Monday Meditation
June 20, 2016
From the desk of A.J. Higgins
The Unseen Covering
“And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red.
And a covering above of badgers’ skins.” Exodus 26:14,15
There were four different cloths which were on top and formed the ceiling of the tabernacle. The first two were: the innermost curtain of fine linen, blue, purple, and scarlet; and the goats’ hair curtain, constituted the tent upon the tabernacle. Placed above these was a covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and then an outer covering of badgers’ skins or seal skins. This last covering served as a protection against the elements.
Priestly men, moving in the sanctuary were the only ones who saw the beauty of the fine linen curtain with its blue, purple, and scarlet. Those who approached the altar in the court would have been able to see the goats’ hair half curtain doubled over in the front. And to everyone, the badgers’ skin covering was obvious and visible. But who would have seen the rams’ skin? With the goats’ hair curtain beneath it, and the badgers’ skin covering above it, the rams’ skin with its red color would not be visible to any eye. It was appreciated by God alone.
In Genesis 22 we know about the ram caught in a thicket by its horns. Its very glory and power led to the altar and sacrifice. Also, in Exodus 29, the ram was prominent on the day the priests were consecrated to God and His service. So we are on safe grounds when we link the ram with the thought of consecration. To the skin of the animal linked with the concept of consecration, is added the red dye which symbolized death. So, in this covering, we have a picture of consecration which went as far as death.
The lesson to be learned is that the consecration which marked the Lord Jesus when He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8), can only be appreciated by the eye of God.
As we approach, as sinners, in the court, we can find value in the goats’ hair, a substitute for us who bore our sins into a land not inhabited (Lev 16). As priestly men and women, we can revel in the blue, purple, and scarlet which marked the fine linen in the sanctuary: the Man from heaven who came; the King Who was rejected; the worm scarlet telling of His death – all this on the background of the fine linen of that perfect and righteous life. Wherever we look in the sanctuary we find these truths expressed.
But the rams’ skin and its redness only the eye of God saw. There is something which only God can enjoy and fully appreciate in His Son. It is His heart’s devotion and consecration. It is not that we have no display of that consecration; it is not that we cannot enjoy the fruit of that devotion. Only God, however, is able to know the heart of His Son. Within that heart was undivided, unchallenged loyalty to the heart of God. There are depths to Christ and His work which we can enjoy; but there are depths which only the Father can appreciate. As we sometimes sing, “The Father only, glorious claim, the Son can comprehend.”
Consider
1. Think of other “unseen” things in the tabernacle. Men and women labored, weaving and crafting things which no eye but God would appreciate. What lessons can we learn from this?
2. Can you think of other reasons why God alone can measure the full consecration of His Son to the work He had been given to do? _____________________________________________________________