Layers of tent

Home Up Robes of High Priest Layers of tent Passover Pentecost Day of Atonement Feast of Tabernacles

Layers of the sanctuary tent are interesting in how they were arranged. There is meaning in every detail.
Outer covering was badger or seal skin.  There is argument over which animal it really is. Which ever animal it was, it was a dark color and was really not much different from the other tents. It had nothing strikingly beautiful that would draw more attention to this tent.

Jesus was without unusual "form or comeliness that we should desire Him". He was plain and simple and not strikingly handsome. He was a strong man having worked as a carpenter but not of greater height and more handsome than the rest of the Jews at the time He lived on earth.

What He did to save us is what is the most beautiful  thing about Him.

Just like a root out of dry ground, He had nothing to draw us to Him physically.

Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him. 
53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

It is not very often that I have been given a beautiful bouquet of roots. They were not designed for beauty. They are critical to the survival of the plant,   however.
Panels of Rams skin dyed red were the next layer on God's tent.

Red throughout the whole tent was a symbol of the blood of Jesus. Jesus shed His blood for us. He took the the punishment we deserved so if we believe in Him we can have eternal life.

Goats skin

A goat defends the flock. He is bold and fears nothing. Jesus defends His Bible loving obedient people against Satan.

"But the defender of man, the restorer, mightier than the mightiest, hears the demands and claims of Satan, and answers him: "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan..." [ZECH. 3:2-5.] {CE 159.2} Christian Education p. 169 by Ellen White

50 Brass Clasps connected the 11 panel goat curtains
The Bible says the goat curtains were 11 panels hooked together with cloth loops and joined by brass clasps. Five were  in one group and six in another group. Brass is a symbol of Jesus' life on earth.  The altar of sacrifice was of brass. The serpent on the snake was brass. Jesus became sin for us.  The Defender of His flock, Jesus died so we could live. He took our sins on Himself. On the Day of Atonement the Lord's goat was sacrificed and His blood taken and sprinkled before the mercy seat. Fifty days after His sacrifice on the cross, He was before the Father in heaven welcomed and received with great joy. He had some friends with Him that He had resurrected.
Exodus 26:7 -12
The innermost layer of the tabernacle was of red, blue and purple. Each panel was hooked to the next with 50 blue loops of cloth clasped with gold clasps. These colors are described in other sections of the sanctuary lessons. The red is a symbol of blood, the blue represents God's law, and purple is a mix of the two showing God's mercy in forgiving the sinner who is sorry for what he has done.

This layer of curtains was 10 panels long. It had 50 blue loops at the edge of each. 50 Gold loops hooked them together.

Blue is a symbol of God's law. The gold is a symbol of faith working by love.

I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou can be rich; and white raiment, that thou can be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eyesalve (God's eye medicine), that thou can  see." Rev. 3:17, 18. The gold tried in the fire is faith that works by love. Only this can bring us into harmony with God. We may be active, we may do much work; but without love, such love as dwelt in the heart of Christ, we can never be numbered with the family of heaven. {COL 158.2} Christ Object Lessons

How can you buy (gold) faith? By reading the Words of God and storing them in your heart.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17

At the death of Christ, the curtain between the holy room and most holy room was ripped from top to bottom by God Himself showing that the nation had unchurched themselves. From that time on, anyone could pray and Jesus  would be the High Priest mediator. There would not be a use for this on earth.

"They cried out for the crucifixion of Christ and, as representatives of the Jewish nation, placed themselves under the Roman jurisdiction, which they despised, by saying, "We have no king but Caesar." When they said this, they unchurched themselves." {12MR 388.1}

When Christ cried out, "It is finished," the Holy Watcher that was an unseen guest at Belshazzar's feast pronounced the Jewish nation to be a nation unchurched. The same hand that traced on the wall the characters that recorded Belshazzar's doom and the end of the Babylonian kingdom, rent the veil of the temple from top to bottom.--5BC 1109. {TA 204.3} 

Israel a Nation Unchurched.--In Christ the shadow reached its substance, the type its antitype. Well might Caiaphas rend his clothes in horror for himself and for the nation; for they were separating themselves from God, and were fast becoming a people unchurched by Jehovah. Surely the candlestick was being removed out of its place. {5BC 1109.2}
It was not the hand of the priest that rent from top to bottom the gorgeous veil that divided the holy from the most holy place. It was the hand of God. When Christ cried out, "It is finished," the Holy Watcher that was an unseen guest at Belshazzar's feast pronounced the Jewish nation to be a nation unchurched. The same hand that traced on the wall the characters that recorded Belshazzar's doom and the end of the Babylonian kingdom, rent the veil of the temple from top to bottom, opening a new and living way for all, high and low, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. From henceforth people might come to God without priest or ruler (MS 101, 1897). {5BC 1109.3}
(Heb. 6:19; 8:6, 7; 10:19, 20.) God's Presence Withdrawn From Earthly Sanctuary.--By the rending of the veil of the temple, God said, I can no longer reveal My presence in the most holy place. A new and living Way, before which there hangs no veil, is offered to all. No longer need sinful, sorrowing humanity await the coming of the high priest. {5BC 1109.4}

 

Is your anchor in Jesus? Ships need an anchor to keep them from moving into rocks in the night. You need an anchor to keep you from moving into dangerous traps set by Satan for your life. Jesus has provided you an anchor. Let Him be your anchor.

