THE CHERUBIM, THE COLORS AND THE GOLDEN CLASPS
Can you imagine walking unexpectedly upon a temporarily settled camp of multitudes of people living out of tents in the middle of the wilderness with an amazing tabernacle being constructed piece by piece and transported in their midst?
What would be your first thought?
THE CHERUBIM
A beautiful design of cherubim was woven inside each white linen panel of the walls of the inside of the tabernacle.
Cherubim are the celestial angels who live in the spiritual realm of the heavenly places.
When Adam sinned and had to be cast out of the Garden of Eden, God placed cherubim in front of Eden to guard it with swords.
More than just guarding the garden; they were there to guard the way to The Tree of Life.
These angels represent the righteous government of God and they are God’s officials who execute and carry out His judgments.
REMINDERS OF THE HOLINESS OF GOD
The blue, purple and scarlet designs of these cherubim that were woven inside the linen curtains which covered the holy place and the most holy place, were visual reminders to the priest of how holy God is.
This reminded them of how careful they should be in their actions and their thoughts and their worship before God in order to be able to carry out the duties of their ministry with purity.
They were expected to look to the holiness of God and imitate His perfect holiness in all that they did.
FIFTY GOLDEN CLASPS
Fifty golden clasps allowed the ten curtains to be brought together and made into one. This action of how they came together is a perfect picture of how Christ prayed to the Father for us to be One in Him; and for All to be One in God.
We can read the words of Christ in John 17:20-22 and as we listen to the sincere loving words of this prayer for unity of God’s people into one body, we can also think of the symbolism of how intricate the ten white linen curtains of the tabernacle formed together into one curtain.
John 17:20-22; I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me and the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.
ALL VISION MUST COME FROM WITHIN THE HEART
One could not see any of these things, (the white linen curtains with the beautiful cherubim and the blue loops of the curtains with the gold clasps that held them all in place) from the outside; it could only be seen from a certain place inside the tabernacle.
Until one repents and believes on the name of Jesus and accepts Him as their Savior; one cannot always see the things of God or the inside of the Kingdom of God.
You must look for God from inside your body (your tabernacle) from the place of your heart in order to find Him.
You can try using your mind, your eyes, your hands, your feet; but your search will be incomplete until you have found a way to see God through the eyes of your heart.
God’s dwelling among the people of Israel reflected this.
Those who believed and acted on their unseen faith could sometimes begin to see with the eyes of their hearts the purposes for mankind that God was beginning to accomplish with the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness.
SYMBOLISM OF CERTAIN COLORS
The colors also spoke symbolic languages.
The colors that made up the cherubim design were blue, red, and purple.
BLUE
The sky blue, resembling the color of the sky, was to remind people of the heavenly; the high and lofty and holy things unseen by the world that are only visible to one who has been shown the invisible world of God’s Kingdom.
This comes to us through The Holy Spirit who works in a similar fashion as the white linen curtains and the golden clasps; forming many pieces into one unified body of worship before God’s throne, represented in The Holy of Holies as The Mercy Seat.
The cherubim, again were acting as something invisible, something that someone with no knowledge or covering of God’s atonement would ever be allowed to see. You could only see these from the inside rooms of the tabernacle, from the holy place where only the Israelite priests could enter.
RED
The finely woven linen threads dyed the color of red were symbolic of the blood of atonement; the sacrificial covering of Christ.
We see the suffering servant aspect of the life of Christ when we look upon the red colors worn by the cherubim in the deepest inside room of the tabernacle.
We can also see this aspect of Christ when we look out from the inside room of our heart that resides from within the living tabernacle of our own body, from which we are blessed to walk and live and breathe surrounded by the love of God.
PURPLE
We look upon the purple color died into the twisted threads of fine linen within the design of the cherubim and we think of royalty.
This rich color is symbolic of the Kingship of Christ.
The time is fast approaching when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is King. He will come again and reign forever and ever.
WHITE LINEN CURTAINS
This mystery is hidden deep inside the folds of the white linen curtains in the inner walls of the wilderness tabernacle.
