Crystallization-Study of Exodus (4)
Message Seven
The Veil, the Screen, and the Two Aspects of Reconciliation
Scripture Reading: Exo. 26:31-33, 36-37; 2 Cor. 5:18-21
I. In the tabernacle a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet strands and fine twined linen was hung upon four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold—Exo. 26:31-32a:
A. The veil, signifying the flesh of Christ, separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies and also covered the Ark of the Testimony—Heb. 10:20; Exo. 26:33; Num. 4:5:
1. This signifies the separation between God and fallen man because of man's flesh—Gen. 6:3; cf. 3:22-24.
2. This veil was torn through Christ's crucifixion, signifying that the flesh of sin was crucified through Christ's death on the cross to open a new and living way for sinful man to contact God in Christ as the propitiation cover in the Holy of Holies—Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:19-20; Rom. 3:25; cf. Exo. 25:22.
B. The pillars, like the boards, were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold and stood on silver sockets, which signify Christ's redemption:
1. The pillars signify believers who are strong to bear the testimony of Christ's incarnation and crucifixion—Gal. 2:9; Rev. 3:12; 1 Tim. 3:15.
2. The veil being attached to the pillars implies the identification, the oneness, of Christ as the veil with those believers who are pillars.
3. The pillars in God's dwelling place no longer live in the flesh but bear the testimony that the veil of their flesh has been torn, i.e., that they themselves have been terminated and their flesh has been crucified with Christ—Gal. 2:20; 5:24.
4. The riven veil on the pillars becomes an entrance for God's people to enter the Holy of Holies to have the full enjoyment of God.
II. A screen was made of blue, purple, and scarlet strands and fine twined linen, and for the screen five pillars were made of acacia overlaid with gold—Exo. 26:36-37a:
A. The screen signifies Christ in His perfect humanity as the One who keeps all negative persons and things outside God's dwelling place, and as the One who died for our sins under God's judgment so that we may be forgiven by God and may enter into the Holy Place of His dwelling to begin to enjoy all the riches of God in Christ—1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18.
B. The screen and the veil in the tabernacle signify two aspects of the all-inclusive death of Christ:
1. The screen indicates that Christ died for our sins so that our sins may be forgiven and that we may be justified by God.
2. The veil indicates that Christ died for us, the sinners, so that our flesh, our fallen nature, may be torn, crucified, that we may enter into the Holy of Holies to enjoy God to the uttermost—2 Cor. 5:14-15, 21.
C. The screen was for the entrance of the tent—Exo. 26:36:
1. The tabernacle in Exodus was enterable.
2. By being incarnated, God not only became a man; He also became an enterable tabernacle—John 1:14.
3. In the Old Testament the priests could enter into the tabernacle, and today all the believers in Christ, as priests, can enter into God and dwell in Him—Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 1 John 4:13, 15.
4. The incarnated God has become our dwelling place, our home, as a place of enjoyment—cf. Psa. 90:1; Rev. 21:22.
D. Like the four pillars attached to the veil, the five pillars attached to the screen signify stronger believers who are identified with the incarnated and crucified Christ—Exo. 26:32, 37:
1. These pillars at the entrance of the tabernacle are evangelists, who declare to all that Christ died for their sins.
2. The pillars within the tabernacle are those who experience Christ in a deeper way, who daily attach themselves to the torn veil, to the Christ who was terminated in His flesh, and bear the testimony that they have been crucified with Christ—Gal. 2:20.
3. These two kinds of pillars provide entrances for sinners to be saved into God's dwelling place and then to be terminated so that they may come into God's Holy of Holies to enjoy God Himself in His fullness.
E. Between the five pillars supporting the screen there were four entrances into the tabernacle, and between the four pillars supporting the veil there were three entrances into the Holy of Holies—Exo. 26:32, 37:
1. The fact that the screen has four entrances indicates that God's dwelling place is open to all people from the four corners of the earth—Rev. 5:9.
2. The three entrances in the veil indicate that the Triune God Himself is the entrance for His redeemed people to enter not only His dwelling place but also Himself—Eph. 2:18; Luke 15:3-32; cf. Rev. 21:12-13.
III. The screen and the veil are related to the two aspects of reconciliation spoken of by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21:
A. Paul was authorized by God to represent Him to carry out the ministry of reconciliation—vv. 18, 20.
B. The ministry of reconciliation is not merely to bring sinners back to God but, even the more, to bring believers absolutely into God—Eph. 2:18.
C. Until we are wholly one with the Lord, being in Him and allowing Him to be in us absolutely, we will need the ministry of reconciliation—1 John 4:13.
D. Two steps are required for us to be fully reconciled to God—2 Cor. 5:19-20:
1. In 2 Corinthians 5:19 it is the world that is reconciled to God, but in verse 20 it is the believers, who have already been reconciled to God and are to be reconciled further to God.
2. The first step of reconciliation is to reconcile sinners to God from sin—v. 19:
a. For this purpose Christ died for our sins that they might be forgiven by God—1 Cor. 15:3; Luke 24:46-47; 1 John 2:12.
b. Originally, we were not only sinners but also enemies of God; through the redeeming death of Christ, God has justified us, the sinners, and reconciled us, His enemies, to Himself—Rom. 5:10a; Col. 1:21-22.
c. This is the objective aspect of Christ's death; in this aspect He bore our sins on the cross that they might be judged by God upon Him for us—1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:11-12; Heb. 9:28; Col. 1:22; Rom. 8:3.
3. The second step of reconciliation is to reconcile believers living in the natural life to God from the flesh—2 Cor. 5:20:
a. For this purpose Christ died for us—the persons—that we might live to Him in the resurrection life—vv. 14-15.
b. This is the subjective aspect of Christ's death; in this aspect He was made sin for us to be judged and done away with by God that we might become the righteousness of God in Him—v. 21.
c. In the objective aspect of His death Christ bore our sins; in the subjective aspect He became sin—1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21.
d. Because we are still separated from God and because we are not fully one with God and altogether in harmony with Him, we need the second step of reconciliation.
e. The subjective aspect of the death of Christ needs to be applied to our situation and to our natural life—Rom. 6:6; 8:13; Gal. 5:24; Matt. 16:24:
1) This application of the subjective death of Christ crucifies our natural life, rending the veil that separates us from God's inner presence.
2) In order that we may be reconciled to God in full, the Father exposes our natural life and unveils our real situation to us—1 John 1:5, 7:
a) As a result, we condemn our natural being and apply the cross subjectively, and this application of the death of Christ crucifies our natural life.
b) As our natural man is crossed out, we experience the second step of reconciliation; in this step the veil of our natural man is rent so that we may live in God's presence.
3) Instead of taking place once for all, the second step of reconciliation is continuous.
4. By the two aspects of His death, Christ fully reconciles God's chosen people to God—Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:19-20.