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92 The Tabernacle pended upon his own strength. He is resting his whole weight upon the provision made by the Lord Jesus H im- self, when He finished the work of redemption on Cal- vary's cross. Then again, one board was not resting upon the sock- ets of another board; each had its own socket, although the sockets were all of the same material. There must be personal faith in the same Saviour. I can not rest upon the faith of my mother. You must have personal dealings with the Lord, if you are to be saved, my friend. Accord- ingly, each man in Israel had to present his own half- shekel of silver, even as the Psalmist wrote, saying, "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: for the redemption of their soul is precious" (Psalm 49 :7, 8). Only the precious blood of the Redeemer can avail to purchase salvation for His fallen creatures. In rearing the tabernacle, the Merarites, one of the three families of the Levites, first put the silver sockets in their places. No boards or bars or hangings or coverings could be put in place until the silver sockets were set in order upon the desert sand to support the whole sanctuary. Likewise, the Lord Jesus had to die, to pay the price of redemption, in order that we might be born again. There can be no growth in grace and in the knowledge of Him until we are first new creatures in Christ Jesus. This, my friend, is the message of the sockets of silver. He who "bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24) is the only sure Foundation; for beside Him, there is no one who can redeem the souls of men! The Gold-Covered Boards and Bars and the Rings of Gold The walls of the tabernacle were composed of forty-
The Tabernacle eight boards of acacia wood, covered over with pure_gold, and braced together with fifteen bars of the same mcor- ruptible wood, covered with gold, and held in place by rings of gold. There were twenty boards on the north; twenty on the south; and eight on the west. The hanging that was called the door was on the east. Each board stood upright in two silver sockets, while the boards were firmly held together by five bars on the north, five on the south, and five on the west. Of the five bars on each of these three directions, four were short; i. e., two above and two below a middle, long bar that reached from end to end, and was passed through the midst of the boards, out of sight. The four short bars were put through rings of gold, which were fastened to the boards. After this man- ner the wall of the tabernacle was braced together. We have seen that this sanctuary was a type of Christ dwelling "in the midst" of His church; and in these boards, bars, and rings we see some beautiful and minute details, illustrating this eternal truth. The incorruptible wood speaks to us of our Lord's sinless humanity; the gold, of His deity-two natures in one Person; for He was sinless, perfect Man, as well as eternal God. The boards resting on silver sockets made of the atonement money, also remind us of individual believers. Each one rests !us soul upon the redemption that Christ wrought on Calvary for his personal salvation; yet all believers are bound to- gether by the bond of unity that is found only in Christ, even as all the boards were bound together by the gold- covered bars. Before the boards were made ready for use in the taber- nacle, they had been rooted in the earth, as stately acacia trees. When they were needed for God's dwelling place, they were cut down, forever severed from the earth.
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