If we want to examine the church in our locality, the best means are by the tabernacle, the bronze altar, and the Ark. The tabernacle refers to the outward expression of Christ, the church. The bronze altar refers to the cross, which is the truth of redemption, and the Ark refers to Christ Himself. In a normal situation, these three are joined together. However, if there is only a tabernacle and a bronze altar, the situation is not normal.
Outwardly, a certain church may truly look like the tabernacle, having no defects, and in addition, it may have the bronze altar, which signifies the gospel of redemption. The church may preach the gospel, bring people into the worship of God, and even help people receive Christ’s redemption, grace, and salvation. Hence, both the tabernacle and bronze altar are present, and everything can look proper outwardly. Nonetheless, we still need to examine whether it has the Ark—Christ—within.
A type is like a picture; it is not like a piece of writing, which can be understood plainly. In order for us to understand a picture, we need to have some insight and intuition. Originally, the tabernacle with the altar typified Christ, but when the Ark was gone, there was only an outward form without an inward reality. These outward things can remain—for example, the truth of redemption can remain—but the reality can be gone. Originally these three things were one, but now the Ark is often missing. This picture shows that it is possible to have the outward forms of Christ and the redemption of Christ but not have Christ as the center and reality.
A local church may have the form of the church outwardly, and it may also preach the gospel, but whether Christ is present depends on whether the element of the serving ones comes from Christ or from their natural being. If there is only the element of man and nothing of the element of Christ in a church or if there is very little of the element of Christ in a church, then it does not have the Ark; it has lost the Ark. This kind of church may have the outward form of Christ, the redemption of Christ through His cross, and the name of Christ for people to be saved, but it does not have Christ as its inward reality, life, and center.
If we want to speak about the matter of the church, we must see that the tabernacle needs the Ark. Without the Ark, the tabernacle is a place that does not have God’s presence. His presence is with the Ark, not the tabernacle. If those who seek God with a pure heart arrive at the tabernacle, God can still give them the vision, revelation, and light to go to the Ark. This was Solomon’s experience. Solomon went to the tabernacle in Gibeon to offer up sacrifices; he had a common view, a general view, the view of most Israelites. In their concept the only place to offer sacrifices to God was at Gibeon. When Solomon went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices and worship God, he was enlightened to see that God’s presence was not there but in Jerusalem. Consequently, he immediately went back to Jerusalem and offered sacrifices there (1 Kings 3:4-5, 15). Once a person is enlightened, he pays attention to the matter of the Ark. The Ark typifies Christ, who is the center of the church. The reality of the church is Christ.
May God have mercy on us so that we would not be a common and ordinary people but a remarkable people. We should not have a common and ordinary view; we should have God’s revelation. Even if everyone pays attention to the tabernacle, we should pay attention to the Ark. The Bible is precious, and it shows that the Ark was not in anyone’s hands but David’s. Even though God’s children were desolate, David knew God’s heart. His view was different from the crowds of people, who could have said, “Is this not the tabernacle? Is this not the altar for offering sacrifices?” This can be compared to saying, “Do we not speak of the cross? Do we not preach the cross? Do we not speak of the precious blood of Christ?” This is a picture of today’s condition. The crowds will pay attention to the tabernacle and the altar, but those who know God’s heart will pay attention to the Ark, Christ. The living testimony of God is Christ (Rev. 1:5).
May the Lord grant us strong light to genuinely know the truth concerning the church. We thank the Lord that the tabernacle and the altar are in the church, but what about the Ark? Our testimony in each place cannot be only the tabernacle and the altar; we must also have the Ark. We cannot have only the outward form of the church and the doctrine of the redemption of the cross; we must also take Christ as our center, life, and reality. We must have Christ as the location of God’s presence.
However, this does not mean that we do not need the tabernacle and the altar. If we read the Old Testament in a thorough way, we can see that God revealed to Solomon that he should build a more solid tabernacle for the Ark, the temple (1 Kings 5:3-5). In addition, he also made a bronze altar and a great molten sea of bronze. This means that we should not neglect the altar; that is, we should not ignore the teachings concerning the cross and redemption. However, if we have only the outward form of the church and the doctrine of redemption without Christ as our center and life, then in God’s view, the church is still void and empty of reality. This is because the center—Christ—is missing.
We need to see that the Ark at the center in the tabernacle is the mingling of acacia wood with gold. Acacia wood signifies humanity, and gold signifies divinity. The center of the church is the mingling of God with man—man being subdued before God, being mingled with Christ, taking Christ as his life and person, taking Christ’s heart as his heart, taking Christ’s emotion as his emotion, and taking Christ’s will as his will. The church is not simply man, but man mingled with Christ. This is the Ark.
If every move and idea of a certain church come only from man, this church does not have the Ark. If the brothers serve God by placing themselves in the incarnated Christ and if they take His mind as their mind, His will as their will, His emotion as their emotion, and His life as their life, giving Him the ground to be their center and everything and submitting to the living Christ, then that church has the Ark.
The tabernacle is the outward form of the church, the altar is the truth of the cross and the spread of the gospel, and the Ark is Christ as the life and reality in the church. We should never despise the tabernacle and the altar. Even if there were only the Ark, we would still need to prepare a better temple for the Ark. Merely having the Ark without the tabernacle, the outward form, is not sufficient. We even need to prepare an outward form for the Ark that is larger and more solid and secure, which is the temple. We must see both sides of the truth.
Today many people in Christianity care only about Christ but not about the outward form. In other words, they do not care about the church; they care only about Christ. Because of the church’s desolation, they believe that they will lose Christ’s presence if they care about the church. Nevertheless, if we read 2 Chronicles 3 and 4, we will discover that the Ark needs an outward form; the Ark is not complete without the tabernacle. Just as Solomon needed to build a temple for the Ark, we need both sides of the truth—the outward form and the reality.
In the situation among the churches today, the greatest shortage is in the aspect of the Ark. The only excuse for neglecting this matter is ignorance. The tabernacle of the church is the outward form, and the altar in the church is the redemption of the cross. However, the root, the center, of the church is Christ as life and reality. He is the Ark.