The third category of the offerings is the silver and bronze (35:5, 24a). Silver represents the redemption of the cross, while bronze represents the judgment and the testing of God and even the trials from the enemy. We have to experience the redemption, the cross of Christ, and we have to experience the judgment and testing which Christ endured and suffered. Then the silver and bronze will become our possession, and we can offer them to the Lord for His building.
The fourth category of materials is the acacia wood (35:7b, 24b). Acacia wood represents renewed humanity. The tabernacle was made mainly with acacia wood overlaid with gold. This points to the human nature of the Lord Jesus, not the fallen human nature. This is human nature which is good for God’s building. With us, this must be the human nature renewed, the human nature transformed. We are fallen people with the fallen nature. This fallen nature, our humanity or human nature, has to be renewed. If we are going to have God’s building built among us, each one of us must have the proper human nature or character. The renewed humanity, signified by the strong and durable acacia wood, is the material for the building of God.
One may be loose and lazy in his fallen nature and character. However, after he has been saved, this one will gradually be renewed by the resurrection life in the Holy Spirit. Through the resurrection life his character changes, and his human nature is transformed into something new. He becomes so strong and strict in his character. Such a humanity can be used as material for the building of God’s dwelling place. The building of the church needs the renewed and transformed humanity as the basic material. If our nature, our character, still remains in the fallen condition and the old state, we can never be used as material for the building of the church. Thus, we have to be transformed and renewed in our humanity, our character, and human nature. Then we will become acacia wood for the building of the Lord’s church.
The fifth category is the onyx stones and the other precious stones (35:9, 27). The precious stones represent the work of the Holy Spirit through our circumstances. Precious stones are not in the original creation of God but are created things that have been burned and pressed to be changed into precious stones. This indicates that the Holy Spirit will work on us through the arrangement of certain circumstances and environments, to “burn” us and to “press” us that we may be transformed into precious stones.
The sixth category is the spices and oil (35:8, 28). Oil, representing the Holy Spirit, is for anointing, and spices, representing the resurrection of Christ, are for the incense. The resurrection of Christ always goes with the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the resurrection of Christ could never be realized. The oil and the spices, the anointing and the incense, always go together. These things need to be experienced by the people of God so that they may possess all these things as their wealth. When the Lord had need of these items in Exodus, the people had them to offer to Him as the material for His building.
We must experience the Lord in many items. Then we also will be rich in what we possess, and we will be able to offer them to the Lord for His building. All the materials for the building of God were experienced and possessed by God’s people. They had all these things in their hands, and these became their possession, their wealth, for them to offer to the Lord as material for His building.
The building of the church, the building up of the service of God, and the building up of the fellowship between the Lord’s children and the Lord Himself must be with the Christ experienced and possessed by us to be our wealth. Then we bring all that we have experienced and possessed to offer to the Lord as the material for the building up of the dwelling place of God where we could meet together, for the building up of the service to the Lord, and for the building up of the fellowship between the Lord and His children.