The book of Exodus reveals that God’s intention is to have the ark. This ark is the ark of testimony, and this causes the tabernacle to become the tabernacle of testimony. What God wants is the ark of testimony in the tabernacle of testimony. We, however, may want nothing more than our own salvation. Because we care for our salvation, we may not have any thought concerning God’s testimony. Our salvation is at the altar, but God’s testimony is at the ark. Most of today’s Christians do not have any idea about God’s testimony. They are mainly concerned with their salvation. If you were to talk with them about other matters in the Word of God, they may say, “Does this have something to do with my salvation? Will this determine whether I go to heaven?” This is the way many Christians view things. Today’s Christians do not have much thought regarding God’s testimony.
Do you know what is the main subject of the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible? In answer to this question, some Christians would say that Revelation is a book of prophecy that tells us about a beast that comes from the sea and another beast that comes from the land. But this is not the main subject of Revelation. In the first chapter of Revelation we see the main subject of this book—the testimony of Jesus. The last book of the Bible is concerned with the testimony of Jesus.
Once again we must appreciate the wonderful fact that the Bible truly is the divine revelation. The human mind is not capable of composing such a book.
Eventually, in the last of the sixty-six books of the Bible, we have a book concerned with the testimony of Jesus. This testimony is the ark of God. According to Revelation, the ark of God eventually consummates in a tabernacle which will be the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will be the ultimate fulfillment of the tabernacle. It is God’s eternal goal to have the New Jerusalem.
In our reading of the book of Exodus, we need to pay careful attention to the significance of the ark of testimony. I hope that all the young people especially will see the importance of the ark of testimony in this book. In reading and studying the Word of God, we should not be controlled by our natural mind, religion, or culture. We should not merely be concerned with receiving some kind of blessing from God. We need to see that what God desires is the ark of testimony in the tabernacle of testimony.
In the revelation of the tabernacle and its furniture, the ark is mentioned first. In the making of the tabernacle and the furniture and in the two records concerning this matter in chapter forty, the ark of testimony also has a central place. We have seen that the ark of testimony typifies Christ. The first item of furniture to be put into the tabernacle was the ark. The ark, therefore, is the central item of the tabernacle and its furniture.
Exodus 40:2 says, “On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.” It is very significant that God commanded Moses to erect the tabernacle on the first day of the first month of the second year. We know that the first month of the first year was the time of the Passover. Hence, from the Passover to the erection of the tabernacle was one year.
In Exodus 12 and 40 we see that God’s people had two beginnings. The first beginning was with the Passover, which was for the salvation of the children of Israel. The second beginning was their beginning with God’s dwelling place. These two beginnings are clear types or signs. The first beginning is to be saved, to experience the Passover, to have God’s judgment pass over us. Every genuine Christian has experienced this beginning. But what about the second beginning, the beginning related to the building of God’s dwelling place? It is a fact that not many Christians realize the need to have this second beginning.
When I was young I read some books that spoke about a so-called second blessing. Pentecostal people would say that to have this second blessing is to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They encourage believers to seek this second blessing. But those Christians who emphasize the inner life claim that the second blessing is something inward. They may say something like this: “You need to experience the cross of Christ. If you experience the cross, then inwardly you will be filled with life. This inward filling is the second blessing.” But have you ever heard anyone speak about a second blessing, a second Abib, in the second year? The first month of the holy calendar is called the month of Abib, which means green ears, and signifies a new, fresh beginning in life.
We all need to have the two beginnings, one typified by the Passover in Exodus 12, and the other, by the erection of the tabernacle in Exodus 40. This is a matter of great significance. The second beginning is not related to tongue-speaking nor even to the inner filling for the inner life. Neither is it the second blessing spoken of by so-called holiness people. They say that if we receive holiness, we have received the second blessing. But from Exodus we see that the second beginning is related to the building of God’s dwelling place. When in our Christian life we experience the building of God’s dwelling place in a practical way, we have the second beginning. What is the dwelling place of God today? God’s dwelling place is the church, which is called the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). The building of this house is the second beginning, the genuine second blessing, the beginning that takes place on the first day of the first month of the second year. How glad I am to have the assurance that I have experienced the second beginning! Many among us also have the assurance that we have had this second beginning. This is truly a blessing! To have the second beginning with the building of the dwelling place of God is much better than tongue-speaking, inward filling, or holiness. None of these things can compare with God’s dwelling place. None of them can compare with the building of the church.
When certain ones hear this, they may say, “Witness Lee is always talking about the church. Wherever he goes he emphasizes the church because this is his cargo.” Actually, I am not promoting my “cargo”—I am promoting God’s cargo. What do we see at the end of Exodus? We see God’s dwelling place. We see a tabernacle occupied by God and possessed by Him in the way of glory to express Him. We see the same thing at the end of the Bible. In the last chapters of the book of Revelation we see a tabernacle, the New Jerusalem, occupied and possessed by God in the way of glory for His expression. In Exodus 40:34 we are told that “the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle,” and in Revelation 21 we see that the New Jerusalem has the glory of God (Rev. 21:10-11). Both at the end of Exodus and at the end of Revelation we see the glory of God filling the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place.