The hangings of the court signify Christ as God’s righteousness to be the expression of God’s building as its boundary (27:9, 11-12, 14-15). Christ as God’s righteousness is both the expression and the boundary of God’s building. Here we have three important words: righteousness, expression, and boundary. Christ is God’s righteousness, Christ is God’s expression, and Christ is the boundary of God’s building.
The fine linen signifies God’s righteousness, and this righteousness of God is actually Christ Himself. Christ is God’s righteousness becoming righteousness to us. Christ is our righteousness, and this righteousness is the righteousness of God. This Christ, who is both God’s and ours, is the expression of God’s building.
Whenever the tabernacle with the outer court was erected in the wilderness, the people could see white linen as the sphere of God’s building. This expression was white, bright, clean, and in order. There was no mixture, and there was nothing dirty. The tabernacle with the outer court portrayed a sphere where everything was righteousness, the righteousness of God lived out through Christ and now also lived out through His church. The church today must have a proper expression, the expression which is Christ Himself as our righteousness. The boundary of God’s building is such a righteous expression. The boundary of the church is the church’s expression of Christ to be the expression of God’s building. However, often there is a shortage of such a boundary or expression among Christians today because they are short of Christ. They are lacking in the living out of Christ to express God in righteousness.
In Ephesians 4:24 Paul speaks of the new man. This new man is actually the building of God. When we compare Ephesians 4:24 with Colossians 3:10, we see that the new man will be renewed in the image of God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. The image of God has a twofold expression—righteousness and holiness. The new man is renewed in the image of God, which bears the expression of righteousness and holiness.
In the tabernacle the expression of God’s building was righteousness outwardly and holiness inwardly. In the outer court there were the hangings of linen signifying God’s righteousness. Inside the tabernacle there was gold. The boards and the furniture were overlaid with gold. The gold signifies God’s nature, which is holiness. Holiness is God’s nature, and righteousness refers to God’s deeds. Whatever God says and does is righteous. All God’s acts are righteous. Hence, righteousness is the expression of God in His doings, whereas holiness is the expression of God in His nature.
The church today as God’s building should have this twofold expression of God. The outward expression of the church should be righteousness, and the inward expression should be holiness. On the outside of the church, others should be able to see an expression of God in righteousness. But from inside the church everything should be golden; that is, there should be the expression of God in His holy nature.
The types in the Old Testament give details concerning spiritual things that cannot be described in words. A picture is often better than words. For example, you may use thousands of words to describe a person’s face and yet still not be able to describe it adequately. It would be much better to have a picture of the face. In the same principle, the books of the New Testament may not describe in detail certain spiritual things. For the details it is helpful to consider the types. In the types we can see many points that we cannot find in the New Testament. In particular, with the tabernacle and its court, we see the expression of God in righteousness outwardly and holiness inwardly.