Hebrews 9:1-9

Once again, the writer of Hebrews begins a comparative analysis of the Law: first, the old Law was inadequate, insufficient; then, the Contract of Christ is greater and, in fact, perfect.

The tabernacle, God's dwelling place among the Israelites throughout their time in the wilderness and through their formative kingdom years. It's a memory of pillars of fire and of parting waters, of conquests and triumphs. The tabernacle was the visible reminder of Israel's holy fellowship with God Almighty, given to them through Moses when they agreed that they should be God's people, and that He should be their God.

Think of the tabernacle with visions of glory, of consecration, and of devotion, and you may begin to understand how important this first temple was to Israel. Its building was commissioned by God, its plans laid out by Him, its components given in sacrifice to Him, the trophies of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, which God accomplished for them. This tabernacle, this was the house of God!

And yet, these blueprints, these holy symbols, were only a shadow of the types found in Heaven. The priests that presided among them could only go in to the ark of the Law once a year, and then only with the blood of sacrifice, because they were not worthy to enter into its presence. As priests, they were insufficient to mediate between God and man; and as objects of communion, the archetypes in the tabernacle were insufficient to bring man into closer union with God.

These things, the author says, are an illustration: a visual proof for us, that the Law was incomplete. He calls them "external regulations", and it recalls a verse from Jeremiah that he'll bring in later: "'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the Lord. 'I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts.'" (Jeremiah 31: 33a) An internal covenant, better than the external regulations--that was the promise God made to the Israelites, and, the author of Hebrews says, the fulfillment of that promise was witnessed in his generation.

External regulations are reminders, like the pillars of stone set up across the Jordan. (Joshua 4) When people ask, 'What do these regulations you keep mean?' we tell them that the debt of sin was cut off by the blood of Christ. When He died for us, our debt of sin was cut off. These regulations we keep as a memorial for the people of God forever.

And yet, regulations themselves are powerless to save--both those set forth on Sinai and the external trappings we follow today. The Lord's Supper is powerless to save. Worship cannot save us. Praise will not avail. Fellowship with the body of Christ is not enough to win us the victory over sin. Are these things vitally important? Yes!, but only in the role they serve, and it's the same role the tabernacle played: illustration. Now, as then, the ceremonies we keep, external regulations that display heavenly truths, serve as our reminders, ordained and blessed by God, just as those holy stones from the river Jordan served to remind the children of Israel of the power of God in their midst.

It is God Who saves through the Name given to Jesus, which is above every other name, in honor of His sacrifice, the blood and the body pierced for our transgressions. Next to this Truth, all else is but a shadowy reminder.

Like Moses, we live not in the glory of God, but protected from His glory. In this shadowland of grace, we see many things that have the power to remind us of God.

The only question for me is this: Will I allow them to remind me? When other people ask me what these dim forms represent, will I allow them to teach others? This is their sole purpose, their one reason for existence. Will I allow the tabernacles in my life to fulfill the glorious role intended for them by God above, or will I ignore them?

That is for me to decide every day.