Exodus 35 through 39 is a record of the building of the tabernacle, its furniture, and the priestly garments. Chapter 35, as the first chapter in this section, is full of spiritual meaning. If we enter into it in a full way, we will realize that it is very rich. This portion of the Word shows us how the building of the Lord, the service to the Lord, and the fellowship between the Lord and His people can be built up.
Exodus 35:21b says, “And [they] brought the heave offering of Jehovah for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.” Three items are mentioned here—the Tent of Meeting, the service, and the holy garments. The Tent of Meeting differs slightly in meaning from the tabernacle. The tabernacle refers to the dwelling place of God, whereas the Tent of Meeting refers not only to the dwelling place of God but also to the place where the people of God meet together with God. The place where God dwells is the place where the people of God meet together. What the people of Israel were to build up was a tent, which was, on the one hand, the dwelling place of God, and on the other hand, a place, a center, where they could meet together before God and with God. This is a picture of the church life. The church, which is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), is the dwelling place of God and the place where all the children of God meet together before God and with God. The tent was the first item they were to build up.
The second item in Exodus 35:21 is the service of the Tent of Meeting. With the dwelling place of God where the people of God meet together, there is always the service of God. Whenever we come together with God and before God, there is always the service. The service at that time among the people of Israel mostly depended on the oil and the incense (35:28). The oil refers to the Holy Spirit, and the incense signifies the resurrection of Christ. This means that all the service must be something of the Holy Spirit and of the resurrection of Christ. The service to God and of God, the genuine service, the real service to the Lord, must be something built up by the people of God. Not only the building, the house of God, has to be built by the people of God, but even the service to God has to be built up by us.
The third item in verse 21 is the holy garments. The holy garments represent the priestly ministry, or the priesthood, and the priestly ministry was the fellowship between the people of God and the Lord Himself. Between God Himself and the people of Israel there was a priesthood, a priestly ministry. Everything in this ministry was contained in the garments with which the priest was clothed. The relationship between God and His people absolutely depended on the priesthood, and the garments of the priest represented that priestly ministry. Therefore, the garments here represent the fellowship between the Lord’s people and the Lord Himself. Without the priestly garments there could be no priesthood, and without the priesthood there could be no relationship between God and His people. The holy garments as the fellowship between God and His people also have to be built up.
What we are building up today is of three items. We must build up the dwelling place of God where we can meet with each other before God and with God. We must also build up the service to God. Something in the Holy Spirit and in the resurrected life of Christ must be built up by us in coordination. The service to God is not natural, but is something in the Holy Spirit and in the resurrection of Christ to be built up by the experiences of God’s children, God’s people. We must also build up a fellowship between God’s people and God Himself. These three items have to be built up by the experiences of the Lord’s children. If we have no experience of the spiritual life, we will have nothing with which to build, and we will not know how to build. We must have the material and the gifts (35:21-29) with which to build, and we must have the wisdom, the way, to know how to build (35:25-26, 31, 35). The dwelling place of God, the service of God, and the fellowship with God have to be built up by the experiences of the Lord’s children.