ALONE WITH GOD     

This great candlelabrum, which stood at the south side of the first room,was one piece of pure beaten gold. It was made of a talent of gold, or about $27,375 worth of gold. Its size is not given in the Bible; but the amount of gold used, and the size of it in relation to the height of a man as shown by the bas-relief on the Arch of Titus, is ground for supposing it was probably two cubits, or three feet, high, as was the golden altar on which it was to shed light.

It was made with a central upright shaft from each side of which went out three branches; oil lamps were on the top of the branches and central shaft, all on one plane. It was more properly a lamp-stand than a candlestick.On each of the arms or branches were three bowls like almonds, with a "knop," or knob, and a flower with each bowl. Four of these bowls, knops, and flower were on the central shaft. Thus it had the appearance of a golden almond-tree with fruits in the three stages, as was Aaron's almond-rod laid up in the tabernacle, which, one night, budded, blossomed, and bore almonds.The purpose of the candlestick was to give light on the table of shewbread opposite and for the priestly ministration there and at the golden altar. It was to be kept always burning with beaten olive-oil, and to be trimmed and cared for by the priests evening and morning.

Typical Significance of the Candlestick. - As the altar and the laver were typical of Christ, so was the candlestick and all the other articles of furniture in the sanctuary, as well as the two veils. It is necessarily so because he is the only Savior. The different articles of furniture were needed to set forth the various phases of his work in our salvation much as he used, in his parables, different things to illustrate the various phases of the kingdom of God. He it is who is the source of all spiritual light.Christians merely reflect his light. He said, "I am the light of the world."(John 8:12). In a special sense this light is shed on those who are saved. The sinner is said to be in darkness; but Christians are called "children of light" (1 Thess. 5:5). "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." (Eph. 5:8). "That ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Pet. 2:9). Even without these clear statements from the Bible, it would still be evident that the golden candlestick typified Christ, who is the giver of light to his church. Seven is the number of perfection. Christ's light is perfect. Its being made of gold may be significant also, because gold is the sacred metal that characterizes the presence of God and probably symbolizes the glory of God. As the boards and pillars have already been shown to be covered with gold, so the Christian is clothed with God's glory and presence. But the candlestick was solid gold - a fit representation of Christ. The blessedness of the light of Christ is better appreciated if we compare the condition of "saints in light" with those groping in the darkness of sin and heathenism.

"My darkness now is passed away, In Jesus all is perfect day; And peace and comfort ever stay, Since Christ is my perfect light."

THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD (Exod. 25:23-30; Lev. 24:5-9)

On the north side of the holy place, opposite the candlestick, stood the gold- covered table of shittim wood, called the "table of shewbread." It was a table of ordinary size, two cubits (three feet) long, one cubit (eighteen inches) wide, and one and one half cubits (twenty-seven inches) high. It was encompassed by a crown and border of gold, and had a golden ring on each leg through which bars were passed, by which to carry it. On the table were placed, each Sabbath-day, twelve loaves of bread, as many loaves as there were gems in the high priest's breastplate, one for each of the tribes of God's people. Six loaves were placed at one end of the table and six at the other end. On each of these rows was laid frankincense. When fresh loaves were brought each Sabbath, the former loaves were eaten, in the holy place, by the priests, while the incense was burned upon the golden altar near at hand.

The Antitypical Shewbread. - But what phase of Christ's redemptive work is foreshadowed by this golden table with its twelve loaves and frankincense? The loaves are not supposed to be understood to be symbolic of the tribes, as some have supposed, but symbolic of something for those represented by the tribes, because they are eaten by the representatives of the tribes,the priests. But what is the bread of those in God's church, the "kingdom of priests" who were represented by those who entered into the first room of that ancient tabernacle? Let Jesus answer. "I am that bread of life. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (John 6:48,51).

