The Scriptures also show us the significance of gold, bdellium, and onyx stone. At a certain time, the Lord asked His people to build a dwelling place for Him and for His service. This dwelling place was the tabernacle, which was made of wood overlaid with gold (Exo. 26:29). If we were to enter the tabernacle and look around, we would see gold all around us. The tabernacle was full of gold. This shows that in principle, gold is the material for the building of God’s dwelling place among His people, His children.
With the tabernacle there is the high priest, who serves the Lord. This high priest had a certain kind of clothing called an ephod (28:6-8). On the shoulder pieces of this ephod were two onyx stones on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (28:9-11). Moreover, there were twelve more precious stones on the high priest’s breastplate (vv. 17-20). If we were to enter into the tabernacle at the time when the high priest was serving the Lord, we would see gold, onyx stone, and precious stones. This shows us that these precious items were not only for the building of the Lord’s dwelling place among His children; they were also for the priestly service. The New Testament causes us to realize that the Lord’s building and the Lord’s priests are the same. First Peter 2:5 says that we are both a holy priesthood (hence, the priests) and the living stones which are being built up as a spiritual house to the Lord. We are both the priests and the stones. Thus, the gold and the precious stones are the materials for the Lord’s building and service among His children.
Next, we need to see the significance of bdellium. Bdellium is a difficult word, for in the entire Scriptures, it is used only twice: in Genesis 2:12 and in Numbers 11:7, where it is used to describe the manna. Some Hebrew scholars translate this word as “pearl.” Other Hebrew scholars translate this word as “resin”—a substance produced by a certain kind of tree. Some kinds of resin are in the form of a pearl. Thus, bdellium is a pearl-like substance.
In 1 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul tells us how to build the church and with what material we should build it. Writing that the foundation of the church is Christ Himself (v. 11), Paul tells us that we, being the co-workers of God, are now working on the building of God (v. 9). The church, composed of the Lord’s people, is the dwelling of God. Paul says that we must be very careful as to whether we build with gold, silver, and precious stones or with wood, grass, and stubble (vv. 10, 12). Rather than building the church, the building of God, with the negative things, we must build with gold, silver, and precious stones. Although here Paul mentions silver in place of pearl, silver and pearl both signify the Lord’s redemption. Gold, pearl (or silver), and precious stones are the materials for the Lord’s building with the Lord’s service.
At the end of the Scriptures, a city comes into being. This holy city is built with gold, pearls, and precious stones. The city proper is of gold, the wall of the city and its foundations are of precious stones, and the twelve gates are twelve pearls (Rev. 21:18-21). Based upon this knowledge and according to the principle set forth in the Scriptures, we may conclude that these precious materials are for the Lord’s building with the Lord’s service.
The final figure in Genesis 2 is a bride. The holy city, New Jerusalem, built of the three kinds of costly materials, is actually the bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 21:2, 9). The bride in Genesis 2, who signifies the church, was to be married to Adam, who typifies Christ (Rom. 5:14). This is stated clearly in Ephesians 5, which reveals that Adam and Eve are types of Christ and the church (vv. 31-32; Gen. 2:24).
We can now see a very simple picture of the entire Scriptures. In His creation, God created a man of clay according to His image (Gen. 1:26). Because this man was made of clay, however, his nature was not precious. Although the image he bore was wonderful, his nature was worthless. Such is man’s condition at the beginning of the Scriptures. But at the end of the Scriptures, God has gained a group of people who are pure gold, precious stones, and costly pearls in His sight.
Today, are we men of clay or are we precious stones? On the day that Peter received the revelation that Christ was the Son of the living God, the Lord changed his name, saying to him, “You are Peter” (Matt. 16:18). In Greek the name Peter means “stone.” Having received such a speaking from the Lord, Peter told us that we, having been saved, are living stones (1 Pet. 2:5). We should not hesitate to say that we are no longer clay but living stones. If you ask me whether I am a piece of clay or a living stone, I will happily reply to you, “Praise the Lord! Formerly I was a piece of clay; now I am a living stone. Something happened to me. I was regenerated. There has been a transformation of my nature from clay to living stone. Now I am a living stone!” Everyone who has been saved by the Lord is a stone. According to God’s creation, we were men of clay. According to God’s new creation through regeneration, we have become living stones.
