Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9) is the fulfillment of the types of the tabernacle and the temple. This fulfillment commenced in His incarnation (John 1:14; 2:21) and will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2-3). The New Testament, from Matthew 1 through Revelation 22, covers the entire span of the incarnation of the Triune God. This incarnation, which commenced in Matthew 1, will continue until it consummates in the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 and 22. The New Testament, therefore, is simply a record of the divine incarnation, which commenced at the birth of Christ and which will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
In the first chapter of the New Testament we have the individual Christ, but in the last chapter we have the corporate Christ. This means that the individual Christ is the beginning of the incarnation of the Triune God and that the corporate Christ, the New Jerusalem, will be the conclusion and consummation. We praise the Lord that we have been blessed to be involved with the incarnation of the Triune God by being made a part of the corporate Christ. We need to see this, to be in this, and to minister this to the saints.
Regarding the incarnated Triune God, there are two main consummations.
The first consummation is the first altar—the bronze altar for the offering of all the sacrifices (Christ in His crucifixion) to solve all the problems of man before God. Concerning this, Psalm 84:3 says, "Even the sparrow has found a home;/ And the swallow, a nest for herself,/Where she may lay her young:/Your altars, O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God." Today we all are "swallows" who have suffered from storms, wind, rain, snow, and the burning sun and who need a nest, a refuge. Our refuge is the first altar, which signifies the cross of Christ. At the cross of Christ we are saved, and here we have our nest. Actually, our nest is the cross of Christ itself. In this nest we may lay our young, that is, produce new believers.
The second altar is the golden altar of incense (Christ in His ascension) for God's acceptance of the redeemed sinners (v. 3). When we experience Christ in His ascension, we have a place of rest, and we sense that we are at home. At the first altar we have a nest, and at the second altar we have a resting place in the house of God.