The loaves of the shewbread typified the same spiritual food as is symbolized by the bread of the communion Supper in the New Testament church. The one pointed forward to it, the other points backward to it. Jesus is the bread on which the soul of the regenerated feasts. He satisfies every hunger of the heart. As natural bread sustains the life of the body, so he sustains the life of the soul. And this bread is for all God's people. There was a loaf for little Benjamin as well as for royal Judah. As all God's people were then represented, so all of them are included in spiritual Israel now. And there is plenty to satisfy their hunger, which was signified by those sumptuous loaves; each one containing twice as much flour as was needed for the food of a man for a whole day.

But God also received a portion from the table of shewbread. The incense that was burned upon the golden altar was a memorial of the loaves that belonged to God. Here at this golden table, then, we feast with Jehovah. We not only have communion with one another, but we have blessed communion with the Father. There, through the broken body of our Saviour, without which fellowship with our holy Creator were impossible, we have fellowship with Divinity. There he sups with us and we with him (Rev. 3:20). There we tell him our inmost thoughts. There also he reveals to us the indescribably glories of his own perfection. Thank God for Jesus, the true bread; for without him we could never know the blessedness of communion with out Maker.

THE GOLDEN ALTAR (Exod. 30:1-10)

The golden altar, though not so large as the brazen altar, was more precious, being made of shittim wood but overlaid with gold. It was one cubit, or eighteen inches, square and two cubits, or three feet, high. Like the brazen altar, it had horns fashioned on the four corners of it. Around the edge of the top was a crown, and two golden rings on the sides held gold-covered bars as a means of carrying it. This beautiful little altar was located in the holy place near the second veil, before the ark, which was just beyond the veil. It was midway between the north and south sides of the tabernacle. It is described as the "altar to burn incense upon," because this was its chief use. Each morning when the priest trimmed the lamps and again when he lighted them, specially prepared holy incense was burned there in worship to Jehovah. Similar aromatic substances were not uncommonly employed by Orientals in offerings of tributary homage as marks of honor to kings. The Magi brought such an offering of frankincense to the infant Jesus in worshipping him as King of the Jews.

There was a close connection between this altar and the brazen altar. Live coals of fire were brought from it to the golden altar, on which the incense was burned (Lev. 16:12). That fire had been divinely sent from God (Lev.9:24). Nadab and Abihu profanely offered incense with other or strange fire and died as a result (Lev. 10:1). Also the blood of the sin-offering was smeared upon the horns of the golden altar once each year, on the great day of atonement. And, too, in every sin-offering for the priests or for the whole congregation collectively some of the blood from the brazen altar was brought and applied to these gold-covered horns (Lev. 4:7, 18).

Typical Meaning of the Golden Altar.- As the golden altar had two uses, we need not be surprised to find an antitypical meaning of each those uses. The significance of the offering of incense is clearly brought out both in the Old and in the New Testament. "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense" (Psa. 141:2). "The four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials[bowls,or censers], full of odors [marg., incense], which are the prayers of saints"(Rev. 5:8). (See also Isa. 6:3, 4; and Luke 1:10). What a beautiful symbol is the fragrant odor of this sweet incense ascending there before the Lord! How pleasing to him must be the devotion of loving hearts, the devout feelings of faithful worshippers, the praises of his people, the reaching-out of the souls of the redeemed for blessed communion with him! All this is prayer in the broadest sense. We no longer offer incense, but "let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Heb. 13:15).

This incense-altar was "before the Lord." Though the veil intervened, yet it is constantly described as being connected with the ark and the mercy-seat. In Heb. 9:4 it is stated that the holiest room "had the golden censer, "which was doubtless the incense-altar. Therefore when we pray today we come into God's holy presence, before the throne of grace, the mercy-seat. There we give pleasure to the loving heart of a kind Creator by sincere hearts' devotion. And as the incense was offered continually, "a perpetual incense,"that is, each morning and evening always, so we are admonished to "pray without ceasing," to be "instant [constant] in prayer," to be "praying always." "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psa. 34:1).

