7.1 Wood, Gold, and Bronze
© 2016 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
The primary meaning of God in setting forth the Tabernacle of Moses is found in the seven pieces of furniture scattered through that Tabernacle. When we look across those pieces, we see patterns. Our hope, in this session, is to discover what those patterns might tell us about the structure of the Covenant.
We will place these pieces of furniture, then, not in the order by which we entered through the Tabernacle, but in the order by which God has arranged them in His going out. Coming in is how we discovered what has already always been true; going out with God is the Symmorphic Covenant. Let’s create a table showing these pieces of furniture.
Seven Pieces of Furniture. Each one of these pieces of furniture has its own session in this course. This session is an attempt to see across them together and to place the Covenant as it comes out from each one. Each one of these seven is figured prominently in the New Testament gospel, and the writers of the New Testament considered their meaning as they shared that gospel.
| Ark of the Covenant | Mercy Seat | Table of Showbread | Lampstand | Altar of Incense | Altar of Sacrifice | Laver |
| Wood/Gold | Gold | Wood/Gold | Gold | Wood/Gold | Wood/Bronze | Bronze |
| Covenant | Blood | Bread | Oil | Incense | Wood/Flesh | Water |
| Aaron’s Rod | Pillar of Fire | Eating | Fire | Fire | Fire | Bathing |
| Manna | Authority | Sustenance | Light | Aroma | Smoke | Cleansing |
The Grouping. First, let’s look at the grouping of the pieces.
| Ark of the Covenant Mercy Seat |
Table of Showbread Lampstand Altar of Incense |
Altar of Sacrifice Laver |
The first two together in the Holiest speak of the deepest center of the Covenant as it relates to each one of us in our relationship with God, our dwelling inside His Heart. The next three together in the Holy Place speak of our being formed together as the body of Christ in the expression of God through us towards His creation. And the final two together in the outer court deal with the transfer of all things out from the old creation and into the New.
Primary Representations. The Ark of the Covenant defines us as individuals together with God in full Symmorphic Covenant union. Here we will find the most important terms of the Covenant. The Mercy Seat, then, is the throne of heaven, the place from which Father and us together rule all things through love. Here we will find the terms of the Covenant dealing with authority and rule.
The Table of Showbread, the Lampstand, and the Altar of Incense are our being woven together as the Body of Christ. Here we will find the terms of the Covenant that place us together as that Body and that set forth Christ through us. The Altar of Sacrifice and the Laver show us those terms of the Covenant by which we transfer all out of the old into the New.
Materials. Let’s continue with the next pattern, wood, gold, and bronze.
| Ark of the Covenant | Mercy Seat | Table of Showbread | Lampstand | Altar of Incense | Altar of Sacrifice | Laver |
| Wood/Gold | Gold | Wood/Gold | Gold | Wood/Gold | Wood/Bronze | Bronze |
Wood is our humanity; gold is God in Person, and bronze is judgment, the passage of all things from the old to the New.
So, we see three pairings of wood and gold and two that are gold alone. Yet the two that are gold alone most definitely contain us – There I will meet with you – and – You are the light of the cosmos. But, the most remarkable thing about the wood/gold pairing is that the Person of God, the gold, is always invisible. The only thing anyone ever actually “sees” is us.
God Himself. You see, the Lampstand is solid gold, yet the angel tells John very clearly in Revelation 1 that the Lampstand is the Church of Jesus Christ. That Lampstand of solid gold is in the middle of the Holy Place furniture, the functioning together of the church. Thus we see that my contention that God is known only as a family of people walking together in love is confirmed by God’s Covenant pattern. Not God/Man together, but God, yet God utterly in the midst of two pieces of God/Man together. The authority of the Mercy Seat is also the full expression of God, yet we are entirely inside that expression. In three elements, we are seen, though God is part of us, but in two elements, authority and light, God is God through us.
Judgment. We can see, then, that the wood of which the Altar of Sacrifice is constructed, wood covered with bronze, refers to the Lord Jesus alone – one sacrifice for sins forever. You and I never become that judgment, for it is finished. Yet we are the ministry of that judgment – God… has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Then one piece, the Laver of cleansing, is judgment alone. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matthew 12:37). The further I go, the more I see that stark opposition between the speaking of Christ that alone is life and the speaking of accusation in any form that is a staked-out position of death.
The Elements. The next pattern is the element upon or within each piece.
| Ark of the Covenant | Mercy Seat | Table of Showbread | Lampstand | Altar of Incense | Altar of Sacrifice | Laver |
| Covenant | Blood | Bread | Oil | Incense | Wood/Flesh | Water |
The first, Ark, the middle, Lampstand, and the last, Laver, are containers, that which pertains to each is inside them. The other four, Seat and Table, Altar and Altar sandwiched between, are holders, that which pertains lies upon them.
