Notes on the book of Exodus Part 13

However, the "first covenant" is here dedicated with blood. An altar is erected at the foot of the hill, with "twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel." "And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.... And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.'" Although, as the apostle teaches us, it was "impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin," yet did it "sanctify to the purifying of the flesh," and, as "a shadow of good things to come," it availed to maintain the people in relationship with Jehovah.

"Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the G.o.d of Israel: and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in clearness. And upon the n.o.bles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand: also they saw G.o.d and did eat and drink." This was the manifestation of "the G.o.d of Israel," in light and purity, majesty and holiness. It was not the unfolding of the affections of a Father's bosom, or the sweet accents of a Father's voice, breathing peace and inspiring confidence into the heart. No; the "paved work of a sapphire stone" told out that unapproachable purity and light which could only tell a sinner to keep off. Still, "they saw G.o.d and did eat and drink." Touching proof of divine forbearance and mercy, as also of the power of the blood!

Looking at this entire scene as a mere ill.u.s.tration, there is much to interest the heart. There is the defiled camp _below_ and the sapphire pavement _above_; but the altar, at the foot of the hill, tells us of that way by which the sinner can make his escape from the defilement of his own condition, and mount up to the presence of G.o.d, there to feast and worship in perfect peace. The blood which flowed around the altar furnished man's only t.i.tle to stand in the presence of that glory which "was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel."

"And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights." This was truly a high and holy position for Moses. He was called away from earth and earthly things. Abstracted from natural influences, he is shut in with G.o.d, to hear from His mouth the deep mysteries of the Person and work of Christ; for such, in point of fact, we have unfolded in the tabernacle and all its significant furniture--"the patterns of things in the heavens." The blessed One knew full well what was about to be the end of man's covenant of works; but He unfolds to Moses, in types and shadows, His own precious thoughts of love and counsels of grace, manifested in, and secured by, Christ.

Blessed for evermore be the grace which has not left us under a covenant of works. Blessed be He who has "hushed the law's loud thunders and quenched mount Sinai's flame" by "the blood of the everlasting covenant," and given us a peace which no power of earth or h.e.l.l can shake. "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto G.o.d and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

CHAPTER XXV.

This chapter forms the commencement of one of the richest veins in Inspiration's exhaustless mine--a vein in which every stroke of the mattock brings to light untold wealth. We know the mattock with which alone we can work in such a mine, namely, the distinct ministry of the Holy Ghost. Nature can do nothing here. Reason is blind, imagination utterly vain; the most gigantic intellect, instead of being able to interpret the sacred symbols, appears like a bat in the sunshine, blindly dashing itself against the objects which it is utterly unable to discern. We must compel reason and imagination to stand without, while, with a chastened heart, a single eye, and a spiritual mind, we enter the hallowed precincts and gaze upon the deeply significant furniture. G.o.d the Holy Ghost is the only One who can conduct us through the courts of the Lord's house, and expound to our souls the true meaning of all that there meets our view. To attempt the exposition by the aid of intellect's unsanctified powers, would be infinitely more absurd than to set about the repairs of a watch with a blacksmith's tongs and hammer. "The pattern of things in the heavens" cannot be interpreted by the natural mind, in its most cultivated form. They must all be read in the light of heaven: earth has no light which could at all develop their beauties. The One who furnished the patterns can alone explain what the patterns mean,--the One who furnished the beauteous symbols can alone interpret them.

To the human eye there would seem to be a desultoriness in the mode in which the Holy Ghost has presented the furniture of the tabernacle; but in reality, as might be expected, there is the most perfect order, the most remarkable precision, the most studious accuracy. From chapter xxv. to chapter x.x.x. inclusive, we have a distinct section of the book of Exodus. This section is divided into two parts, the first terminating at chapter xxvii. 19, and the second at the close of chapter x.x.x. The former begins with the ark of the covenant, inside the vail, and ends with the brazen altar and the court in which that altar stood. That is, it gives us, in the first place, Jehovah's throne of judgment, whereon He sat as Lord of all the earth; and it conducts us to that place where He met the sinner, in the credit and virtue of accomplished atonement. Then, in the latter, we have the mode of man's approach to G.o.d--the privileges, dignities, and responsibilities of those who, as priests, were permitted to draw nigh to the Divine Presence and enjoy worship and communion there. Thus the arrangement is perfect and beautiful. How could it be otherwise, seeing that it is divine? The ark and the brazen altar present, as it were, two extremes. The former was the throne of G.o.d established in "justice and judgment" (Ps. lx.x.xix. 14.); the latter was the place of approach for the sinner where "mercy and truth" went before Jehovah's face. Man, in himself, dared not to approach the ark to meet G.o.d, for "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest" (Heb. ix.

