Christ Foreshadowed In The Tabernacle
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Job 19:25-27
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse(s) is(are):
Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.”
Today we will be reading from 1 Samuel 2:1-11
For the last couple of weeks we have taken a look at the terrible spiritual condition that had invaded the ranks of the priesthood during the time of Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas.
The name of Yahweh has been dragged through the mud by the actions of those who are supposed to be honoring the Lord and this has pretty much been going on for the past 150 years since the passing of Joshua.
Now, things are about to change …
OK. So, try to imagine this …
- An Israelite woman named Hannah had no children
- One year Hannah is praying at the Tabernacle in Shiloh, and she is praying so earnestly that Eli the priest thinks
she is drunk
- When Eli finds out that Hannah is NOT drunk but overwhelmed with grief, he blesses Hannah and her prayer
even though she never tells him what she is praying for
- Hannah goes home, conceives, bears a child and raises him until he is weaned
- Hannah takes the child to the Tabernacle at approximately the age of three
- Hannah tells Eli, “I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to
the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” (1 Samuel 1:27-28)
- Listen to the rejoicing of Samuel’s mother, Hannah, after she has presented Samuel to the LORD …
Please join me in your Bibles as we read: 1 Samuel 2:1-11
(Prayer for help)
1 Samuel 3:1-3 says,
“The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
“One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the Ark of God was.”
“The boy Samuel …”
We see some pretty odd things going on here … the Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us that he believes Samuel was about the age of 12 at this time. This comes from Jewish traditions and from other, more ancient Jewish historians.
This is weird because according to Numbers chapter 8 the minimum age of a priest would be 30 years old. But, we see that Samuel was ministering before the LORD UNDER Eli; that is, under Eli’s oversight and direction.
What else do we see that is kind of weird? It says in verse 3 that, “Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the Ark of God was.”
Now, the Ark of God or the Ark of the Covenant was the most holy object there was in all of Israel and it was in a part of the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies or The Most Holy Place.
Is this saying that Samuel was using the Most Holy Place as his bedroom? No, it is not saying that at all.
The entire Tabernacle was called the “house of the LORD” which included the Holy Place AND the Most Holy Place. And, it does not even say that Samuel was sleeping there it just says that, “Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD …”
So, why would Samuel be spending the night in the Holy Place?
One of the fixtures in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle was a lampstand with seven oil lamps. We might call it a menorah.
In Exodus 27:21-22 it says,
“In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the LORD from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.”
That is why Samuel was in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. He was there to be sure that the light of the lampstand was kept lit from evening until morning.
He was not there to sleep; he was there to keep watch over the lampstand as directed by the LORD through Moses.
OK. So, let’s talk a little about the Tabernacle.
The preparation for the Tabernacle started almost immediately after Moses came down from spending 40 days with the Lord up on a mountain.
Here is a diagram of the Tabernacle (shown on screen)
- There is an outer perimeter that is only 150 feet long and 75 feet wide which makes it just a little bit smaller
than one quarter of the playing area of an American football field.
- When Israel was wandering in the wilderness, the surrounding curtain, the Tabernacle itself and all of the
furnishings would be carried by the Levites.
- The Ark of the Covenant would be covered during transport.
- When the Tabernacle was set up the four divisions of priests would camp on the four sides of the Tabernacle
outer curtain.
- And, the twelve tribes would camp with three tribes on each side Tabernacle.
At the time of Samuel the tabernacle had been set up in Shiloh for well over 150 years.
So, let’s move from the larger Tabernacle area to the Tabernacle itself (shown on screen).
This was quite small; only 45 feet long by 15 feet wide.
The first thing a person would encounter upon entering through the Tabernacle outer curtain would be the brazen altar. This is where the sacrificial burnt offerings would take place. The fire on this alter was to be eternal, it should never go out or be extinguished.
Upon moving toward the Tabernacle itself a priest would encounter the laver which was a large washing basin. Here the priest would ceremonially wash his hands and feet before entering the Holy Place of the Tabernacle, “so that they would not die” (Exodus 30:20).
Upon entering the Holy Place of the Tabernacle the priest would see the golden lampstand on his left and the table of the Bread of the Presence on his right.
Directly ahead and just outside the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was the Altar of Incense. The coals for burning the incense were to be taken from the Brazen Altar of burnt offerings.
Finally, there was only one thing inside the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place and that was the Ark of God or the Ark of the Covenant.
To some of us that may be interesting and to others it may be boring. Either way, it is important to us. Why?
It is important to us because it was a foreshadowing of things to come. And, the thing it was foretelling is the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ.
We can look at the path to the Holy of Holies as the path to salvation.
When a person would bring a sacrificial sin offering to the Tabernacle it would be a recognition of personal sin and the need for forgiveness.
As an unsaved person, who is in need of forgiveness, we need to recognize our sinfulness and realize that there must be a sacrifice for our sin.
Hebrews 9:22 says,
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (of sins).”
