Let us now consider the matter of the entrances. There were five pillars supporting the screen. There must have been one pillar next to a board on the north side and another pillar next to a board on the south side. The remaining three pillars must have been spaced evenly along the screen. This would give four entrances. In the same principle, the four pillars supporting the veil must have been placed two at the edges near the standing boards and two spaced along the veil, providing a total of three entrances. Thus, with the screen there were four entrances, and with the veil there were three entrances. This corresponds to the twelve gates in the New Jerusalem. There are three gates on each of the four sides of the city, indicating that the Triune God Himself is the entrance for His redeemed people to enter not only His dwelling place, but also Himself. As mentioned in the preceding message, this is illustrated by the three parables in Luke 15. According to these parables, the Son seeks the lost sheep, the Spirit enlightens, and the Father receives the returned prodigal. Furthermore, Ephesians 2:18 says that through the Son we have access in the Spirit unto the Father. Once again we see that the Triune God is the entrance.
On the one hand, the entrance is three because it is related to the Triune God; on the other hand, it must be four because it is related to the creatures, signified by the number four. The fact that the screen has four entrances indicates that God’s dwelling place is open to all people from the four corners of the earth. Revelation 5:9 tells us that God’s redeemed come out of every nation, tongue, tribe, and people. Here the word every is repeated four times, not five or six times. The reason is that the number four signifies God’s creation in a positive way. We have come from the four corners of the earth as redeemed creatures to enter into God’s dwelling place for the enjoyment of Himself. When we pass through the four entrances of the screen, we come into the Holy Place. Eventually, we must pass through the Triune God, through the Son, the Spirit, and the Father, signified by the three entrances in the veil, and enter into the Holy of Holies.
Now we come to a matter which is difficult to understand—the identification of the five pillars with the outer curtain and the four pillars with the inner veil. We have seen that both the veil and the curtain were attached to pillars. This attachment indicates identification. The veil is identified with the pillars, and the pillars are identified with the veil. We have pointed out that the veil is Christ. However, the pillars supporting the veil cannot be Christ Himself, for they are plural in number, whereas Christ is singular. The same is true of the screen and its five pillars. Both the five pillars and the four pillars refer to believers. This means that Christ is identified with us and that we are identified with Christ. When we become attached to Christ and identified with Him, we become pillars.
We all believe that Christ died for our sins and that He also died for us. However, in our experience we may not yet be thoroughly attached to Christ in this matter. We may say, “Yes, I believe that Christ died for me. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord.” After declaring this, we may go about our daily affairs. But some Christians are beside themselves regarding this. Day and night they desire to preach the gospel and tell others that Christ died for them. Those who are so zealous to preach the gospel that they even seem to be crazy are the pillars attached to the curtain. D. L. Moody was such a person. After he was saved, he became this kind of pillar. He was beside himself for the gospel. D. L. Moody truly was a pillar attached to the redeeming Christ.
The pillars attached to the curtain are evangelists, bold preachers of Christ standing at the front of the church. Other pillars stand inside the church, in the inner chamber. These are those, especially the elders, who experience Christ in a deeper way. They daily attach themselves to the rent veil, the broken veil, to the very Christ who was terminated in His flesh. Because they attach themselves to such a terminated Christ, they bear the testimony that they themselves have also been terminated and that their flesh has been crucified on the cross. Therefore, they become pillars not in front of the church, but inside the church.
In the Lord’s recovery today we need both kinds of pillars. We need the evangelists standing at the front of the church life zealously preaching Christ, declaring to all that Christ died for their sins. We also need the inner pillars, those who realize that Christ died not only for their sins, but also for them and with them, and who bear the testimony that they have been crucified with Christ and that their flesh has been torn, cleft, rent.
It is not easy to gain the increase in the church. But if there are some who are bold evangelists, knowing nothing except to preach Christ and His death for people’s sins, I believe that a good number of sinners will be saved and brought into the church. If we are short of these evangelists, we shall not have the front pillars, and if we are short of those like Paul, Peter, and John, we shall not have the pillars within the church. We need those who are identified with the judged Christ and also those who are identified with the terminated Christ. If we have both the pillars at the front and the pillars in the inner chamber, God’s dwelling place will have entrances. Then there will be a way to enter into the church life.
Do you know why rather few have entered into the church life? It is because we are lacking the pillars attached to and identified with the judged Christ and also the pillars attached to and identified with the crucified, terminated, Christ. We need pillars bearing the testimony that Christ died for our sins and also pillars bearing the testimony that Christ died for us. When we have both kinds of pillars, there will be entrances for sinful people to be saved into God’s dwelling place and then to be terminated so that they may come into God’s Holy of Holies to enjoy God Himself in His fullness. Then we shall have the church life as a tabernacle for God’s testimony.
We all need to attach ourselves to the judged Christ and the crucified Christ. Then we shall be not only boards, but also pillars. Both the boards and the pillars have their function. However, if we are boards, it is not necessary for us to be quite so closely attached to the judged and crucified Christ. But if we would be the pillars, we must be specifically attached either to the judged Christ or the crucified Christ. The church is built up with the boards and with the pillars. But it is the pillars who open the way and form the entrances for others to come into the church life, God’s tabernacle, His dwelling place.