8.); but G.o.d could approach the altar of bra.s.s, to meet man as a sinner. "Justice and judgment" could not admit the sinner in, but "mercy and truth" could bring G.o.d out; not, indeed, in that overwhelming brightness and majesty in which He was wont to shine forth from between those mystic supporters of His throne--"the cherubim of glory," but in that gracious ministry which is symbolically presented to us in the furniture and ordinances of the tabernacle.

All this may well remind us of the path trodden by that blessed One who is the ant.i.type of all these types--the substance of all these shadows. He traveled from the eternal throne of G.o.d in heaven, down to the depth's of Calvary's cross. He came from all the glory of the former, down into all the shame of the latter, in order that He might conduct His redeemed, forgiven, and accepted people back with Himself, and present them faultless before that very throne which He had left on their account. The Lord Jesus fills up, in His own Person and work, every point between the throne of G.o.d and the dust of death, and every point between the dust of death and the throne of G.o.d. In Him, G.o.d has come down, in perfect grace, to the sinner; in Him, the sinner is brought up, in perfect righteousness, to G.o.d. All the way from the ark to the brazen altar was marked with the footprints of love, and all the way from the brazen altar to the ark of G.o.d was sprinkled with the blood of atonement; and as the ransomed worshiper pa.s.ses along that wondrous path, he beholds the name of Jesus stamped on all that meets his view. May that name be dearer to our hearts! Let us now proceed to examine the chapters consecutively.

It is most interesting to note here that the first thing which the Lord communicates to Moses is His gracious purpose to have a sanctuary, or holy dwelling-place, in the midst of His people--a sanctuary composed of materials which directly point to Christ, His Person, His work, and the precious fruit of that work, as seen in the light, the power, and the varied graces of the Holy Ghost. Moreover, these materials were the fragrant fruit of the grace of G.o.d--the voluntary offerings of devoted hearts. Jehovah, whose majesty "the heaven of heavens could not contain," was graciously pleased to dwell in a boarded and curtained tent erected for Him by those who cherished the fond desire to hail His presence amongst them. This tabernacle may be viewed in two ways: first, as furnishing "a pattern of things in the heavens," and secondly, as presenting a deeply significant type of the body of Christ. The various materials of which the tabernacle was composed will come before us as we pa.s.s along; we shall therefore consider the three comprehensive subjects put before us in this chapter, namely, the ark, the table, and the candlestick.

The ark of the covenant occupies the leading place in the divine communications to Moses. Its position, too, in the tabernacle was most marked. Shut in within the vail, in the holiest of all, it formed the base of Jehovah's throne. Its very name conveys to the mind its import. An ark, so far as the Word instructs us, is designed to preserve _intact_ whatever is put therein. An ark carried Noah and his family, together with all the orders of creation, in safety over the billows of judgment which covered the earth: an ark, at the opening of this book, was faith's vessel for preserving "a proper child" from the waters of death. When, therefore, we read of "the ark of the covenant," we are led to believe that it was designed of G.o.d to preserve His covenant unbroken in the midst of an erring people. In it, as we know, the second set of tables were deposited. As to the first set, they were broken in pieces beneath the mount, showing that man's covenant was wholly abolished--that his work could never, by any possibility, form the basis of Jehovah's throne of government.

"Justice and judgment are the habitation of that throne," whether in its earthly or heavenly aspect. The ark could not contain within its hallowed inclosure broken tables. Man might fail to fulfill his self-chosen vow, but G.o.d's law must be preserved in its divine integrity and perfectness. If G.o.d was to set up His throne in the midst of His people, He could only do so in a way worthy of Himself.

His standard of judgment and government must be perfect.

"And thou shalt make staves of s.h.i.ttim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them." The ark of the covenant was to accompany the people in all their wanderings. It never rested while they were a traveling or a conflicting host; it moved from place to place in the wilderness; it went before them into the midst of Jordan; it was their grand rallying-point in all the wars of Canaan; it was the sure and certain earnest of power wherever it went. No power of the enemy could stand before that which was the well-known expression of the divine presence and power. The ark was to be Israel's companion-in-travel in the desert, and "the staves" and "the rings"

were the apt expression of its traveling character.

