In Chapter 4, we used the structure and furnishings of the Mosaic tabernacle (see illustration 3.1, p. 3-32) as a pattern for the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  With respect to Jesus, the three veils of the tabernacle are associated with divine actions–His miraculous conception, His adoption, and His resurrection.  The altar and laver in the outer court, the table of bread, the lampstand, the altar for incense in the Holy Place, and the ark in the Holy of Holies represented events in Jesus’ life.  The sum of the three veils (suggesting deity) and six furnishings (suggesting humanity) is nine, the number of the beatitudes, the number of fruits of the Spirit, and the number of gifts of the Spirit.  Hence, we may expect the structure and furnishings of the Mosaic tabernacle to provide enlightenment about the spiritual path available to those who have received the blessing of grace during life on earth.

The perimeter wall of the Mosaic tabernacle creates two spaces–the area outside the wall and the area inside the wall.  This division of earthly space suggests the separation of all humanity based on membership in the two spiritual kingdoms.  Those outside the tabernacle wall are the unrepentant sinners in the kingdom of darkness where sin abounds and humanity glorifies its fleshly nature.  In Jesus’ parable of the soils, some of those outside the tabernacle were represented by seed that fell beside the road, where the seed, the word of God, was devoured by birds, representing Satan (Matt 13:4,19).  Birds devouring seed is consistent with other characterizations of the Satan.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  1Peter 5:8  NASB

Portrayed either as a serpent, a bird, or as a roaring lion, the devil seeks to devour humanity and, in doing so, is fulfilling God Almighty’s curse upon Satan that dust [humanity] shall you eat all the days of your life (Gen 3:14).

In Luke (8:5), seed was trampled underfoot, and we all know unrepentant souls who figuratively, and almost literally, trample the word of God under foot.

How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of Grace.  Hebrews 10:29  NASB

The unredeemed, many of whom deny a spiritual dimension of life while others declare their independence and freedom from it, are described in scripture as ignorant of their status.

This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.  Ephesians 4:17-19  NASB

Satan, who takes away the word, is their master (Rom 6:6,17,20).

The area inside the outer wall of the Mosaic tabernacle represents God Almighty’s kingdom on earth.  The amount of earth occupied by the Mosaic tabernacle is small when compared to Satan’s territory.  Jesus mentioned this size differential between the two kingdoms.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.  For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14  NASB

Many are outside in the kingdom of darkness; few are within the kingdom of light.

There is no boundary placed on Satan’s kingdom; it is the earth.  On the other hand, God Almighty’s kingdom on earth is bounded by the outer wall of the sanctuary.  The immediate implication is that there will be limitations and constraints placed on those who enter God Almighty’s kingdom while on earth.  There is no covering for the outer court, but the Holy Place and Holy of Holies are covered, indicating further restrictions for those who attain the spiritual levels represented by the tent of meeting.  Final, the Holy of Holies is half the size of Holy Place.  Through increasing restrictions, there is a progression from the wide-openness of the kingdom of darkness to God Almighty’s presence over the ark in the Holy of Holies.

For the redeemed, the outer veil of the tabernacle represents the divine action of the spiritual birth, the born again experience of one who enters the kingdom of God Almighty while on earth.  The unique entrance into the Mosaic tabernacle suggests that there is one and only one way for humanity to enter God Almighty’s kingdom while on earth.

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”  John 3:5  NASB

By God Almighty’s calling and choosing, one receives the benefit of Jesus’ redemptive work, escapes slavery to sin, and enters into the kingdom of God Almighty while upon the earth.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  1Peter 1:3  NASB

Water baptism in the name of Jesus is representative of receiving the blessing of grace, is representative of the spiritual birth, and is representative of the symbolic death and resurrection of the believer.

