The Tabernacle: The Dwelling Place of God, With Man

Brandon Pelkey

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Lesson 4: The Boards

Text: Exodus 26:14-15, 29-30

Intro: As we continue our study of the Tabernacle we will turn out attention today to the boards. In our study when we use the term board we are not only talking about the wood itself but the entire construction of the board as given in the Scriptures. God was clear in giving the instruction that boards were to be made “of shittim wood”. On the surface of that command we understand that there was more to this process than simply finding a forest of shittim trees. There was more than cutting those trees down and milling them out. If Israel had not followed each and every command as precisely given by God, then they were in disobedience and the symbol/picture is incomplete.

1. God gives clear instruction concerning the boards:

Exodus 26:15-17

Exodus 26:15–17 KJV 1900

And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board. Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

but there is more...

Exodus 26:29

Exodus 26:29 KJV 1900

And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

What we know thus far:

The body of the board was made up of shittim wood.

Shittim wood was known as an incorruptible wood. (Meaning it wouldn’t rot.)

That body was then overlaid by gold.

Notice: The board was not complete until all the commands were completed concerning it. Without being cut, or without the gold overlay, then the board would be insufficient at fulfilling its purpose and it would have fallen short of God’s commands.

2. The Symbol:

Being that shittim wood was incorruptible and was the component that made up the body of the board, it then is the perfect symbol of the incorruptible humanity of our Lord, and is a witness to His sinlessness.

The incorruptible nature of Christ’s humanity is possible only through Him being virgin born. (Which is the reason that this doctrine has been so heavily attacked.)

Read: Luke 1:26-34

“How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”

Read: Luke 1:26-38, When Gabriel announced to Mary that God has chosen her as the vessel to birth the Messiah, she was troubled, and clearly reasoned within her mind because she did not understand how that was possible seeing she had not known a man. Clearly by her question she supposed that Christ was to be obtained in a natural manner, that the only begotten Son of God would come by means of a man. She was engaged to Joseph, though they were not yet married. How could a child born of man and have the name as given by Gabriel. (Son of the Highest)… Gabriel explained after she asks; “...How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”

Answer: Vs. 35-37

Luke 1:35 KJV 1900

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

In giving this announcement to Mary, that man should have no part in the birth of Christ, he was announcing an already declared truth about the coming of the Messiah. That He would be born of a virgin.

Genesis 3:15 KJV 1900

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Being virgin born does not make Him any less human. Jesus was still a man, but without the natural sinful nature that is passed through an earthly father. If born of man, He not only would not have been that “Holy Thing” but He would have been corruptible because of sin...

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.

It has always been impossible and always will be impossible for a human father to have a sinless son...

Hebrews 2:16 KJV 1900

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

The nature of His humanity (the body) comes from the women… Just like us our mother, was the mold in which each of us was formed and cast from.

The person within that mold, that eventually speaks and learns to disobey, comes from the father… If the person of Christ had a human father then He would have had the same sin nature that you and I have. If He was born of a human father and God intervened in some way to give Him duel persons (so to speak) He would have been unstable in all His ways, but we know that, that can’t be true.

Hebrews 7:9–10 KJV 1900

And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

Jesus’ conception and birth were entirely without any act of man.

Because of the origin of Christ’s humanity, Gabriel correctly referred to it as “That Holy Thing”.

Because His humanity was holy, it was therefore without sin.

Jesus’ human life was sinless, and His life demonstrated that sinless perfection:

As it was written:

Hebrews 4:15

Hebrews 7:26

1 Peter 2:22

1 John 3:5

John 8:46

Hebrews 4:15 KJV 1900

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 7:26 KJV 1900

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

1 Peter 2:22 KJV 1900

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

1 John 3:5 KJV 1900

And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

John 8:46 KJV 1900

Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

Jesus’ life was always and constantly on display and was open to inspection. Every eye watched Him, every hear was bent to listen, every word He spoke was weighed and analyzed, every step was noted, and yet, non dared to bring about a charge of sin against Him...

Every thing He did in His human life has been taken apart, put into the laboratory of critical chemistry, tested and tried, and yet, not any part has been found out of place, not a sentence or a word that needs to be changed, not a thought nor a statement spoken must be stricken or recalled...