However, it was not always to be a traveler. "The afflictions of David," as well as the wars of Israel, were to have an end. The prayer was yet to be breathed and answered, "Arise, O Lord, into _Thy rest_: Thou and _the ark of Thy strength_." (Ps. cx.x.xii. 8.) This most sublime pet.i.tion had its partial accomplishment in the palmy days of Solomon, when "the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And _they drew out the staves_, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day." (1 Kings viii. 6-8.) The sand of the desert was to be exchanged for the golden floor of the temple. (1 Kings vi. 30.) The wanderings of the ark were to have an end: there was "neither enemy nor evil occurrent," and therefore "the staves were drawn out."

Nor was this the only difference between the ark in the tabernacle and in the temple. The apostle, speaking of the ark in its wilderness habitation, describes it as "the ark of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant." (Heb. ix.

4.) Such were the contents of the ark in its wilderness journeyings--the pot of manna, the record of Jehovah's faithfulness in providing for His redeemed in the desert, and Aaron's rod, "a token against the rebels," to "take away their murmurings." (Compare Exod.

xvi. 32-34, and Numb. xvii. 10.) But when the moment arrived in which "the staves" were to be "drawn out," when the wanderings and wars of Israel were over, when the "exceeding magnificial" house was completed, when the sun of Israel's glory had reached, in type, its meridian, as marked by the wealth and splendor of Solomon's reign, then the records of wilderness need and wilderness failure were unnoticed, and nothing remained save that which const.i.tuted the eternal foundation of the throne of the G.o.d of Israel, and of all the earth. "_There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone_, which Moses put there at h.o.r.eb." (1 Kings viii. 9.)

But all this brightness was soon to be overcast by the heavy clouds of human failure and divine displeasure. The rude foot of the uncirc.u.mcised was yet to walk across the ruins of that beautiful house, and its faded light and departed glory was yet to elicit the contemptuous "hiss" of the stranger. This would not be the place to follow out these things in detail; I shall only refer my reader to the last notice which the Word of G.o.d affords us of "the ark of the covenant,"--a notice which carries us forward to a time when human folly and sin shall no more disturb the resting-place of that ark, and when neither a curtained tent nor yet a temple made with hands shall contain it. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.' And the four and twenty elders, which sat before G.o.d on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped G.o.d, saying, 'We give Thee thanks, O Lord G.o.d Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.' And the temple of G.o.d was open in heaven, and there was seen in His temple _the ark of His covenant_: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." (Rev. xi. 15-19.)

The mercy-seat comes next in order.--"And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end; even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on the two ends thereof. And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark shalt thou put the testimony that I shall give thee.

And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

Here Jehovah gives utterance to His gracious intention of coming down from the fiery mount to take His place upon the mercy-seat. This He could do, inasmuch as the tables of testimony were preserved unbroken beneath, and the symbols of His power, whether in creation or providence, rose on the right hand and on the left--the inseparable adjuncts of that throne on which Jehovah had seated Himself--a throne of grace founded upon divine righteousness and supported by justice and judgment. Here the glory of the G.o.d of Israel shone forth. From hence He issued His commands, softened and sweetened by the gracious source from whence they emanated, and the medium through which they came--like the beams of the mid-day sun, pa.s.sing through a cloud, we can enjoy their genial and enlivening influence without being dazzled by their brightness. "His commandments are not grievous," when received from off the mercy-seat, because they come in connection with grace, which gives the ears to hear and the power to obey.

Looking at the ark and mercy-seat together, we may see in them a striking figure of Christ in His Person and work. He having, in His life, magnified the law and made it honorable, became, through death, a propitiation (or mercy-seat) for every one that believeth. G.o.d's mercy could only repose on a pedestal of perfect righteousness. "Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. v. 21.) The only proper meeting-place between G.o.d and man is the point where grace and righteousness meet and perfectly harmonize. Nothing but perfect righteousness could suit G.o.d, and nothing but perfect grace could suit the sinner. But where could these attributes meet in one point? Only in the cross. There it is that "mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." (Ps. lx.x.xv. 10.) Thus it is that the soul of the believing sinner finds peace. He sees that G.o.d's righteousness and his justification rest upon precisely the same basis, namely, Christ's accomplished work. When man, under the powerful action of _the truth_ of G.o.d, takes his place as a sinner, G.o.d can, in the exercise of _grace_, take His place as a Saviour, and then every question is settled, for the cross having answered all the claims of divine justice, mercy's copious streams can flow unhindered. When a righteous G.o.d and a ruined sinner meet on a blood-sprinkled platform, all is settled forever--settled in such a way as perfectly glorifies G.o.d, and eternally saves the sinner. G.o.d must be true, though every man be proved a liar; and when man is so thoroughly brought down to the lowest point of his own moral condition before G.o.d as to be willing to take the place which G.o.d's truth a.s.signs him, he then learns that G.o.d has revealed Himself as the righteous Justifier of such an one. This must give settled peace to the conscience; and not only so, but impart a capacity to commune with G.o.d, and hearken to His holy precepts, in the intelligence of that relationship into which divine grace has introduced us.

