I'll ask you to take the Word of God and turn to Exodus chapter 27 as we continue on in our study. Exodus chapter 27 tonight, and we will read from verse 9 through to verse 19. I'd just also like to add my words of welcome to all here. A house of God and watching online, we trust the Lord will bless even as we meet around his word for a little season and then around the throne of grace later on. So Exodus chapter 27, and we commence our reading at verse 9. So let's hear the word of the Lord. And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle for the south side southward. There shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of 100 cubits long for one side. And the 20 pillars are off, and their 20 sockets shall be of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise for the north side in length, there shall be hangings of 100 cubits long, and his 20 pillars and their 20 sockets of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of 50 cubits, their pillars 10 and their sockets 10, and the breadth of the court on the east side, eastward, shall be 50 cubits. The hangings off one side of the gate shall be 15 cubits, their pillars 3 and their sockets 3. And on the other side shall be hangings 15 cubits, their pillars 3 and their sockets 3. And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of 20 cubits of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen wrought with needlework. And their pillars shall be four and their sockets four. All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of brass. The length of the court shall be 100 cubits and the breadth 50 everywhere. And the height five cubits of fine twined linen and their sockets of brass. All the vessels of the tabernacle, and all the service thereof, and all the pens thereof, and all the pens of the court, shall be of brass. Amen. We'll end our reading there. All that detail that was given unto Moses by the Lord. And we just now will look to the Lord to give us help in the preaching of his word. So let's unite our hearts together in prayer as we come to study a few things of the tabernacle tonight. Let's pray. Our gracious God and Father, again we bow before Thee, coming before Thy throne of grace in the attitude of prayer. And through the merit of the Savior and His precious blood, we thank Thee for one in heaven who is praying for us. And Father, I am conscious of my great need of Thee, Thou who knowest all my weakness. And thou who knowest all my care, while I plead each precious promise, O hear, O hear and answer prayer. And I pray for the promise of the Holy Spirit. For thy word is said, that if we, then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto our children, How much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give the Holy Spirit to them that asked him? And Father, I'm asking for that infilling of the Spirit. I pray that you would cleanse me in the precious blood afresh, that I would be used as a vessel for the glory of thy name. That thou would take the word and apply it as thou would see fit, and use it for the strengthening of the saints, the edification of God of their soul. We pray that in everything that our Savior would be glorified and honored. For these things I pray in his precious and worthy name. Amen. Now in our study of the tabernacle, we have considered almost all the main features of the pattern that was revealed to Moses by the Lord. We've looked at all seven items of furniture, the ark, the mercy seat, the golden candlestick, the table of showbread, the brazen altar, the golden altar, and the brazen laver. We've also considered briefly some of the serving utensils that were used, the bread, the oil for the lamp. The last time we were considering the four curtains and coverings of the tabernacle and what they taught us concerning Christ. The fine twine linen curtain spoke of Christ's righteousness. The goat's hair curtain reminded us of Christ, the sin bearer. The ram skin had brought to light the teaching of the ram of consecration and how that Christ was set apart. He had set himself apart unto God in an office of mediator for our sakes. Finally, I mentioned the dark badger skin, that last covering which concealed all the glory within. And to the world there is no beauty in Christ that they should desire him, the one in whom is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And there's been few details that we have passed by, like the boards of the tabernacle and how they were connected. But by and large, we've dealt with all the major physical elements that were part of that divinely appointed dwelling place for God on earth. And tonight I want to bring that material part of our consideration of the tabernacle to a conclusion by looking at the court and the gate, the details of which we have read in verses 9 to 19 of Exodus 27. Now I know that there's been a lot of repetition of the themes and truths. Trust me, as a minister, as someone who's studying, trying to bring out new things, there has been a lot of repetition of truths presented, but the reason for this is that there is only one gospel and one Christ, and the tabernacle is setting forth the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, I can't bring to you another Christ or another gospel, but truths and themes are repeated as we look at the details of the pattern as it was given unto Moses in the mount. So once again I trust that our hearts will be blessed and our souls will be encouraged as we consider the things concerning the court and the gate of the tabernacle. So firstly just two points tonight, it doesn't mean they're going to be any shorter, but two points tonight we're going to think about firstly the court. Now the sanctuary was situated within the tabernacle courtyard. And persons in the courtyard, they stood on the desert sand. And in the absence from the word of God or a word from God about the preparation for that ground in the tabernacle court indicates that there was nothing below to attract the eye. Real beauty could only be seen when the individuals lifted their eyes up. To look towards that brazen altar, the brazen laver, and then into the holy place as they looked up and saw that wonderful curtain that was decorated with the cherubim. So there was nothing of the earthly to attract