Romans 3:25a says,
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood …”
How amazing is that? We feel sorry for innocent lambs and goats and heifers and bulls and doves that had their blood shed in animal sacrifices. How much more should we mourn the need for Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, take our sins upon Himself and to shed His blood so that our sins could be forgiven?
And, even as we mourn Jesus’ sacrificial death we can rejoice in the great salvation that His blood provides for us. Amen?
What do we see ahead of us? We see the bronze laver or washing basin. The priest had to be ceremonially clean before they could enter the Holy Place of the Tabernacle.
How are we made clean? Some might say through baptism and baptism IS important but it is only an outward sign or outward testimony of an inward cleansing. How are we made clean?
Titus 3:3-5 says,
“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. HE SAVED US THROUGH THE WASHING OF REBIRTH AND RENEWAL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.”
THAT is what we need, forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins and the washing of rebirth or being born again and being made new by the Holy Spirit!
NOW we can enter into the Tabernacle itself! And, this is where it
REALLY gets interesting!!!
When we enter into Holy Place we see four things. We see the lampstand on our left, the table of the Presence of God on our right, we see the Altar of Incense in front of us and we see a curtain separating us from the Most Holy Place where the Ark of God is found.
That curtain was very important then. The Ark of the Covenant was in there and the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark was where Yahweh the LORD God of Israel would actually show His presence from time to time.
OK. In your mind see yourself standing in front of the Altar of Incense facing the curtain that leads to the Most Holy Place.
If you are standing there it is because you are priest in the line of Aaron and you know that there is One God and He is Yahweh the Lord God of Israel.
But, if you are standing there in your mind now, you know more than the priests of Samuel’s time because things that were hidden to the ancient Israelites have been made plain in the New Testament.
So, imagine that you, as a New Testament, born again Christian are standing in front of the Altar of Incense facing the curtain that leads to the Most Holy Place. And, the curtain that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place is suddenly removed and you see the Ark of God or the Ark of the Covenant.
What is it that is behind you as you look over your left shoulder?
It is the golden lampstand which is fueled with oil and lit to illumine the darkness. What is that lampstand the foreshadowing of?
How is the Holy Spirit represented in the Bible?
In the Old Testament, we find that the anointing with oil was representative of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon a person. For instance, the prophet Samuel used oil to anoint David as king of Israel. We are told the following …
“Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward …) 1 Samuel 16:13 NKJV
In the New Testament we see the Holy Spirit being represented by fire when He was given to the believers in Jerusalem.
Acts 2:1-4
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.”
And we see in Revelation 4:5 NLT that it says,
“From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God.”
What a marvelous thing! The golden lampstand was representing the Holy Spirit even though those who served in the Tabernacle did not know it at the time.
Now, what about if you, as a New Testament, born again Christian are standing in front of the Altar of Incense facing the Ark of God or the Ark of the Covenant and you look over your right shoulder. What do you see there?
The table of the Presence of God and what is on that table?
Bread. Who does bread represent in the New Testament?
What did Jesus declare in John 6:35?
“I Am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”
OK. So, just try to imagine this … you are standing at the Altar of Incense facing the Ark of the Covenant and suddenly you realize that you are surrounded by God. The Father is before you represented by the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Spirit is behind you and to your left represented by the golden lampstand, the oil and the fire, and, Jesus the Son of God is behind you and to your right as represented by the bread on the Table of Showbread.
You KNOW that you are not worthy to be where you are but by God’s Amazing Grace you have been given that privilege.
What would you, standing at the Altar of Incense, offer as incense before God? In Revelation 5:8 we see …
“…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
What else could we offer as incense to God?
Revelation 5:11-13 would be a good start, wouldn’t it?
Say this with me …
“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
“In a loud voice they were sang, ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’
“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’”
Have you ever thought of the Tabernacle in that way?
- A place you could never go before but a way has been made for you to enter not only the Tabernacle but the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies
- The entrance is made possible because of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary for your sin and mine
- You can be washed and made spiritually clean by new birth in the Holy Spirit
- The golden lampstand is now the Holy Spirit who draws you to God, guides you and directs you in becoming more like Jesus every day
- The Table of the Showbread has become Jesus the Living Bread who is now your Advocate, your Mediator between you and God the Father
- The Ark of the Covenant is now God the Father who gave His Son for the salvation of all who would believe in Him and Who also gave us the Holy Spirit as our comforter and guide
- The Altar of Incense is no longer just a place where smoke with a sweet aroma rises upward but it is a place where your prayers and praise can rise before the Lord and it is pleasing to Him.
Do you have that or are you still outside the outer perimeter of the Tabernacle hauling a sheep or goat or heifer or bull to the entrance where you hope that your sin will be removed when the throat of the innocent animal is slashed for you and its blood pours out?
Here are the options … joy and peace in the presence of God or annually shedding the blood of animals in hope that it pleases God. The choice is yours but only one choice brings eternal life.
Final thoughts and prayer