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  Romans 6:3-4  NASB

The suggestion here is that immersion in the water of baptism signifies the death to sin and that emergence from the water signifies a death-to-life experience for the redeemed.  That is, those who receive the blessing of grace during their time on earth experience a death-to-(newness of) life that mimics the physical death-to-life of Jesus’ resurrection.  In addition, baptism with water signifies one’s belief in Jesus as one’s Savior.  Therefore, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) is symbolic of the transition from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God Almighty/light as a babe in Christ producing fruit of the Spirit at the designated, 30-fold level (See p 5-22).

As we have mentioned, belief and faith are necessary to prevent the death of an infant born again.

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.  1John 5:1  NASB

But what does it say?  “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” –that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;  Romans 10:8-9  NASB

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.  1Thessalonians  4:14  NASB

Those who are born again are characterized by belief in Jesus as God Almighty’s Son, by belief that Jesus was resurrected from death, and by belief that by these events one is justified before God Almighty and granted eternal life.

The transition between spiritual kingdoms, part and parcel of the born again experience, is also expressed in terms of citizenship.

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  Philippians 3:18-20  NASB

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow-citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,  Ephesians 2:19  NASB

Here we are told that to be born again makes one a citizen of heaven and a fellow-citizen with the saints rather than a citizen of the kingdom of darkness.  At the same time, this change of citizenship then makes the redeemed an alien and stranger while yet on earth, because the redeemed has an allegiance to One not of the kingdom of darkness.

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  Hebrews 11:13  NASB

The bronze altar and the bronze laver in the outer court of the Mosaic tabernacle offer insight into the 30-fold level of production of spiritual fruit.  The altar is where the Israelites offered substitutionary, animal sacrifices.  The Israelite sinner brought his sacrificial animal to the tabernacle and laid his hands on it to symbolize the transfer of sin from himself to the animal (Lev 1:3-17).  The animal was slain outside the outer gate, and the animal’s fat and blood were brought through the outer gate and into the outer court.  Some blood of the sacrificial animal was put on the horns at the corners of the altar, and the rest was poured out at the base of the altar.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”  Leviticus 17:11  NASB

Flesh of the animal was then burned by the fire upon the altar.

The symbolic meaning of this sacrificial rite of the Old Testament is familiar.  The restoration of humanity starts with the slaying of the Lamb of God as the necessary and sufficient atonement for the sins of all humanity.

And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  Hebrews 9:22  NASB

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.  Romans 5:8-9  NASB

Jesus’ death, like that of the sacrificial animals, occurred outside the gate (of Jerusalem, Heb 13:12).  Here then we have the suggestion of the universality of Jesus’ redemptive work since Jesus’ death occurred in the area representing the unredeemed.

Bringing the flesh and the blood of the sacrificial animal into the outer court signifies that the fleshly, earthy, beastly nature remains with us after the born again experience.  Burning the flesh represents the purging, purifying process that must take place within the Christian.

Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the tine in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.  1Peter 4:1-2  NASB

In other words, our repentance, the foundation for spiritual growth, must apply permanently to all aspects of life.

The bronze laver, beyond the bronze altar, is in front of the veil of the tent of meeting.  The water in the laver is for washing and cleaning the priests before and after their duties related to the service to the people of Israel in the outer court and related to the things of God Almighty in the Holy Place.  The progression from the altar to the laver suggests growth in the Spirit from dealing with one’s own spiritual needs to serving others.

Thirty, the designated, entry level of production of spiritual fruit in the kingdom of God Almighty, was the age of the beginning of important ministries.  The priests who served in the tabernacle were between the ages of thirty and fifty.

“Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.”  Numbers 4:2-3  NASB

Fifty falls short of the 60-fold level of production of spiritual fruit associated with the baptism with the Holy Spirit.  Here then we have the suggestion that the washing of the water of the word, indicated by the laver, produces spiritual growth, but that these “priests” are limited in their service without the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, the designation of the entry level of production of spiritual fruit as thirty honors the shedding of Jesus Christ’s blood at His sacrificial death.

Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest, and said, “What are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you?”  And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.  Matthew 26:14-15  NASB