the eye, but the eye was encouraged to look upwards. All Israel were to come to the tabernacle court. They needed to come for they needed purification and forgiveness. No matter what their age, the youth, the patriarch. No matter their rank, the princes, the elders, the common people. No matter their office, the priests and the laity all needed to present themselves at this court. Into the holy of holies, none but the high priest could enter once a year. Into the holy place, none but the priest could enter. But the priesthood and the people, they could both enter into the court. Every Israelite who was minded to offer a sacrifice of any kind. whose heart swelled with gratitude for mercies received, and who therefore brought a thanksgiving offering, or whose soul was weighed down with the burden of guilt and sought relief by offering that sin offering, or who were one of those individuals who were awakened and they sought to surrender themselves absolutely unto God and dedicate themselves fully to Him, they would have brought a burnt offering, and all were told to come into the court of the tabernacle. Now surrounding the sanctuary and outside the furniture or encompassing the outside furniture of the brazen altar and the laver was a perfectly rectangular court twice as long as it was wide. Its dimensions, as we have read, were 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide. 100 cubits on the north and south side and 50 cubits on the west and east side. That was approximately 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. This court was enclosed by a fence of hangings of fine twined linen. And these were fixed to 20 pillars on the north and south side, and 10 pillars on the west, and six pillars on the east. Three on one side of the gate, three on the other side of the gate, and then the gate itself, it included a total of four pillars. So there's 60 pillars in total. And each of the pillars, they sat on a brass socket. And it was told there that those hangings, they were attached by silver hooks. Now while it says there that those pillars were of brass, the thinking is really that they were covered in brass. Really it was acacia wood. To have a pillar of brass that tall, that large, to hold up these hangings of five cubits would have been very heavy. So when it's mentioning these pillars of brass, it's thinking that they were covered with brass, these pillars of acacia wood. Now they were told as well that there was cords there to fasten and to hold down that outer perimeter. And they were attached to pegs or pins, as we're told there in verse number 19. And those pins, they were made of brass. Now that height of the fence or the fence, its height was five cubits, approximately seven and a half feet tall or 2.3 meters. And this fence would have provided several functions. like protection from wild animals wandering into that tabernacle court or from the desert winds and storms. It gave the priests a certain measure of privacy for discharging their duties. It's hard working with someone looking over your shoulder. You can think of those priests there going about their duties and maybe people peering in. It also prevented the people from simply being spectators to the worship there. If they wanted to be engaged in true worship, they had to enter in. They couldn't have a nosy, as it were. They couldn't stand on the peripheries, but they had to engage in the worship personally themselves. Also, the function of that wall or that boundary of the tabernacle court, it would mean that when someone approached the tabernacle complex from any direction, if they simply followed that boundary around, it would have brought them, no matter what direction they would have walked in, it would have brought them to the only entrance. Now this court area, it made a clear distinction between the dwelling place of God and the dwelling place of the people. The outer fence made of fine twine linen like the clothing of the priests represented purity and separation from the world. In ancient times the color of white and fabric was very difficult to produce. Having to go through a laborious process of bleaching or fulling and you have that description of the fuller making a garment white. This meant that not only would it be uncommon to see white fabrics, but also that the white would stand in stark contrast to the thousands of black goats' hair tents in which the Israelites would have dwelt, and also the dry desert settings. The white linen created a physical barrier between the profane or polluted and the sacred and the pure. And that's what it was really there to represent, represent that separation, that barrier between the polluted and the sacred, the profane and the pure. Now this idea of a boundary making a distinction was something that the people had been introduced to a few chapters earlier in Exodus chapter 19. If you turn back there to Exodus chapter 19, and there the Lord is speaking on to Moses. And he said to Moses that he would come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. And the Lord told Moses in verse 12, he said, God's holiness. can be defined as his separateness. Among other things, his separateness is because of his moral perfection. He is absolutely and entirely righteous, which is symbolized here by this white, fine twined linen. God is the ultimate separatist and not he is perfectly pure. He is separated from all that is unholy and unclean and such things cannot be in His presence. And that boundary fence, it made the children aware, children of Israel aware of God's separateness, His otherness as one man put it. And I think that's a wonderful way to describe our God, His otherness, His separateness. He was different or He is different and separate from them. And yet with that said, he desired to have fellowship with them, to dwell with them as their God and they as his people. And this is a marvel and a wonder that we as sinners can be brought nigh or brought into fellowship and reconcile and have communion with a God who by reason of his own very nature is separate from all else and all others. And what a wonder that is. And that boundary, it indicated that distinction between all that is profane and polluted and that which is pure and sacred. When the Son of God was upon