In this chapter we will review eight points related to the tabernacle that we may be more deeply impressed with them. These eight matters are basic for the building up of the church.
We have seen that the church is built on the basis of the redemption of Christ, as typified by the one hundred silver sockets (Exo. 36:24, 26, 30, 36). The whole tabernacle was grounded on the silver sockets. The base and foundation of the silver sockets is one of the most significant aspects of the tabernacle. Exodus 38:27 tells us that the sockets were very large and heavy, each being of one talent, the equivalent of almost one hundred pounds. The heaviest part of the tabernacle was the foundation. The tabernacle was not grounded on the earth. It was based and grounded on the silver sockets. It was something different from the earth and separated from the earth. This shows us that the church is not grounded or built upon something of the earth but on something apart from the earth, the full and weighty redemption of Christ. One hundred, the number of the silver sockets, indicates that there is nothing short in Christ’s redemption. It is absolutely complete, full, and weighty. It is the foundation of the church and the basis for the building of the Lord’s dwelling place.
The foundation of the tabernacle was of silver, but the manifestation within the tabernacle was the gold (36:13, 34, 36, 38; 37:1-28). From within the tabernacle, one could see almost nothing but gold. Gold signifies the divine nature with the divine life of Christ, which is God Himself. The church is built upon the foundation of the redemption of Christ, but what the church manifests is the divine nature and divine life of Christ. Within the church, the building of God, what must be manifested is not the works, the doings of God, but the very nature and life of God. The manifestation of the divine nature is more significant than even the foundation of the tabernacle. The tabernacle was full of gold, and the church must be full of the divine nature of God. What we manifest, express, and show to others should be nothing other than the glorious divine nature of Christ.
What is manifested in the church is the divine nature, but the manifestation of the divine nature depends upon the human nature. The gold of the tabernacle overlaid the acacia wood (36:20, 31, 36; 37:1, 4). What was manifested was the gold, but the gold overlaid the acacia wood. In a sense, the gold depended upon the acacia wood. This may seem strange to our concept. We may have thought that the condition of our human nature depends upon the divine nature. But the picture of the tabernacle shows that the gold depends upon the wood.
With the building of the church, the divine nature of God depends greatly upon our human nature. The gold did not stand upright in the tabernacle; it was the acacia wood which stood with the gold upon it (36:20). Gold is a soft metal and is not hard enough to stand upright. The standing strength for the tabernacle was not with the gold but with the acacia wood. Without the acacia wood, the gold could not stand.
As we have seen, the acacia wood represents the transformed human nature and character. According to the history of the church, the building of the church has depended very much upon the transformed human nature. Brothers such as Martin Luther, George Müller, and John Darby had a transformed human nature, and their character was strong. If you would read their biographies, you could see that they were the real acacia wood. The building of the church needs the proper human character. The manifestation in the church is the divine nature with the divine life, but the support is the human character, the human nature. The standing strength needed for the tabernacle is with the human nature “overlaid,” that is, transformed, with the divine nature and divine life of Christ. The human nature and the divine nature must be mingled together.