The Tabernacle and what it represents

Part 8

In this article we will continue the explanation and we shall talk about " The covers of the tabernacle ".

(9) -The Covers of the Tabernacle

Exodus (26 – 1):

Moreover you shall make the tabernacle (the sacred tent) of ten cloth pieces of fine twined linen woven with blue, purple, scarlet and with cherubim skilfully worked shall you make them.

2 The length of each cloth piece shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each cloth piece four cubits; all the cloth pieces shall have the same measure.

3 Five cloth pieces shall be coupled and joined together; and the other five cloth pieces shall be coupled and joined together.

4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outmost cloth piece in the first set; and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outmost cloth piece in the second set.

5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one cloth piece, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the cloth piece that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another.

6 And you shall make fifty clasps (hooks) of gold, and join the two sets together into one piece.

7 You shall also make cloth pieces of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven cloth pieces shall you make.

8 The length of each cloth piece shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each cloth piece four cubits; the eleven cloth pieces shall have the same measure.

9 And you shall couple and join five cloth pieces together, and six cloth pieces together, and the sixth cloth piece you shall double fold over at the front of the tent.

10 And you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the cloth piece that is outmost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the cloth piece which is outmost in the second set.

11 And you shall make fifty clasps (hooks) of cupper, and join the two sets together into one piece.

12 And the part that remains of the cloth pieces of the tent, the half cloth piece that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle.

13 And the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of what remains in the length of the cloth pieces of the tent shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.

14 And you shall make for the tent a covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above it of tachas’ skins.

 (9) -The Covers of the Tabernacle:
The covers of the tabernacle (the holy tent), represent the different stages of the exodus of mankind out of the slavery and bondage of sin and its consequent punishment to reach God’s redemption and salvation in order to get the opportunity to stand once again in God's presence.

And we shall deal with the covers beginning from top downward in the direction of the Most Holy of the Holy.

(A) -The Cover of the Tachas’ skins:
The colour of the cover of tachas' skins (Dolphins skins) is a blackish dark blue. And since the dolphins were created before man, this meant that the salvation and redemption plan was laid out before the creation of man, because God had the prior knowledge of what Adam and Eve will do. That means, "this cover symbolized the stage that proceeded Adam's fall in sin".

(B) -The Dyed Red Cover of Rams’ Skins:
The cover of the rams' skins which were dyed red, that is the skins of the symbolic sacrifices which started with the sacrifice from which God had made the garments with which he covered Adam's and Eve's genitals (to cover their shame and sin).

Men started to offer these sacrifices beginning with Abel's offering and till the time when the Commandments and the Law were given to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai. This stage was symbolized by the ram, which was given to Abraham to offer it instead of his son Isaac on the top of Mount Moriah.

These sacrifices were offered as a symbol to the promised sacrifice of God's Son. Which means that this cover symbolized the stage of the fall in sin and its slavery.

(C) -The Cover of the Woven Goats' Hair:
Goats' hair is usually of a black colour, which means that he who offers these sacrifices repents and is sorry for his over trading of the Commandments and the Law. The cover symbolized the sin offerings, which were offered in accordance with the Law that God gave to Moses and all mankind, and which the Israelites accepted and agreed to work according to its terms. That is the sacrifices that were offered as a symbol to Christ's crucifixion and redemption. That is this cover symbolized the stage of the Commandments and the Law, as from Moses and till the coming of Christ and the crucifixion of the Son of God to redeem mankind and to give them a new easy way for salvation.

The cover was made of eleven cloth pieces; the length of each cloth piece was thirty cubits, and a breadth of four cubits. The First six cloth pieces were coupled together to make one piece of them. Also the five cloth pieces that were left were coupled together to make them into one piece. Fifty loops on the edge of the cloth piece that is outmost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the cloth piece which is outmost in the second set were made of the same material of the cover itself. The two sets were joined together by fifty clasps of cupper to make the tent into one whole.

The sixth cloth piece was double folded over the front of the tent, and the part that remained of the cloth pieces of the tent, the half cloth piece that remained, was hanged over the back of the tabernacle. And the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of what remained in the length of the cloth pieces of the tent were hanged over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.

The cupper clasps mean that he who follows the Law is still under judgment of death, because his offering only symbolizes the offering of the Son of God. He is still required to accept the sacrifice of the Son of God and to declare his belief in him.