Hebrews 6:19 Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil; 
6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, [even] Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

1.The outside layer represented what about Jesus?

2. What do you think of when you see roots? (Isaiah 53)

3. What was the next animal skin layer?

4. Why was it red? And how did they get it that way?

5. The next layer in towards the inside was another animal skin. Can you name it?

6. How was Jesus like a goat?

7. How many loops and  brass clasps connected each goat hair panel?

8. What does brass represent?

9. How many days after Jesus raised from the dead till He appeared before His Father with His friends along?

10. What did the gold represent in Revelation where Jesus says to buy it?

11. How many gold clasps fastened the blue loops of the red, blue, and purple curtains?

12. How many panels of red, blue and purple curtains were there?

13. How many panels of goat curtains were there?

14. Can you tell the story of the brass serpent on the pole lifted for snake bitten people to look at?

15. Do the numbers and colors and materials tell part of the stories of God's tent?

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"The gorgeous curtain which formed the ceiling, inwrought with figures of angels in blue and purple and scarlet, added to the beauty of the scene. And beyond the second veil was the holy Shekinah, the visible manifestation of God's glory, before which none but the high priest could enter and live. The matchless splendor of the earthly tabernacle reflected to human vision the glories of that heavenly temple where Christ our forerunner ministers for us before the throne of God. The abiding-place of the King of kings, where thousand thousands minister unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before him; [DAN. 7:10.] that temple, filled with the glory of the eternal throne, where seraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration, could find, in the most magnificent structure ever reared by human hands, but a faint reflection of its vastness and glory. Yet important truths concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man's redemption, were taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services." {GC88 413.3} Great Controversy by Ellen White

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"Within the second vail was placed the ark of the testimony, and the beautiful and rich curtain was drawn before the sacred ark. This curtain did not reach to the top of the building. The glory of God, which was above the mercy-seat, could be seen from both apartments, but in a much less degree from the first apartment. Directly before the ark, but separated by the curtain, was the golden altar of incense. The fire upon this altar was kindled by the Lord himself, and was sacredly cherished by feeding it with holy incense, which filled the sanctuary with its fragrant cloud, day and night. Its fragrance extended for miles around the tabernacle. When the priest offered the incense before the Lord, he looked to the mercy-seat. Although he could not see it, he knew it was there; and as the incense arose like a cloud, the glory of the Lord descended upon the mercy-seat, and filled the most holy place, and was visible in the holy place; and the glory often so filled both apartments that the priest was unable to officiate, and was obliged to stand at the door of the tabernacle. The priest in the holy place, directing his prayer by faith to the mercy-seat, which he could not see, represents the people of God directing their prayers to Christ before the mercy-seat in the heavenly sanctuary. They cannot behold their Mediator with the natural eye, but with the eye of faith they see Christ before the mercy-seat, and direct their prayers to him, and with assurance claim the benefits of his mediation. {1SP 273.3}
These sacred apartments had no windows to admit light. The candlestick was made of purest gold, and was kept burning night and day, and gave light to both apartments. The light of the lamps upon the candlestick reflected upon the boards plated with gold, at the sides of the building, and upon the sacred furniture, and upon the curtains of beautiful colors with cherubims wrought with threads of gold and silver, which appearance was glorious beyond description. No language can describe the beauty and loveliness, and sacred glory, which these apartments presented. The gold in the sanctuary reflected the colors of the
curtains, which appeared like the different colors of the rainbow. {1SP 274.1}

Colored smoke of incense

Between the cherubim was a golden censer. And as the prayers of the saints in faith came up to Jesus, and he offered them to his Father, a sweet fragrance arose from the incense. It looked like smoke of most beautiful colors. Above the place where Jesus stood, before the ark, I saw an exceeding bright glory that I could not look upon. It appeared like a throne where God dwelt. As the incense ascended up to the Father, the excellent glory came from the Father's throne to Jesus, and from Jesus it was shed upon those whose prayers had come up like sweet incense. Light and glory poured upon Jesus in rich abundance, and overshadowed the mercy-seat, and the train of the glory filled the temple. I could not long look upon the glory. No language can describe it. I was overwhelmed, and turned from the majesty and glory of the scene. {1SG 158.1}
I was shown a Sanctuary upon earth containing two apartments. It resembled the one in heaven.