this earth, He manifested that attribute of holiness which He possessed in all His fullness or that separateness throughout His life. Though in the world and surrounded by wickedness and sin. We read in Hebrews of him those familiar words, he is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. He mingled with sinners, yet it was merely to do them good, and in all his life he was entirely separate from the principles, practices, and views of the sinful world, just as the tabernacle was distinguished with its linen boundary in the midst of those dark tents of Israel, so too the righteousness of Christ set him apart from the world and marked him out as distinct." Now, we as God's children, as we are conformed more and more to His image, the world should be able to see in us that trait of separateness. or the attribute of holiness in us personally as we dwell in the wilderness of this dark and sinful world. We ought to be distinguished. There should be a clear mark of distinction, a clear boundary line between us and the world as we live a righteous and an upright life. Sad to say that boundary, that distinction is becoming more and more blurred. between the world and the church, and yet there in the tabernacle there was a definite line that marked out the otherness, the holiness of God. There ought to be that separatist quality about the church, also not only personally but collectively. For just as the Lord was in the midst of Israel in the tabernacle, so too He's in the midst of the church. in the midst of those, as he says, who are met together in His name. And there should be that separatist quality in the church. And I'm not speaking there or talking there acumenically, although that should be the case. But a church should be marked by holiness. A church that is separated from the world, but also separated unto the Lord. And so really that's what that boundary fence was indicating, a separation, a distinction between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. But just a quick word about the other materials that were used in the court boundary. Silver was used for the hooks. We have read that there in those verses. The connecting rods between the pillars, which we read there in verse 10 as fillets, so they believed at the top there was these connecting rods of fillets, and also the capitors which topped off the pillars, which you read off in Exodus 38, 17, they were all made of silver. Now silver was the primary metal used for coins in the ancient world, and so it represents a price to be paid. or the price that is paid. All the Israelite men were required to pay half a shekel of silver as a ransom for their soul. Read of that in Exodus chapter 30 verses 11 to 16. And it was called, that half a shekel, it was called the atonement money. Silver therefore in Scripture it speaks of redemption. So the linen suspended from these hooks of silver, it underlines the inseparable connection between the righteousness wrought by Christ in his life and the redemption accomplished by him in his death. He paid the price. And He could offer up His life of perfect righteousness for our redemption. As I mentioned, the pillars that was also used in the boundary fence, they were made of acacia wood, is what is believed, covered with brass. That acacia wood, it spoke of the humanity of Christ and it stood in sockets of brass. A metal which I have previously said, it speaks of judgment. And He could only stand in our place in judgment and in suffering because He became man. And Christ stood in judgment for us that we might be redeemed. John, the Apostle John seeing Christ in His glory describes Him or describes His feet as like on to fine brass as if they burned in a furnace. And so all these things they typified Christ and His work. When the surrounding encampment of Israel looked towards the tabernacle, the white linen hangings reminded them of the moral perfection of God and also their separation from Him because of their sin and uncleanness. God is righteous. And a perfect righteousness is what He expects of those who would approach Him and stand in His presence. We are told that without holiness no man shall see God. And God, He cannot lower that standard. He cannot mitigate away His holiness in any way just to simply let sinners into His presence, no. And though the Israelites were reminded about these things, about the holiness of God and their separation from Him because of their sin, they were not shut out without hope. There was a gate. There was a gate on the east side of the court through which they could enter. God Himself had provided a way in which they could approach unto Him, a way that would deal with the sin. which caused their separation, and also a way that honored God's holy law. And that brings me to my second point, because we have thought about the court, but in the second place, I want to think about the gate. There was only one way into the courtyard, and the tabernacle complex, that was the gate. The entrance was closed by a curtain. It was closed, but not locked. And the entry was open to any of Israel who desired to go in. It was a reminder that any, any could enter but only by God's way. And there is only one approach to God, as you well know. There is but one approach to God and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2 verse 5 is a very clear statement on that. There is one God. and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. One short verse in this portion deals with the gate of the court. Verse 16, let's read it together. And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of 20 cubits of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen wrought with needlework, and their pillars shall be four and their sockets four. The Israelite who came to the brazen altar had to first make his approach through the gate. And the gate speaks, as I've been saying, of the Savior as the means of the believer's access to God. The Apostle Paul writing to the Christians at Rome. He said, by whom, speaking of Christ, by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. He wrote something similar to the Christians at Ephesus when he said, through Him, that is Christ, we both have access by one's spirit unto the Father. Now the gate was positioned at the east side. It