The more I study this tabernacle, the more amazed I am at the wisdom of God in this thing. And what a beautiful, a beautiful, I started to say perfect picture, but nothing can perfectly picture the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is a very, very clear type of Christ and his salvation. Now, last week, Last week, in trying to introduce the study of the ark, what I wanted to first do was to, spiritually speaking, take off our shoes before we approach this thing. I almost always give an introduction when we do a study of something special. I think we ought to sit up and calmly consider what it is we're doing. Just like we should prepare ourselves to worship before we come in here. We ought to stop and think about what we're doing instead of rushing in, sit down, and try to start worshiping. It can't be done. We need to prepare and approach something of this magnitude with such deep meaning. What I kind of wanted us to do last week was to take off our spiritual shoes before we approach this thing and not dive right into it. I wanted us to kind of, I tried to, What I want to do is kind of give us a picture, a real picture, as if we were there, as if we were actually looking at the ark itself. And I wanted us at the first, at the outset, to look at this tabernacle from without the camp, as if we were outsiders, to sort of examine ourselves. And to ask ourselves if we really knew anything about this, just stand back and take a look at the whole thing. And like the gospel of Christ, the tabernacle was only for God's chosen people, only the Jews. Only the Jews had the tabernacle. And I say to you, I said it last week, if you have an interest into looking into this gospel, if you really have a deep, abiding, sincere interest in this gospel, not mere curiosity, but a real abiding interest in it, and you really want to know about it and have a part in it, then you have been singled out by God Almighty to take part in this most glorious thing known to man. It's a blessing. Blessed are your eyes. Blessed are your ears. Blessed is your person if you have an interest in this gospel. I don't know the state of everyone's soul in here. I wouldn't pretend to. Some that profess to be believers are probably not. Some that we may not think are may be. I don't know. But it could be. Probably is that there's somebody in this room tonight who is, as it were, standing outside the gate. There's never been any There's a difference in knowing about the gospel, knowing about Christ, and actually coming to Christ, entering within the veil. There's a difference. It could be somebody in here tonight is standing outside the gate but about to go in. That'd be wonderful. That'd be wonderful. Can anybody go in? Could anybody go in there? Well, anybody got to choose. Yeah, God chose who would be the priest and the high priest and so forth. God chose him. He chose. Anybody can go in, God chooses. Not anybody that chooses out of himself, but anybody God chooses can and have the permission to go in. And this is proof. This is proof of God's choice in you, what I'm trying to say here. proof or evidence of a true saving work of grace by God Almighty is this, faith, faith, faith. Christ said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. Well, Paul said that. If thou believest with all thine heart. Philip said that. The Ethiopian Union. If you believe with all your heart. Now, like I said last week, there's no fooling around here. No fooling around. Nobody dared fool around with that tabernacle. God strike them dead right then and there. Well, the scripture says because judgment or sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed, therefore the sons of men, their hearts are fully set to do evil. Just because God doesn't strike men dead right now for fooling around with religion doesn't mean he won't. He will. He has. He does. He will. And you and I will be, too, if we're fooling around with this thing of the gospel. If we're mere hypocrites, if we're just milling around and hypocrites about this thing, God will judge us accordingly. That's how serious it is. Now, like I said, last week we looked at it from a distance. Now, I entitled this, Standing Outside the Gate. Last week was a distant view. We brought it down here a little bit closer, and we're standing outside the gate. Some things need to be considered first about the whole thing. I've entitled this, Standing Without the Gate. Right now, it's kind of like we're down a little closer look. For a little closer look, we've got a real abiding interest. Come down off that, yeah, I'm interested. I really want to know. I really want to know. And we're standing outside the gate. And the revelation of the gospel is kind of like this. It's like somebody standing outside the gate of that tabernacle. And really interested in what's going on. They see the smoke and see the fire and or they see the smoke anyway and they hear things going on. They hear the bells on the garment and they really want it. You mean this is the only way to go? Yeah. Oh, I'd like to