Aaron has been thinking of his experiences in the Tabernacle. He has already gone through the gate and died to sin at the Brazen Altar. Then he went on to the Brazen Laver and died to self by being baptized in water. Further on, Jesus baptized him in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit began to baptize him into Christ. Aaron was ready to leave the Outer Court and enter through the door into the Holy Place. However, before he did, the Lord had something to show him…
“Aaron, I want you to stay in the Outer Court.”
Aaron leaped with joy when he heard the well-known Voice, but was disappointed by what he heard. He was hoping to enter into the Holy Place and now, the Lord was holding back! “Lord, I was hoping…”
“Be patient, Aaron,” the Lord interrupted him. “I will take you through the door as I promised. But first, I want to show you the structure of the tent that covers both the Holy Place as well as the Holy of Holies.”
Aaron was excited. He was wondering what the tent consisted of. It looked more like a building rather than a tent. It was covered with different colored cloths and animal skins hanging down on either side and over the top of it. There was also the glint of glittering gold to be seen on the sides. The construction had only one entrance at the east side, and this was made of curtains.
“Aaron, peek under the covers and count the wooden boards,” the Lord commanded him.
“It is all so exciting!” Aaron thought. He didn’t hesitate a minute and began counting. “One, two, three…” It took him a while. Once he even had to start counting again, because he made a mistake. But finally, he came up with a number, “Twenty boards on one side, twenty on the other and six at the back makes it forty-six all together. But then, Lord, there was one extra board at each corner on the backside of the tent. Should I count those, too?”
The Lord was very pleased with how well Aaron noticed things. “Yes, Aaron, you have to count them,” He replied. “They are there for reinforcement.”
“Then, we have forty-eight boards in the whole Tabernacle,” Aaron said.
“Very good, Aaron,” the Lord responded. “Now, take the measuring stick and measure the width of one board.”
Aaron obeyed the Voice that he loved so much. He was done very quickly with the task that was given to him. Each board was one and a half cubits long. He measured several of them to make sure they were of the same width. They really were! He noticed that all the boards were covered by gold and set in silver sockets.
“Lord, what do these things mean?” Aaron wanted to know. The Lord was quick to answer and so Aaron learned the following:
Each board represents one individual in the Body of Christ. The number one and a half (the width of one board) doesn’t mean anything in God. It is only half of the divine fullness, as the fullness is three. This signifies that no one man is going to come up to this fullness all by himself. He needs the others to make a tabernacle. Till we all come…unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).
No wooden board was visible inside the Tabernacle, Aaron was told. It is one of the types of flesh, and there is no place for flesh in God’s business. The gold is a type of the nature of the Almighty God. All flesh and all that is of man must be completely and permanently hidden in Christ. The only outward manifestation to the eye is the gold, which signifies the nature of God – love. The Lord also told Aaron that the boards were ten cubits tall (it was too high for Aaron to measure). He learned that this is the symbol of government – divine order. Aaron noticed that each of the boards had two tongues at the bottom and these tongues were set in a socket.
“Lord,” Aaron wanted to know, “why do each of those boards have tongues and stand in a socket? Could You please explain it to me?”
The Lord was so happy! He enjoyed talking to somebody who was interested in the heavenly things. He was ready to reply to Aaron’s question immediately. “One of the tongues represents the Holy Spirit and the other one the Word. If you have these two, you can be set in the socket. The socket then holds the board upright on each side so that it will not move from its place. As you have noticed, Aaron, the sockets are made of silver. Do you still remember what silver means?”
“Yes, Lord,” Aaron exclaimed, “it means redemption!”
“Very good, Aaron,” the Lord said. “Redemption is that which keeps the people in their places with God in the Body of Christ. It keeps them standing in Christ. But that which keeps them from leaning each in their own way are… Let’s talk about these some other time.”
With these words the Lord departed. Aaron was left with his mind full of thoughts about the structure of the Tabernacle. His main question was: What is it that keeps the boards from leaning each in their own way?
Answer the following questions to see how well you understood this chapter:
- How many boards form the Tabernacle?
- How wide are the boards? What is the meaning of the width?
- What are the boards made out of and what are they covered with? Why?
- How tall are the boards? What does the height mean?
- What do the tongues on the boards represent?
- What are the sockets made out of and what does it mean? Why are the boards set in the sockets?