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The Tabernacle, The Framework Of The Tabernacle, Exodus 26:18-24, Part 4 - Lesson 36
We have learned of the 48 upright boards of the tabernacle that surround the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place. God did not instruct Moses to anchor these large boards to the desert sands but Moses was told to construct heavy silver foundations in which were placed the mortise side of a mortise/tenon connection, the tenons being placed on the boards. Each of the two sockets upholding each board was made from one talent of silver. Where the silver came from is answered in Exodus 30:11-16 where Moses instructed every man who was over the age of 20 to bring a half shekel of silver to the Lord. This half shekel was to be after the shekel of the sanctuary, which was equal to 20 gerahs. So this meant that each half shekel was 10 gerahs. Ten of course is God's standard and points to the 10 Commandments, God's Divine Standard of the Law. This money was to be atonement money for the souls of the people for they were brought out of Egypt by the Lord and the Lord required of them one half shekel for this. God teaches here that there is a price to pay for deliverance. The poor as well as the rich were to pay the same amount for himself and none could pay for another. The soul had to be redeemed with silver, and as it was, God promised to prevent plagues from coming upon them. We read of this in Exodus 30:11-16, And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, [12] When you take the sum of the children of Israel after their number,
then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when you
number them; that there be no plague among them, when you number them. [13] This
they shall give, every one that passes among them that are numbered, half a
shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half
shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. [14] Every one that passes among them
that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto
the Lord. [15] The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less
than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an
atonement for your souls. [16] And thou shalt take the atonement money of the
children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of
the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before
the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. Silver always speaks of atonement and redemption. It also speaks of ransom money and the price of a soul. Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver. Matthew 26:15, And said unto them, ‘What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?’ And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Peter interprets this symbol for us in the New Covenant when he writes: 1 Peter 1:18-21, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [19] But 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, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. The silver atonement of the Old Covenant becomes the Blood atonement of the New Covenant (1 John 1:6-7). A price was exacted for your deliverance. The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the New Covenant takes the place of the "ransom money" that was established under the Mosaic Covenant expressed in the Tabernacle God ordained Moses and the nation to build. His Blood is our atonement, our ransom, our redemption and the price for our soul. This is the price by which we were bought. This is the Standard that God has set for our redemption. The Bible says that Jesus came to minister and give His life a ransom for many." That word ransom has its root meaning in this Old Covenant Tabernacle where the boards were placed in Silver Sockets. Likewise we have been placed into His Body through the precious blood of His sufferings on Calvary. This is God's standard and all must meet this standard. None can pay for another to get into the Kingdom of God’s Son. No one can be numbered in the True Church and with the SAINTS unless they are redeemed with this price. Calvary is the silver mine, the vein of silver to which we all have access that we might obtain the price of atonement. As we find our place in Christ, God's judgment is stayed off our lives and eternal souls. What a glorious picture of our Redeemer in these boards. What a glorious thought to see how God unfolded His great plan of redemption inside this Tabernacle of Moses. Another thought seen here in the silver is found in relation to the result of the numbering of the people. In this numbering there were found to be 603,550 men 20 years old and older. Exodus 38:25-28, And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 26A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. 27And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 28And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them. Now 603,550 men results in a collection of 301,775 shekels of silver that were collected from this group of people, one half shekel from each person. This amount of silver results in 100 talents plus a remainder of 1775 shekels, for each talent was composed of 3000 shekels. The weight of a talent of silver in pounds is not absolutely known for it varied from country to country but it appears it is near 100 pounds. Using this figure would result in a shekel weighing around ½ ounce. Each man was to bring ½ shekel which would be a little heavier than the weight of one of our silver quarters which weighs .22 ounces. We are told that each socket supporting the boards used up one talent so the boards having two sockets per board used up 96 of the 100 talents of available silver. In addition there were four Sockets needed for the four pillars that upheld the veil at the entrance to the Holy Place. Now from previous calculations each socket weighed about 100 pounds. 100 pounds of silver has a volume of 263 cubic inches and each socket held up one half of each 27 inch board so its length was near 13.5 inches. Using up the volume of 100 pounds of silver would produce a socket of 13.5 inches long by say 4 inches wide by say 5 inches deep. So each socket was substantial and heavy and there were two assigned to each board. So all of the silver used for atonement was used up in the sockets with the exception of 1775 shekels which was set aside for the hooks, chapiters and the connecting rods in the pillars of the Outer Court. If each Socket was comprised of 3,000 shekels, then each Socket represented the redemption price of 6,000 souls, and each board had two sockets. Symbolically then each Board was, therefore, upheld by 12,000 redeemed Israelites. In the book of Revelation, 12,000 of each tribe of ISRAEL are redeemed from the earth to go forth and spread the word of the Lord during the Great Tribulation. Rev. 7:1-8, And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. [2] And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, [3] Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. [4] And I heard the number of them, which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. [5] Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. [6] Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manassas were sealed twelve thousand. [7] Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. [8] Of the tribe of Zebulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. These sockets were the very foundation of the Tabernacle. The Boards each had two tenons (two hands or feet) by which they stood in the silver Sockets. The Sockets of silver were the foundation or standing place for these boards. No Board had its feet in the desert sands of this world, but each stood in redemption metal. How it reminds us that our hope, our foundation is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. Our foundation must never be upon this earth for this earth will always fail. We as believers must never forget our salvation and redemption does not hinge on the world's system or the world's economy. We are standing upon the blood foundation of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. I Corinthians 3:11, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. All other foundations are as sinking sands. Even as Moses laid the foundation of silver and atonement for the Old Covenant Tabernacle, so the Apostle Paul lays the proper foundation of Blood-Atonement for the New Covenant Church. Matthew 7:24-29, Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock: [25] And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. [26] And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: [27] And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. [28] And it came to pass, when
Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: [29]
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now to hold up the 10 cubit high boards God instructed Moses to tie them together with bars inserted through rings. We find this command in: These bars were placed through rings of gold attached to the Boards. As they were inserted, they would act as brace-bars to hold the entire structure in a firm position. Without these brace-bars the structure would be susceptible to every desert wind that came up. As the bars fulfilled their ministry the Tabernacle would stand for sure. It speaks to us today of the Lord Jesus Christ being our STABILITY in the midst of our trials and "winds" of life. The most interesting of these bars is the central bar. In speaking of this bar the Scripture says, "The middle bar in the midst of the Boards shall reach from end to end." And again in Exodus 36 where the details of the actual building are recorded: he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from one end to the other." Exodus 36:31-34, And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 32And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward. 33And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other. 34And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. Perhaps this middle bar ran through a hole in the middle of each Board. If this was the case, it would have been in the midst and shooting through the boards. So the five bars on each side were used to stabilize the whole structure and keep it from being shaken by every wind that came along. They were like the arms of God binding the boards together and keeping them stabilized; keeping them unified as one. Paul captured this thought in: Ephesians 4:14-16, That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; [15] But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: [16] From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. And again in: Ephesians 2:20-22, And are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
[21] In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in
the Lord: [22] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit. The symbol of the ring speaks to us of endlessness, eternity, having neither beginning or ending. God has established an EVERLASTING Covenant of love with His redeemed. It is the LOVE OF GOD that LINKS all believers together. If each of the 48 Boards had three rings, as most Bible teachers suggest, through which the five bars passed, they could point to the "abiding three," - FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. It is these that bind God and all believers together eternally. 1 Corinthians 13:13, And now abides faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. So the picture God gives us through the tabernacle boards and silver sockets is of the believer standing upright upon a foundation built upon the blood of Christ. Blood shed and used as payment for your deliverance and mine from sin. |