was easy to find. As I said, you could follow that outer boundary any direction and it would have brought you to Christ. And Christ really, He is the manifestation of the righteousness of God. You look into God's holy law, you see Christ personified. That's what it is. Follow the law and it will bring you to Christ. Isn't that what the word says? The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Now the worshiper, they entered into the complex or the tabernacle court facing west, which meant that their back was towards the rising of the sun. Now some commentators, they believe there was a significance to this because Israel had just been redeemed out of Egypt and the Egyptians, they worshipped the sun god Ra. In a land of many gods, Ra was said to be the supreme deity. and worshiped as the creator of all life, typically portrayed with a falcon's head and a solar disk. But here was Israel and God had just brought them out and God was giving them directive on how to worship them. He had redeemed them and their backs now were literally towards Egypt and all its system of false worship and the Lord had brought them out. Why? So that they might worship Him. the only true and living God. Some suggest that going west symbolizes moving toward God, and moving east symbolizes going away from God. And I'll give you the reasons for this. The gate in the Garden of Eden was on the east side, as we read in Genesis 3, 24. And man, after he had sinned, was driven out of the eastern gate. He was driven away from God's presence, out of the place where the voice of the Lord God Christ, in other words, came and walked and talked with them. He was driven out of that eastern gate. Cain, he went away from God to the land of Nod, which we read was east of Eden in Genesis 4.16. Genesis 13 verse 11 tells us that Lot, when he separated from Abraham, he journeyed east. And where did he arrive after he journeyed east? To those wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now there is an interesting verse in Ezekiel chapter 8, and I'd like you to turn there. Ezekiel chapter 8 verse 16, which highlights this point that I have been making about this back towards the east and moving westward. There is a very vivid illustration here of this point in Ezekiel chapter 8. And of course Ezekiel here, he's taken by a vision. He sees this thing as the Lord reveals unto him this vision in Ezekiel chapter 8 and the verse number 16. And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord. So it's not the tabernacle here, it is the temple, but don't forget the tabernacle replaced or the temple replaced the tabernacle as God's dwelling place. And it says there, "'Behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they worshipped the sun.'" Toward the east. Most idolaters worshipped toward the east. but entering in at the east gate meant the worshiper was facing west. And all those that come to God through Christ are those who have turned from the world. All its system of idolatry and corruption and all its philosophy and false thinking, all those that come into the presence of the Lord are those individuals who have turned from the world. There is no place for Mr. Face Both Ways, as John Bunyan wrote of a character in his book, The Pilgrim's Progress. Those who worship the Lord have their face towards the Lord and away from the world. Now the gate, that gate hanging was supported, we read, on four pillars. And some have suggested that those pillars represent the four gospels, which most conspicuously present Christ, his person, and his work. Now the colors of that gate, that hanging of the gate, they stood in stark contrast to the white linen that's marked the outer boundary wall. So there was no mistaking the gate. It was easily recognized. And we have considered already in previous studies what those colors of blue, purple, and scarlet speak to us concerning Christ, His deity, His royalty, and His suffering. We don't need to go over that again. But the repetition of their use throughout the tabernacle, they emphasize what they symbolized. But I just want to draw out another point that came across in a study when I was looking at these colors as they were there mixed with that fine twine linen. And it's this. God's salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ is not mercy at the expense of righteousness. It's not grace without justice. You see those three colors, the blue. and the purple and the scarlet, they were mixed with the white linen. Not without the white linen, but they were mixed by that skilled craftsmanship of wrought needlework or embroidery. You see, mercy and truth, they are met together in Christ, and righteousness and peace, they have kissed each other. And so, there is no mercy at the expense of God's righteousness, but there is mercy because of Christ and the righteousness which He lived out in His life. Now, the worshiper, they would have confronted this beautiful entrance as they made their way into the temple court. And the width of the gate, when we do the comparison here, was it almost covered half of the east side of the court. Therefore, it was not difficult to enter. It wasn't narrow. It allowed many to enter at one time. There was no steps to navigate. It wasn't a heavy wrought iron gate with combination locks that you needed to have some special knowledge to enter, but simply a curtain which allowed for ease of entry. The gate was not too small. The invitation was not restricted. The way was clearly marked, and all Israel could come in. The hymn writer said, there's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea. There's a kindness in His justice, which is more than liberty. For the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind, and the heart of the eternal is most wonderfully kind. There is no restrictiveness in the gospel invitation freely given to sinners to come to Christ. And we believe in the free offer of the gospel. We do. We give that call out to all men to repent and believe. We give that call out to all to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the wideness of God's mercy is found in that word, whosoever in Scripture. Romans 10, 13, you know the words, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Revelation 22, 