How can a man of clay change in nature to become a living stone? To answer this question, we must consider the picture shown to us in the second chapter of Genesis. I would illustrate this in the following way. Suppose I were Adam, a man of clay. As a man, I would see all these figures around me. I would no doubt appreciate the gold, the bdellium, and the precious onyx stone. Realizing how wonderful these items are, I would, as a man of clay, desire to become as precious as they are. I believe that God would tell me, “Adam, if you want to be as precious as those items are, you have to be transformed.” Then I would perhaps ask the Lord, “How can I be transformed?” I believe that in answer to such a question, the Lord would tell me, “If you are going to be transformed from a man of clay into those precious items, you have to eat the tree of life and drink the living water. If you eat this tree and drink this water, you will receive into yourself a life that you do not yet have. Once you receive this life, it will work within you and transform you from a man of clay into something precious.”
This is the very same concept that we encounter later in the Scriptures. The Lord is the tree of life who came to offer Himself to men of clay. He said to them, “I am...the life” (John 11:25) and told them to come to Him, eat Him, and receive Him as life to be regenerated (6:47-48, 57; 1:12-13). To be regenerated means to be transformed with the life of Christ from a man of clay to a man of stone. The more we eat and drink Christ, the more we will be transformed. This process of transformation spreads from our spirit into the parts of our soul and eventually, when He returns, into our body (2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:21). At that time we will be fully transformed into the image of the Lord from the center to the circumference of our being. No longer will we be people of clay. We will be the precious treasure of God.
We are transformed by experiencing and enjoying Christ as life. We enjoy and experience Him by eating Him as the tree of life and drinking Him as the river of water of life. The more we enjoy Him, the more we will experience Him and the more we will be transformed. Furthermore, the more we are transformed, the more we will be built up together. If we remain in our old life, old man, and old nature, the genuine church will never be built up. If we are going to be built up as the church, as the Body of Christ in reality as a real expression of Christ, we must be transformed in our mind, in our emotion, and in our will. The more we are transformed, the more we will be built up together. At the conclusion of this building work, we will be the bride of Christ. This bride is the dwelling place of God, the real tabernacle of God among His people (Rev. 21:2-3).
I believe that this is a very clear picture that shows us what is in the Lord’s mind and what He is seeking. God is seeking a group of people who, having originally been made of clay, will receive Him as life by eating and drinking Him so that they will be transformed in their nature from men of clay into precious stones. Then by being transformed, they will eventually be built up together to be the Body of Christ, the tabernacle of God, the bride of Christ, built with gold, pearls, and precious stones. This is the picture of the entire Scriptures, and this is the eternal purpose of God.
On the positive side, all the Scriptures show us how we as people made of clay accept the Lord as our life, feed on Him, and drink of Him, and by so doing are gradually transformed into His image and built up together as an organism to be His Body for His expression and His bride for His satisfaction. There is, however, a negative side, signified by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). The tree of the knowledge of good and evil brings in death. This tree is the tree of knowledge, good, evil, and death. The Scriptures tell us that this tree signifies the one who is the source of death, the devil, Satan. Instead of receiving the Lord as his life in the garden of Eden, man received the tree of knowledge. Through this, sin entered into man. As a result, death came in (Rom. 5:12), followed by judgment and eternal perdition (Heb. 9:27; cf. John 3:16). All these negative matters sprang from this one source, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Together, these positive and negative matters present a full picture of the entire Scriptures. Although this picture is very basic and simple, it includes all the major things recorded in the Scriptures.
By seeing this picture, we see how both ends of the Scriptures reflect each other. In a certain respect, the Bible is like a book of architecture. At the beginning we have a “blueprint,” and at the end we have a picture of the entire building. Between these two ends, between the blueprint and the picture of the building, there are many specifications giving the details of how the building work is to be accomplished. This is the Bible. If we are clear about this picture, it will be easy to know the Lord’s mind and eternal plan. Moreover, by seeing this picture, we will be able to realize what we are, where we are, what we will be, where we should go, and what our responsibility is today—matters that we will cover in the ensuing chapters. May the Lord open our eyes and be merciful to us.