If the Lord’s recovery is to move on, a number of saints need to experience all the aspects of the outer court and the tabernacle. They must go to the altar and then enjoy Christ as their life supply at the table in the Holy Place. Then they need to receive Christ as their light and experience the breaking of their natural being in order to have the ark, Christ as the testimony of God. Eventually, they will reach the incense altar and intercede for God’s move.
Some of the saints in the recovery have had this experience. They can understand experientially what I am talking about. These saints long to stay at the incense altar to pray. Even if outwardly they do not have much time to pray, inwardly their spirit craves to remain at the incense altar and pray, “Lord, we call on You for Your recovery. O Lord, move on. But look at today’s situation—there are enemies everywhere. Lord, where is Your testimony? We pray that Your testimony will go on.” This is the intercessory prayer offered at the incense altar.
After we arrive at the incense altar and stay there for a period of time, we shall not have the appetite to pray for material things, such as a house or a car. Our only desire will be to pray for the Lord’s move. We shall be burdened for His testimony throughout the earth. We shall pray, “Lord, may Your recovery move on. O Lord, what about Your testimony on earth? Lord, move on in Europe and in South America.” We may be so burdened to pray for the Lord’s move that we shall not have the heart to pray for personal matters. We shall leave all these matters, including concern for our health, in the hand of the Lord. But even if we outwardly have some prayer for personal matters or for our health, inwardly those things are not our real concern. Our concern deep within is for the Lord’s recovery, move, and testimony.
The intercessory prayer at the incense altar makes it urgent for God to have a census among His people so that an army can be formed to fight for His move. This means that it is the prayer at the incense altar that leads to the formation of the army. Do not think that this understanding is a product of my imagination. Far from being imaginary, this is a true description of events in the spiritual world. As a result of the prayer at the incense altar, the Lord conducts a military census of the saints in the churches. Here and there, He numbers His people. Those who are numbered are the ones qualified to go to war. However, they must realize that they cannot fight on their own; they need Christ as the ascended One. They need the Christ who is on the throne in the third heaven.
According to 38:25, the silver that was collected from the males numbered to form the army was “a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.” Verse 27 tells us that the hundred talents of silver were used to make the sockets for the sanctuary and the veil: “And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; a hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.” Each socket weighed a talent, and a talent is equal to approximately one hundred pounds. The entire tabernacle rested upon these one hundred silver sockets. Furthermore, all the pillars in the tabernacle had caps of silver. These caps signify glory. Exodus 38:28 says, “And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapters, and filleted them.” The hooks and the fillets were for the formation of the tabernacle and the connecting of it.
This silver signifies the Christ in the heavens as the price paid by those who are able to go to war. Every local church rests upon this Christ, experienced by the saints who are able to go to war. These brothers and sisters have experienced the resurrected and ascended Christ to this extent, and the Christ whom they have experienced becomes the silver sockets, the silver crowns of the pillars, the silver hooks, and the silver fillets.
I can assure you that this is not merely a doctrine. If you study the history of every local church, you will see that this is actually the situation. Wherever there is a local church, there is sure to be a number of saints who, spiritually speaking, have reached the age of twenty and who take Christ as their ransom silver. This Christ is not the crucified One; He is the resurrected and ascended One. These saints are one with this Christ and experience Him to such an extent that He becomes the sockets of the church in their locality. He also becomes the caps on the pillars; that is, He becomes the glory of that church. Furthermore, this ascended Christ becomes the hooks and the fillets, the strength and the linking power of that church.
This experience of the ascended Christ as the ransom silver is for God’s move. It is the issue, the result, of the intercessory prayers offered at the incense altar. Therefore, the ransom silver is directly related to the incense altar.