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The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle 1:50-53; 2:28-34.) Why the difference? It seems as ~h,ou~h -':'donijah's finding refuge and safety during Dav- id s. ltfetm~e speaks to us of mercy in this age of grace; while Joab s execution during the reign of Solomon fore- shadows swift and certain judgment upon all rebels during the reign of Christ, the Greater than Solomon. "Now is the day of salvation." It will be too late for the Christ- rejecting world to look for mercy when they see the right- eous King coming again in glory to reign. If they reject His mercy now, they will meet Him as the holy and just Judge of all the earth. "The Vessels ... and Grate . . . of Brass" All the vessels used at the altar of burnt offering and the grate on which the sacrifice was consumed were of brass-again reminding the sinner of judgment borne by the substitute, a type of the only Substitute for the guilty one. There were the brass pans to receive the ashes of the victim, the shovels, basons, fleshhooks, and firepans. The "grate of network of brass" was to be "even to the midst of the altar" (Exod. 27 :4-5). That means that the grate on which the sacrifice was burned was one and one-half cubits high, for the altar was three cubits high (27: 1). Thus the height of the grate was exactly the height of the mercy seat which covered the ark of the covenant, in the Holy of Holies. It is a beautiful truth-that God's justice and His mercy are of equal dimensions. His justice demands the vindication of His holy law; but His mercy provisfes the Sacrifice to put away sin, paying the penalty in the sinner's place. The Psalmist expressed it in words we love to remember:
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"The Brazen Rings" and the Staves When God was showing Moses the pattern m the mount, He said, " ... and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof.... And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass. And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it" (Exod. 27:4-7). The priests and the Levites had complete charge of all the sanctuary. Before Israel journeyed on the march, the priests went into the Holy Place and into the Holy of Holies, and covered all the sacred vessels and pieces of furniture before the Kohathites, one of the three families of the Levites, carried them on the journey. The Kohath- ites were not to "touch any holy thing, lest they die" (Num. 4:15; cf. 4:1-15). These Levites were to carry the pieces of furniture by the staves that went through the rings. For the golden-covered articles inside the sanctuary, the rings were made of gold; while the staves were covered with gold. For the altar of burnt offering the rings were of brass, the staves covered with brass. In this manner these vessels of the tabernacle and all connected with the worship were protected from the gaze of men; and in this manner they were reverently carried on the march. Of course, every Israelite who entered the gate could see the brazen altar and the laver; but none but the priests were allowed to see the beautiful vessels in the Holy Place; none but the high priest, the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. Surely in all of this God was teaching His people to worship and honor the One of whom these sacred things spoke; and He was teaching them that, before the guilty
"Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 8_5: 1O).
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