Just as much as the book of Exodus is about the Israelites leaving Egypt behind, it’s also about a reconstituting, permeating, and building process for God’s people to become His dwelling place. Our journey today as believers follows the same path: out of the world and its values and into a new sphere and process of saturation to become the abode of our Lord.
From chapter 26 of Exodus to the end of the book, the focus transitions from exiting to entering — from leaving Egypt to building God’s house. While the many details about the physical structure of the tabernacle might seem very material, actually, they have everything to do with us — we are the material! Before we were saved, we were very rough materials, wild and unrefined fibers marred by many outside things. After we were saved, we were washed anew. But even after that, our humanity needs a process to be useful for God’s building. The materials in the tabernacle did not remain in their raw, original form. The linen had to be processed, twisted, and given structure to become a fine thread. These fine linen curtains signify a fine humanity (v. 1), a humanity that has been processed, entwined, and refined. It is this humanity that is used as the covering of the tabernacle, both within and without. Today, our humanity is the basic yet crucial element that covers and gives shape to the realm of the church life.
Moreover, the fine linen threads had further processes beyond their initial transformation. They were dyed very specifically in the colors of blue, purple, and scarlet. So not only were these fibers washed, beaten, and twisted into threads with strength, but the very fibers of the threads became hosts to the dyeing ingredients and their distinct attributes toward a specific purpose, application, and appearance: to be ultimately woven and embroidered “with cherubim” for the purpose of hosting the meeting place of the Lord (v. 1).
We, too, need to be dyed, permeated, saturated to become the fine linen displaying the attributes of the One spreading throughout our being. When people encounter us, what do they see? Do they find something blue, an element of “heaven” to touch them, or are we muddy, full of worldly expression? Are we royal purple, expressing a living that’s reigning in life, or are we begging for the approval of man? Are we scarlet, those who are covered by His redemption? Today, through His redemption, we have not only the way out of our worldly values, but also a way in — to be a proper abode for the Lord through this pickling, dyeing, permeating process. When we are redeemed by Him, we become host to all the bright, glorious colors of His humanity. He is the One guaranteeing the quality of His house as the initiator, the substance, and the accomplisher for this transformed, beautiful humanity to become the place He finds home (John 14:23).
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 7/7/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)