know something about it. And I'm. That's that's where I am right now. I'm standing outside. I want to know something about it. It's kind of like it's as if a high priest or one of the priests kind of opened the gate and walked out and said, Are you a stranger around here? Yeah, I am. Yeah, I am. Are you interested in what's going on in here? Yeah, I really am. Well, there's some things you need to know before you go in there. And that's kind of what this is. That's kind of what it's like. Are you a stranger in the camp? Yes. And I hear that this is the only way to God. It's the only way to know and worship God. And I want to look inside. Now, a true seeker, that's the first place we've got to come to in this thing of knowing God and worshiping God and coming to Christ. A true seeker, not a mere bystander or a curiosity seeker, but a true seeker. I want in. Open the gate. Somebody tell me. Would somebody please tell me? And a priest comes out, and this is the way the gospel comes out. OK. I've got four points to this message. First of all, I'm going to show us how that this is the only way to God, the only way to God Almighty, the only way. Secondly, I'm going to show you who came up with this thing, the master architect of the whole thing. And thirdly, I'm going to give you a general overview or description of the whole thing. And then lastly, we're just going to stand outside the gate ready to go in. OK, this tabernacle. This is the only way to worship God Almighty. The only way. The tabernacle is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only way to know God Almighty and dwell with God Almighty. In Christ. Knowing Christ. Being found inside of Christ. You can't know God, you can't come to God, you can't worship. Christ said this, He said, No man comes unto the Father but by Me. That's pretty dogmatic and pretty narrow. Nobody gets to God Almighty, but by me, Christ said. He said to that woman at the well, you remember what he said? He said, You don't know what you worship. She said, I thought I was worshiping the mountain. You say in Jerusalem. He said, You don't know what you worship. He said, Salvations of the Jews. In other words, what he was saying was salvation is in the tabernacle. There is no salvation outside of the tabernacle. Only the Jews had the way to God. The tabernacle. Everybody else was condemned. Do you believe that? That's what God's Word says. Only the Jews had the tabernacle and the way to God. Now, if you don't believe that, you don't place any significance on this whatsoever. In other words, there's Gentiles out there just worshiping, just trying to find their way to God. Any old way. What's the use of this? Why did God institute it? You only worship God in the tabernacle, later on in a temple, now in a more perfect tabernacle. OK? And if you look at Solomon's prayer concerning the temple over there and other places, you'll see how that if there were Gentiles somewhere who wanted to worship God, they were supposed to look toward the temple. They couldn't just worship God any other way. They had to be looking toward the temple. OK, they had to be looking toward the temple. All right. Do you believe that the only salvation is only of the Jews? The Jews were the only ones that had salvation. Do you believe that? The Jews did. The Jews did. Why? Why did they believe that? Why did they believe that? Because God told them so. That's why. Let me, look with me real quickly at Amos chapter 3. I didn't plan on you turning to this, but Terry and I were looking at this in the study. Amos chapter 3, if you don't find it, I'm going to go ahead and read it anyway. Amos chapter 3, verse 1, he says, Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you. This is against them and to them. Hear the word which the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel. against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt. And now I say this, you only have I known of all the families of the earth." And then he goes on to say, I'm going to punish you for your iniquities, like a father chasing his children. Can two walk together except they be aggrieved? And let me turn over here real fast. Psalm 147. We, Terry and I, were looking at this, too, a glorious verse of Scripture. Psalm 147, verse 19, he says, he shows his word, his word. God reveals his word to Jacob, his statutes, his gospel, his judgments, his truth unto Israel. Nobody else. Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation. And as for his judgments, these other nations haven't known them. And then David says, praise the Lord. So be it. It's God's decision. It's his prerogative. OK? The reason the Jews believed that was because God told them, you only have I chosen. I didn't choose you because you were a moral number, because you were better people than anybody else. No, no, no. You're just like everybody else. But I chose you because I simply chose to choose you. And that's the way God's people are. That's the way he chooses whom he'll reveal the gospel to. Why do we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God? Why do we believe that? Because God says so. Look over at 1 Corinthians chapter 2. It says so in this book, that's why. Everything we believe, we base upon this right here, this firm foundation. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in this excellent Word. And I ask anybody else who disputes this, said, no, there's bound to be other ways to God Almighty than Jesus Christ. I don't believe that. I say, tell me where you get your information. Tell me. I don't, I just don't believe, I think, well, now wait a minute. Your thoughts are up. You're so changing and vacillating. You've got to base what you believe on something rock steady, proven, tried and true. That's this right here. That's it. Look at 1 Corinthians 2. This gospel, like the tabernacle, is a mystery to most people. Like this tabernacle here, the gospel is a mystery to most people, and most people don't even have any interest in it at all. They're playing around with religion. Now, some people may come in here, and they may be interested, oh, this is a very interesting study, and so forth. Like that woman said to Mindy about Naomi, Kinsman and Redeemer, Naomi and Ruth. She said, well, that's a good devotional study. You know, that may be all it is to most people. But when God chooses somebody, he not only sparks an interest, he creates deep, abiding heart and faith. and eventually brings them inside and behold the glories of this beautiful place. Eye has not seen, ear has heard. And you know, salvation, listen to this statement, salvation comes before you believe. The world has got this thing backwards, they say you believe in God of choosing, you believe and then you say no, no, no, no. We're chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. This thing of salvation took place a long time before we were even born. This transaction, that was around a long time before we were even born, and Christ was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. But salvation comes before faith to God, that is, before God. Faith is merely the realization of it later, like a child being born and opening its eyes and saying, hey, I'm alive. That's what faith says. Hey, Christ, God. sinner, Christ, God. That's what faith is. A dead man can't believe. See, that's what this world, that's the way they've got it all backwards. They're trying to convince dead people to do things they can't do. A dead man can't believe, and only chosen people. This is what I'm saying at the outset. If you have a real abiding interest in faith in Christ, it's because God has chosen you. Look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 7. He says, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. What's the wisdom of God? Look at verse 24 in the previous chapter. Then what you're called, Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Right? He says, we speak the wisdom of God, that is, Christ in a mystery. All right, we're looking at a real mystery right here. We're speaking, preaching, teaching the wisdom of God, Christ himself, in a real mystery, a type, a symbol. not just a devotional, but a mystery, a mysterious picture of Christ. Even the hidden wisdom—it's hidden, it's covered, right? You can't see. We're standing outside, and this was a seven-and-a-half-foot fence. You couldn't see in if you wanted to, seven-and-a-half feet tall. It's a mystery, which God hath ordained before the world under our glory. God's the one that architected this, and none of the princes of the world knew it. Had they known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. And as it is written, Isaiah 64, I have not seen, this is talking about the natural man, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men. Why? Because they're blind, they're deaf, they're dumb, they're dead. Hadn't entered into the heart of man the things which God prepares for those he chooses and those he loves. But God revealed, look at verse 10, but God, but God. Do you know how many times it says, but God? Salvation is in those two words, but God. You were fornicators and idolaters and covetous and this and that and the other and drunkards and thieves, such were some of you, but God. You who were dead and trespassed, but God. But God. See, we were blind, deaf, dumb, dead to these things, but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. The Spirit hath sanctified or set us apart. have the mass of humanity to reveal this mystery to us. Dare we take it lightly. I hope. And the Spirit, look at this, the Holy Spirit searches all things. Yeah, the deep things. These are deep things. The Spirit searches out and reveals to their understanding the deep things of God. No man knows the things of a man, even, except the man tells him. What about the things of God? No man's going to know the things of God except God the Spirit reveal it. Verse 14, the natural man doesn't receive these things, that foolishness unto any can't know them. They're spiritually discerned, but he that is spiritual, spiritual. So what I'm saying is, this thing is a