The Covenant contained in the Ark rules all that follows and is the purpose for everything in God’s pattern/pro-thesis. All authority sits upon the Blood upon the Mercy Seat, the Blood is the foundation of all rule in the Kingdom.
The Church. The Bread, the Oil, and the Incense is what we the Church, as the expression of Christ together, become. Thus we will see, in this part of the Covenant, the specific terms by which we are Bread, the specific terms by which we are Oil, and the specific terms by which we are Incense. And all three of these are entirely us together as the Church. You see, Oil is what the first part of 1 Corinthians 12 and much of 1 Corinthians 14 are all about, oil contained inside the Church as gold alone. This is an even greater mystery than we have known symmorphy to be.
Finally, the wood/flesh of the old creation finds its only place upon the Altar of Sacrifice, and, as my mother did, the laver water is like the soap she made me use to wash out my bad words.
Consumption. Next we look at the “consumption” of each item on each piece.
| Ark of the Covenant | Mercy Seat | Table of Showbread | Lampstand | Altar of Incense | Altar of Sacrifice | Laver |
| Aaron’s Rod | Pillar of Fire | Eating | Fire | Fire | Fire | Bathing |
Aaron’s Rod that buds swallows up the Covenant; the Covenant becomes a living entity – resurrection. The Pillar of Fire upon the Mercy Seat consumes the Blood, entering into the experience of creation by that Blood. The Bread of the Table is food to be eaten. Then, the Oil of the Lampstand, the Incense of the first Altar and the Wood/Flesh of the second are all consumed by fire. Finally, the Water of the Laver is a bath in which to be washed.
Actions. For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).
Each of these elements in this row are actions. I see clearly, at present, the action of the first and the action of the last. The Covenant brings forth life and the Water cleans up the words that we speak. The old is already gone, the New is all there is. Stop speaking curse and accusation and start speaking Christ. This is how our minds are removed from what is not and become what is. The action of eating bread is also known to us, at least partly. It is the action of fire, electrical fire in the first and chemical fire in the other three that remains for our discovery. Chemical fire is powered by what it burns, but electrical fire is not.
Result. Finally we look at what is produced by the action.
| Ark of the Covenant | Mercy Seat | Table of Showbread | Lampstand | Altar of Incense | Altar of Sacrifice | Laver |
| Manna | Authority | Sustenance | Light | Aroma | Smoke | Cleansing |
The actions in the preceding row are the actual application of the terms of the Covenant, these things are what is produced by those actions. Think in terms of the contract to build a house. The actions of the builder in following the contract produce the house for the buyer. The actions of the buyer in paying money according to the contract produce the income for the builder.
None of these things are for us who are engaged in this Covenant with God, nor for God. All these things are for others.
God and Us Together. Yet all these things are Uus, that is, God and us together. And God and us together are then these things for all. From the Ark, God and us together give the inner strength of life to each member of God’s creation. From the Mercy Seat, God and us together give direction and purpose to each member of Oour creation.
From the Table, God and us together give the outward sustenance of life to each member of creation. From the Lampstand, God and us together give light upon the way for each member of creation. From the Altar of Incense, God and us together give the well-pleasing odor of Christ coming from each member of creation.
Five Fruits of God. From the burning of the Sacrifice, however, comes that elimination of the old creation given to each in their season. And from the washing of the Water, the false story of the old is cleansed away by the speaking of Christ in the New. The final two are the Atonement parts of the Covenant, and thus we will look at how God deals with sin in the Covenant when we arrive in the outer court.
It is the first five that are God’s fruit in the New Creation, however, the fruit of God and us together. These are the five things God wants to give every member of His/our creation in heaven/earth out from Oour Symmorphic Union together.
Five Means of Being Known. 1. Inner strength of Life. 2. Direction and purpose. 3. Outer sustenance of life. 4. Light upon the way. 5. The pleasing aroma of Christ.
Manna – Authority – Bread – Light – Aroma.
These are the five things God wants He and us together to be towards every individual person or entity in His entire creation coming out from this Covenant with us. Everything that is involved in the terms of the Covenant is for the producing of these five things for all. And thus we know that by these five things is how all will know God. This is so cool – how God gives us such clarity!
Much to Think About. I really wanted the terms of the Covenant to become specific and detailed for us. God is giving us all that I desired. And for every one of these fruits of the Covenant, indeed, for every item in the entire layout, we can find specific New Testament verses that are, in fact, these very terms.
This layout has given me so much to think about. Indeed, only now can I ascertain what the next two lessons in this session will be; they will come out from careful consideration of God in me over these things. You would do well to study through this lesson more than once before continuing. We have indeed been given the power, depths, and clarity of the Covenant.