The Vision of the Tabernacle |
Service to God |
The four pillars of the tabernacle that held up the veil at the entrance of the Holy of Holies represent the ambassadors of Christ. God Himself gave these persons the responsibility of bringing all those who serve Him in the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies that they might live before Him. God Himself beseeches us through these ambassadors to be reconciled to Him.
On one hand, we are ministers of Christ. Paul says that the word and the ministry of reconciliation have been given to us. Since this is the case, the ministers of the new covenant are those who carry out this ministry. On the other hand, we are also ambassadors because we know God’s purpose and can represent Him, beseeching the saints to be reconciled to Him.
All of us were sinners, enemies of God, but the precious blood of Jesus reconciled us to God. We were then cleansed and the ministers of Christ brought us into the tabernacle, into the Holy Place, to serve as priests. After that we received another calling to become ambassadors of Christ. We must understand that God does not only want us to be a group of priests, but that each one of us would be an ambassador, a faithful representative of God’s will among men.
The ambassadors are also the “pillars” in the church. In Galatians 2 Paul points out three apostles who were reputed to be pillars: Peter, James and John. Surely they were legitimate representatives of God. Hence, we can say that the ambassadors also have the function of being an apostle. If we continue on the way to spiritual maturity, one day the Lord will be able to send us as apostles to build up His church. This must be our goal!
The pillars of the tabernacle were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. In order for us to be useful in the building up, the acacia wood needs to be overlaid with gold. Gold typifies the divine nature because it is pure and shining. Only acacia wood overlaid with gold could be used for the pillars. This indicates that, on one hand, we must have the highest humanity with respect to morality, culture, behavior, education, etc., but this humanity is only useful to God after it has been “overlaid with gold,” that is, only after it has received the divine nature. The wood in the tabernacle was completely hidden by the gold, yet the wood was what supported the gold and gave it a shape. As ambassadors, we must express only Christ, and this is carried out through our person. Our Lord is the richest and highest treasure; however, He is hidden within earthen vessels, within us (2 Cor. 4:7).
We should never forget that for God to obtain the building of His house, the cooperation among the saints is indispensable. This is an important spiritual principle that can be seen throughout the Bible. For example, when the Lord Jesus sent the seventy disciples, He sent them two-by-two. This clearly shows that whatever the service to God may be, it should be carried out by at least two saints. The need for cooperation can be seen in the tabernacle since it was made of forty-eight boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold, each a foot and a half wide, representing all the saints. Therefore, every two boards together made a complete unit of three cubits, indicating the need for cooperation among the saints in serving God, especially among the couples.
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