Not long after I was saved, I read books which pointed out that, according to Romans 6:6, our old man was crucified with Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ.” I fully believed these verses and was happy to learn that I had been crucified with Christ. However, although this was accurate doctrinally, according to my spiritual experience I was not crucified. I wondered what was wrong, since my experience did not correspond to biblical doctrine. Experientially speaking, have you been crucified with Christ? The New Testament says clearly that we have been crucified. Sometimes we may echo these words and declare, “I have been crucified with Christ!” But in your practical living day by day, have you really been crucified? Many of us must admit that experientially we have not been crucified. We need to understand this matter both according to the Bible and according to experience. According to the New Testament, we are in the Holy of Holies simply because we are believers. We are in Christ, and in Christ we have been crucified, buried, and resurrected. Surely, as those in resurrection, we are in the second tabernacle. But according to our actual living day by day, we may in fact still be in the first tabernacle.
It was the veil within the tabernacle which made a separation between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. Since this veil signifies the flesh of Christ, this separation between the two tabernacles involves the flesh. Hebrews 10:20 says, “By a new and living way, which He dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.” Was the veil within the tabernacle a positive thing? We must answer that in a sense it was positive, for it was exactly the same as the first layer of the covering. It was made of fine linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, and embroidered with cherubim. But Paul says that this veil is the flesh of Christ. Is this flesh positive or negative? We must answer this question very carefully. We know from John 1:1 and 14 that Christ, the eternal Word of God, became flesh. Ordinarily we say that Christ became a man. This, of course, is true and accurate according to the Bible. Nevertheless, the Gospel of John says that the Word, who is God Himself, became flesh. Furthermore, according to Romans 8:3, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Then was Christ’s flesh sinless or sinful? We may say that in nature it was sinless, but in form it was in the likeness of sinful flesh. Let us use as an illustration a serpent made of gold. We all appreciate gold, and we may value a golden serpent because it is made of gold. However, we may feel uncomfortable because although the gold is valuable, it is in the form of a serpent. Thus, the form of the golden serpent, but not its nature, may bother us. This illustrates the fact that in nature there was nothing wrong with Christ’s flesh. He did not have the flesh of sin, but He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin. In nature His flesh was not of sin, but in form it was in the likeness of the flesh of sin.
We have pointed out that the veil, the flesh, was the factor which made the one tabernacle two tabernacles. This is true even today in our experience. Doctrinally speaking, the flesh has been crucified on the cross by God. When Christ was crucified, the flesh was crucified also. This is indicated by the tearing of the veil in the temple from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51). Although the flesh was riven when Christ was crucified, experientially our flesh may still be whole. It may not yet have been cleft or torn. The reason we may still be in the soul, the first tabernacle, is that our flesh has not yet been broken.
It is quite possible that in doing spiritual things our flesh may still not be broken. We may call on the Lord in an outward way in the flesh, instead of calling from deep within in the spirit. Sometimes when a brother and his wife are arguing, one of them may say, “Praise the Lord!” However, such an utterance in this case may not come from the spirit, but from the flesh. Thus, we may be in the flesh not only when we are gossiping and criticizing, but even when we are calling on the Lord and praising Him. The reason that as New Testament believers we remain in the soul, in the Old Testament age, is that our flesh has not been broken.
The veil within the tabernacle was placed on four pillars. We have pointed out that the pillars represent the extraordinary believers, who are the stronger members of the church. The pillars in the tabernacle were stronger than the boards. The boards were flat, but the pillars were thick. Applied to our experience, this means that when a board has been dealt with, it becomes a pillar. Among all the saints in the church, the pillars, the stronger ones, bear the testimony of God manifested in the flesh. No doubt, the leading ones in the church should all be pillars. According to 1 Timothy 3:15, the church must be the pillar of the truth of God manifest in the flesh.
If the flesh of the leading ones, the stronger ones, in the church, has not been broken, the entire church will be kept in the first tabernacle and frustrated from entering the second tabernacle. Whether or not an assembly can enter into the Holy of Holies depends on whether or not the flesh of the leading ones has been cleft. Galatians 5:24 says that those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh. If we are Christians walking by the Spirit, our flesh has been crucified. Romans 6:6 says that our old man, the self, has been crucified. Although we cannot crucify ourselves, we can crucify the flesh, and we must do this. If our flesh is crucified, it will become a riven veil as an entrance for the entire church to come into the second tabernacle and have the direct enjoyment of God. By this we see that the situation of the church depends on the breaking of the flesh of the leading ones. This exactly corresponds to what I have observed throughout the years. Whether or not the church in a particular locality can enter into the Holy of Holies depends entirely on the brokenness of the flesh of the pillars, on the brokenness of the flesh of the leading ones.