Scripture Reading: Exo. 26:15-30; John 17:21-23; Eph. 4:2-3
Ⅰ
The boards of the tabernacle typify the believers built together to be the dwelling place of God—Exo. 26:15:
A
The tabernacle is a picture of the building up of the New Testament believers into God's dwelling place on earth—Eph. 2:21-22.
B
In order to become one entity as God's dwelling place, the boards had to be brought into oneness—Exo. 26:18-25, 30.
C
In the tabernacle with the standing boards, we see a picture of the oneness in John 17, a oneness in the Triune God and in His expression—vv. 17:21-23.
Ⅱ
The boards of the tabernacle are the enlargement of the ark—Exo. 25:10-11; 26:15, 29a:
A
Because the boards are constructed of the same two elements as the ark, they are the enlargement of the ark.
B
The church, the Body of Christ, is the enlargement of Christ the Head—John 3:29a, 30a; 1 Cor. 12:12; Col. 2:19:
１
The two natures of Christ, divinity and humanity, are joined together and mingled as one—Luke 1:35.
２
When the principle of mingling is enlarged, the church is produced; therefore, in principle the church is the same as Christ—the divine nature mingled with the human nature to become one entity—John 14:20.
Ⅲ
The boards were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold—Exo. 26:15, 29a:
A
Acacia wood signifies the resurrected, uplifted, and strengthened human nature, and gold signifies the divine nature.
B
Overlaying requires transformation; if our natural man has not been transformed, the Triune God will not overlay us—2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2.
C
God desires to see Himself (gold) expressed upon man (wood); this requires us to be completely overlaid with God—John 17:22.
D
When a board has been fully overlaid with gold, it is rich both in God and in oneness:
１
The oneness of the church is not in our humanity; it is altogether in the Triune God and in His glory, His shining—John 17:21-23.
２
"Today the Lord needs the genuine oneness. If we do not have this oneness, we cannot go on in the recovery. Hence, the most vital and crucial matter is the genuine oneness. The only way to be kept in this solid, real oneness is to have an adequate amount of the experienced God. This is our need today" (Truth Messages, p. 90).
E
"The Lord's recovery consists of God overlaying His recovered people with Himself" (p. 89).
Ⅳ
Each board was one and a half cubits in width—Exo. 26:16:
A
One half of three cubits indicates that every believer is a half needing to be matched by another to form three cubits for the building of God's dwelling place—Luke 10:1; 1 Cor. 1:1.
B
To serve the church individualistically is to serve as a single board, which is not joined to another—Eccl. 4:9-12.
C
As members of the church, none of us should be individualistic; individualism is against the principle of the Body—Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:14-22.
Ⅴ
The rings on each board signify the initial Spirit, that is, the regenerating, indwelling, sealing Spirit—Exo. 26:29; Luke 15:22; Eph. 1:13:
A
Because the initial Spirit has been installed into our being, we have become the boards with the rings—Gal. 4:6.
B
The three rings on each board are for the uniting of the believers in the Triune God in resurrection—Matt. 28:19; Eph. 2:18; 4:4-6.
C
We need the initial Spirit to spread throughout our being; that is, the initial gold must spread out in order to overlay us—Eph. 4:23, 30.
Ⅵ
The bars signify the initial Spirit becoming the uniting Spirit, who joins all the members of the Body of Christ into one—Exo. 26:26-29; Eph. 4:3:
A
In the uniting Spirit there is not only the divine element but also the human element; here we have both divinity (the oneness of the Spirit) and humanity (the keeping of the oneness)—Exo. 26:26a, 29b; Eph. 4:2-3.
B
The uniting bars are not the Holy Spirit alone but the Holy Spirit with the human spirit—1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:4.
C
The uniting bars are the mingled spirit, the Divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit to become the uniting bond of peace—Eph. 4:3.
D
The uniting Spirit is seeking to cross through us to others; whenever our spirit is one with the crossing Spirit, we experience the uniting Spirit.
Ⅶ
"If you consider the picture of the tabernacle in the light of John 17, you will see the truth concerning oneness. To have such a oneness, we need the initial Spirit, we need the transformation into acacia wood, we need the overlaying with gold, and we need the crossing of the uniting Spirit according to the willingness of our spirit to cooperate with Him. Then we shall have the oneness and the building." (Truth Messages, pp. 111-112).