All right, Exodus. Exodus 26. We'll read a couple of verses in Exodus 26, and then we'll jump over to Exodus 38 and read a few there. But let's start in Exodus 26 verses 19 through 30. Verse 19. Yep, this is going to be the sockets, the silver sockets, the foundation of redemption. Verse 19. And thou shalt make 40 sockets of silver under the 20 boards. Yeah. Well, we're gonna do the size and the weight of this stuff. Wait till you hear this. And thou shalt make 40 sockets of silver under the 20 boards, two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side, there shall be 20 boards. And there are forty sockets of silver, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards, and two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle, the two sides, and they shall be coupled together. We go down to verse 30 coupled together beneath and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring Thus shall thus shall it be for them both. They shall be for the two corners and they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. And thou shalt make bars of shittum wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five boards for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the two sides westward and the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end and thou shalt overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold for places for the bars and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold and thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was showed thee in the mount. Now come to Exodus 38. Exodus 38, verse 25 through 28. verse 25 and the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was 100 talents and a thousand seven hundred and three score and 15 shekels for the shackle of the sanctuary Becca for every man that is half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary for everyone that went to be numbered from 20 years old and upward for six hundred thousand and three hundred three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. And of the hundred talons of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil and hundred sockets of the hundred talons a talent for a socket. Did you see that? And hundred sockets of the hundred talons a talent for a socket. We're going to get into that in a second. And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their chapters and filtered them. And that's where we're going to stop. That's fine. All right. Now the silver sockets of the tabernacle form the absolute foundation upon which every board stands. This lesson focuses on redemption. God's payment for sin. It is the only secure basis for his habitation among his people. So the foundation is made of silver. Silver is directly related to redemption. God is not going to dwell with you unless you are redeemed. The tabernacle is the dwelling place of God, right? No believer can stand before God on any foundation except the one provided by the atonement. The sockets reveal this truth though their material there's through their material their source and their function. Now Exodus 30 verses 11 through 16. Did we read that already? I think we did. Yeah, that's when the half shekel for the atonement money was collected. And then Exodus 36, 10 through 34, the boards are constructed and set in their sockets. And then Exodus 38, 25 to 28, the sockets are specifically made from the atonement money collected. All right, all that is important. Now, number one, the structure and necessity of the sockets. This is Exodus 26 19 and thou shalt make 40 sockets of silver under the 20 boards two sockets under one board for his two tenons and two sockets under another board for his two tenons and then Exodus 26 20. And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side, there shall be 20 boards, and there 40 sockets of silver, two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board. Every board had two tenons that fitted into two corresponding silver sockets. That's your mortise and your tenon. Or as the Bible puts it, your tenon and your socket. If you imagine a plug going into a socket, that's the idea. Once that plug goes in there, it fits tightly and it stays there unless you have a busted outlet. But if you've got a normal working one, you plug it in, it fits firmly, it fits tightly. We imagine that in this case, it's the wood going into the silver and locking it in place. That's the idea. This demonstrates an absolute structural principle. Every component requires its appointed foundation. No board can stand without sockets. No board could be incomplete or rest on anything else. Otherwise, it's just sitting there doing nothing. The slightest bump knocks it over, if it even stands at all. Spiritually, this teaches that no believer can approach God on their own merits. Each must rest upon redemption provided by God. Number two, silver as the redemption medal established by the law. This is going to come from Exodus 30 and verse 16. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls." Silver is not accidental to the sockets. but specifically commanded by God for the atonement price. Silver is established throughout scripture as the metal representing redemption and ransom. We talked about that in the last lesson, but we're going to emphasize it again here. The text states explicitly the sockets are made from this atonement money, not simply resembling it. They collected this atonement money and then used the silver from the atonement money to make these sockets. This is again in Exodus 38, verses 25 to 27. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents and a thousand seven hundred and three score and fifteen shekels. After the shekel of the sanctuary, a becca for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil, and 100 sockets of the 100 talents, a talent for a socket. Remember how many pillars held up the veil? Four. So they designed the pillars for the veil in a similar way. All right, and so you had to have the same silver sockets. Now, total collected 100 talents of silver from the atonement money, right? Each socket, one talent of silver, approximately 25 to 30 pounds of pure silver. That's a lot of silver. What are you doing with that silver? I'm going to fashion it into a socket to hold up a board. You're going to do what? Now, 100 sockets total, 40 on the south, 40 on the north, six on the west, four for the veil of the pillars. Remember, there's 20 boards, right? There's a tenon on the top, tenon on the bottom, so you're gonna have two sockets per board. So, you do the math. That's 100 sockets, 25 to 30 pounds, that's 300 pounds, potentially, worth of silver. This is not decorative, it's foundational weight and substance. Number three, the universal atonement payment. No exceptions. This is Exodus 30 verses 12 to 15. When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord. When thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them, this they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary. A shekel is 20 geras and half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Everyone that passeth among them that are numbered from 20 years old and upward shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls. Exodus 30 verses 12 through 15. Every man 20 years old, 20 years and older was required to pay. No exemptions. You all had to give it up. Now, what if I instituted that here? Everybody comes in that door, you've got to pay. I'll stand there and hold the basket out. Yeah. Oh, it's 20 years old and upward. So if you're 20 years old, where's your money? Break it out. Yeah, that wouldn't go very far. I wouldn't do that anyways. And that's not a New Testament principle. Anyhow, forcing people to give, pressuring people to give, you have no business doing that garbage. You want people to give because they want to serve God, not because you pressured them. That's unacceptable. Now, the same amount had to be paid by everybody. Half a shekel, which is a becca, or equal to 10 geras, which everybody knows that, right? The rich could not pay more. Their wealth held no value before God's required standard. All right, so if you were rich, The people had no business expecting you to give more, and you were not going to impress God by bringing more. God said, this is what I want everybody to give. Furthermore, the poor could not pay less. You couldn't show, say, I just don't. You left Egypt with everybody else. You got gold and silver and all the stuff that Egyptians gave you with everybody else. Pay it. Poverty was no excuse. The price was fixed by God's authority. Now, what if we adopted that as our tax bracket? Everybody's paying the same amount. That's how God did things. Now, somehow we've adopted this communistic, socialistic victim mentality. Well, yeah, but they're rich. They should pay more. No, that's not true, and it's not right. That's not how God did things. You only think that because you have this vendetta against people who are more successful than you. And you should stop whining and go do your best. The standard was of the Lord after the shekel of the sanctuary. It was not a human valuation. The Lord defined what this shekel was of a sanctuary and that's what he wanted you to give. Now the New Testament parallel, there is no respect of persons with God. If you just applied that across the board, that would get rid of DEI, that would get rid of critical race theory, that would get rid of communism, that would get rid of socialism, it would basically put everybody on an even playing field. You will be rewarded based on your ability to perform, to do well, and to do right. If you work hard, do right, don't break the law, don't cause trouble for people, you're probably going to go far in life. So God is no respecter of persons. We should do the same. All will stand equally before God in their need for atonement. Everybody needs to be saved. And Jesus Christ is the answer for everybody. There's not one answer for one group of people and a different answer for a different group of people. It's all through Jesus Christ. No human achievement, no wealth, no status can purchase a place before God. You're not going to stand before God, the books are open, and he says, explain yourself. And you say, I got $20. You think it's a nightclub line? You can, you know, pay to skip the line? No. No, that's what got you in trouble in the first place. You didn't listen to God. The price is set by the Lord and you have to pay that price. So here are your options. Trust in Jesus Christ who paid for your sins or you pay for your sins. That's it. That's all you got. Yeah, but what if I work my way? No, no, no. That equals you paying for your sins is what that equals. Yeah, but I think I can keep the law. Great. Do it. I hope you do. It'd be great. It'd be wonderful. But that's not going to save your soul. Number four, the meaning of a talent. And of the and of the hundred talons of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil and hundred sockets of the hundred talons a talent for a socket Exodus 38 27 a talent is a large unit of weight. Now some measurements are so let me go back up here. Make sure I'm not Before I say this, let me make sure I'm not contradicting myself. So a total collected was a hundred talents of silver from the atonement money. Each socket was one talent of silver, approximately 25 to 30 pounds of pure silver, pure silver. That is amazing to me. Now, This says that a talent is a large unit of weight. Now, some, there's some discrepancies on how much a talent weighs, right? Some say 25 to 30 pounds. Some say 75 to 100 pounds per talent. Now, I tend to go with the lower side because I can't imagine carrying 100 pounds per socket 100 of them. So you do the math, carrying all that weight of silver. It's heavy enough at 300 pounds. You get up to 1,000 pounds worth of silver that you're carrying around in the form of a socket. That's a lot of weight. Each socket was approximately one talent. One socket equals one complete talent. This immense weight represents the substantiality and performance of redemption. Now, this is all pointing back. Whether it's 25 to 30 pounds or 75 to 100 pounds, who cares? Either one is heavy. And what that points to, the idea is stability. It's something you can, Jesus Christ is our rock. You build your house on that rock. and it will be strong. Now imagine you've got something strong and durable like acacia wood formed with these tenons that lock into sockets that weigh anywhere from 25 to 100 pounds each. Man, when you lock this stuff in place, that thing was immovable. And then reinforce with all the other boards and things that God said to make. The boards did not rest on insufficient material. They rested on solid, heavy, precious metal, all of which points to Jesus Christ and his redemptive work, which is not fragile or temporary or uncertain. There is stability to it. It has that, there's something about making something that is quality. And it has this heft to it. You go and you move and you're like, wow, that is solid. Not only beautiful, but it has this strength to it. The work of Jesus Christ is eternal, immovable, and sufficient for eternity. Hebrews 9, verses 13 to 14 says, for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? This is a substantial sacrifice that is more than sufficient to meet all your needs. You just gotta trust in Jesus Christ. Number five, the number of sockets, 100. There were 100 sockets in total, as stated in Exodus 38, 27. On the south side, and thou shalt make 40 sockets of silver. That's 20 boards, 2 sockets for the 2 tenons on each board, that's 40 sockets. On the north side, and for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side, shall be 20 boards and there 40 sockets of silver. Same thing, 20 boards, 2 tenons, 2 tenons need 2 sockets. on the west side. And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards, and two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle on the two sides. And there shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board." So that's eight boards, two tenons, two sockets each, sixteen boards. Then he had the veil pillars, and thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittom wood, and overlay them with gold, and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass this time for them. These are made of brass, not silver, and thou shalt make a veil, and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittum wood, overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold upon the four sockets of silver." Four pillars, one socket. Now, the actual total On the south, you have 40. On the north, you have 40. On the west, you have 16. And then the veil, you have four more sockets. So 100 sockets of silver. The number 10, again, we talked about already, signifying complete responsibility. The 10 commandments, the 10 geras per half shekel, all that kind of point to responsibility. Everybody had to bring an offering. That's your responsibility. Everybody's got to obey the Ten Commandments. That's your responsibility. It's all directing in that, pointing in that direction. The number 100, this is interesting, emphasizes completeness multiplied. the complete and entire foundation for the complete dwelling place of God. So if you remember the number 10 is the number of responsibility and completeness, you know, the full the fulfilling of some thing and so you put all that together. They all met their responsibilities to the extent that God had Moses had to go back to the people and say stop giving so much we're done. We can't take any more. And this is what it produced, praise the Lord. Number six, tenons resting in sockets, faith laying hold of redemption. Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another. Thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle, Exodus 26, 17. Each board had two projections called tenons. That's the piece that gets cut out, has to be done very carefully, and these fit securely into the sockets. The tenons did not create the foundation, they simply rested upon it. Spiritually, the tenons represent faith, taking hold of the redemption God has provided. The idea being the tenon fits into the socket, the socket made of silver, which has a direct relationship repeatedly with redemption. And so this is your faith. You're putting it in the death, the burial and resurrection, the redemption provided through Jesus Christ. And that's where it's going to rest. Right? Once that board is locked into that socket, that's it. It's there. What else does it have to do? Just be there. That's it. That's so hard for people to understand. Before they get saved, they think they've got to keep the law, or clean themselves up, or do something to either prepare for salvation or earn salvation. And then you finally get them saved, and now they think they've got to do something to keep their salvation, or they've got to put together some legal system or set of works that's finally going to make God happy with them. None of that is true. All the way through, you need Jesus Christ. That's it. If you will stay focused on Jesus Christ, everything else will begin to fall in place. The more you focus on your problems, your failures, your character flaws, your broken family, your broken home, your broken car, your broken bills, whatever it is, it's going to be hard to stay focused on Jesus and handle those things the way that he wants you to handle them. You're looking at the problems, you're not looking at the Lord who wants to direct you and carry you through those problems. Makes a big difference. Spiritually, the tenons represent faith. A board without sockets would do what? Fall. Stand that board up. It won't stand up. Well, try. It's a beautiful picture of keeping the law. I think I'm going to keep the law to be saved. Why do you keep falling down? Pick that board back up. Stand it up. The best you can do is lean it against something, and that is useless. That's not structural. And so a board without sockets would fail. Faith without the finished work of Christ would have no foundation. If Christ be not risen, we are yet in our sins. When certain structures are made, if it's furniture or a building, mortise and tenons are foundational forms of joinery. Some of the best craftsmanship I've ever seen, it's all done, well, not all of it, but I mean, I've seen all over the world, but some of the best I've ever seen of old school joinery done by hand. are done by the Japanese. It's incredible. And so the Japanese have buildings that have been standing for 1,000 years, 2,000 years. I don't know what the oldest building is they have standing, but they have some that have been standing for, I'll guess, at least 1,000 years. Not a single nail in the entire building. Not a single screw in the entire building. And they had this technique that I like to use, I like to toy with. I haven't fully used it in this context. I'd like to someday. If I could get away from a full-time job and go build a house, I would do custom joinery and do a lot of it by hand. Not all of it, but a lot of it by hand. It'd be fun to do. But there's this technique that the Japanese use where they'll take a board that's going to be exterior. and they will torch it until it is charred on the outside. And then they will take a wire brush and lightly brush it, and then cover it with some sort of oil, like tung oil or boiled linseed oil. And that board will be impenetrable. It will not rot, it will not decay, and bugs will not touch it, and it will last a thousand years. You don't have to go buy this green wood full of chemicals that's still going to rot. You don't have to do any of that. You torch the wood till it chars. You clean some of the char off. You put a coat of oil on it to help kind of seal it up a little bit. And then that's it. It will last 1,000, 2,000 years easily. Now, the better quality the wood is, the longer it will last. So if it's, say, the best wood you can get for outside purposes, period, is white oak. It is the best all-around wood. You can put it right in the ground, and it will last 100 years in the ground without rotting. It's excellent wood. It's beautiful wood. A lot of old barns used to be made out of white oak. That's what they used to use. They would use that or American chestnut, that type of stuff. But that's why people, all these old barns, people want to go take them apart and keep the wood because it's either white oak or American chestnut. American chestnut, you can't even get anymore. There was a blight that killed it all. So it's hard to find. Anyways. When it comes to the way they put these buildings together, they use two types of joinery primarily. They use some form of mortise and tenon, or they use a half-lap joint. And a half-lap joint is when you take two pieces of wood, they're going to cross each other, and you notch this one about halfway, and you notch this one the same distance, and then they slip right together. And it locks together, and they're not going anywhere. and they might put a peg in it which just helps strengthen and lock it in place but a lot of times they don't use glue they don't use anything when you put glue on two pieces of wood on the long grain not the end grain but long grain so this is this is long grain this end of the board is end grain if you put These are likely, this is likely just glued together. So when you take this long grain and this long grain and you put them together like that and you put wood glue behind it, the place where the wood glue is is stronger than the wood. If you tried to break these apart, the wood would break, but the place where the wood and the glue are touching will not break. The wood will break before the spot where the wood and the glue are joined together. It's incredible. And so that's what a lot of furniture, old school furniture, that's how it's put together. I made this desk that my father-in-law has in his house now, and the top is made out of ash. The base is made out of red oak. My wife and I literally together made every single piece of that desk by hand. And it's a writing desk. It's a beautiful writing desk. It doesn't have a single nail or single screw in it. The entire thing is held together just by mortise and tenon joinery. And I did put some oak dowels into it to help further strengthen it. And we made that thing, I don't know, 10 years ago now, something like that, eight years ago, and it's still sitting in his office, still just as beautiful as ever, and doing great. Well, they make buildings like that. When you look at a building that's made of wood joinery, it's just incredible. Anyways. It's a beautiful picture of the quality. There's a difference in quality. You go to these houses around here that they're throwing up all over the place, they're fine, they're nice. But there's a there's just a cheap element to them. They just they throw them up quickly. Now you know if a hurricane comes they'll hold up. I mean they're fine. But is it going to be there in 200 years like some of those old houses that are made of high quality wood and we had our first house was built in the first house Kristen and I had was built in 1926. And it had that old character to it. And it was made of boards. It was made of heart pine. And it was a true two-by-four. I mean, full two inches thick and full four inches wide. I mean, it was a... And you could hardly drive a nail into it. It was solid as a rock. That house met not one single code requirement for hurricanes in the state of Florida. Not one. And yet has withstood how many hurricanes since 1926 and had no problems. When we lived there, an oak tree, a massive water oak fell on the house. It did $394 worth of damage. The crane, they had to bring a crane to get it off the house. The crane could not lift the tree. It was so heavy. So what he did was wrapped around the top of the tree, stood it up, swung it around and laid it in the backyard because he couldn't lift the tree, it was so big. And it did $300 worth of damage to the house and we had it repaired and there was no problem at all. Just solid as a rock. So that the nostalgia we have for that old school quality, that's the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is of such quality and such high standard that nothing else will ever come close to it or compare to it. When you take a piece of furniture that is handcrafted with old school joinery and set it next to one of these modern Ikea whatever's, there is no comparison between the two. That's what we're talking about. The quality of this tabernacle and the craftsmanship that went into it. All of it is a beautiful picture of the quality of Jesus Christ and his redemptive work. Now faith is the substance. That's what we're talking about. The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen, Hebrews 11.1. Faith rests upon Christ, redemptive work, not upon itself and not upon man. Trust in Jesus Christ, you'll be alright. Now, The silver sockets point directly to the work of Jesus Christ, his redemptive work. We read that verse in 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19 already, but for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things. Now, remember, we're talking about how gold and silver and acacia wood and brass and all the all these wonderful materials, high quality materials were used to create this magnificent structure. And God just said, yeah, that didn't even come close to what I need in order for your soul to be saved. If you rebuilt that entire thing and you made it of the highest quality you could possibly find, it wouldn't even come close to redeeming your soul. What you need is to get away from your vain conversations received by tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. That's what you need. And so the type, silver sockets made from atonement money, pretty interesting. Why point that out? Why does that matter? Why couldn't you just say, we made the sockets out of silver? Who cares where you got the silver? But it was very careful to point out that silver came from the atonement money. The anti-type, the precious blood of Jesus Christ, shed at Calvary. And so the principle, redemption has a price. That price must be paid. No substitute is acceptable to God. It has to be the blood of Jesus Christ. Then you have the work of Jesus Christ as the foundation. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 3.11. The Apostle Paul uses the precise language of foundation. Why? Again, it's just a beautiful picture. And you think of the idea of a foundation. We all understand how important in any endeavor in life, whether it's education, whether it's knowledge, understanding, whether it's building a house, whatever it is, If we understand that whether metaphorically or literally, if there is a strong foundation, that person, that endeavor will always do far better. The potential for failure will be infinitely less if they take the time to build a strong foundation. No believer stands on any other basis. Jesus Christ is the foundation in the tabernacle sockets are the foundation in the church the Jesus Christ redemptive work is that foundation no amount of works no self-effort or human righteousness can serve as an alternative foundation. It's not even an option now. The application, number one, universal equality and redemption. Isn't that what the world wants? They just want equality. Well, they think they do. They just don't know what equality actually means. Just as the rich and poor pay the same half shekel, all believers, regardless of social status, education, spiritual gifts, or maturity, stand on the identical foundation of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. You are not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. No Christian is more redeemed than another. That's not even an option. All have equal standing. No rank or achievement changes your foundation. The poor widow and the wealthy merchant both rest on the same Calvary-paid price. Now, are there differences between Christians who are saved in terms of reward? Absolutely. Some give more effort. Some give less effort. Some are more faithful. Some are less faithful. That is going to play out in heaven. When you get there, you're going to stand before the Lord. He's going to say, yeah, you didn't really put in much effort. Glad you're here. You know, you get to stay, but there's not much else for you. You're not going to Hell. I mean, that's plenty of reason. You're not going to Hell. You get to be with Jesus for eternity. That's plenty of reason to rejoice. But had you put in more effort, you would have been rewarded even more. And then there's spiritual humility. No one can boast of a superior spiritual position based on works, gifts, or accomplishments. You're not going to go to Heaven and say, yeah, but I mean, I got here because of what I did. It's not going to happen. Number two, permanent and immovable. The solid weighty sockets represent the permanence and security of the believer's standing. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5. And then Philippians 1.6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Believers do not rest on shifting sand or temporary provisions. They rest on the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is eternal. Number three, no shame, no condemnation. You probably guess where this is going, Romans 8, 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. The sockets represent security from condemnation. You can be certain of it. Once the atonement price was paid in the Old Testament, Israel's guilt legally and ceremonially were covered. Spiritually, the believer in Christ needs never fear that their foundation is inadequate or that they might be cast out. And then once again, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. The Lesson of the Sockets warns against seeking acceptance before God through any means other than redemption. Works cannot replace redemption. No amount of obedience can establish a standing with God independent of atonement. Status cannot replace redemption. Human rank, wealth, wisdom, or spiritual gifts do not provide alternative access to God. Partial atonement is unacceptable. The rich could not pay more to improve their standing, nor the poor less to excuse themselves. God's standard is absolute. If every believer stands on identical silver sockets, the redemption price paid by Christ alone, then boasting is excluded and pride is rebuked. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith that no flesh should glory in his presence. It's Romans 3.27 and 1 Corinthians 1.29. Here's the lesson. The silver sockets teach believers, number one, redemption is not optional. Every component of the house of God rests upon it. No believer can stand before God without the atonement price. Everyone 20 years and upward had to give. Number two, redemption is divinely determined. God set the price, half a shekel. He established the standard by the shekel of the sanctuary, and he declared it non-negotiable. Well, I think I'll give a quarter. Nobody asked you that. God said what you're going to give. He said who had to give it, and so you need to do it. Number three, redemption is universal in scope. Rich and poor, wise and simple, strong and weak all pay the same price. indicating that the work of Jesus Christ is sufficient for all and that all stand equal before God, at least in terms of redemption. Number four, redemption is immovable in substance. The talent of silver in each socket represents not a fragile or temporary provision, but the eternal, unchanging, infinite value of the blood of Jesus Christ. Number five, redemption is the basis for all standing and testimony. Boards, pillars, veil, vessels, everything in the habitation of God rests upon those sockets. So too, every aspect of the believer's life, service, and testimony rests upon the foundation of Christ's redemptive work. And that is the sockets. Next will be the bars, unity and strength. And then number 12, lesson 12, my favorite, the veil.