Exodus 35 speaks of the different materials offered by the people of God for the building of the tabernacle. All these materials offered by the people of Israel represent the things of Christ which were experienced by the people of God. They experienced these items, so they possessed them. What they offered were the things which they possessed, earned, and had in their hands. The things experienced and possessed by them they now brought to offer to God to be the material for the building.
The items offered by the people are listed in six categories. The first category is the articles of gold (vv. 5, 22). Gold in type represents the divine nature, that is, God Himself. Each child of God has something of gold, something of God’s nature. There is not one exception. With the other categories of materials, some shared in them, while others did not. But with this first category of the offerings, everyone had a share. Exodus 35:22 says, “And they came, men together with women, as many as were of a willing heart, and brought nose rings and earrings and signet rings and pendants, all kinds of articles of gold; even every man who waved a wave offering of gold to Jehovah.” This means every saved one, every one of God’s children, has something of God’s divine nature. The nose rings, earrings, signet rings, and pendants represent the ornaments of the Lord’s children, consisting of the divine nature which we have experienced.
Because we have the experiences of the divine nature, we can have something to offer to God for His building. Without the experiences of God’s divine life and nature, we would have nothing to offer to God for His building. With what shall we build the church? We are building the church with God’s divine nature. First Corinthians 3:12 says that we build the church with gold, silver, and precious stones. When the divine life and nature become our experience, we have something to offer to the Lord as material for His building. The more we experience God’s nature, the more we will have to offer to the Lord as material for His building. We are building the church not with mere humanity or human things but with gold, with the divine nature, which we have experienced, which we possess, and which we have in our hands as our wealth.
The second category of materials are the weaving materials, such as the blue and purple and scarlet strands, fine linen, and the other materials for the coverings—the goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and porpoise skins (35:6, 7a, 23). These represent the things which the Holy Spirit has “woven” or wrought into us. Blue represents heavenliness, purple represents authority and kingship, and scarlet represents redemption, the redeeming power. Furthermore, fine linen represents the righteousness of God which is Christ Himself, the goats’ hair represents Christ enduring the judgment of God, and the porpoise skins represent Christ as the power to endure the sufferings of human life. The porpoise skins were the outermost covering of the tabernacle (36:19) and protected the tabernacle from the sunshine, wind, rain, and all manner of attacks. They represent the enduring power, strength, and energy of Christ to suffer all kinds of attacks during His human life on earth. All these things—the heavenliness, the kingship and authority, the redeeming power, the strength to endure the divine government and judgment, and the strength, the power, to suffer all manner of attacks—the Holy Spirit will work into us. These items will be gradually wrought into us by the Holy Spirit and woven into our life, that we may offer them to God as materials to build up the fellowship between God and His people for the Lord’s service. The weaving materials are mainly for the fellowship because these materials pertain mostly to the priestly garments. Even the coverings of the tabernacle are actually related to the garments. The items of the weaving materials are also things which we experience. The more we experience the work of the Holy Spirit to weave something into us, the more we will have to offer to the Lord as the materials for the Lord’s fellowship.