Exodus 25

Moses and the leaders of Israel met with God on His holy mountain, the mountain of God's Law. A pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness, was under the Lord's feet in that place. They were near Him who reigns from the heights of heaven, and they were still alive.

God spoke to Moses from this point forward in Exodus about the place where the people of Israel would meet with Him. Before He did this, He instructed Moses to tell the people to make certain contributions for the building of the sanctuary. The people should not have had to do this out of compulsion, but willingly. They would give of their own possessions for the building of the place where Israel would worship the Lord.

They would give gold, silver, bronze, colored yarns, linen, animal hides, oil, spices, and precious gems. Where did the Lord's oppressed people get these possessions? Remember that God told them to ask the Egyptians for jewelry and clothing. They put it all on their children, and in this way they plundered the Egyptians. Perhaps it was these spoils of God's holy war that were coming back to the Lord now.

Moses was to build the tabernacle and everything connected with the worship of God according to what the Lord showed to Him as a pattern on the mountain of God. This included three holy furnishings that begin the Lord's instructions to Moses regarding this special place.

Ever since man was forced out of the garden, the problem of being in the presence of God has seemed insurmountable. Now God revealed to Moses a way of connection that would allow the Israelites to be with God. As with all of the Old Covenant revelation, it was part of the Word of God to His people prior to the coming of the Messiah, who is our Immanuel, God with us. Through the place of God's presence built after the pattern God showed to Moses on the mountain, the Lord's people would be further prepared for a future solution to their estrangement from God, when we would have bold access to God through Jesus, our King, and when we ourselves would be the temple of the Holy Spirit in Him.

The Old Covenant instruction on the tabernacle space began with the Ark of the Covenant. This was the very center of holiness in the Old Testament system of worship. This box would require special handling because of the danger of contact between sinful people and their holy God.

On top of the ark there would be a covering of pure gold called the “mercy seat.” This throne of God's mercy would have golden angels on each side that would be a part of the golden cover itself. The testimony of the Lord's Word, the Law, would be kept beneath the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant. There in a place that is called “mercy,” a mercy that somehow sits on top of the foundation of God's Law, God would meet with His people. It is fitting for the Lord to start His Word about His sacred place with this one object. The Lord's presence with us in mercy and holiness is what the tabernacle was all about. Everything about being with the true God was frightening for those who still were waiting for His revelation as to how His mercy and His holiness could exist together. If He was merciful to sinners, how could He be true to His own holiness. If He was holy, how could He fulfill His promises of mercy?

The second object for Moses and the people of Israel was the table for the consecrated bread. The Lord was providing bread from heaven, manna, to sustain His people in their life in the wilderness. His Son would come as the Bread of Life. The consecrated bread of Old Covenant worship was to be set out on this holy table to be a ceremonial picture of the life and speech true priests offered up to God. The manna that the people ate was bread from God. The Lord's bread to us is Christ, and every word that proceeds from His holy mouth. How can we offer up bread to God? Yet we who are now part of the priesthood of the faithful must give back to Him our lives, the true offering of the fruit of lips that confess His Name.

The final object God showed to Moses in this chapter was the golden lampstand. Here was the light of the world. God and the Lamb are the light of heaven, and we who are united to Jesus are to be a lampstand. The church is the Lord's city on a hill. His presence is known to the earth through His covenant people.

These beautiful and holy objects were not explained to the people of God. They were simply displayed to Moses on the mountain in their glory, and He was commanded to make copies of them for the traveling worship house of the Lord in the midst of His people.

Now we see these beautiful treasures in the light of the Redeemer who has come. He is our Ark of the Covenant. In Him justice and mercy have met through the cross. His blood has won for us bold access to God. He is our holy bread. We take and eat the bread, and then we give ourselves away to others. He is our perfect lampstand with its fullness of seven lights. In Him we are living out His mercy and justice. We have become a holy offering to the Lord, living letters of His Word. We are the light of the world. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. May we do this as the Lord's pure gold, fleeing from all impurity, and every secret deception of immorality and forsaken promises.

We have more than the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain. We have the greatest gifts of heaven in us right now through the Spirit of Jesus, our earnest of the life to come.