The cupper clasps were placed directly over the golden clasps of the twine linen cover of the tabernacle.

(D) -The Twined Linen Woven cover:
This cover was made of ten cloth pieces of fine skillfully worked twined Linen woven with blue, purple, scarlet and with cherubim. Each cloth piece was twenty-eight cubits, and its breadth was four cubits, and each five cloth pieces were coupled and joined together to make them into one piece. Fifty loops of blue were made on the edge of the outmost cloth piece in the first set; and likewise on the edge of the outmost cloth piece in the second set. The loops of one set were made opposite to those on the other set. And fifty golden clasps were made to join the two sets together into one piece to make the tabernacle into one whole.

This tabernacle is a house of priesthood redeemed with the blood of a heavenly King and cherubim guard it. No one can enter it except through the torn veil and through the three spaces made by the pillars, which were placed, between the Holy-place and the Most Holy of the Holy. Which means the cover symbolizes the stage of salvation by Christ's blood.

We notice that the book names the twined linen cover as the tabernacle (the house) and the cover of the goats' hair as the tent. And when it says the tabernacle is made into one whole it means that the Holy-place and the Most Holy of the Holy became into one whole (because the only thing that separated the two was the veil that was hanged under the golden clasps). This means that God has connected and bonded, The Most Holy of the Holy which symbolizes his throne which is in heaven with the Holy-place which symbolizes the seven chronological churches of God which are here on earth. And since the loops were made of sky blue colour and the clasps of gold, this means that God has connected his heavenly throne by heavenly loops and bonds with his church on this earth. So the angels began to guard all the seven branches of God's chronological church from the time of Christ crucifixion and till his glorious Second Coming.

 

God has also connected and bonded, The Most Holy of the Holy with the Holy-place during the stage of the Law  (clasps of cupper) temporary, under the condition of offering the sin animal sacrifices in accordance to the Law and the ten commandments,  which only symbolized the redeeming cross offering of the Son of God, to make the tent into one whole. But as you see the tent is temporary and it was erected by the Israelites during their travel through the desert, and which was replaced by (the house) which is permanent.

The chronological order, which God the Almighty has used to describe the different articles to be made and the parts of the tabernacle in the bible, is different from that we have followed. God began First: by the ark of covenant and the mercy seat then the bread table then the golden lamp-stand. Second: the tent, its different covers, its walls, and the Holy-place and the Most Holy of the Holy. Third: the burnt offering altar. Fourth: the fence of the tent of meeting. Fifth: the priests cloths. Sixth: the incense altar. And seventh: the cupper laver.

The order that God has used is the same as the chronological order of the stages of the exodus of mankind from under the slavery of sin, that God had planed. That is, the essence and foundation of the exodus of mankind from under the slavery of satin is first: The redemption of the Son of God and its symbol is the Ark of the Covenant . Through his redemption we were given his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, that we may live by them. That is by the bread and the wine that are on the table. Then the seven churches of God represented by the lamp-stand light s the way for all mankind and distributes the bread of life to all its believers and priests. This is actually the whole salvation plan.

Second: God described how the heavenly throne was looped, bonded and connected through the redemption to the church of God on earth. God described the place of the saints and believers in the Holy-place and in the heavenly temple.

Third: God began to explain how men could get the salvation through out the different stages of the exodus, that is in the beginning they are under the judgment of death and they offer the sacrifices that symbolize the sacrifice of the Son of God while they are still outside the fence.

Fourth: by offering the sacrifices that point out to the redemption of the Son of God while they are in the stage of the burnt animal offerings altar that is the stage of the Law.

Fifth: those who seek salvation should become priests and enter into the Holy-place that is to stage of the redemption by the cross.

 Sixth: Then they should have faith and belief, they should pray, kneel and give thanks to God and be the salt of the earth. And finally seventh: they should keep their bodies and souls pure and clean, (as the salvation is for both the body and soul) which means they should be baptized in Christ blood. So you see the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh were to tell how the salvation plan is executed throughout the generation to save all those who believe.

 

In the next part we shall talk about why the different articles made for the tabernacle were placed in their specified places , as asked by God. And the pillars of the entrance of the Tent, the pillars of the curtain of the Holy-Place, and the pillars of the Veil of the Holy of the Most Holy, and finally the golden clasps which connected the heavenly throne with the church of God on this earth.

 

Nori Karim Daoud

25 / 02/ 2009