We have begun to see the way to enter the land and take possession of the all-inclusive Christ. We have pointed out that if we would possess such a One, we must begin by enjoying Him little by little. The people of Israel began to enjoy the types of Christ with the lamb of the passover—that is the place where we all must start. Then they moved on to enjoy Him as the heavenly manna, and then as the rock flowing with the living water. All these are types of Christ, but they are elementary types; they are not so deep and rich. To our realization they may be quite sufficient, but we must realize that they are just the start.
We have seen the Ark and the testimony of God within it. The Ark is another type of Christ, one which is much more solid and full. If you compare the Ark with the lamb, the manna, or the rock flowing with living water, you can see what an improvement there is. Much more of Christ is manifested by the Ark. In the lamb of the passover, you may realize Christ only as the redeeming One, the One who died on the cross, shedding His blood for our sins. The manna is an improvement and really a good experience. In it you taste the vegetable life and the animal life, and at the same time you touch something of the pearl as the transformed material for God’s building. These experiences are indeed good, but they are no match for the Ark. The experience of the Ark is much more solid, and its content incomparably more full. You can read something within it. There is something written about God Himself. By the content of the Ark, you may know the very nature of God.
With the Ark is its embodiment, its increase, and enlargement—the tabernacle. The tabernacle is the enlargement and expression of Christ, for the major part of the tabernacle is of exactly the same nature as that of the Ark. The Ark was constructed with wood overlaid with gold, and the tabernacle was made in the same way with the same materials. But how may we realize that the tabernacle is the enlargement and expression of Christ as His Body, the church? Because it was composed of forty-eight wooden boards. It was constituted of so many boards, typifying the members of the Body. In the church, many members are built together by being overlaid and bound together with the divine gold. They are one in the gold. They are covered with gold and joined one to another in the golden rings and bars. If they are out of the gold, they fall to pieces and are alienated from each other. They are pieces in the human nature, but in the divine nature, in the Triune God, they are one. Furthermore, they are all covered by the fourfold Christ, just as the tabernacle was covered with the four layers of curtains. The church, which is the enlargement of Christ, the expression of Christ, is under such a covering. All these forty-eight boards were standing on silver sockets or bases, meaning that they are based on the redemption of Christ. The redemption of Christ is the basis upon which they stand to be overlaid and bound together with the divine gold and covered over with the fourfold Christ. This is the church, the increase and expression of Christ.
We can realize that this is much more than the lamb of the passover, the manna, and the rock flowing with the living stream. Here is something solid. Here is Christ with the testimony of God within and His enlargement as the real expression of Himself without. This Christ is the center of those who are going on to possess the land. If we would take possession of the all-inclusive Christ, we must have such a Christ as our center, a Christ with the testimony in Himself, a Christ who is the manifestation and the explanation of God. And we must be the enlargement of this Christ, the tabernacle for this Christ, the expression of this Christ. We should have such a center, and we should be such an enlargement. This is the way for us to possess the land. This does not mean that we have a tremendous amount of the experiences of Christ but that our enjoyment of Him is increasing and enlarging all the time.
We start by enjoying a lamb. We must say a little lamb. It is perfect and complete, but it is little. Then we learn to enjoy Christ daily as the manna, as our food supply, and as the rock flowing with the living stream. Christ becomes more to us. Then we begin to experience Christ as the testimony of God, the manifestation and explanation of God. Christ is being formed in us to a fuller extent and in a more solid way. When people come to us, they realize that this is our center; they read the nature of God Himself. We become Christ’s enlargement, His fullness, His Body. This should be our experience and our testimony.