Hence, therefore, "the holiest of all" unfolds a truly wondrous scene.--The ark, the mercy-seat, the cherubim, the glory! What a sight for the high-priest of Israel to behold as, once a year, he went in within the vail! May the Spirit of G.o.d open the eyes of our understanding, that we may understand more fully the deep meaning of those precious types.

Moses is next instructed about "the table of show-bread," or bread of presentation. On this table stood the food of the priests of G.o.d. For seven days those twelve loaves of "fine flour with frankincense" were presented before the Lord, after which, being replaced by others, they became the food of the priests, who fed upon them in the holy place.

(See Lev. xxiv. 5-9.) It is needless to say that those twelve loaves typify "the Man Christ Jesus." The "fine flour," of which they were composed, marks His perfect manhood, while the "frankincense" points out the entire devotion of that manhood to G.o.d. If G.o.d has His priests ministering in the holy place, He will a.s.suredly have a table for them, and a well-furnished table too. Christ is the table, and Christ is the bread thereon. The pure table and the twelve loaves shadow forth Christ as presented before G.o.d unceasingly in all the excellency of His spotless humanity, and administered as food to the priestly family. The "seven days" set forth the perfection of the divine enjoyment of Christ, and the "twelve loaves" the administration of that enjoyment in and by man. There is also, I should venture to suggest, the idea of Christ's connection with the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The candlestick of pure gold comes next in order, for G.o.d's priests need _light_ as well as _food_; and they have both the one and the other in Christ. In this candlestick there is no mention of any thing but pure gold.--"All of it shall be one _beaten_ work of pure gold."

"The seven lamps" which "gave light over against the candlestick"

express the perfection of the light and energy of the Spirit, founded upon and connected with the perfect efficacy of the work of Christ.

The work of the Holy Ghost can never be separated from the work of Christ. This is set forth in a double way in this beautiful figure of the golden candlestick. "The seven lamps" being connected with "the shaft" of "beaten gold," points us to Christ's finished work as the sole basis of the manifestation of the Spirit in the Church. The Holy Ghost was not given until Jesus was glorified. (Comp. John vii. 39 with Acts xix. 2-6.) In the third chapter of Revelation, Christ is presented to the Church in Sardis as "having the seven Spirits." It was as "exalted to the right hand of G.o.d" that the Lord Jesus "shed forth" the Holy Ghost upon His Church, in order that she might shine, according to the power and perfection of her position, in the holy place, her proper sphere of being, of action, and of worship.

Then, again, we find it was one of Aaron's specific functions to light and trim those seven lamps.--"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.

Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute forever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually." (Lev. xxiv. 1-4.) Thus we may see how the work of the Holy Ghost in the Church is linked with Christ's work on earth and His work in heaven. "The seven lamps" were there, no doubt; but priestly energy and diligence were needed in order to keep them trimmed and lighted. The priest would continually need "the tongs and snuff-dishes" for the purpose of removing aught that would not be a fit vehicle for the "pure beaten oil." Those tongs and snuff-dishes were of "beaten gold" likewise, for the whole matter was the direct result of divine operation. If the Church shine, it is only by the energy of the Spirit, and that energy is founded upon Christ, who, in pursuance of G.o.d's eternal counsel, became, in His sacrifice and priesthood, the spring and power of every thing to His Church. All is of G.o.d. Whether we look within that mysterious vail, and behold the ark with its cover, and the two significant figures attached thereto; or if we gaze on that which lay without the vail--the pure table and the pure candlestick, with their distinctive vessels and instruments--all speak to us of G.o.d, whether as revealed to us in connection with the Son or the Holy Ghost.

Christian reader, your high calling places you in the very midst of all these precious realities. Your place is not merely amid "the patterns of things in the heavens," but amid "the heavenly things themselves." You have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus;" you are a priest unto G.o.d; "the s...o...b..ead" is yours; your place is at "the pure table," to feed on the priestly food, in the light of the Holy Ghost. Nothing can ever deprive you of those divine privileges,--they are yours forever. Let it be your care to watch against every thing that might rob you of the _enjoyment_ of them.

