(Please see the end of the blog for source citation)
(Several key points were influenced by or directly copied from the workbook "A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place" by Beth Moore)
From the first page of Genesis to the final sentence in Revelation, we see God’s eternal pursuit of mankind’s heart. We also see His unfathomable desire to commune intimately with man and have a personal relationship with Him. We see God throwing open the door of His heart to the heart of man to eternally commune with him. God created us, He chose us, so that we may know Who He is (Isaiah 43:10)
However, when mankind sinned, the door of our hearts that once was open to the heart of God was eternally closed. When man sinned, the doors of separation from He and God were immediately erected and bolted shut. Once the door was bolted shut, we became prisoners trapped behind these doors of sin; we became prisoners who had no hope of escape. Only one key could open the door; the Key of Calvary.
Only this key had the perfect shape to fit into the key hole that could unlock the door once again to allow God and man to abide in one another. Jesus is at the closed doors of your heart knocking. He says that if anyone will answer from the other side of the door and ask Him to unlock it, that He will honor their request. (Revelation 3:20)
Jesus continually knocks at the doors of our imprisoned hearts, knowing full well that we cannot open them. It takes us asking Him and agreeing to let Him unlock the doors of our jailed souls. Jesus knew that He was the only way that a divine key could be fashioned that could open those doors.
But the price of “cutting this key” was high; Jesus had to cut His flesh and His Soul in order to make that key. But He willingly agreed to pay it because He so longed to re-open the door of covenant relationship that sin had barred shut. Jesus alone paid the price to cut that salvation key and Jesus alone knows how to place the key in the locks of our hearts and turn it to open the door.
The Bible clearly supports the truth and reality that Jesus is the Only One Who can unlock and release us from EACH ONE of our prisons of sin. Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18 both say that He came “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” In John 8:34, Jesus says that, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” and speaks of their permanent release in verse 36, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
The Tabernacle design depicted above represents man’s heart. There are several New Testament references to our hearts being the Tabernacles of God. I Corinthians 6:19 says that our “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit”. The Greek transliteration of the word temple is “Naos” which describes “…the temple at
God’s most earnest and heart-felt desire was to dwell among mankind. We can easily see this in His divine blueprint for the Tabernacle and by His desire to live in the Tabernacle of our hearts as New Testament believers. But if God desires our hearts to be His Tabernacle and we are imprisoned in cells of sin within our hearts, how can God dwell there since He can tolerate no sin??
Not only is the cross the key to unlocking us from our captivity, but it is also the compass that will navigate us down the road of redemption that we must follow once we are free. Jesus says that the road to salvation is narrow and there are few that find it (Matthew 7:13-14). This divine compass points us to the narrow gate on the East side of the Tabernacle of our hearts and leads us down the narrow path into a covenant relationship with our God.
The narrow path will have several “sanctification toll booths” along the way. The 4 stops on the roadmap are indicative of the path of remission that begins with the bronze altar of sacrifice and ends with the destination of the ark of the covenant/testimony.
Those who follow the roadmap of salvation become less of a prisoner and more of a High priest with each step towards God. (I Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:5-6). The best thing about this pilgrimage is that we have a Travel Guide Who will guide us in our journey. We cannot travel this road without Him; Jesus knows the way because He is the way. (John 10:9)
The first stop on this roadmap to God is at the Bronze Altar of Sacrifice. As you recall the bronze altar was a tangible representation of the Sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament. Everything from the incorruptible acacia wood (representing Christ’s humanity) to the 4 horns on the altar sides that were used to secure the sacrifice (Christ was known as the ‘horn of our salvation) are mirror images of the same reality. In order to continue down the redemption road, we must stop at the toll booth of remission before we can proceed.
The toll fee was too high for us to pay; we had no means whatsoever to pay it. We had to have someone else pay that fee for us so we could proceed down the road. The toll price? An innocent sacrifice with no blemish or spot, perfect in everyway, had to be slaughtered in order to pay our debt in full. In the Old Testament, only animals that were without spot or blemish could be acceptable sacrifices to God. In the New Testament, Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice that not only paid our debt in full but demonstrated the unfathomable love of God.
