“Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim you shall weave them” (Ex. 26:1).
In the construction of the tabernacle, the Israelites were instructed by external figures that the worship of God was precious, and that they had to follow precisely His directives. If they were to be accounted true worshippers of God, they had to worship Him in purity and in truth, being free of all uncleanness. In this, the tabernacle foreshadowed the church, for the church is to worship in the beauty of holiness. The ornaments are symbolic to us of the spiritual beauty of the church, of the inward graces that would adorn the church as Christ’s bride.
On this basis, Isaiah spoke of the perfect glory of the church as it would be under the reign of Christ: “Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones” (Isa. 54:11–12). While the tabernacle would be constructed of external symbols, such as curtains and ornaments, so the church would be adorned with the heavenly beauty of spiritual graces. It is because the externals of the temple and tabernacle were foreshadows of the church under the reign of Christ that it is not necessary to have such images adorning our worship places today. To reach back into the Old Testament and to re-establish the adornments of Israel’s worship would deny the fulfillment of those externals in the dispensation of Christ. This is not to mean that the principles of Israel’s worship do not apply. As we stated, these adornments show us the nature of the church. Our focus, therefore, should not be on what we look like, but on what we are inside, on the beauty that comes from within, born of a renewed heart in Christ.
The curtains of the tabernacle were to be richly covered by durable materials (goat hair and badger skin) to protect the riches of the tabernacle from the weather. The curtains hanging near the sanctuary were to be particularly beautiful, signifying how we are to approach God—in holiness and righteousness. Christians today can approach God without the covering of the curtains because we have access to the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus Christ. While this privilege was reserved for only a few in Israel, it now extends outward as the Gospel is preached to all the earth (Isa. 54:2).
There are many warnings in Scripture for us not to attach ourselves to the externals of religion, but to approach God with humble, contrite, and pure hearts. This week, as you go to public worship, examine your heart, confess your sin, and prepare yourself by meditating on God’s Word before you worship Him.