Beware of all unhallowed tempers, l.u.s.ts, feelings, and imaginations.

Keep nature down; keep the world out; keep Satan off. May the Holy Ghost fill your whole soul with Christ. Then you will be practically holy and abidingly happy,--you will bear fruit, and the Father will be glorified, and your joy shall be full.

CHAPTER XXVI.

The section of our book which now opens before us contains the instructive description of the curtains and coverings of the tabernacle, wherein the spiritual eye discerns the shadows of the various features and phases of Christ's manifested character.

"Moreover, thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubim of cunning work shalt thou make them." Here we have the different aspects of "the Man Christ Jesus." The "fine twined linen" prefigures the spotless purity of His walk and character; while the "blue, the purple, and the scarlet" present Him to us as "the Lord from _heaven_," who is to _reign_ according to the divine counsels, but whose royalty is to be the result of His _sufferings_. Thus we have a spotless Man, a heavenly Man, a royal Man, a suffering Man. These materials were not confined to the "curtains" of the tabernacle, but were also used in making "the vail" (ver. 31), "the hanging for the door of the tent" (ver. 36), "the hanging for the gate of the court"

(chap. xxvii. 16), "the cloths of service and the holy garments of Aaron" (chap. x.x.xix. 1). In a word, it was Christ everywhere, Christ in all, Christ alone.[12]

[12] The expression, "_white_ and _clean_," gives peculiar force and beauty to the type which the Holy Ghost has presented in the "fine twined linen." Indeed, there could not be a more appropriate emblem of spotless manhood.

The "fine twined linen," as expressive of Christ's spotless manhood, opens a most precious and copious spring of thought to the spiritual mind; it furnishes a theme on which we cannot meditate too profoundly.

The truth respecting Christ's humanity must be received with scriptural accuracy, held with spiritual energy, guarded with holy jealousy, and confessed with heavenly power. If we are wrong as to this, we cannot be right as to any thing. It is a grand, vital, fundamental truth; and if it be not received, held, guarded, and confessed as G.o.d has revealed it in His holy Word, the entire superstructure must be unsound. Nothing can be more deplorable than the looseness of thought and expression which seems to prevail in reference to this all-important doctrine. Were there more reverence for the Word of G.o.d, there would be more accurate acquaintance with it; and, in this way, we should happily avoid all those erroneous and unguarded statements which surely must grieve the Holy Spirit of G.o.d, whose province it is to testify of Jesus.

When the angel had announced to Mary the glad tidings of the Saviour's birth, she said to him, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?"

Her feeble mind was utterly incompetent to enter into, much less to fathom, the stupendous mystery of "G.o.d manifest in the flesh." But mark carefully the angelic reply--a reply, not to a sceptic mind, but to a pious, though ignorant, heart.--"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; wherefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of G.o.d." (Luke i. 34, 35.) Mary, doubtless, imagined that this birth was to be according to the principles of ordinary generation; but the angel corrects her mistake, and, in correcting it, enunciates one of the grandest truths of revelation. He declares to her that divine power was about to form A REAL MAN--"the second Man--the Lord from heaven"--One whose nature was divinely pure, utterly incapable of receiving or communicating any taint. This holy One was made "_in the likeness_ of sinful flesh," without sin in the flesh. He partook of real _bona fide_ flesh and blood without a particle or shadow of the evil thereto attaching.

This is a cardinal truth which cannot be too accurately laid hold of or too tenaciously held. The incarnation of the Son, the second Person in the eternal Trinity--His mysterious entrance into pure and spotless flesh, formed, by the power of the Highest, in the virgin's womb, is the foundation of the "great mystery of G.o.dliness," of which the topstone is a glorified G.o.d-man in heaven, the Head, Representative, and Model of the redeemed Church of G.o.d. The essential purity of His manhood perfectly met the claims of G.o.d; the reality thereof met the necessities of man. He was a Man, for none else would do to meet man's ruin. But He was such a Man as could satisfy all the claims of the throne of G.o.d. He was a spotless, real Man, in whom G.o.d could perfectly delight, and on whom man could unreservedly lean.

