Chapter 37 of Exodus is a record of the building of the contents of the tabernacle. The table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, and the incense altar are the contents of the Holy Place. These three items form one category of the contents of the tabernacle, while the other category is a single item, the Ark in the Holy of Holies. In this chapter and in the next, we will present the main features, the most significant characteristics, of these items.
The three items of the first group reveal to us three aspects of Christ for our experience and for the Father’s pleasure. In 37:10-29 the table of the bread of the Presence is mentioned first, followed by the lampstand, and then the altar. The bread set forth upon the table was the bread of the Presence, referring to the presence of God (Exo. 25:30). The table of the bread of the Presence represents Christ as our life supply (John 6:33-35, 51), the lampstand represents Christ as our light (John 1:4; 8:12), and the altar of incense represents Christ as the sweet savor for us toward God (Eph. 5:2). John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This verse corresponds to the order of our experience of Christ. We experience Christ first as life, and then this life is the light to us. The issue, the result, of our experience of life and light is Christ as the sweet savor to God for us. When we truly experience Christ as life to us, we are in the light of life, and when we are in the light of life, we share and experience Christ as the sweet savor to God. We become acceptable to God through Him and in Him as the sweet savor. He is the means by which and in which we are pleasing to God.
Life, light, and the sweet savor of the incense as aspects of Christ are significant and very full of meaning. The number of these items is three, the number of the Triune God. At the table God the Son is our life; at the lampstand God the Spirit is our light; and at the incense altar God the Father is pleased with the sweet savor of Christ. These three items are very different from our own works, our own knowledge, and our own morality. We may be walking, working, and doing things according to our own knowledge and our own morality. We must be clear that such a work and walk is versus Christ. Our work is versus Christ as life, our knowledge is versus Christ as light, and our morality is versus the sweet savor of Christ. If we are going to enjoy Christ as life, as light, and as the sweet savor, we have to deny our own work, knowledge, and morality. If we depend upon our own work, then we will not enjoy Christ as life. If we walk and work according to our knowledge, we will never be able to enjoy and experience Christ as our light. Moreover, if we take our own morality for our acceptance to God, we will not be able to experience Christ as our sweet savor toward God. To deny and reject our own work, knowledge, and morality is to reject our whole self. There is no place for ourselves. There is only place for Christ—Christ as our life, Christ as our light, and Christ as our sweet savor to God. Everything must be Christ.
Exodus 37:10 says, “And he made the table of acacia wood: two cubits was its length, and a cubit its width, and one and a half cubits its height.” The height of the table is the same as that of the Ark of the Testimony in verse 1. This indicates that the Lord comes up to the standard of the testimony of God so that He could be life to us. If He were short of the testimony of God, He would not be able to be life to us.
The table was one cubit wide and two cubits long, forming two square cubits. Because one square cubit represents a complete unit, the length and breadth of the table constitute two complete units, representing the testimony of Christ being life to us. Our experience always testifies that Christ is life. By experiencing Him, we can testify that Christ is truly life to us.