revelation, and when God Almighty chooses to reveal Himself to somebody, when He sets His work, His heart, His affection upon them, I'm confident of this. Paul said, I'm confident of this, that he that hath begun this work in you, will perform it, will finish it until that day. Now, whoever God sets his sights on to create a spark of interest in the gospel, to hear the word, to see themselves, to see God, this will be comforting to you, to see your need of Christ, you're going to come to Christ. Yes, you are. That's hearing his voice. And my sheep shall hear my voice, and they'll follow me. They'll follow me. This is the reason, because this whole thing is of God, this is what differentiates what we do and what the world is doing, all their tricks and gimmicks and underhanded tactics and so forth. We don't resort to these things. And this is the reason I don't get too excited about somebody coming in here for the first time. You notice I don't rush back to the back to greet somebody. Hey, good to have you all. We'd like to recognize so-and-so being here. It's good to have all you visitors here today to thank you for coming. No. Goodness gracious me, I ought to be thanking God for the privilege of coming in here, right? I don't thank men for coming to worship God. And the reason I don't get too excited about somebody coming for the first time, about nominally curious people, and I don't call them up and visit them, what's wrong? Why don't you come back? Is something, are you upset with somebody? If God sets his on somebody, they're going to come back. The gospel I just preached, that that person heard, that came to hear it, if that ain't going to draw them, I sure ain't going to draw them back. Right? I'm going to drive them away. When this little guy goes up and tries to woo them back, they're not going to be drawn. The gospel is the drawing power, and it's in the hands of God the Holy Spirit anyway. If God Almighty sets his sights on somebody, they're going to come back. And when somebody keeps coming and asks questions, then I start thinking. They keep coming. Start exhibiting an interest. Start listening. Maybe even ask them questions. Then I say, maybe, maybe God's working on them. And so the first sign of, or evidence of, of this election, this choice of God's people, I got to hurry, is Like Paul said to Thessalonians, our gospel came to you not in word only, not just a sermon anymore, but it came in power in the Holy Spirit. He said we're bound to give thanks to you, to God for you, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you, chosen you to salvation through sanctification or setting apart of the Spirit and to believe this truth. Why did the Jews believe that this was the only way? Because God said so. He told them. He told them through the hands of a mediator. And why do we believe? Because God tells us, and we believe. Why do we believe? Why? The only way any human being is going to know God and be with God, like those Jews of old, was for God to choose them, reveal himself to them, and call them out. Noah. Noah. Abraham. Come out, Moses. Come on out, sinner. It's the only way. God is God. I am the Lord, that's my name. The only way we're going to know is if he himself reveals himself to us. And that Christ is the only way, the only way to God. Do you believe that? Do you now really see? It's awful big of you. It's awful narrow. This gospel we say with Paul. That if any man preach any other gospel than what we preach, what you receive, let him be accursed when the Lord comes. This is the only, Christ is the only, the Moslems, the Hindus, the Buddhists, all peoples on the face of the earth who do not have the Lord Jesus Christ are damned. You believe that? That's the way it is. Now, we're not gloating in the fact that we're saved and they're not. This is the reason we thank God. This is the reason we rejoice in Him, give Him praise, because He chose me. He chose me out of all the people. Now, no matter how plain and how simple and secluded and exclusive this tabernacle appeared to be, it was the only way to know and worship God. We start right there. This is the only way and the only place God would speak to man and man would speak to God is right there in that little bitty building. Oh, come on, preacher. God's in it. No. How do you know that? He said so. Right in there. Only way. And the only way God speaks and the only way God hears anybody is through that man that walked this earth, Jesus Christ. Oh, come on. Surely, if a man's sincere about getting to God, he'll get to God. If he sincerely seeks Him in Christ, he will. Only in Christ. All right. This was the only way to worship God. The only way. Do you believe that? Blessed are you. Blessed are you. God revealed this to you. Okay. Who came up with this thing? Let's look at this. God was the master architect of this whole thing, the tabernacle. This whole thing was God's plan. God planned it. You see, God decided, He up and one day decided to commune with man. God Almighty up and decided, I'm going to go down and I'm going to dwell with man. He never had before. Oh, He came in different appearances. But he was going to come down and dwell, actually live among them and travel wherever they went. Pillar, cloud and fire and so forth in the tabernacle. God was actually going to come down and dwell with them, be with them throughout their journeys. This is a picture of Christ, the Holy Spirit too. And for God to dwell on this earth, listen, for God to dwell on this earth, there had to be a suitable place. a suitable place for him to dwell in. Now, I know God doesn't dwell in temples, buildings made with hands. Nevertheless, he'll dwell somewhere he makes. Now, he's not going to dwell in a place that you come up with. This is the way I think it ought to be. I'll just make this concoct me a little place. We've got a little idol. You know, God's going to come in. No, no, no. He'll come down and dwell in it, but only in the way that he chooses. He'll come down, and only God knew what was needed and how to build it. Now listen with me. I put a lot of time in it. The gospel was God's plan of salvation. He's the one that planned it. He decided to save the people. He didn't have to. Much like God of old didn't have to come down to those rebellious Jews. What do you want with those old Jews? They weren't any different than the Egyptians. They weren't any different than anybody else on the face of the earth. They weren't that. But God just chose to. And what about it? Why? Show my glory. Show my glory to them." And the gospel was God's plan, God's decision. He decided to save a people. He didn't have to, but he did. Thank God. And it was his decision to save. Whom to save and how to save them, and when to save them. His decision. And nobody's going to back that. Anybody realizes that God didn't have to do it in the first place, they'll thank God for it. So God in mercy and wisdom saw the only way to save us was to come down and dwell among us as a man, to tabernacle among us, to come down and actually dwell with us, to live with us as a man, to be fulfilled by men. This was the wisdom of God, the honor and the holiness of God. The law had to be fulfilled by a man in order for this holy God to receive him. The justice of God had to be satisfied. In other words, sin had to be paid for. Sin had to be punished, a just recompense for every sin of man that God was going to choose. Sin had to be paid for, and only God knew all this. We didn't know this. We didn't know this by nature. Only God knew this, and only God knew what was needed, what it would take. A tabernacle. You mean a building? No. Not made with hands. A body. A more perfect tabernacle. A man. What a tabernacle. It looked pretty plain, much like this one did, but all on the inside. A suitable, it had to be a suitable place for God to dwell. Not just any old man. God couldn't just choose any old man and enter into a man. It had to be a suitable place. It had to be a man of God's own choosing, a man of God's own design, a man after God's own heart. a man from the bosom of God himself, from the thought, the mind, the plan, the purpose, the will, the wisdom, the power. Where is such a man? Emmanuel, the God-man. There is no man like that. God had to become a man through the wisdom of God. So God planned it, purposed it, ordained it, and ordered it, and it's called the gospel of Jesus Christ, how that God came down to tabernacle among us. to dwell here with us all the days of our life. See us through this time. God with us, his name is called. The tabernacle of God. And just as, in a sense, men's hands, and we're going to go into it here later on. Men's hands. God told the men all the things to bring and how to build it and so forth. Men's hands made the first tabernacle. Christ came born of a woman. He was flesh and blood, common materials. The dwelling of God Almighty was in the hands of a man, not men. Christ is the one mediator between God and men, the man. Not God and man. God and men, the man is only one mediator. The dwelling of God was in the hands of a man, yes. Not men, a man, a fit man. Nevertheless, it was in the hands of a man. Now, listen to this. Turn over to Exodus chapter 25 with me. Exodus chapter 25. This is where the whole thing starts. Moses, Moses was the overseer of this building. Moses was the job superintendent. He was the foreman. He was the labor foreman, the pipe fitter foreman, the carpenters, boilermakers, machinists. He was the foreman. The tool and die maker, he was the foreman. Moses was overseer. He oversaw everything. He walked around. I bet he was particular, because the one he answered to was mighty particular. It's got to be right, Moses. It's got to be right. See that you do it just exactly like I told you to. Now, Moses was the overseer of the building, and so the Holy Spirit leads, guides, and directs the work and the worship and salvation of God's people in Christ. God is the architect. God is the one that plans. The Holy Spirit is the overseer. He's Moses overseeing this whole thing, making sure it's done right, carried out, and so forth. Now, this thing was exacting standards. Look at verse 9 with me, 25 verse 9. And God said to Moses, and he said, Now, according to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it. Exactly. Now, listen. Some of you came over and helped me, helped us out on our house. And some of you might have been, I remember, The barriers were helping paint the windows and all, and I'd come up, look around, and Jeanette froze immediately when I'd come up, you know. I know I'm not doing it just right, you know, but you can go. So it may have been very uneasy in helping me out. Well, who cares? Good enough to consider who's at fault, right? But it's my house, and I want it done right. Salvation is of the Lord. This is God's glory. This is God's Son. It says in Psalm 68, 20, He that is our God is the God of salvation. He architected this thing. He planned it. He purposed it. And unto God the Lord belong the issues. You'll answer to him in this time. And he said to Moses, you make sure you do it just like I said it. Since God is God, holy, righteous, perfect, just, unchanging, then everything pertaining to God, everything God does, has got to be perfect. Right? Got to be holy. It shall be. Leviticus 22, 21, it shall be perfect to be accepted. I've been quoting that wrong. I've been quoting that it must be perfect to be accepted. No, it says it shall be. Not only is it a requirement, but it will be. If it's going to be accepted, it shall be perfect. It shall be. Now, if God's earth was perfect, listen to this. God's earth was perfect. He stood back after he made the earth and said, good. That means perfect. God doesn't pronounce good on anything, but nothing good but God. God's perfect. He made that earth and he said, that's good. He made man out of it. Good. Perfect. And man was perfect. The first man was perfect. He made his law perfect. Perfect law of God. Because God is holy, God is just, God is perfect. Okay? Okay, here's a question. Why did man fall? Man, I've got to hurry. Y'all got anywhere to go tonight? You were off Sunday night. I walked the floor all Sunday evening, I tell you. Why did man fall, then, if he was perfect? Huh? You want a drink? I'll wake you. Why did man fall? if he was perfect. If he was perfect, why did he fall then? Well, it requires a perfect answer. I don't have it. But it could be. Like a jeweler, like a jeweler, and we've talked about his crowns, or jewels, and his crown. A jeweler displays his prosperous gems on a black background, doesn't he? Makes them appear all that much more glorious. And God, in order to show his infinite perfection, His character, his ways, his attributes, had to some way create a dark background. See, I'm going to really show you my glory, Moses. Goodness, mercy, grace, never been seen before, right? Like night time, when God made the day, he also made the night. Why did he make night time? What's the need for night time? To show how glorious the day was, the sunshine, right? And God's mercy, love, and grace are his other attributes, and they had to be seen. They were his glory, and they were only seen by the fire of the black background of man's sin. Man, in all his utter depravity and corruption as a worm, the glory of God was only seen in the face of Christ Jesus by putting him up beside us. And see what man is, or meant to be, the perfection of man in Christ. You see? That's how we know our sinfulness, by seeing Christ. You see, the earth, the law, and man were perfect. I mean, they were perfect, but they weren't God. Adam wasn't God. It says Adam was created in the image of God. Not the express image. He wasn't God. No. He was created from the dust of the ground, okay? He wasn't God. Only God is God. Am I confusing you here? Listen to this. Let me give you an illustration. I used to work for an old carpenter. I used to work construction. This old carpenter, after he'd do something, put a piece of casing on a window or whatever, after he'd get it all up there, he'd say, hey, he'd say, that's a hair better than perfect. Now, wait a minute. He can't get better than perfect. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Christ is better than perfect. He's better than Adam. You know, the new earth will be infinitely better than the old. How can you get better than the old earth, the one that God first created? I don't know, but he said it's going to be. Isn't it? The gospel is infinitely better than the law. Well, the law is a manifestation of the character and ways, but not all of the character of God. We see the love, the love, the mercy, mercy and truth that love each other, righteousness and peace and so forth, only in the gospel. Christ is infinitely better than Adam. He's the express image of exact likeness. Why? He's of his very seed, of his very seed. See, the first Adam was of the earth earthy. The second Adam was the Lord from glory. The first tabernacle was of the earth earthy. The second tabernacle the living Son of God himself, who was perfect according to God's standards and his law, holy, righteous, just, pure, love, mercy, grace, all these things. All the perfections of God were seen in Christ, all of them, all of them. Though they were made of common materials, yet they were glorious within and a dwelling place of God Almighty. All right. And you know, even these materials, when God He instituted this tabernacle, the materials in it, because it was of the earth. The materials were earthly materials, wood, gold, silver, jewels, skin, so forth, earthly materials. But where did those come from? Those came from God. All right? All right. Now, that's who made this thing. That's the master architect of this whole thing, God. It's all of the Lord. Now, here's a general and a brief description of this thing, just to impasse you about what's going to go on next. This building was architected by God Almighty, and it was perfect in its form and its function, and everything in it had perfect and eternal significance. Every single thing, down to every post and pin and cord, Everything in that, every yard, every measurement, every weight, everything in that had perfect and eternal significance. Why? God came up with it. That's why. God was the architect. And the reason, now listen to this, the reason this thing was perfect after God planned it, after He ordained it, after it was built and established and everything, nothing was ever changed about it. Never. They weren't to lay a hand on it. Somebody going to say, I don't like this. This is what they did. Don't touch it. It's just the way God planned. It was never to be altered. No more work was to be done upon it. And as long as those children of Israel were in that wilderness, that thing held up. It was perfect. It never needed repair because of the materials in it. It never needed repair. And we'll see that as we go on. Christ is the perfect Son of God. He was and He is perfect in everything. Everything about Him, His thoughts, His words, everything He said, everything He did, every move He made, every step He took, every gesture, every word was of divine origin, the divinely planned and of eternal significance. And after Christ performed that work upon this earth, after the tabernacle or salvation was completed, hanging there on that cross, what did He say? Nothing to be added. Nothing to be added. It's not to be helped out a little bit. Not to be repaired a little bit. Or altered in any way. It's finished! And it'll hold you all the way through the wilderness. It's held up men from the beginning. It'll hold us up to the end. It's finished. Nothing left to be done. Nothing left to be added. Okay? And all of this was typified in this building. Like these materials in it. Gold. I mean, you can throw this ring in the ground and it'll be there thousands of years from now. Silver, precious stones, diamonds, even the wood was impervious to weather and disease and rot and so forth. Okay? Now, here's a general description of this whole thing. If you want to, you can take notes. This book in the back here, just for future reference, if you wanted to, you could jot down some measurements if you want to. You don't have to. It's not that important. It'll just kind of spark your interest in this thing. This tabernacle consisted of three, the outer court, this area here, court, and then there's two rooms inside of it. The outer court, the inner court, which is called the holy place, and then the holy of holies. where the Ark of the Covenant was. Three cores. Now, this is typical of so many things. It's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It's typical of our body, soul, and spirit. So many types here, and we'll get into those. Now, listen to the plot of ground. The size of this thing, the grounds itself, everything about the tabernacle, within the fence, was 75 feet wide by 150 feet long. Now, this building, from front to back about 75 feet long. So it was this wide and twice that long. 75 by 150 feet long. And it was enclosed by this linen fence which was 7 feet 6 inches tall. Nobody could look over it. Nobody could get in or over it. There's a purpose in that. 7 feet 6 inches tall on three sides. And there was a gate right here. This gate was the only way in there. And it was 30 feet wide, 30. Holy Christ, when he began his ministry, 30 years old. There are many significant points here. But the building, now that's the tabernacle, the building. The building itself was 15 feet wide, 15 feet high. This ceiling is about 14 feet high. It was 15 feet high, 15 feet wide. That's right here, exactly half of this room, 15 feet wide, 15 feet high, and 45 feet long, 45 feet long, about the length of this building, about half of this building exactly. That was what the inside of it, half of it. All right? The inner room, the first place, the first place inside when you walk in there was 30 long and 15 by 15, and then you go back into the Holy of Holies where the Ark was. It was a perfect cube. Perfect square. 15 by 15 by 15. Perfect. Perfect. This fence, all the way around it, this fence, was 150 feet long on two sides, 75 feet across the back, and 75 across the front, including the gate. Okay? Every one of these posts were made of solid brass. You're talking about expensive. You couldn't even calculate today how much everything in this thing would cost. Every one of those posts were solid brass. Solid brass set in sockets of silver. Silver castings, or sockets, or like buckets that they buried down in the sand to put these brass posts in. And it was covered up, silver was covered up. Oh, it's so much here. So many types of Christ things that people don't see, the silver. and the foundation and so forth. All right. And the building itself was made of boards. The building itself was made of boards of what you call acacia wood. Acacia wood. A-C-A-C-I-A wood. Now, you know what that's akin to in our day? This was a wood in Egypt. Acacia wood is a thorny wood. It's akin to what we commonly call thorny locusts. What do you build your fence posts out of? What's the most durable wood that we know of? Locusts, right? God in his wisdom made this building out of locusts, it wasn't rocks. It was impervious to disease and decay and weatherproof and so forth. Okay, the building itself was made out of these boards and these boards, now listen to this, these boards were 15 feet high, 15 feet long, Two feet, three inches wide and four inches thick. Finely planed and hand sanded. Finely made. Finely. Set and they had big, like, tenons on the bottom of brick. Mortise and tenon, you know. Had big tenons on the bottom of it. Stuck down in solid silver. A solid silver foundation. And then it had solid gold. Connecting all these were solid gold rings stuck in these boards with these bars, five bars on each side, connecting it all together. This thing was an elaborate piece of construction. Beautifully, finely done. Finely done. Solid gold. So the reason that being, these boards were covered with gold too, gold plated. And the reason being, when you're on the inside, all you saw was solid gold on the inside. Okay? There were four coverings on this building. And I'll quit here in just a minute. There were four coverings. The first one on the inside was with white linen. The second one was goat's hair. The third one was ram skin. The fourth one was this badger skin, a real gray looking. There were several pieces of furniture. You have these in your book here. There was an altar. There was the labor of water. the table of showbread, the candlestick, the incense altar, the ark, the mercy seat, and every single piece, every measurement, every weight, every material, every type of work done on it, the way it was built, where it was to be replaced, the strategic positioning of it, the ordinances that pertain to it, divine eternal significance. As you see what I'm talking about, like this ark, who is sufficient for these things? And every one of these things, every single thing in some way, shape, form, or fashion points to Christ. God had to do this, didn't He? God had to do it. Like every move that Christ made, all the pictures of Christ. And like I said, that's just a general description of the whole thing. But this won't begin. A general description won't begin to tell you what's on the inside. It won't begin to tell. It's like the high priest coming out today, and he's praying. He's walking out there, and he walks outside, and he starts telling him all that's on the inside. Now, that fellow may be interested. All right? He may be interested. It sounds good. I'd like to know more. The half has never been told. I can sit up there and talk about Christ and give you all the particulars and general descriptions, and this and that, and there's the gospel, and how He had to come down and establish righteousness and pay for our sin and go back to the Father and be our mediator. You've got to go inside, my faith. You've got to see it for yourself. You've got to partake of it. You've got to taste it. You've got to taste that bread. I bet you that bread on that table was. Oh boy, you think your cooking is good. I bet that bullet prepared on that halter was mighty tasty fixings. And to look on the inside, one look within, one look within, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. A natural man doesn't see any beauty in Christ, just like a general description won't suffice. You've got to see Him for yourself. You've got to walk it. You've got to go in that veil. You've got to go in. And even then, just on the inside, you've got to go all the way into the Holy of Holies. And we're going to see later on how God said, Come on in. Rip that big veil. Come on in. Look at this ark. I mean, take the top off and look down there. Oh, I mean, yeah. Come right on in. It was unheard of back then. It's unheard of now. God in love and mercy and grace allows sinners who want to know Him, who want to look on the inside, a look at His glorious Son, to behold Him. A look. That's what we're standing on now. You want to go in? You want to go on in? I do. Nobody else does. I'm going in. Take a look. We're going to walk in that gate next Wednesday night. See what's in there. Okay, stand with me. you