The curtains are teaching us lessons we need to know in order to live within the laws and grace and mercy of God’s kingdom.
They speak of Christ’s purity, His holiness and they speak of His coming for His Bride; the Church.
FIFTY CLASPS OF GOLD
God told Moses to make the fifty clasps of gold and to couple the curtains together with the clasps so that it would be one tabernacle.
Immediately we are reminded of Ephesians 4:16;
“From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
ALL MUST DO THEIR PART
Every little golden clasp must do its part to hold the pieces of linen cloth together.
Each one holds a piece of the inside and each one holds a piece of the covering. When all the individual pieces hold their own part; the walls of the inside of the tabernacle work well. Together they achieve functionality and beauty.
If one clasp breaks; they all fail; but the others hold the weight of the one until it can be mended and restored, keeping complete failure from happening to anyone.
If all clasps succeed; they all succeed together in doing the job that God designed for them to do.
The simple job of each individual clasp seems insignificant at first; but let one little part be broken and all of the very holy inside places of the tabernacle are affected and disturbed.
WE EACH MUST PLAY OUR PART
Each clasp is individually important in doing a very effective, yet unseen, job in the tabernacle.
OUR LIVES ARE LIKE THESE FIFTY CLASPS OF GOLD
Our lives are like this.
God gives us quiet, unseen jobs that the world will not notice; yet they are still very important to the body as a whole.
When we all work together and follow God’s design the holiness of God is protected in this world, and we are blessed with His Presence that desires to dwell among us.
For the tabernacle to work correctly, each individual clasp must do the job that they have been designed and equipped by God to do.
One clasp not working creates a great strain on all the other clasps.
TWO DIVINE SETS OF FIVE
So you must think of the ten curtains as two divine sets of five, one facing the holy, and one making this possible because it is a covering.
Each set of five being fitly joined together with fifty loops of gold; making the two act simultaneously as one.
I have spoken of how the golden clasps sometimes act like the believers of our churches today, in that what each of them does affects the whole witness of the church.
FIFTIETH YEAR OF JUBILEE
Others have noticed that the fifty gold loops could also stand for the fiftieth year, the year of Jubilee, in which all captives are set free and all debts forgiven in Israel.
I can see that analogy too; since everything about the tabernacle symbolizes Christ and He has provided our freedom and brought forgiveness for our sins.
He has paid our debts. He has brought us to our Year of Jubilee.
It is a golden time for rejoicing together! We owe our Jubilee of freedom to Him and Him alone.
FIFTY DAYS LEADING UP TO PENTECOST
I can also see how the fifty golden clasps work like the fifty days leading up to Pentecost when God’s Holy Spirit came and united the body of Christ, bringing all together in unity.
Fifty is a very significant number.
REFLECTING UPON THE HOLY
Let’s stay inside the tabernacle for a while; let’s sit quietly reflecting upon the holy place.
Later we will discuss the outside, and then go even deeper within the inside to see what God told Moses about The Holy of Holies.
Right now let’s reflect on these first instructions that God gave to Moses for building the inside of The Holy Place.
Can you imagine being Moses and hoping to please God with all of this?
WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MANKIND IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD
For Moses to act in expediency must have required a great amount of trust and total obedience and courage.
He had learned over the course of the time of leaving Egypt and coming into the wilderness that what seems impossible with human beings is always possible when God is at the root of the project.
All things are possible with God. There is nothing too hard or too complicated.
Knowing this helps us to understand how such a magnificent structure could come to be designed, built and carried on a long winding journey through the rough, lonely, deserted and dangerous parts of the wilderness.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TABERNACLE CONTINUES
We will talk in the days to come of how God helped Moses to properly organize the people to achieve all that was necessary. There are still more instructions about exact construction to absorb.
An awesome plan for a magnificent tabernacle is coming together into one amazing blueprint. It is all happening right in the very heart of the wilderness.
Who would have ever imagined such an event?
Only God could have planned such a thing.