The next stop on the redemption road is at the
The first two toll booths are extremely important. We cannot pass into closer intimacy and fellowship with God unless we pass by the blood and the water. Just as the bronze basin offered the Israelites the right to be cleansed from daily sin, the Perfect Sacrifice offered on
The importance of sacrificial blood and cleansing waters cannot not be emphasized enough. The strongest support for this truth can be found in John 19:34, “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear bringing forth a sudden flow of blood and water.” Another supporting verse is found in I John 5:1-8 speaks of Christ’s victory over sin by the power found in holy blood and water. Once we pass through these first 2 toll booths, we are sanctified through Jesus and are now promoted to high priests for Him.
Now that our Travel Guide has lead us through the first 2 stops, let’s us continue onto toll booth number 3. As we approach this toll booth we notice that we are entering the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle. The inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle was made up of 2 rooms, the Holy and the Holy of Holies. There is a sign placed at the entrance to toll booth number 3; only consecrated and sanctified high priests are allowed to pass through this toll. Your Travel Guide shows them your payment receipts from the first 2 tolls and you are allowed to proceed.
You ask your Travel Guide how it is that you are allowed to proceed? Only high priests can pass by this toll. Your Travel Guide happily tells you that since the toll fee was paid at booths 1 and 2, that you are now consecrated to be high priests of God and that you can joyfully enter into His Presence! (I Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:5-6). As you walk through the door into the Holy, you notice a thick, beautiful veil that is separating the Holy from the room behind the veil, the Holy of Holies.
What was this curtain hiding? Essentially, it was shielding a holy God from sinful man. The veil was a divine barrier placed between man and God. The Presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of
The torn veil illustrated Jesus’ body torn for us, from top to bottom, opening the way for us to come to God. He was indeed proclaiming that God’s redemptive plan was now complete. Jesus entered behind the veil on our behalf. Hebrews 6:19 says,“We can now boldly enter into God’s presence, “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”
Our Travel Guide pushes aside the torn veil and we arrive at our final toll booth; our ultimate destination. We now arrive at the toll booth of the Ark of the Covenant (Testimony). This is the ultimate destination because this is the Holy of Holies; this is where the Presence of God resides.
This is where we come to enter into an eternal covenant of personal relationship and worship with the God Who loved us with such unfathomable love that He allowed His Son to escort us into His Presence. He so loved the world that He allowed His Only begotten Son to die on our behalf. (John 3:16). By divine invitation, we are privileged to stand before the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat.
Make no mistake we could not have made this pilgrimage down the narrow road of redemption without a divine invitation from God that Jesus RSVP ed. We, through ourselves, cannot approach God; but through Jesus all things are possible. (Matthew 19: 25-26)
The ark of the testimony was the focus of God’s divine dwelling, the seat of reconciliation. It is important to note that the ark was made of acacia wood and was overlaid with pure gold inside and out. The acacia wood speaks of Christ’s incorruptible humanity. The gold represents His Deity. Together they represent the unity of incorruptible man and God.
God also had divine plans for a cover that was placed on top of the ark of the testimony. This cover was known as “the atonement cover” (or “mercy seat”). The atonement cover was the lid for the ark. On top of it stood two cherubim (angels) at the two ends, facing each other.
The cherubim, symbols of God’s divine presence and power, were facing downward toward the ark with outstretched wings that covered the atonement cover. The whole structure was beaten out of one piece of pure gold. The atonement cover was God’s dwelling place in the tabernacle.
The most astoundingly obvious truth that connects the Old Testament promise of salvation and the New Testament’s fulfillment of that salvation is found in the Hebrew word describing the ark of the testimony. The Hebrew word for “ark of the testimony” is “arown” meaning “chest or coffin.” .” Why would a coffin serve as the earthly throne of God’s Glory?? Because God’s mercy rests on God’s “death”. The mercy seat was a fitting cover for a coffin. Had there been no plan for death, there would have been no possibility for mercy.
Remember how the information in the first blog, clearly connected the mercy seat “coffin” to the coffin that Jesus was placed in after His death? Remember the 2 angels that were sitting at the head and foot of where Jesus had lain in the “coffin” just like the angels were at the head and foot of the mercy seat? In both cases, the angels overlooked the central area of God’s glory. A more specific application the definition of the mercy seat being a coffin is to realize that all coffins are related to death. Jesus Christ was our mercy seat in the fact that He died for and was buried in a “coffin of sin” on our behalf.
To come before the ark of the testimony (covenant) and the mercy seat means that we are sanctified and consecrated high priests of the new covenant established through Jesus Christ.
