A few days ago, I had a fish aquarium set up in my room. On Friday, a brother showed up with a five-gallon empty tank along with all kinds of equipment and supplies. There was sand, driftwood, and rocks. Then he brought out the filter, heater, and light. We added the water, and finally he brought out a peace lily that could grow in the tank. I knew nothing of such a construction process, and so step by step, he assembled the fish tank while explaining to me how each item operated and its function. Each item was as necessary as it was beautiful, and each one was fit into this ecosystem with precision and wisdom.
This process made me think of our church living today. In the building of the tabernacle, our church life is rich with all the materials for the building: the fabrics, the metals, the wood, the animal skins, oils, and spices. But in addition to all of these, we need the wisdom of heart to know how to use the materials in our hands, as skilled workmen (Exo. 35:35), to build according to the Lord’s pattern (25:9). If we don’t know how to use the materials to build, either everything will lie waste or we will build something totally off. Not only did the builders of the tabernacle need to know how to work with the materials, but they also had the final product in view to know how to fit and join everything together.
But at this point, the entire process of building the fish tank hadn’t even come to the main scene. When this brother brought out the inhabitants of the tank — a beautiful, blue betta fish and two snails — I recognized that everything in the environment was set up for life. Everything that this little blue fish needed was there, and even the snails were brought in for the specific function of keeping this ecology clean. “You can shock the betta by transferring it too quickly,” the brother warned as he kept her in a separate bag to let her acclimate. What specific requirements for life! After 10 minutes, he released her into the water and she immediately swam off to enjoy her new surroundings. This little life may not know it, but every element of this ecology was carefully and precisely built to sustain her. Saints, isn’t this our church life?
This tenderly-crafted ecosystem — a small aquarium with a single fish and two snails — was built by my brother. He knew each material, their function and how they all fit together. But most of all, I enjoy the life it sustains. What was once an empty box with an assortment of materials now houses a precious life. Weren’t we all once rough materials, unshaped and unformed? And were we not brought into this precise building process? Even more, isn’t the Life we house in the church so precious, so precise, so vibrant? The “house” is beautiful, but what part is really beautiful? In my tank, the star of the show is this lovely blue betta. In the tabernacle, the final product with its color, dimensions, shape, and design was not just a pattern or blueprint, but a living and functional expression of God Himself.
Saints, today as those serving the church, we are building the perfect environment to sustain life. The church life has its parameters, and we as both the materials and the builders of the tabernacle must indeed be skillful workmen to sustain life precisely! This brother served me as an entrance into the building process, and ultimately gave me the right ecology to appreciate the beauty of life flowing. Saints, we are an entrance! When we bring others into the ecology of the church, they can be free to swim, to explore all the beautiful intricacies of the house, and, most of all, to enjoy Life as it is meant to be enjoyed.
– LU