The compound life-giving Spirit is typified by the anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25. Without these verses in Exodus 30, it would be difficult for us to understand how the life-giving Spirit has been compounded with God, man, Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, the effectiveness of Christ's death, and the power of Christ's resurrection.
I am very thankful to the Lord for opening up the details of Exodus 30:23-25 to us in His recovery. When I was with the Brethren, I was taught only that the holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30 refers to the Spirit. This was the only help I received from them regarding these verses. Through the years I have spent much time on these few verses, considering every point, even every word. Each detail was like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Eventually, I was able to put all the puzzle pieces together, and I saw a marvelous picture of the compound Spirit.
The anointing ointment in Exodus was a compound of one main item—a hin of olive oil—compounded with four kinds of spices: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. To be sure, the one hin of olive oil signifies God. The number one signifies God, and the number four (four spices) signifies man as God's creature. In particular, here the number four signifies the incarnated Christ as a human being. Myrrh signifies Christ's death, and cinnamon signifies the sweet effectiveness of Christ's death. Calamus is a reed that grows in a marsh or muddy place, shooting upward toward the sky; thus calamus signifies Christ's resurrection. Cassia is a kind of bark used as a repellent to repel snakes and insects. Therefore, cassia signifies the power, especially the repelling power, of Christ's resurrection.
With the anointing oil in Exodus 30, we also have the number three (signifying the Triune God), seen in the fact that the quantity of the spices involved three units, each of five hundred shekels: myrrh—five hundred shekels; cinnamon—two hundred fifty shekels; calamus—two hundred fifty shekels; and cassia—five hundred shekels. The second unit of five hundred shekels was split into two parts, each of two hundred fifty shekels. These two parts typify Christ, the middle of the Divine Trinity, who was "split," wounded, on the cross. Here we see not only the Trinity (signified by the three units of five hundred shekels each) but also the Christ who was wounded on the cross (signified by the splitting of the second unit of five hundred shekels into two halves of two hundred fifty shekels each). How marvelous is this type!
Furthermore, with this compound ointment we also see the number five, formed in two ways: by adding one hin of olive oil and four spices and in the five hundred shekels. In the Bible the number five signifies responsibility. For example, the Ten Commandments were written on two tablets, with five commandments on each tablet, and the ten virgins in Matthew 25 are divided into two groups of five. Five is composed of four plus one, with the number four signifying man as God's creature and the number one signifying God. From this we can see that the number five signifies God added to man to give us the ability to bear responsibility. In the compound Spirit we have the ability to bear responsibility.