FOUR PILLARS AT VEIL

The veil of the tabernacle is the THIRD doorway, and the entering into the HOLY OF HOLIES or HOLIEST OF ALL. Here we find FOUR pillars of wood overlaid with gold and set in SILVER sockets to keep them upright.

Genesis 3:24, “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Cherubim were on the veil, and cherubim were on the mercy seat.

When a man enters into the Holy of Holies, he has to pass through FOUR pillars, which is a type of testing and tribulation. If man is to return to Eden (the realm of complete oneness with God), he must pass through the flaming sword. The burning of the incense on the altar of incense is the type of the complete offering of the soul of man to God. Man at the height of his achievement in righteousness, loses himself and becomes absorbed into God.

Exodus 13:21-22, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.”

Here we are speaking of the God who overshadows His people, and protects them as a mother protects her young ones, sheltering them with an umbrella when the sun is hot, and giving them fluorescent light when the night is dark. El Shaddai is the Big Breasted Mother. Like a hen gathering her brood under her wings, God cared for them and cares for us.

The covering of the tabernacle was in four parts:

1. Embroidery – ten curtains of blue, purple, scarlet and white, fine twined linen

2. Goats’ hair

3. Rams’ skins

4. Badgers’ skins

The top covering of the tabernacle, made of embroidery work, was the work of the women, which before God, was just as much an offering as the other coverings.

The coverings of 2, 3 and 4 are the skins of dead animals. This is symbolic of the fact that the only men who can cover another are dead men. The embroidery covering represents the work of the church which is motivated of God.

The ten curtains for the covering were joined together in two groups of fives. The length of the one curtain was 28 cubits. They were two cubits short of 30 cubits, which was the full length of the tabernacle, and also the number of a full-fledged son of God.

The symbolism of the fives tells us that the ministries (not the minister), which bring about the covering of the body of Christ in the earth, are those which are joined by the GOLDEN RING, or the symbol of God’s love and union in the earth – one with another. The ministry moves in their labors in 1) Spirit and 2) Word.

The symbolism of the 28 cubits shows that this covering is short and incomplete, even when it is absolutely right and in the will of God.

We have already dealt with most of the symbolism of the curtains; therefore, we proceed to deal with those which have not been fully dealt with. You will notice that the symbolism is repeated in many areas of the tabernacle, but each time there is something added which did not come in, in the first instance. FIFTY LOOPS OF GOLD bind TWO curtains of FIVE together. The fifty here speaks of the fiftieth year, which is the year of JUBILEE in which all captives are set free and all debts forgiven in Israel. It is of great note that JESUS DIED, ROSE AGAIN, AND GAVE US PENTECOST ON THE YEAR OF JUBILEE. Moses lived for 120 years, and there were 120 saints at Pentecost. One hundred and twenty multiplied by fifty brings us to 6000, the year of the FINAL JUBILEE when the sons of God will COME FORTH. This is written in the ceiling of the tabernacle. The two sets of curtains here again represent God’s two great witnesses in the earth, THE SPIRIT AND THE WORD.

EMBROIDERY

Let us deal with the symbolic meanings of the ten curtains of a) blue, b) purple, c) scarlet and d) white fine twined linen.

These colors were hand-woven with cherubim woven into them, and were made by the women.

THE KEY

Woman means the church.

Embroidery means her work and labor of love in the Spirit directed wholly and absolutely by the Lord in the same way they were directed by Moses.

Cherubim means Spirit fellowship. When we move in the Spirit, the heavenly host joins us, and this becomes a covering. Not that I cover you, but that the Spirit in the body covers us, just like the flesh covers the bones. Without this, we are nothing but “a valley of dry bones.”

Isaiah 30:1, “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.”

The symbol of the cherubim is the symbol of covering. Wherever they occur in scripture, they depict a covering of some sort.

God forbid that I should presume to cover another, not even my own WIFE. I cannot cover her, since there is no strength in me to will or to do, but my strength is in Christ. In the hour of trouble, I have to turn her over to Jesus and trust Him with her safety.

THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF THE EMBROIDERY COVERING

It has already been stated that the embroidery means the work of the church directed by the Holy Spirit. This work has four dimensions, which are represented by the four types and colors of thread used in its construction.

HOLY SPIRIT COVERING

BLUE thread means sanctification. This is the process by which the nature of the Spirit is burned into my flesh, like the cattleman uses his branding iron. When He has finished His work on me, I not only bear the mark of Christ, but I am all His.

CHRIST COVERING

PURPLE thread pertains to the King. The son who is clothed with his father; his nakedness is covered by the presence and power of the King.

BLOOD COVERING

SCARLET thread means sacrifice as opposed to self-preservation. This symbolizes a deliberate and careful work, “fine twined.”

ANGELIC COVERING

WHITE, fine twined linen thread means purity; holiness. This is a deliberate and careful work, “fine twined.”

These colored threads represent the work of the church, which forms a covering to the believer.

WE ARE DIVINELY COVERED

Psalm 91:1, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High (between the cherubim on the mercy seat) shall abide (remain stable and fixed) under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Verse 2, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I (confidently) trust!”

Verse 4, “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings (symbolic for power) shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler (weapons of defense).”

Verse 11, “For he shall give his angels (special) charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”

THE COVERING SYMBOLIZED IN SCRIPTURE

As the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses in Egypt to the promised Canaan land, God provided every form of care and deliverance possible, so that they might survive what would be an impossible journey for women and children, for old men and cattle, in a parched and dry wilderness void of sustenance for a few people, let alone hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions. The following scriptures will give us an idea of the vastness of the miracle of provision which brought them out and carried them in.

“Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.” Exodus 19:4

The symbolic term “eagles’ wings” means wings of power. This is borne out by the circumstances which prevailed in the wilderness.

Exodus 23:20 speaks of an angel who went before Israel to protect them and deliver them.

“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.”

Verse 21, “Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.”

Verse 23, “For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.” (Gergashites omitted – Joshua 24:11).

Seven nations were cut off before the Israelites, and today some of these people are saying the land of Palestine is their land to this day.

They were provided shelter from the blazing sun, and high protein food to keep them strong and vigorous. Shoes and clothing were provided by God supernaturally, and there was never any people mothered and cared for by a loving God ever in the history of humanity to that time. Let me quote the scriptures for you.

UMBRELLA OF GOD

Exodus 13:21, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.”

CLOTHED, HEALED AND FED WITH MANNA

Nehemiah 9:21, “Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.”

Exodus 16:4, “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no.”

WATER FROM THE ROCK

Exodus 17:6, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”

YESHUA

God is a provider. There is provision in Him to cover all our weaknesses and to heal all our diseases.

Some who read these lines may be in grave physical danger as war and revolution sweep the earth; but remember, David faced danger every day of his life, and the Holy Spirit spoke through him more than any recorded writer, of the deliverance of God from the enemy.

Psalm 23:1-5, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me; Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.”

This and more represents the response of overshadowing which God gives to the church, as she moves in the Spirit. The embroidery covering is symbolic of all this.

GOATS’ HAIR

Exodus 26:7, “And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle.”

The goat is a sacrificial animal, and here we see it giving up its own covering for the covering of the tabernacle. This speaks of the accumulated sacrifice of the saints, which increases the anointing, or the covering, as the tabernacle comes to its completion. We are inheritors of the labor and lives of millions of brethren who have gone before. As we build, we are conscious of building on the foundation of the labors and sacrifices of others. In a metaphorical sense, I can see Paul’s hair and his skin hanging in the pattern of that which God has built in me.

Not only Paul, who is outstanding, but my mother repeating in my ears day after day, “Omni vincet amos,” (love overcometh all things), or some other little remembered soul who gave a word of life sometime, somewhere. We labor upon the lives of others for good or evil. Blessed are those who hang a permanent piece of their hair or skin to adorn another’s tabernacle.

RAMS’ SKINS

When man sinned in Eden, God slew two animals and took their skins for a covering for man’s nakedness. In the building of the tabernacle, many animals paid the supreme sacrifice, so that their skins might make a covering. Here again, we see the principle of death to self. THE RAMS’ skins were dyed red, and this color more than any is a DEATH TO SELF MESSAGE. Self has absolutely no place in the tabernacle of God. Those who are in Christ are all dead men in a sense: dead to self and the world, and ALIVE unto God. The greater the deadness, the more glorious the anointing or covering.

The HOLY PLACE IS THE TYPE OF THE SOUL. All the goodness of the soul, which God has sanctified and cleansed for His own purpose, is not to be used by man, but to be laid down before God for His use. Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda, and His heart of compassion went out for all the sick folk there, waiting for the moving of the water. But it was God’s will that day for Him just to heal the man who was lying there for 38 years, and He did just that and no more. Some of us would have set up a tent there, and made a big healing service out of it. The gift can be right and the individual wrong. The general consensus of opinion seems to be that when the GIFT SEEMS RIGHT, it puts an approval upon the person and his doctrine. THIS IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH. The gift can work because God wants to work, and the person be as wrong as wrong can be.

Romans 11:29, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

This scripture simply means that God’s gifts are irrevocable, permanent and good. The degree of the use of the gift depends upon the person who received them, but God never withdraws them once they are given.

SIN AND THE GIFTS

Because of the above fact of scripture, SOME of the persons using gifts, while these gifts are of God, not living a holy life, become a source of confusion to many Christians. We should not be confused. A gift is a gift. The person’s righteous behavior depends upon the extent of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. If we had to do anything to receive them, then it would be of works and not of grace.

BADGERS’ SKINS

The whole message of the covering of the tabernacle is a message of sacrifice. There were no badgers in that part of the country, but the Israelites could have brought with them badgers’ skins from Egypt, which was a highly commercialized nation. Nevertheless, we know that there were goats’ hair, and rams’ skins, and badgers’ skins. The badgers were a third class of animals. Their skins, used to cover the outside of the tent, were able to withstand all the rigors of the climate and to remain intact. It could be that these animals came from a different climate and had tougher skins, but we do know that God used this to build the tabernacle, and it was just the right thing to use.

God uses the right material, and wherever He puts us, that is just where we should be, and the purpose for which we are best suited. Of course, this is contrary to our thoughts for ourselves.

This covering or anointing faces the sun, the wind, the rain, the heat and the cold, and remains intact, and it covers all the covers.

God is raising an army of people in this hour, who will not be beaten, but who are THE OVERCOMERS. They will overcome all things and receive the prize, even the fulness of CHRIST within their mortal bodies. THEY WILL MANIFEST CHRIST TO THE EARTH. They represent the badgers’ skins – the last covering of the tabernacle of God.

Isaiah 30:1, “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that COVER WITH A COVERING, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.”

All human covering is vain. Let us seek for the covering of the Spirit of God provided in the body, and let us be satisfied with none other.