The Dwelling Place of God with Man (3)

The Linen Curtains:

Text: Exodus 26:1-6

Intro: There were ten total linen curtains made. They were a cubit shorter than the goats hair curtains so wouldn’t have touched the ground. Upon walking into the tabernacle and looking up you would have seen theses linen curtain as the ceiling. They dropped outside of the boards however, so the walls remained pure gold. Figures of the cherubim in blue, purple and scarlet were wrought in all the curtain.

Exodus 26:1 KJV 1900

Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Much like the linen that made up the fence of the court, this curtain was made of linen. Linen came from the earth, and as our previous study showed, it is a fitting picture of our Lord. In addition to the white linen, we see three additional colors. ___________, ____________, ____________.

Blue:

Exodus 24:10 KJV 1900

And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

Numbers 4:5–6 KJV 1900

And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it: And shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

Ezekiel 1:26 KJV 1900

And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

Blue is the color of _______________.

Blue was very rare at this time and came from a shellfish in the Mediterranean sea. Today blue is one of the first colors to fade in the sun, and in that day, it required fabrics to be died numerous times in order to achieve and maintain their color.

Scarlet:

Genesis 38:28 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

Genesis 38:30 KJV 1900

And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

Leviticus 14:51–54 KJV 1900

And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean. This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall,

Isaiah 1:18 KJV 1900

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Daniel 5:7 KJV 1900

The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Nahum 2:3 KJV 1900

The shield of his mighty men is made red, The valiant men are in scarlet: The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, And the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.

Matthew 27:28 KJV 1900

And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

Scarlet is the color of ____________________.

Scarlet was the easiest color to obtain as well as the easiest to use. The scarlet die again was obtained by animals, but the color was so steadfast that it was impossible to remove it if it stained.

Purple:

Although I believe all four were distinctly present and that at this time purple was not made by the mixing of these two fabrics we understand today that if you mix blue (God) with scarlet (man) you get purple. The God-man, the man Christ Jesus! Purple was the rarest and would have been the most expensive die of the day. Purple die was produced by a Mediterranean sea snail. One snail produced one drop and it is said that in order the get a pound of purple die, it required the use of 4 million snails.

Purple is the color of the man ________________________.

Within the four colors I believe we have this picture. These colors were also used in the clothing of the High Priest.

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;

Note: Man has certainly claimed colors as their own throughout the ages.

Cherubim: Although we are not going to dive deep into a cherubim study today. Read: Ezekiel 1:5-14. The word “cherub, signifies strength or might. We see them in this light throughout the Scriptures. They are messengers and servants of our Lord.

1 Peter 3:22 KJV 1900

Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

The priest walking under the curtain in the Tabernacle, walked beneath a mass of outspread wings of feathers. And here is the explanation of the phrases found in the Psalms concerning wings and the feathers of God.

Psalm 17:8 KJV 1900

Keep me as the apple of the eye, Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

Psalm 36:7 KJV 1900

How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

Psalm 57:1 KJV 1900

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: For my soul trusteth in thee: Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, Until these calamities be overpast.

Psalm 63:7 KJV 1900

Because thou hast been my help, Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Psalm 91:4 KJV 1900

He shall cover thee with his feathers, And under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

What a vision it all was, and what a reminder for the nation of Israel of God’s promises of God. This however was only seen by those who entered into the Tabernacle. Those Psalms were not about the cherubs, it was about the God of those cherubs. It was about what the Tabernacle represented. The presence and promise of God. There is a great lesson for us today in this.

You could only know what was contained within the Tabernacle by spending time within the Tabernacle.

You can only know what is contained within Christ by spending time within Christ!

Is He our refuge! Do we hide under the shadow of His wings, is it under His wings that we trust? It is hard to trust someone that we know very little about.