Page 209 - Through New Eyes

The World of the Tabernacle 207
that defiled His house. (After all, the soil under the Tabernacle
was “holy ground” and thus was cleansed from the curse of Gen-
esis 3.) The purpose of the purification offerings of Leviticus 4
and 5 was to cleanse the house of these defilements. Blood was
put on those parts of the house that had become unclean, blood
being the sacrificial “detergent.” The Tabernacle curtains, for in-
stance, if defiled with ceremonial dirt, had to be washed (sprinkled)
with blood.

The Tabernacle as Cosmic House
The Bible tells us that the Tabernacle and its courtyard sym-
bolized the heavens and the earth, God’s dwelling places. 16
Heaven was God’s throne, and the earth His footstool (Isaiah
66:1; Matthew 5:35; Acts 7:49). This was set out in two ways in
the Tabernacle. In the Most Holy Place, the heavenly throne
was pictured by the winged cherubim. God sat enthroned on the
outspread wings of the cherubim, with His feet on the mercy
seat that covered the Ark of the Covenant. Thus, the Ark of the
Covenant with its mercy seat lid had to do with the earth and
humanity as God’s footstool.
Second, the whole Tabernacle proper was a model of heaven
(Hebrews 8:5; 9:23-25). The Most Holy Place itself was a model
of the highest heavens, with the firmament or earthly heavens
pictured in the Holy Place, and the earth pictured in the court-
yard. (See Diagrams 15.2 and 15.3.) The courtyard altar was the
holy mountain that reached toward the sky, pictured in the Holy
Place behind the first veil, a veil of sky blue. Associated with the
holy mountain was the laver of cleansing, which means that the
laver is to be connected with the waters of Eden (Genesis
2:10-14). As we pass through the firmament-heavens of the Holy
Place, we come to a second altar, which is as it were a second
ladder stretching from the firmament-heavens to the highest
heavens. Beyond the cherubic second veil, behind this golden
altar was the Most Holy Place, the Highest Heavens.
The courtyard thus represented the earthly garden-
sanctuary. Adam had been cast from this sanctuary; and it was
only under very tight restrictions, codified in the laws of clean-
ness, that anyone might be admitted to it in the Mosaic system.
Even so, the layman might only come into the forecourt. He