Ⅰ
In Numbers 2:2 Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, "The children of Israel shall encamp each by his own standard with the ensigns of their fathers' households; they shall encamp facing the Tent of Meeting on every side":
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In the matter of encamping in array, there was no human choice; whichever tribe an Israelite was born of, he had to encamp by the standard of that tribe; he was not allowed to have his own choice (cf. 1 Cor. 12:18).
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The spiritual significance of this type is that in the coordination in the church, the believers are not allowed to have their own choice; their coordination must come absolutely out of God's ordination and arrangement.
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There were twelve standards among the Israelites (three on each of the four sides of the Tent of Meeting), but there was only one central goal; they took the Tent of Meeting and the testimony of God as their center:
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For the meeting of God's people with God, the tabernacle was called the Tent of Meeting (Lev. 1:1).
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For the testimony of God, it was called the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Num. 1:50, 53).
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In the New Testament both Christ and the church, the enlargement of Christ, are the reality of the tabernacle in these two aspects.
Morning Nourishment
Num. 2:1-2 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, The children of Israel shall encamp each by his own standard with the ensigns of their fathers' households; they shall encamp facing the Tent of Meeting on every side.The second point of the formation of the Israelites into an army is that they encamped in array. Being numbered was for encamping in array, by which the Israelites became an army.
This portion of the Word, [Numbers 2:2], has a deep implication. First, we need to see that in the matter of encamping in array, there was no human choice. For example,...if [an] Israelite was born of the tribe of Judah, he was not allowed to encamp by the standard of the tribe of Naphtali, even if he disliked Judah. Each tribe had one standard (one large flag). Whichever tribe an Israelite was born of, he had to encamp by the standard of that tribe; he was not allowed to have his own choice. The spiritual significance of this type is that in the coordination in the church, the believers are not allowed to have their own choice; their coordination must come absolutely out of God's ordination and arrangement. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, "Synopsis of Numbers," p. 75)
Today's Reading
Numbers 2:2 goes on to say, "They shall encamp facing the Tent of Meeting on every side." Although the children of Israel encamped by their own standard, there was only one center. There were twelve standards among the Israelites, but there was only one central goal. All the standards were for maintaining the testimony of God; none of the standards was for its own tribe. They did not raise their own flags individually; instead, they encamped facing toward and around the Tent of Meeting. They took the Tent of Meeting, the testimony of God, as their center.In Numbers the tabernacle has two names: the Tent of Meeting (1:1; 4:23) and the Tabernacle of the Testimony (1:50, 53; 10:11). The Tent of Meeting emphasizes that the tabernacle was the place where God met with His people, whereas the Tabernacle of the Testimony emphasizes that the Ark of the Testimony was the center of the tabernacle.
Leviticus speaks mainly of the Tent of Meeting, because the emphasis of this book is not the testimony of God but how man comes before God to have fellowship with Him, serve Him, and live a holy life. Numbers emphasizes the matter of God's testimony. The testimony of God refers to the two tablets in the Ark of the Testimony. The Ark of the Testimony was the center of the tabernacle; therefore, the tabernacle was called the Tabernacle of the Testimony. The Tabernacle of the Testimony was the center of the universe and was the testimony of God on earth. This testimony on earth needed to be safeguarded. When the Tabernacle of the Testimony was erected in the wilderness, it could easily have been destroyed without a strong army surrounding and protecting it. In order for the Tabernacle of the Testimony of God to stand on the earth and be maintained, the children of Israel needed to be formed into an army, encamping around it and protecting it. In this way the tabernacle was safeguarded so that God's testimony in the universe could be maintained on the earth.
The church is not only the Tent of Meeting but also the Tabernacle of the Testimony. On the one hand, there is a spiritual army that takes the tabernacle as the center to fight for God in order to maintain His testimony; on the other hand, there is a service for the testimony, which is the center of all the services. Today the church has a twofold responsibility: fighting and maintaining God's testimony. The former is for the latter. Thus, all the local churches should engage in spiritual warfare and be a testimony for God. Spiritual warfare means that when the church is being attacked by Satan, there are those in the church who are mature in life and who know Satan's attack and take up the work of prayer before God. They fight against the spiritual forces of evil spoken of in Ephesians 6:10-20. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, "Synopsis of Numbers," pp. 75-76, 65-66, 74-75)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, "Synopsis of Numbers," ch. 2