17, let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will, let him drink of the water of life freely. As the children's chorus says, Jesus receives whosoever believes when they come, come, come. While this entrance was readily accessible by its large width, it must be entered into purposefully. It was not enough for the Israelite to know that there was a gate there or even to stand close to it. They must enter through the gate in order that they might identify with the sacrifice You see, it was at the door of the tabernacle, the door of the holy place, that veil, that curtain, on the north side of the brazen altar that the individual, they placed their hands upon the animal sacrifice which signified the transfer of guilt to that substitutionary offering. There could have been no identification with that sacrifice if the Israelite never entered in through the gate. It wasn't a wide threshold to pass over, just the thickness of a curtain and one step was all that was needed to go through that gate. And so it was in our salvation. It wasn't enough for us to know about the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. It wasn't enough for us to know that there is one who is the door. and those that enter in by him shall be saved. We needed to take that step of faith, and by God's enabling grace we did. What a difference. What a difference from being outside those walls of white linen to being within them. That which was a barrier to keeping them out was now a wall of protection to the one who had entered in. And that reminds me of Martin Luther's own account of his conversion. He said before he was saved that he heeded the righteousness of God. He tried to placate God with his monkery, but God's righteousness had always stood as a great barrier, a great separation between him, the sinner, and God. But on reading and meditating on the opening chapter of Romans, he saw that in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God was revealed, what he called the path of righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith. That righteousness is, of course, the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. which is imputed to the repenting and believing sinner. He said, Luther said of his conversion experience, I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates, entering by faith through the gate Christ Jesus. Instead of being separated by the righteousness of the Lord, Luther was sheltered. by the righteousness of the Lord. And what a difference that step of faith makes. Instead of the righteousness of God crying out separation and speaking to us of our impurity, when we enter into Christ, we can stand and look at His righteousness, robed in His covering, knowing that we are safe and secure in Him. It has been suggested that as there was no indication or is no indication of curtain rods or any other device by way of which these gate hangings could be raised up or pulled to one side, to enter the court, one had to lift the bottom of the curtain and stoop down to enter. And this bowing to enter, it shows the right attitude of heart, a humble and a contrite spirit the Lord will not despise. The sinner who will not bow the knee and heart to Christ, they cannot enter in. And tonight, may we come to God with that attitude, that humble attitude, bowing down, as we enter into His presence. You know, the tabernacle, as I've mentioned many times, it sets before us God's appointed way through God's anointed one. When Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden after they had sinned, out of that east gate, the cherubims and a flaming sword had blocked the entrance and the way to the tree of life. Life, salvation, and entrance into the presence of God are not to be had unless the law and justice of God are satisfied. And through Christ they are. Through the gate, the first sight that greeted the Israelite was the brazen altar in the center of the court. And on the altar the sacrificial animal was laid, and the fire consumed that sacrifice, and on Christ God's fiery wrath fell. And that flaming sword, that flaming sword of God's justice which blocked the way back to God and life, it found its sheath in the heart of the Savior. and was slaked by His precious blood. The way has been opened and through Christ we have access to God tonight. Therefore, let us come boldly onto the throne of heavenly grace and there we can obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Praise God the way has been opened up again. The flaming sword which turns this way and that, the justice, the righteousness of God is being slaked by the blood of Christ. And you and I have access into the God of heaven's throne. May the Lord bless His word to our hearts. The next time, well, I don't know where I'm gonna go. I might continue on. But really, we have covered all the physical elements there in the tabernacle. And I trust that that study has been a blessing to your own heart. We'll have a time of prayer, and then after that, those in the webcast that are watching on Facebook Live and Sermon Audio, that broadcast will end for you. For those who are still tuning in on Zoom, that will continue, so you can join in that time of prayer. And then after I pray, Rev. Greer will make some announcements and then we'll get down to that season of prayer. So let's unite our hearts in prayer. Father in heaven, once again, we give thee thanks and praise for your word, the instruction that's contained within, even within all these details that at times we would maybe simply pass over. And yet, Lord in Christ, we find their full meaning. In Christ we have a revelation of the truth in which they signified and taught to those wandering Israelites in the desert. We thank you for Christ who is the door. We thank you for Christ who is the way. Rejoice, O Father, that we have this freedom to come unto thee. And Lord, I pray that thou would mark our approach with humility tonight. Lord, help us to, Lord, be humble and contrite before thee. As we draw nigh unto thee, we thank thee for the access that Christ has granted to us. Lord, bless in this season of prayer, and Lord, tarry with us as we wait around your throne of heavenly grace. Lord, hear prayer and answer, for I ask these things in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen.