Exodus 25-27 give many instructions that the Lord gave for the building of the tabernacle.  We read in Exodus 25:8-9, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”  In these chapters are meticulous details of the building of the tabernacle, its interior, and its furnishings.  The instructions for building in chapter 26 can be divided like this:

1. The curtains – Verses 1-6
2. The coverings – Verses 7-14
3. The boards – Verses 15-30
4. The vail – Verses 31-35
5. The hangings for the door – Verses 36-37

We find wonderful types of Christ in the tabernacle, down to even the smallest details.  The colors used were blue, purple, scarlet and white. Blue is the color of heaven, purple speaks of royalty, scarlet is the color of blood, and the white speaks of righteousness.  There is much more in this chapter than we can get into here, but let’s look at a couple of examples of Christ in the building of the tabernacle.

Verses 7-14 speak of the materials used in the covering of the tabernacle.  Verse 7 says, “And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.”  Inside the tabernacle was beautiful with its different colors and with its gold and silver.  However, on the outside what showed was the badger skins.  These were not pretty at all.  This typifies the Lord Jesus for us.  We read prophetically of the Lord Jesus in Isaiah 53:2 which says, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, THERE IS NO BEAUTY THAT WE SHOULD DESIRE HIM.”  For those who only view Christ from the ‘outside’, there is nothing about Him to attract and appeal to them.  There is no beauty!  To those who do know the Lord, who know of His love, His mercy, and His grace, we would say as the bride did in Song of Solomon 5:16, “…he is altogether lovely.”  Everything about Him is beautiful.

In verses 15-30, we learn about the boards used in the construction of the tabernacle.  The boards were of shittem wood (verse 15).  After exact instructions about the length and width of the boards, we see they were hung with silver sockets (verse 19).  Now let’s read verse 29, “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.”  The boards would speak to us of the Lord’s humanity.  The silver speaks of the judgment the Lord bore in our stead, while the gold speaks of the Lord’s deity.  We have Christ who is both 100% man and 100% God, enduring the wrath of God’s judgment for our sakes.

Like I said, there is much more that can be said about finding types of Christ in the building of this tabernacle.  My hope is that these two examples will encourage you to explore more about the tabernacle and find Christ over and over.  Every exact detail proclaims the person and virtue of our blessed savior.  The Lord Himself said in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures…they are they which testify of me.”  Of course, He was referencing the Old Testament when He said that.  Although the word ‘Jesus’ is not found in the Old Testament, it is full of types and prophesies of the Lord.  The tabernacle, its material and its furnishings speak very loudly to us of our precious, loving savior.  (210.4)