I need not remind the enlightened reader that all this, if taken apart from death and resurrection, is perfectly unavailable to us. We need not only an incarnate, but a crucified and risen, Christ. True, He should be incarnate to be crucified; but it is death and resurrection which render incarnation available to us. It is nothing short of a deadly error to suppose that in incarnation Christ was taking man into union with Himself. This could not be. He Himself expressly teaches the contrary. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and _die_, it abideth _alone_; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John xii. 24.) There could be no union between sinful and holy flesh, pure and impure, corruptible and incorruptible, mortal and immortal. Accomplished death is the only base of a unity between Christ and His elect members. It is in beautiful connection with the words, "Rise, let us go hence," that He says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." "We have been planted together in the likeness of His death." "Our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed." "In whom also ye are circ.u.mcised with the circ.u.mcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circ.u.mcision of Christ: buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of G.o.d, who hath raised Him from the dead."

I would refer my reader to Romans vi. and Colossians ii. as a full and comprehensive statement of the truth on this important subject. It was only as dead and risen that Christ and His people could become one.

The true corn of wheat had to fall into the ground and die ere a full ear could spring up and be gathered into the heavenly garner.

But while this is a plainly revealed truth of Scripture, it is equally plain that incarnation formed, as it were, the first layer of the glorious superstructure; and the curtains of "fine twined linen"

prefigure the moral purity of "the Man Christ Jesus." We have already seen the manner of His conception; and, as we pa.s.s along the current of His life here below, we meet with instance after instance of the same spotless purity. He was forty days in the wilderness, tempted of the devil, but there was no response in His pure nature to the tempters foul suggestions. He could touch the leper and receive no taint; He could touch the bier and not contract the smell of death; He could pa.s.s unscathed through the most polluted atmosphere. He was, as to His manhood, like a sunbeam emanating from the fountain of light, which can pa.s.s without a soil through the most defiling medium. He was perfectly unique in nature, const.i.tution, and character. None but He could say, "Thou wilt not suffer Thine holy One to see corruption."

This was in reference to His humanity, which, as being perfectly holy and perfectly pure, was capable of being a sin-bearer. "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." Not _to_ the tree, as some would teach us; but "_on_ the tree." It was on the cross that Christ was our sin-bearer, and only there. "He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of G.o.d in Him." (2 Cor. v. 21.)

"_Blue_" is the ethereal color, and marks the heavenly character of Christ, who, though He had come down into all the circ.u.mstances of actual and true humanity (sin excepted), yet was He "the Lord from heaven." Though He was "very man," yet He ever walked in the uninterrupted consciousness of His proper dignity, as a heavenly stranger. He never once forgot whence He had come, where He was, or whither He was going. The spring of all His joys was on high. Earth could neither make Him richer nor poorer. He found this world to be "a dry and thirsty land, where no water is," and hence His spirit could only find its refreshment above. It was entirely heavenly.--"No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man _who is in heaven_." (John iii. 13.)

"_Purple_" denotes royalty, and points us to Him who "was born King of the Jews;" who offered Himself as such to the Jewish nation, and was rejected; who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, avowing Himself a king, when, to mortal vision, there was not so much as a single trace of royalty.--"Thou sayest that I am a king." And "hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." And, finally, the inscription upon His cross, "in letters of Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin"--the language of religion, of science, and of government--declared Him, to the whole known world, to be "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Earth disowned His claims (so much the worse for it), but not so heaven; there His claim was fully recognized. He was received as a conqueror into the eternal mansions of light, crowned with glory and honor, and seated, amid the acclamations of angelic hosts, on the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, there to wait until His enemies be made His footstool. "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.' He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set _My King_ upon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, 'Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.' Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. BLESSED ARE ALL THEY THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM." (Ps. ii.)

"_Scarlet_," when genuine, is produced by death; and this makes its application to a suffering Christ safe and appropriate. "Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh." Without death, all would have been unavailing. We can admire "the blue" and "the purple," but without "the scarlet" the tabernacle would have lacked an all-important feature. It was by death that Christ destroyed him that had the power of death. The Holy Ghost, in setting before us a striking figure of Christ--the true tabernacle--could not possibly omit that phase of His character which const.i.tutes the ground-work of His connection with His body the Church, of His claim to the throne of David, and the headship of all creation. In a word, He not only unfolds the Lord Jesus to our view, in these significant curtains, as a spotless Man, a royal Man, but also a suffering Man,--One who, _by death_, should make good His claims to all that to which, as man, He was ent.i.tled, in the divine counsels.

But we have much more in the curtains of the tabernacle than the varied and perfect phases of the character of Christ,--we have also the unity and consistency of that character. Each phase is displayed in its own proper perfectness; and one never interferes with, or mars the exquisite beauty of, another. All was in perfect harmony beneath the eye of G.o.d, and was so displayed in "the pattern which was showed to Moses on the mount," and in the copy which was exhibited below.