He stands out before men absolutely human but yet, in an order entirely new, sinless, God filled, compassionate, sympathetic, going among the outcasts and the worthless, among those sick in body, sickened in soul, in daily contact with leprosy of body, leprosy of mind, uncovering pollution, shame and iniquity at every step, and yet, He is just like the sun which reveals the mud, the mire, the slime, and corruption, and is unstained by them, so He ate with publicans and sinners and in the midst of them He shone even still more splendidly pure because of the contrast between Him and the evil in which He revealed!

He was indeed human, but His sinless nature was displayed throughout everything He did. It is why when the Pharisees sent officers to arrest they came back empty handed and answered them saying...

John 7:46

John 7:46 KJV 1900

The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

“Never man spake like this man.”

And never was there anything like Him before, and never has there been anything like Him since.

As a smile of love is against a scowl of hate.

As a song above discord.

As a beam of light in the blackest of nights.

He was pure, He was holy, He was sinless.

Not even in death did His body see corruption.

There is one phrase that gives proper expression of His humanity.

It Is... Sinless Perfection

The boards of the Tabernacle were covered with pure Gold.

The gold was distinctly different from the wood and it was placed above it.

Notice: Each board consisted of two materials.

The two materials used in the boards is a symbol of the twofold nature of our Lord.

The nature of man - represented by His body and symbolized through the incorruptible nature of the shittim wood.

The nature of God - represented by His person and symbolized through the covering in pure gold.

The two materials: The incorruptible wood, and the pure gold, constituted, not two individual parts of the Tabernacle but together they represented one board.

But still, they remained absolutely distinct.

The wood never became gold.

The gold never became wood.

They did not modify each other in any way.

Like our Lord, was man, and was God, One Lord, yet His humanity and deity remained absolutely distinct.

Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6 KJV 1900

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

His humanity and deity were different and today they are still different. Although two natures dwelt within Him, and they were distinct, He was not two but One!

1 Timothy 2:5

1 Timothy 2:5 KJV 1900

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

It is simple enough to see how the gold can be upon the wood. However, it is seemingly more difficult to see how the two distinct natures of Christ could be united, never having conflict and never once were they divided.

It is by faith that we believe:

Jesus acted, spoke, and thought as a man.

He was hungry, thirsted, and grew weary as a man.

He ate, drank and slept, as we do.

He was sensitive.

He felt sorrow.

He wept human tears.

He died as generations of human beings before Him had died, and He was buried as those that had died before Him were buried.

And in all of this He was real man, but He claimed to be God.

He said it over and over again without hesitation. He said it simply as a fact,

John 8:58 KJV 1900

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

He said all the Father could do He could do.

He could give eternal life, He could raise the dead.

He affirmed Himself as the Way to God, the Truth of God, and the Life of God.

He testified that those who saw Him saw the Father also.

John 5:19 KJV 1900

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

He acted the same way as God, with the same authority, and with the same power.

He claimed all of this, while revealing Himself every day and in all things as a man.

He then supported His extraordinary claims by performing miracles.

He performed miracles as only God could.

He performed them by the simple exercise of His will.

He spoke and it was done, and commanded and it stood fast.

If there is anything in this world that could be demonstrated and proved, He demonstrated and proved that He was was man, and yet was very God!

His personality did not begin with His humanity. “Before Abraham was (not I was, but) I am”

In this one statement He is not only stating His existence but that He existed as the one who could span the bridge of time from that hour “before” Abraham, to the moment in which He spoke it in present tense. Never that He was, but that He is always “I Am”.

“I Am” was the sacred name of God to the Jew. Eternal, in existence, power, knowledge, and presence. The ultimate declaration of His deity! In using this name He was not claiming to be a prophet, sent by God, nor even a son of God, but He was stating that He was God Himself.

One person - Two Natures: Continually revealed in the Scriptures:

Luke 8:22-25

Luke 8:22–25 KJV 1900

Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

He was weary, and because of His weariness He fell asleep.

While sleeping, thee storm broke upon the vessel.

It was a storm of wind, the boat filled with water and they were in jeopardy.

What a sight...

A tempest-tossed vessel, a sleeping Christ in the midst, and the frightened disciples.

Notice the reason He arose was not the storm, it was the trembling men.

He then turns to the storm and with one simple phrase… “Peace, be still”. Every aspect that made that storm what it was ceased.

In the same moment He turns back to those men, (Mark 4:40) “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”

On that ship, on the Sea of Galilee, He was a real man, as real as every other man that was on that boat with Him. In the same scene, He was very God.

In three words, the force of the winds upon the water and upon the boat, the power of the water being thrashed into the hull, and the tossing of that wooden vessel all came to an instant calm.