The second station is the mountain (3:12; 19:1-2, 11; 24:16-18), where the children of Israel received revelation concerning God and concerning the tabernacle. For hundreds of years they had been under darkness in Egypt where there was no light, no word, and no speaking of God. But now, under the enlightenment, they were to live according to the revelation concerning God, and they were to build the tabernacle according to the pattern revealed by God.
The children of Israel were brought to the mountain by the tree which made the bitter water sweet (15:23-25), by the twelve springs of water at Elim (15:27), by the manna from heaven (16:14-15, 31-32, 35), by the living water from the cleft rock (17:6), and by the victory over Amalek (17:8-16). When the Israelites came to Marah, “they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter” (15:23). Because the people murmured against him, Moses cried to the Lord, “and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet” (15:25). This tree signifies Christ with His cross. The children of Israel went on to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water (15:27), and they camped there by the waters. When they journeyed onward from Elim, they murmured again; this time it was because they had no food. God met their need by sending down manna, the heavenly food, to support them. Likewise, when the children of Israel murmured because there was no water, God brought forth living water from the cleft rock (17:1-6). All these items signify various aspects of Christ as our life supply, the very supply God uses to bring us to the mountain. We in the local churches can testify that we have been supplied by the sweet water, by the twelve springs at Elim, by the heavenly manna, and by the living water flowing from the cleft rock.
God’s chosen people were not to stay at the mountain in the wilderness. God’s intention was that they journey onward into the good land. Likewise, today we should remain neither in the wilderness nor on the mountain. Rather, we should regard both as temporary stopping places. Our ultimate destination is the good land.
In their experience not many Christians have come to the mountain. Many of us can testify that before we came into the church life, we were not at the mountain, the place of revelation. Most of the saints in the Lord’s recovery, however, have come to the mountain in the wilderness. On the one hand, it is a wonderful experience to be at the mountain; on the other hand, it is a cause of suffering if we remain there a long time. Some who have been in Christ for many years have not gone further than the station of the mountain. On the fourteenth day of the first month, the children of Israel celebrated the Passover in Egypt, and during the third month they arrived at the mountain (19:1). They stayed there for approximately nine months. By the first day of the next year, the tabernacle had been built and was filled with glory (40:17, 34). This indicates that it is not normal to remain at the mountain for too long a time. Many of us in the Lord’s recovery have seen the revelation on the mountain and have shared with others in the building of the tabernacle. Although this is wonderful, it is wonderful only in a temporary way.
If we consider the picture of the children of Israel in the wilderness, we see that only two of those who came out of Egypt—Joshua and Caleb—entered into the good land. All the others, including Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, died in the wilderness. To them, the wilderness was not only a place of separation, but also a place of test and trial. Before the children of Israel came to the mountain, the wilderness was positive, for it was just a place of separation. But after the mountain, the wilderness became a place of test and trial because of their unbelief.
When they were at the mountain, the Israelites received the revelation concerning what God is. Do not regard the law simply as some commandments. The law was a testimony, definition, description, and explanation of what God is. By the law we can know God Himself. God required His chosen people to live according to this revelation of Himself. Thus, on the mountain, Moses received a revelation both of what God is and of the kind of life the people of God should live. Because God is holy, righteous, and loving, His people should live a life characterized by holiness, righteousness, and love. Chapters twenty through twenty-four of Exodus reveal that God is detailed in His holiness, righteousness, and other divine attributes. His people must live a life that corresponds to the detailed attributes of God. Such a revelation can be seen only on the mountaintop.
It is on the mountain that God’s people can also see the revelation of the desire of God’s heart. Here we see that God wants us to live according to what He is because the desire of His heart is to have a dwelling place on earth. The tabernacle was erected as the temporary fulfillment of this desire. Before the tabernacle was built, a detailed revelation regarding every aspect of it was given to Moses in chapters twenty-five to thirty-one. The remaining chapters cover the experience of the children of Israel at the mountain and tell of the building of the tabernacle.
At the mountain we have the church life signified by the tabernacle. The church life we have today is not the temple church life; rather, it is the movable church life, the tabernacle. The tabernacle had no floor or foundation, but was erected on the earth. The temple built in the good land, on the contrary, had a solid foundation. No verse in the New Testament says that the church is built with wood. Rather, both Paul and Peter say that it is built with stones (1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:5). This indicates that the tabernacle, a type of the church, was God’s temporary dwelling place. His permanent dwelling place was to be the temple built in the land of Canaan. Many Christians, however, have not yet reached the stage of the tabernacle, the temporary church life, much less that of the solid building.