“You shall make bars of acacia wood...for the boards...and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold” (Exo. 26:26-29). This indicates that Christ’s divine nature (gold) unites the believers. By the uniting of His divinity we are built together.
When the believers are united in the divine nature and are built together in Christ, they become God’s dwelling place on earth. Ephesians 2:22 says, “In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” By this we see that God’s dwelling place built up on earth is not only among us but also in our spirit to be indwelt by the Spirit of God.
After the tabernacle was built and erected, God came immediately to dwell in it. Exodus 40:34 says, “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle.” At that time God was not only the God in the heavens but also the God who dwelled among men. The tabernacle and the tent of meeting here refer to the same structure. With respect to man, it is the tent of meeting. But with respect to God, it is the tabernacle. As a type of Christ being God’s dwelling place on earth, the tabernacle is called the tabernacle. As a type of Christ being the gathering center of God’s people, the tabernacle is called the tent of meeting (Lev. 1:1). Hence, on the one hand, the incarnated Christ is God’s dwelling place on earth, and on the other hand, He is the place where God’s people meet with God and where they gather among themselves. In its ultimate consummation this tabernacle will be manifested in the New Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God and His redeemed. Here, God will dwell with us forever and overshadow us with Christ as the tabernacle (Rev. 7:15).
The tabernacle typifies the incarnated Christ as God’s concrete expression, God’s dwelling place in humanity, and the means by which man contacts God and thereby receives and enjoys God. The tabernacle was made of wood overlaid with gold, signifying that the divine nature was mingled with the human nature for God to obtain a concrete expression and dwelling place in humanity. The tabernacle was divided into two sections: the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The furnishings within the tabernacle signify the different aspects of the believers’ experience of Christ after they have entered into God. The four layers of coverings of the tabernacle—the curtains of fine linen, the curtains of goats’ hair, the covering of rams’ skins, and the top covering of porpoise skins—all are types of Christ, showing that He, the fine and perfect One, as our Substitute accomplished redemption for us and became our covering before God and our protection against any kind of attack. The two veils inside and outside the tabernacle are also types of Christ. As the outer screen, Christ died for our sins so that our sins may be forgiven by God and we may enter into the Holy Place and be brought back into God. As the inner veil, Christ died for us so that we may be terminated and brought to God in the Holy of Holies to be fully reconciled to God and in harmony with God.
The tabernacle typifies not only the individual Christ but also the corporate Christ, the church, constituted with the believers as the standing boards. The boards were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold and united together by the rings of gold and the bars of wood overlaid with gold. This signifies that the believers are a group of people with both divinity and humanity in Christ and who are united and built together in the divine nature of Christ into a dwelling place of God in spirit.
This tabernacle is also called the tent of meeting. With respect to man, it is the tent of meeting. But with respect to God, it is the tabernacle. As a type of Christ being God’s dwelling place on earth, the tabernacle is called the tabernacle. As a type of Christ being the gathering center of God’s people, the tabernacle is called the tent of meeting. In its ultimate consummation this tabernacle will be manifested in the New Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God and His redeemed.