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Lesson by Brother Walt Durgeloh
Text: Exodus 27:9-19; 38:9-20
The court was a perfect oblong, twice as long as its breadth, being 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide (about 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, a cubit is about 18 inches or 1.5 feet). It was 5 cubits high (7 ½ feet high). See picture one.
The outer courtyards construction was upon 60 pillars. See picture four.
They were all set into 60 brass sockets for a foundation.
Each pillar had a chapiter (ornamental head or cap), which was overlaid with silver.
Each had a silver hook on which the curtains were hung.
There were 20 pillars on the South side, and 20 on the North side.
There were 10 on both the East and West side.
They were all united to each other by a silver connecting bar, called a silver fillet.
The need for the court wall
A. To teach man he was outside and God was on the inside.
Ephesians 2:14 There is a wall between God and lost man.
Isaiah 55:6 Man was to come to the Tabernacle to find God. Isa 59:1-2 Sin makes us hide from God, separates us.
God desires for Man to find Him (Gen 3:8-9, Luke 19:10).
When God and Man come together (man gets saved) there is rejoicing.
B. Once inside the court, man could have communion and fellowship with God in His Kingdom.
John 3:1-5 As Jesus taught Nicodemus, salvation gets you into the kingdom of God.
The Tabernacle proper (structure in the court) was in the court like the New Testament churches are in the Kingdom, but the churches are not the Kingdom, nor the Kingdom the churches.
The court is a picture of the Word of God
A. The Word reveals how sin has been judged and put under foot (brass sockets)
Brass speaks of judgment.
Num 21:9 – Brass serpent had to be looked at to be cured
John 3:14 – Brass serpent was a picture of looking to Jesus
Rev 1:15 – Jesus feet like fine brass, bringing judgment.
Col 1:20 – Man must pass through the judgment of God before he can have peace (reconcile with God), and that is through repentance and faith in the shed blood of Christ.
B. The theme of redemption, running through the whole Bible, is sometimes called “the scarlet thread of redemption”. Here it is seen as the silver fillet of redemption, extending to the full measurement of the court.
1 Peter 1:18-21 Redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
Titus 2:11,14 – Redemption available for all.
The “fine twined Linen” hangings are a type of Christ, our Righteousness
A. Our Holy God cannot bear the presence of sin, but in matchless love, He provided righteousness for every sinner who will receive it as a free gift of His grace.
John 3:16 – He loved the whole world, gave His Son.
2 Cor 5:21 – Jesus became sin for us so we could be right in God’s eyes.
B. The “fine twined linen” that formed the court of the tabernacle spoke eloquently of all that God is in His sinless, spotless Person, and of all that He requires of the sinner who would enter into His holy presence unafraid and unashamed.
Hebrews 4:14-16 We can come boldly to the throne of God because of Jesus.
C. The white linen hanging that surrounded the court of the tabernacle also served as a constant reminder to the sinning Israelite that God’s dwelling place is holy.
- It reminds His people to live apart from the heathen, godless world. Romans 12:1-2
- The Hebrew tabernacle is a type of the church, as well as a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus.
- We are exhorted by the Holy Spirit to a life of separation from the godless, Christ rejecting world.
II Cor 6:11-18 – be separate.
Titus 2:12 – live godly.
1 Peter 1:16 – Be holy as God is holy.
Cords attached to pillars:
Hosea 11:4 Cords of the tabernacle drew man to God. Connected to silver on pillar, attached to ground via brass stakes. Shows Jesus holds our spiritual lives secure, as He is our Redeemer and Judge.
The hooks and chapiters of silver are symbolic of Christ, our Redeemer Silver stands for redemption.
A. This silver was a part of the redemption money given by the children of Israel
Exodus 30:11-16; 38:25-28 The redemption money was a memorial, to make an atonement (redeem) them. It was used to get the silver for the pillars (fillet, hooks, and capiters) and for the sockets for the sanctuary.
Matt 26:14-15 30 pieces of silver was the price of Jesus betrayal. Matt 27:3-10 (Zech 11:12-13) Drove Judas to suicide, money used to buy potters field.
Compare:
Before an Israelite could be a soldier for God’s people, he had to present to the Lord a ransom for his soul. Redemption money.
Before we can become soldiers of the cross, we must be redeemed by the blood of the Son of God.
Eph 2:13, 19 – We are no longer strangers, we become part of the household of God, “nigh” or close to God. Our ransom has been paid.
2 Tim 2:3-4 As soldiers we are not to be traitors, to remember who redeemed us.
