"18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."
I know: You're thinking, "What in the world does this verse have to do with the the golden boards of the tabernacle" right? I'm glad you asked.
Everything in the New Testament is hidden somewhere in the Old. It's like a dictionary of the New filled with pictures, descriptions and visual aids to explain spiritual truths.
The truth is, our Heavenly Father sees us all equally as precious, bright and shining, like the purest gold and so valuable as to be priceless.
All of these pictures, descriptions, events and laws are recorded specifically by the Holy Spirit for our learning and benefit.
The golden boards of the tabernacle formed the walls of the Holy Place and Holy of Holies but were actually made of wood; more precisely, acacia wood, overlaid with gold.
(Acacia wood overlaid with gold set in silver sockets.)
Wood in the Bible is a typology of humanity. Acacia trees grow in very dry, dusty, desert-like places. We know from Genesis 3 that the devil shall crawl on his belly all the days of his life and eat dust so this tree is a picture of fallen humanity rooted in this cursed earth; dry and dusty.
As long as we are rooted in the dusty, cursed earth, i.e. "unsaved," he {the devil} can pick our number out of the "hat" any time he wants. We are completely defenseless.
But, when the tree is cut off from it's roots and fashioned into boards, it depicts the believer being cut off from the cursed earth, being fitly joined to the household of faith and, thus, no longer subject to the curse as well as protected by God Himself! HALLELUJAH!
(Acacia tree.)
At the base of each golden board are two footings that fit into solid silver sockets. The "two" footings are representative of "two" things: #1. Jesus' death; AND #2. Jesus' resurrection......WHICH EQUALS OUR SALVATION! You see, His death would be pointless without His resurrection. It's our receipt, our blessed assurance, that our debt of sin is paid for IN FULL!!! HALLELUIA!!!
Silver, in the Bible, is a depiction of redemption. Every time you see it mentioned, understand that the Holy Spirit is talking about our righteousness in Christ! Silver trumpets, for example, when sounded, are shouting out our redeemed status!
So we, who are made of wood, who have been cut off from the curse of the world. We are completely surrounded and encased in Divine righteousness, forever secure, rooted and grounded in the silver of the redemption of Christ and in His finished work! Our salvation is eternally secure!
(Cut-away of Holy Place and Holy of Holies.)
All the boards are facing each other and are exactly the same size and shape as every other, one board not above any other. Each "board" can only "see," as it were, the golden exterior of every other "board." Problems arise in the church when we fail to "see" every other believer in this way; to "see" their golden exterior...the way God sees us! By overlooking the golden covering and seeing the wood underneath, we find fault, not realizing that by focusing on the other's "board," we forget about the "plank" in our own, hence Jesus' reference to "wood" in Matthew 7:3.
(Golden boards connected outside and inside.)
All the boards are bound together by two gold-overlaid bars on their exterior and one right down the middle of them which cannot be seen from outside. This depicts Christ IN us, the Hope of Glory! He is inside; hidden from view. All believers are held together by Jesus as it says in Ephesians 2:21
"21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,"
The entire tabernacle is covered by a tent. None of the "golden boards" i.e. us, are visible to the world but are "hid with Christ in God."
In the Holiest place of all, the Kadoshim, or Holy of Holies, is the Ark of the Covenant. That is our altogether lovely One, our JESUS. He is our Heavenly Mercy Seat! The golden boards are all surrounding and facing "Him" in the Holy of Holies, beholding and reflecting His glory.
(Mercy Seat.)
The Holy Spirit is painting a beautiful picture of 1 Corinthians 3 that, "We are transformed from glory to glory simply by beholding His glory!"
What an AWESOME God Who not only tells us He loves us and that we are eternally secure and precious to Him, He shows us in the beautiful pictures He has drawn for us in the Golden boards of the Tabernacle.
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