Understanding The Bible |
W. W. Rugh,
Bible Institute of Philadelphia
40 Page Printed Devotional Guide
1st Edition 1912
The Hangings of the Court.
Exodus 27:9-19.
The Court, or open space about the Tabernacle, was enclosed by hangings of
fine twined linen supported by pillars of brass, which rested upon sockets of
brass. These pillars were ornamented on top with chapiters of silver, under
which were the hooks and fillets of silver which held up the hangings of linen.
Ex. 38:17. These hangings of linen, five cubits, or about eight feet high, (the
"cubit," the measure of the forearm, was 20 or more inches long) completely
surrounded the Court, except for the hanging called the Gate to the east end or
front of the Court.
These hangings of fine twined, or closely woven linen, shut out from the
presence of the Lord every Israelite, great and small, rich and poor, learned
and unlearned.
It was the desire and purpose of the Lord to bring His people Israel, whom He
loved, into His presence, there to have fellowship with Himself. Why shut them
out? Why not open up the Court all about His dwelling place, that all might come
into His presence in their own way?
Ah, that is just why Jehovah shut Israel out from His Tent, that they might not
come into His presence in any way but His way, a way that would make them
acceptable to Him. He shut them out because He is a holy God, and they were a
sinful people. Some in the camp of Israel may have esteemed themselves to be
quite wise and good, and much better than their neighbors. But in God's sight,
morally, there was no difference. He loved the weakest child as much as
the mightiest warrior, and as a God of truth and justice He must deal the same
with each of them, for all had sinned. Whatever may have been the standing of
the people with reference to one another, before Jehovah they all had the same
standing, they were all shut out by the hangings of fine twined linen, and could
only come into His presence in His way, the way whereby all their sins and
uncleanness might be judged and put away.
The fine twined linen to us is typical of the righteousness of God.
In Revelation 19:8 we are told that "the fine linen is the righteousness of the
saints." This is true when the saints have the linen on, but the linen about
God's dwelling place is typical of God's righteousness.
The Holy Spirit in telling us of God's ways with every man according to the
Gospel, declares that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, "for (or
because) therein is revealed the righteousness of God." Romans 1:16, 17.
For God to reveal His righteousness, means for Him, as a holy God, to deal with
every man according to His holy law. This He must do, for righteousness and
justice are the foundation of His throne. Psalms 89:14; 97:2 R. V.
Now for the God of absolute truth and holiness to deal with sinful man according
to His holy law, apart from Christ, would be to exclude every man forever from
His holy presence. This is just what the Spirit reveals to us in Romans 1:18 to
3:18. Just the moment God speaks of revealing His righteousness, instantly all
the unrighteousness of man is revealed, for what can a sinner do to satisfy the
claims of a holy God?
Romans 1:18-32.
Here the Spirit reveals how the heathen, the wicked Idolaters are without
excuse before a holy God, because they have a knowledge of His eternal power and
Godhead through His work of creation, and refusing this knowledge are given up
of God to do everything that is vile and evil.
Romans 2:1-16.
These verses declare that the learned Gentiles, the civilized people, are
also without excuse before God, because they have an enlightened conscience, as
well as a knowledge of God through His work of creation. "To him therefore that
knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17.
Romans 2:17 to 3:9.
The religious Jews, or religious Gentiles, who know about God through His
word, but who obey not the Gospel, are without excuse before God. The more light
or knowledge about God which men have, the greater will be their condemnation,
if that knowledge is not received by faith. Matthew 11:20-24; 2 Thessalonians
1:8, 9.
Romans 3:10-20 is God's verdict concerning every one who has not come to
Him through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. "All under sin," "none
righteous, no, not one," and according to His holy law "all the world" is guilty
before a holy God, and therefore all excluded from His presence, where is
fullness of joy. Psalms 16:11.
Just as the fine twined linen about the Tabernacle shut the people of Israel out
from the blessed presence of the Lord, so the revelation of God's righteousness
excludes from His presence forever every one who does not come to Him through
Jesus Christ.
The brass pillars and brass sockets which held up the hangings of linen
speak to us typically of judgment. We shall see later how the Lord judged all
the sins of all the people at the brazen altar, and judged the uncleanness of
the priests at the brazen laver. These things alone would suggest the
significance of the brass, but the Holy Spirit has given us a key verse in
Revelation 1:15, where we are told that the feet of Christ, as the Judge, are
"like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace." R. V.
Under His feet, burnished like brass as He suffered as our Substitute,
must be put everything in the universe which is not in harmony with the mind and
will of God. 1 Corinthians 15:25-28; 1 Peter 2:21-24.
The silver chapiters, hooks and fillets, which helped to hold up the
linen hangings, were made of the silver atonement money obtained from the men of
war in Israel, who were numbered at Mount Sinai before the Tabernacle was built.
Ex. 30-11-16; 38:9-31; Num. 1, 2.
This silver of the Tabernacle is typical of the precious blood of Christ, by
which we have been redeemed. I Peter 1:18, 19.
For us, the meaning of the linen hangings of the Court, supported by the
brass and silver is this, that God's righteousness was fully revealed on
Calvary, when God judged the sins of all the world through the atoning work
of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21, 22; Hebrews 9:26.
The law and the prophets witnessed to the righteousness of God, but His
righteousness could only be fully revealed through faith of Jesus Christ, when
He by faith laid down His life for us, receiving in Himself the stroke of God's
wrath due us as rebels against God. Romans 3:21, 22; Hebrews 12:2; Romans
5:8-10; Isaiah 53:5.
The wrath of God, the expression of His holiness with reference to sin,
was fully revealed when He turned His face away from His own dear Son, as He
hung upon the cross in our place, and for God's wrath to abide upon a sinner who
will not believe in Jesus Christ, means for that one to be eternally separated
from Him who is love. John 3:36.
The ornaments of silver, the chapiters which adorned the brass posts,
tell us of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, for our
sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians
8:9. R. V.
What an ornament grace is and how it adorns all His ways with and for us. May
His love for others so fill the hearts of all His own, that like the silver
chapiters, it may be seen above all else in our lives.
By W.
W. RUGH, Associate Dean, Bible Institute of Pennsylvania
1418 N. 16th Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
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2011-11-20