EXODUS 26:31-37 ENTRANCES When a person came to the Tabernacle with his offering, he would first come to the gate, seven and a half feet high and thirty feet wide. This is a type of Christ as the One Way to all to get atonement for sin. When a priest went into the Holy Place he would enter through a door, fifteen feet wide and high. It was made of blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen hanging on five pillars set on brass sockets and hooked by gold hooks to hold it in place. This is a type of Christ teaching us He is the One Way for us to live in fellowship with God. Then there was the veil that was made of fine, white linen and blue, purple and scarlet embroidery on it. The veil and the ceiling were the same with the white linen being the dominate color. On the veil and on the ceiling were cherubim woven into them portraying the holiness of God being guarded in our worship. This is a type of Christ as the One Way into heaven.
Sin has kept us from approaching God. We cannot be in the presence of God in our sins and survive His righteous, legal wrath. The perfect life of Christ, as wonderful as it was to observe by those who lived when He was on earth and by us who consider it now, does not open the way to God. He had to endure the agony of the suffering on the cross and die, before the way to God could be opened. When the veil was torn from the top to the bottom at the time of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He dismissed His spirit, those in the temple would have seen the Holy of Holies was empty. There was no ark there and no mercy seat. They were not brought back from Babylon. The Jewish system would have been exposed as an empty system built on tradition, not on truth. We enter into the presence of God today through a "new and living way."
We are now able to "come boldly to the throne of grace." This does in no way mean we can come in a casual or arrogant way. God has not changed in any way. He is still God Most Holy. Our approach to Him is that we are able to come to God with confidence. We are "accepted in the Beloved," free to come to the Holy God with assurance because that right has been purchased by "His own blood." The perfections of Christ can never be added to or taken away from Him. He was always impeccable in His nature as the Son of Man. The way to God was "peace through the blood of His cross" and had to be accomplished by His death.
The four pillars that held the veil inside the Tabernacle up, were set on sockets of silver. The humanity and deity of Christ held the veil in place in the same way it was shown in the boards of the walls. When it comes to redemption (silver sockets), everything depends on the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. God wants "all men to be saved." He wants fellowship with us. We are able now to enter because the One who is our High Priest forever, is "Jesus," the Perfect Man. We have access today to the throne of grace by faith. There will come a time when we will follow our Lord Jesus right to that throne where His glory will be seen and enjoyed forever. The sacrifice of Christ has met every claim the Holy God demands. His sacrifice has made it possible for us to approach God with a pure conscience knowing our sins have been put away. The sacrifice of Christ has legally opened the way to God on the righteous base of sin being dealt with righteously.
Those four pillars are like the four Gospels as they introduce us to our Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew we, "Behold your King." In Mark we, "Behold My Servant." in Luke we, "Behold the Man." In John we, "Behold your God." The four great truths of our Lord and our Christian faith are like four pillars: The Deity of Christ, the Incarnation of Christ, the Atoning Death of Christ, the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ.
The positioning of the furniture in the Holy Place was not left to any man to decide. As God came out to men there was an order He intended to be followed. The table was on the north side, the lampstand on the south side, the golden altar of incense on the west in front of the veil. The door at the front of the Tabernacle had the three colors predominate, before the fine twined linen. There were no cherubim worked into the material of the gate or the door that separated the Holy Place from the courtyard. That did not mean the worshipper who entered there could do what he wanted. The closer one comes to the presence of God, the more conscious they are of the holiness of God. As one came into the Holy Place there would be a different attitude and demeanor than when they entered the courtyard through the gate. The same would be true when once a year the high priest would move the veil aside to enter the Holy of Holies. A door is both and invitation and a prohibition. The door to the Holy Place was to allow worshippers in as priests, to approach God. Those who were not able to worship "in spirit and in truth," the door kept out. Holy people who are a holy priesthood come to God realizing we are on holy ground.
Five pillars held up this hanging exterior door. We are assured our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all God demanded in the law and all the demands of obedience and holiness in an acceptable man. All that had to be done, the Lord Jesus accomplished perfectly. From the judgment typified in the brass sockets; the gold covered pillars and the silver tops that were hidden under the eave of coverings that came over the top of the door and were folded back, was prophetic testimony to the perfections of the Lord. We are redeemed. Judgment has taken place. True worshippers are able to approach God and God has come out to us. We have been reconciled.
There is an "in" and an "out" when we speak of the Holy God. To casually claim acceptance by Him means holiness is not understood. Whether gate or door, or the beautiful veil within, one can never claim Access to God because they say so, we can only come in Jesus' name.
Christ is the One Way to where atonement is made, His blood puts away sin. The only acceptable sacrifice is the one that was made by Him. A person approaching that brazen altar sees the flame devour what he gave - And then knows sins forgiven by the only One with power to save.
To enter in to the place of worship, one must pass through another Door. This one is made of the same material but is different from the one entered before. This one is twice as high but only one half in dimension wide. Only priestly worshippers enter here, the Holy Place is just inside.
Overhead and around on the walls is that which speaks of the Holy One. The veil separating the building is further testimony of God's Son.
This is no place of casual gathering; worship of God is done here. When we come into worship in this place, the presence of God is near.
There are woven into the fabric, cherubim to remind us of this: We don't do things our way here, God expects reverence and holiness. True worship is not a carefree stroll thinking that anything goes. "Spirit and truth" worship from the heart is reality God Himself knows.
That fifteen by fifteen-foot veil that kept private the Holiest of All - Separated all men from God's visible glory; God hears every earnest call Sin separated us from God, and only the Savior could change that fact. He opened a "new and living way" by one obedient act.
By faith we draw near today through the veil that is His flesh. We are accepted at God's throne through Christ our righteousness. In faith we come with confidence to God at the throne of grace. And now not outside the veil, "in Christ" is our accepted place.
"Holy Father, in confidence and in reverence I speak to Thee with thanks for Thy grace in moving to me in reconciliation through Christ. There is an awareness, at least to a degree that I am in a very holy place when I am at this "throne of grace." Please keep Thy servant from any kind of lightheartedness in my association with Thee. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."