The blood on the horns of the golden altar also shadowed forth some of the good things that God has now provided for us. Like the brazen altar and the laver, it was directly between the entrance to the court and the ark of God; signifying that it was one of the means by which the sinner came to God. Those who have had their hearts "sprinkled from an evil conscience" (at the brazen altar), and have had their "bodies washed with pure water" (at the laver), the writer to the Hebrews exhorts, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, ... let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Heb. 10:19-22). It is clear from this that the blood of Jesus gives entrance through the veil into the holiest, as we have already shown that the sacrificial blood at the brazen altar gives admittance through the first veil into the holy place. Also we have shown that this holiest place is typical of entire sanctification. A very definite proof of this is that the atoning blood was put on the horns of the golden altar only for those who had been admitted to the holy place -the priests, as individuals, or for the whole congregation, whose representatives, the priests, were admitted (see Lev. 4:7, 18). The blood of the sin-offering for "one of the common people" was smeared on the horns of the brazen altar out in the court (Lev. 4:30). How remarkably did God in these ancient symbols predict the minute details of the process of our salvation. But it may be objected that the priests did not gain entrance to the holiest by this blood on the horns of the golden altar. This was because "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing" (Heb. 9:8). Likewise the common people were not admitted into the holy place by the blood of their sin-offering on the horns of the brazen altar. But as the sinner is now admitted into the holy place of the church by the atoning blood of Jesus, so also those who have already entered it are now admitted into the holiest by the same blood on the horns of the golden altar.

THE ARK AND THE MERCY-SEAT (Exod. 25:10-22)

Of all the furniture of the tabernacle, that of the holy of holies was the most peculiar, the most impressive, and the most significant. It consisted of two distinct articles, yet inasmuch as they belonged together they are commonly spoken of as one.

The ark of the covenant was so called because in it was placed, and it existed as a receptacle for, the two tables of stone on which Jehovah had supernaturally inscribed the ten commandments, the foundation of his law to Israel. It was an ordinary-sized, gold-plated, shittim-wood chest one and one half cubits, or twenty-seven inches, wide and high, and two and one half cubits, or forty-five inches, long. Around the top was a crown of gold, which seems to have been purely for the purpose of ornamentation, as it was on the table and golden altar. Two golden rings, with a gold-covered bar, on each of the two sides furnished a means of conveying it from place to place.

The mercy seat was a slab of pure gold as wide and as long as the ark, and was laid on top of the ark, fitting down inside the crown as a sort of lid. On the ends of it, and of one piece of gold with it, were fashioned two angelic winged figures, called cherubims. These faced each other, looking down upon the mercy-seat and stretching their wings out above and before them until the tips of the wings of the one touched the other's, making a sort of covering or canopy over this symbolic throne of the invisible God. "There," above the mercy-seat, overshadowed by the wings of the cherubmin, said the Lord, "I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all thins which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."(Exod. 25:22). There shone the Shekinah, the glory of the Lord, according to Jewish tradition. There is some ground for this tradition in the pillar of fire that led Israel through the wilderness journey and in the glory of the Lord at different times filled or was seen on the tabernacle. There on the mercy-seat, on the great day of atonement, the atoning blood was sprinkled in the very presence of God. For only there in the presence of this blood could the holy God consistently commune with sinful men.

Typical Significance of the Ark and Mercy-seat. - We must view the ark and mercy-seat together, as they were very closely related to each other, to get a clear idea of their typical meaning. The mercy-seat was God's throne,with the ark for its base, the cherubim for sides and supports and their outstretched wings for a canopy above. It is doubtess here we get the beautiful expression, "throne of grace." (Heb. 4:16). It was a place of mercy.

The symbolic and typical significance can be better understood by getting the force of the meaning of the name of the mercy-seat. It is sometimes translated the propitiatory covering. But it was not this in the sense of a mere covering for the ark. According to Dr. Fairbairn, the Hebrew name, capporeth, which means covering, is never used for covering in the ordinary sense. It is never mentioned precisely as the lid of the ark. It was a place where sin was covered. The translators of the Septuagint have, with this in mind, expressed the idea very well as a propitiatory overing. It was an atonement covering. Now Jesus is the true mercy-seat or propitiatory. "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood." (Rom.3:24, 25). The blood sprinkled by the mediating high priest on atonement-day on that pure-gold mercy-seat was typical of the precious atoning blood of Jesus. The mercy-seat must be considered with the blood upon it, as the altar with the sacrifice upon it. So also the ark should be regarded, with the symbolic law of God in it, as a type.

