Building the Tabernacle has many parallels with building the Christian life and church. Take a look.
Exodus 37: Making the Ark
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.
2 And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a moulding of gold around it.
3 And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side.
4 And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold
5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.
6 And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.
7 And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat,
8 one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends.
9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.
Making the Table
10 He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.
11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a moulding of gold around it.
12 And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and made a moulding of gold around the rim.
13 He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs.
14 Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table.
15 He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold.
16 And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.
Making the Lampstand
17 He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it.
18 And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it;
19 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch---so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.
20 And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers,
21 and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it.
22 Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold.
23 And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold.
24 He made it and all its utensils out of a talent of pure gold.
Making the Altar of Incense
25 He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it.
26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a moulding of gold around it,
27 and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it.
28 And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
29 He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.
Exodus 38: Making the Altar of Burnt Offering
1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height.
2 He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.
3 And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze.
4 And he made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down.
5 He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles.
6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
7 And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards.
Making the Bronze Basin
8 He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Making the Court
9 And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits;
10 their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
11 And for the north side there were hangings of a hundred cubits, their twenty pillars, their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
12 And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars, and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
13 And for the front to the east, fifty cubits.
14 The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases.
15 And so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases.
16 All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen.
17 And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
18 And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court.
19 And their pillars were four in number. Their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver.
20 And all the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze.
Materials for the Tabernacle
21 These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
22 Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses;
23 and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.
24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
25 The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary:
26 a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.
27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base.
28 And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them.
29 The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels;
30 with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar,
31 the bases around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.
Things to think about…
In these two chapters we see the order of importance. This is what is displayed in the vessels and structures of Ex 37&38. We start with the Ark of the covenant. This is God’s holiest place. For the Christian it is the heart where the Holy Spirit abides. Our heart before the Lord is of primary importance and should always be checked to see whether Christ is indeed getting the glory through our words, actions and belief system.
The table Ex 37:10-16, represents our service and activity done in Jesus’ name. These are our works/fruit before the Lord which are laid out before him. The Lord has our heart (Ark) but our acts of service (Table) bring Him glory. Christ is the Bread of life represented by the showbread that this table was used for by the priest.
Ex 37:17-24 describes the lampstand. It was filled with oil and burned to give light. The oil represents the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Lampstand was a beautiful ornament, made of pure gold, but also served a purpose in giving light to the High Priest and His ministry. We are called to show the light of Christ in this dark world, our lives are to reflect His beauty through our Christian witness. Remember the light in some churches (the lampstand) is removed as a judgement, as in Rev 2:5 where the church at Ephesus had lost its first love, Rev 2:4. Let’s remember our love of Christ above all things. If we lose our love for Him we lose our light.
Our prayers are of course the sweet smelling aroma that is represented through the altar of incense Ex 37:25-29. Keep the aroma going and send up prayers that honour the Person and work of our Saviour Jesus.
We are called to be living sacrifices by turning away from our sin and rebellion and lay ourselves on the altar, Ex 38:1-7. We are washed in the basin of Christ, vs 8. We are clean for His service.
All God’s people were welcomed and included as part of the number allowed into the court, Ex 38:9-20. The church will be filled with every tribe, language and nation. Praise Him! Faith in Christ which is obtained by His grace gives us full and free access to the sanctuary as part of His body.
It took a lot of resources to build the tabernacle, Ex 38:24-30 and takes money and resources to build a church. The materials for the tabernacle represent the tithes, offerings and gifts that people offer with their time and energy for the glory of God, as we use our gifts in the church and in the world.
Vision Point for Cell groups
CBC's Vision "To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission".
Cell group questions from Sunday morning’s sermon “What’s with the stones” Ex 28.
1. The High Priest had the 12 tribes of Israel represented by 12 precious stones on his breastplate. What was the significance of the stones, their placement and where they were taken by the High Priest in his ministry in the holy of holies in the tabernacle?
2. Doug brought out that Jesus is our Great High Priest. Discuss what this means and how the Old Testament High Priest was a type of Christ.
3. What did Doug mean when he said that if he had a choice of stone, a lump of coal would have been his choice. He also brought out that when sin is committed blood had to be shed. What does this mean in the light of Christ and the cross?
4. In the New Jerusalem the walls are made up of 12 layers of precious stones and we are personally given a white stone with a new name, Rev 2:17. Discuss.
5. Pray for new folk that have recently joined us that they be joined into the fellowship of the church. Pray for each other, our city and country.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Gary and Christine who lost their sister/sister in law Diane to a long battle with cancer. Pray for Diane’s husband Evan that his heart softens to Christ.
2. Pray for Catherine who has suffered many mini strokes, TIA’s. Out of hospital today.
3. People who have visited the church and have not been around for a few weeks.
4. Others who are struggling in their commitment to Christ and relationship strain/choices.
5. Sunday’s messages. The message this week – “Done decently and in order” Exod 36-40, Jay.
7. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
8. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
Praise Points.
1. Faithful preaching by Doug Horne on Sunday.
2. Ras Beirut Baptist Church thankful for CBC’s partnership and support - $1500.
3. 5 young people stepping up to be trained on the words and streaming software.
4. Blessing Beirut ($1500). Thank you!
5. Unity, peace and grace at CBC.
6. Praise God for all those who serve at CBC.
Announcements
1. Prayer meetings back this week. Tuesday and Thursday mornings at church 5:30am – 6:30am.
2. Carols Sun 20thDec 6pm. Start with a meal. Carols to start after the meal around 7pm.
3. Training for words and streaming – 6pm Friday night – young people.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Kids Church in the house this week when the message is on.