Please look at the diagram again. The Tabernacle was representative of man’s heart, the place where God would ultimately dwell after Jesus’ death. When man sinned, we were imprisoned and only the key of the cross could free us. Once free we took the pilgrimage of salvation on the narrow road of redemption. Jesus is our Travel Companion Who is with us every step of the way as we enter into the covenanted Presence of God.
The cross over the diagram is extremely important. The four objects that the cross covers each represent and deeply symbolize what the cross represents. The four objects were used in the Old Testament Tabernacle; their symbolism directly connects with the salvation plan of the New Testament.
The cross provides us with permanent sin remission because of the innocent blood that was sacrificed for our sins. In the Old Testament this was fulfilled by slaughtering an unblemished animal; in the New Testament, Jesus was the unblemished Sacrifice. The high priests had to be cleansed in undefiled water; New Testament believers are cleansed by the purifying water of Jesus that was shed along with His Blood on
From the foundation of the world, Jesus knew that He would have to give His Life. Revelation 13:8 refers to Christ as the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Even before time began, Jesus was willing to die for us!
The blue arrow on the diagram above represents the timeline of the
established covenant of God that began in the Garden of Eden, continued through the Old and New Testament, and ultimately ending in the New Testament. The Promise of the Cross was seen in the Old Testament Tabernacle and but was fulfilled through Jesus in the New Testament. The Covenant will continue until the end of time that is prophesied in Revelation; until every last iota of it is fulfilled. Jesus said in Matthew 5:18 that “until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
The Tabernacle was portable and carried by the Israelites when they wandered through the wilderness to get to their Promised Land. When God looked down on the Tabernacle, He saw the divine order of the objects within the Tabernacle.
The divine alignment of the 4 objects represents the progressive order of redemption; God knew that this alignment would yield the shape of a cross. This cross is representative of the Old Testament Law of Salvation. When the Israelites came before God, He did not see their depravity and unworthiness; He only saw the Cross that the Tabernacle objects formed. God saw that Sacrifice equals Intimacy. When the Israelites moved through the wilderness with the Tabernacle, God would look down and see a Cross moving across the wilderness. God saw His Chosen people, the people He could dwell among
God sees the Cross of Christ hovering over the Tabernacled hearts
of the believers. When God looks on the Tabernacle of our hearts, He sees the Cross of Christ; Sacrifice equals Intimacy. He does not see our sin and our worthless depravity, He sees His Chosen people, a people that He can dwell among..
The Old and New Testament are in perfect sync and perfect continuance. When we receive Jesus, His Blood covers us so that we can come before God and He can dwell in our midst. The Old Testament had a covenant with God which was the Old Law. New Testament believers have the same covenant with God but through Jesus. Jesus did not come to abolish the Old Testament Law but He came to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) Jesus did not do away with the Old Testament Law but He gave Himself on our behalf so that He could fulfill it.
I don’t know what this did for you but when God placed this diagram on my heart and once I really even began to gather its full meaning, I can only fall prostrate before the feet of my Lord, the Feet that endured nails driven through them for my sin. The Feet that walked for 33 years on this Earth, showing and testifying about Who God really was and that a relationship with is attainable and not only that it is desired.
Also, the total continuance between the Old and New Testaments, both books of the same covenant at a different stage. For the first time I realized that the Bible is all about relationship with God. It is all about how God knew before we were even born that He would die for us. Yet He did it anyway so that we would exercise the God-given right of choice. God loved us so much that He knowingly created us before the foundation of the world, knowing full well that we would sin. God knew that Jesus would have to die for my sins, for every one of us who sin, yet He willingly chose to do it because He valued relationship so much with mankind.
When I think about this, I realize that the Bible, from beginning to end is about covenant. It is about relationship. It is about us knowing a God Who loved us so much that He was willing to die for each one of our sins before we were even a thought. God wanted each of us to choose Him and for none of us to perish (II Peter 3:9). The symbol, the reality, the truth of the Cross; it is consistent throughout the entire Bible in every sentence and in every word.
Can you even remotely get your mind around this concept?? I can’t even imagine what pain my Savior endured for my own sins. I cower to think that my own self-righteousness served as a pathetic excuse for Christianity. Yet, if I or you had been the ONLY one who would have wanted a relationship with God, to get to know Him better, to seek His Face, to seek His Heart and His Love…Jesus knew that that one person could never do it on their own accord because they were still sinful…He would have endured all of that for that **ONE** person!!!