The ark was typical of God's righteous law which sinful man has violated. And the mercy-seat was typical of Jesus Christ as the atoning sacrifice for the sin of violating that law. The mercy-seat was the same length and width as the ark; so Jesus' atonement is coextensive with man's sin in breaking God's holy law. It covers every sin. God's mercy through Christ is equal to his just ice. What a beautiful symbol of the ground on which God offers pardon to those deserving of penalty. It is only in the presence of the propitiatory blood covering his violated law that the Holy One can commune with those who are unholy. Thank God for Jesus the "propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2).

But what do the cherubim represent? More or less mystery surrounds both the nature and symbolic meaning of the two golden cherubim. That they were winged creatures of the angelic order seems fairly clear. These had wings certainly. Probably these are not essentially different from those seraphim of Isaiah's vision which had six wings (Isa. 6:2). They are always represented as being closely connected with the throne or presence of God or as doing his work. Certainly the close relation of the golden cherubim to the mercy-seat, as well as the cherubic figures worked in the hangings of the walls and in the veil, signified the fact of the presence of the invisible God.

While we may be sure of this, yet there may be also a fuller significance to them. They certainly cannot symbolize agents, but must represent something different from yet analogous to themselves. When our foreparents were driven from Eden, cherubim were set at the gate to keep the way to the tree of life. They were closely connected with God's judicial government, executors of justice. Is it not possible that these beings that seem to belong to God's presence are hieroglyphs of his divine attributes such as justice and mercy? May not one of the golden cherubim of the mercy-seat represent justice and the other mercy as they meet in the presence of the atoning blood of Jesus? There with eyes fixed upon the blood, justice and mercy come face to face and are reconciled together, yea, they become one, and one with the true propitiatory, the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE ANTITYPICAL HOLY OF HOLIES

We have already shown that the tabernacle as a house was a type of the New Testament church, and as a means of service typical of the way by which the sinner comes to God or obtains salvation. The two rooms were shown to represent the two degrees of Christian experience, regeneration and entire sanctification. However, the great facts of the atonement typified by the ark and the mercy-seat, and also the intercession of the high priest on the great day of atonement, which in antitype belongs to heaven where God dwells, necessarily were represented in the holy of holies merely because He then dwelt there. But the holiest into which we are exhorted to enter by the blood of Jesus is the experience of entire sanctification, the fulness of Christian experience. Entire sanctification is simultaneous with the baptism of the Holy Ghost (Acts 15:8, 9).

There in that sacred place the redeemed soul dwells in closest communion with God. No veil now is needed to bar him from the presence of the infinitely Holy One, because he is cleansed from the last remains of sin and is pure "as he is pure." He "dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High," he abides "under the shadow of the Almighty." And under his golden "wings shalt thou trust." There, as on the stone tables, the law of God is perfectly written in the hearts of the sanctified by the restoration of the moral nature to primitive holiness. There their souls are satisfied with the hidden manna. And there the Shekinah light of the glory of God is their constand portion. In this heavenly condition they abide in God and God in them. And this blessed experience is the rightful heritage of all God's people.

"There is a blest pavilion,
A sacred inner court,
The place of God's own dwelling,
With all the world shut out.
Oh, holy resting-place!
Oh, calm and pure retreat!
Where God unveils his face,
And life is only sweet.

"Within this greater temple,
Built by the Son of God,
We've found a full salvation,
And entered thro' the blood.
Here on the mercy-seat,
Beneath the cherubim,
We dwell in love complete,
And heaven's glory hymn.

"First at the cleansing laver
We felt the blood applied,
Then on the golden altar
We're holy sanctified.
Within the second veil,
Oh, holy, holy place!
With joyful lips we tell
The fulness of his grace.

"Oh, glory be to Jesus!
I've boldly entered in
The secret of his presence,
And triumph over sin.
My soul is hid away
In God, with Jesus Christ;
And here I'll ever stay,
In sweet eternal rest." - D. S. Warner