, to contemplate the splendor of the Christian churches, and behold “the Son of Man, walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.” We are hurried forward to the last awful hour of dissolving nature, when “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” We are transported to that celestial city, which “has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

Without encroaching on your time and patience, or running over the subjects with indecent and unprofitable haste, it were impossible to convey any proper and useful idea of the remaining utensils of this venerable structure, and the still more venerable recess inclosed within it, styled “the most holy place.” The description of these, therefore, with the history of the august ceremonies of setting up the tabernacle, and the relation of the whole to the “better things to come,” of which they were the shadows, shall be postponed to another Lecture, which will conclude the second book of this Sacred History, and another annual revolution of our own frail, transitory life.--“Teach us,” O God, “so to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”[*]Psa 90:12 Vouchsafe to dwell with us in thy word and ordinances; let “Christ dwell in our hearts by faith,” and raise us one after another to dwell with thee in the holiest of all, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.