Truly the Bible message of the Bible is one of hopeless men finding hope in the Cross of salvation that began before time and was the ultimate reason that God breathed life into the Bible and filled it with His wonderful Words of Life. The Bible is not a book of legalistic rules and “have to’s” The Bible is a book that tells us that the God of the universe loves us so much that not only did He give us the ability to choose to love Him but He provided the most personal way imaginable for us to come before Him.
I believe that the personal Sacrifice God gave in the Person of His Only Son, was the hardest thing that He ever had to do. When He had to turn His head away right before Jesus died and withdraw from Him, I believe that nearly destroyed Him. The deepest desire of God’s heart is to have us know Him and love Him. Not for what He can do but for what He did. This realization made me want with all my heart to know the heart of God that loved me in all my worthless sin to allow His Son to die for me!! I want to know the heart of God. I want to know His thoughts. I want to know the God Who sought me before He even knew me.
This is what the Bible is all about. Getting to know Him, wanting to know Him with such a passion that you cannot help but yield every last part of your life to Him. Honestly, is anything in this life worth the value that Jesus’ death was? Not to me. Nothing else has brought the fulfillment and personal value to me than having a close, personal relationship with God. There is no limit to God’s Person; you cannot know Him too much. There are no barriers set up by God when we seek to know Him; the only barriers are set up by us.
Before closing, I would like to bring something else up that I struggle with....
Self-worth.
God laid the following on my heart....
When we commit our lives to Christ, we need to believe Him when He says we are worth what He did for us. We can only find worth in and through Him.
When we struggle with self-worth and we say we are not worth anything, we call God a liar. There are so many reasons that we do not believe we are worth what God says we are worth; it is usually a struggle because of our own fear, pride, or inability to forgive oneself.
Jesus knows what we are worth. How does He know? Because He who was worth everything….God’s Son…came even lower than our sinful level of worth. Our sin makes us unapproachable and worthless to God.
But what about Someone Who was the greatest that came down and became the least to us….and to God? Is this not what happened with Jesus died for us??
Tell me what is more worthless, someone dying who deserved it or Someone dying Who did not deserve it but chose it?
“The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” (Matthew 20:16)
(John 10-17-18) Jesus chose to make Himself worth-less than each one of us by becoming the most despised of all creation; God Himself even turned away because of the filth of sin.
Because God turned away from Him, Jesus understands what those in hell will feel like. The ultimate torment of those in hell will be that they will fully know that God turned His Face away from for all eternity. Because of the sin that Jesus carried on Him, God turned His Face away from Christ His last moments.
Not only did His physical body die but His Soul did too that fateful day.
He, the Son of God, who was in the position of the greatest….became less than we…and became less than the least….so that through His Sacrifice, we would live.
Not only did He come to give us life but He came to give it to us more abundantly. (John 10:10) Only He Who knew life at its most un-abundant place, rejected totally of God, can truly offer us abundant joyful life
Knowing Him does not stop when we receive salvation; that is just the beginning. He died for us so that we could seek and know Him every second of everyday. Through knowing Him do we begin to know ourselves.
Until He saves us, we can do nothing and therefore we can do nothing of worth. (John 15:5) Yet through Him, we can do all things. (Matthew 9:26)
He...God...The Absolute Standard of Truth or Lie... Who became the most worthless has the right to say who has and who does not have worth. So next time you think that you are a worthless failure beyond all hope, listen to the One Who became the MOST worthless and the MOST hopeless and re-evaluate your thoughts and put your trust in Him.
I want to end this blog by thanking Jesus, my Lord and my Savior, Who saw something of value in me, in you. Something of such great value He endured the most painful and brutal death possible. Lord, please help us to see past everything and only see You.
Amen.
Sources:
Many of the concepts and most of the material in this blog came directly from and was copied directly from the Bible study, “A Woman’s Heart” by Beth Moore.
This was the Bible study that totally changed the way that I saw God….He went from being totally unattainable to totally personal…I never realized how much God desired a relationship with me…with each one of us. Thank You Lord for all that You are and all that You do. Amen.
The website www. .the-tabernacle-place.com was also researched for information in the writing of this blog.
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