CHRIST IN EVERY BOOK EXODUSCHRIST IN EVERY BOOK EXODUS
Is there in all history a more amazing spectacle than the Exodus?—a more august and solemn revelation of God than at Sinai?—a more significant piece of architecture than the Israelite Tabernacle?—a greater human figure than the man Moses—a more influential national epoch than the founding of the Israel theocracy? All these are found in this second book of Scripture. It is the . . . very fount and origin of the national life, law, and organized religion of Israel.
—J. SIDLOW BAXTER1
Exodus is central to the Old Testament, and its abundant foreshadowings of the New Testament make it a crucial part of the entire Bible. Christian imagery and symbolism course through the book, from Moses as a “type” of Christ, to the Passover, to the exodus event, to the construction of the Tabernacle with all its God-ordained furnishings. This ancient document points to so many significant events of the New Testament, especially in the way its types prefigure the consummation of God’s salvation history in Christ. A few short verses in the second chapter of Exodus, and repeated many times thereafter, show there is no interruption here in God’s redemptive plan. Just as the Mosaic Covenant described in Exodus continues and enhances the Abrahamic Covenant from Genesis, these verses show a distinct continuity in God’s relationship with His people through the Bible’s first two books: “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew” (2:23–24).
God, being omniscient, is incapable of forgetting His covenant or of failing to hear the Israelites’ cries. So why state the obvious? I believe this language (here and elsewhere in Scripture) is meant to assure us that God does not change; He is not aloof; He hears the cries of His people and takes their pain seriously. His initial commitments to Israel, as promised to Abraham, were indeed unconditional and eternal, so they would not be diminished by what He is about to do. The language shows that while delivering Israel and entering into the Mosaic Covenant with them, God’s original promise-plan remains in full force and effect. Professor Walter Kaiser emphasizes the significance of this event. “The loyal love and dependable grace of this covenant-making God to His promises dominated the transition between these ages,” writes Kaiser. “He had heard Israel’s groaning in Egypt, and His interest in them and action on their behalf were summed up as a ‘remembering of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of the deliverance was one and the same as the God of your fathers’ (Exodus 3:13); ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’”2 God would deliver His people from bondage, formalize His special relationship with them, and continue to superintend their unique stewardship role in salvation history.
The essential theme of Exodus—God’s deliverance of the people and their redemption—points to Jesus Christ. As we mentioned, it is where God begins to actualize His promise to redeem mankind. The book leaves us with no doubt that our God is sovereign and is faithful to His promises, especially His promise to redeem us.
Redemption is not presented as a theological doctrine in Exodus, but we see it represented thematically in the book’s narrative arc. Egypt symbolizes the world—that is, the venue sinners inhabit before they are saved. In pharaoh we see the devil—the adversary who rebels against God and is the conniving enemy of His people, whom he seeks to keep from God’s deliverance. Israel, during its bondage in Egypt, represents man in his fallen state and in need of redemption. The people’s enslavement is a metaphor for the cruel bondage of sin. The groaning of the Israelites can be analogized to the spiritual agony of sinners as they recognize their sinful and lost condition. God’s plagues on Egypt demonstrate the sovereign power of the Redeemer. God’s provision of the Passover and the sacrificial system reveal that redemption must be purchased by blood. Moses is a type of Christ, who delivers his people. The exodus event signifies the sinner’s liberation from sin, and the crossing of the Red Sea prefigures our union with Christ in His sacrificial death and resurrection.
God’s laws and guidelines show the necessity of the people’s obedience and how they can maintain a right relationship with Him.3 God is not interested in our one-time redemption; He wants to bring us into an ongoing relationship with Him, as Moses underscores directly to Him: “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode” (Exodus 15:13).
The trials and tribulations the Israelites experience are emblematic of the struggles of all individuals. The giving of the Law imparts the necessity of our obedience to God. And the Tabernacle, as we’ll soon see, is a multifaceted type of Christ in a remarkable number of ways.4 Indeed, the exodus narrative gives us encouragement and hope. As Paul explains, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
The redemption motif is also strikingly pictured by types and symbols. Hinting at Christian doctrines that would be revealed more clearly in the New Testament,5 these illustrations indicate what is to come. The prefigurings of Christ in Exodus are robust and exciting, as conveyed by Pastor Donald Fortner, who tells of his experience listening to one of his pastors preach from the Old Testament: “He made those types and pictures seem to dance with life before my mind . . . as he expounded their meaning in light of the New Testament. . . . The facts and laws, ceremonies and rituals of the Mosaic economy became vibrant, bursting with life.”6
TYPES AND PICTURES OF CHRIST IN EXODUS
There are so many prefigurings of Christ in Exodus that it’s difficult to do them all justice. The following are types or pictures of Christ, some of which we’ll just briefly mention and others we’ll examine in more detail.
MOSES
With his messianic character, Moses is a special type of Christ. He is strong yet humble, obedient, pure of heart, and compassionate, as when he pleads with God to spare the people even after their debauchery with the golden calf (Exodus 32:11–13).7 Moses is the only biblical figure besides Christ to fill the three offices of prophet, priest, and king (or ruler in Moses’ case), though others came close, as we’ve seen (Exodus 34:10–120, 32:31–35, 33:4, 5).8
Moses tells his people, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15). Jesus also refers to Himself as a prophet (Mark 6:4; Luke 13:33), and the people in His time are expecting God to bring them one, as seen when they ask John the Baptist whether he is “the prophet” (John 1:21, 25). As we have seen, the people acknowledge Jesus is in fact the prophet when He feeds the five thousand, when He asserts His own deity (John 8:58), and when He otherwise speaks as one with authority (John 6:14, 7:40).
There are many Old Testament prophets between Moses and Christ, so what distinguishes Moses as a type of Christ in his role as a prophet? Some suggest it’s that Moses is a unique type of prophet in that he doesn’t merely speak the words of God like all the other prophets; he has a special fellowship with God.9 This can be seen in Moses going alone to meet God up on the mountain to receive the Law (Exod. 24:15–18), and God’s speaking there to Moses directly and entrusting His commandments to him (Deut. 22–27). “If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream,” God tells Moses. “Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord” (Num. 12:6–8). Exodus also relates that God speaks to Moses “face to face” (Exodus 33:11). These are powerful statements from God, especially considering that no one can look directly at Him and live (Exodus 33:20).10 Though God’s statement that Moses “beholds the form of the Lord” doesn’t mean Moses literally sees Him, it suggests an intimate relationship not enjoyed by any other prophet before or since, except for Jesus, Who is God.
In his prophetic role, Moses is a unique type of Christ, but most of the typology concerning him is based on important events in his life that prefigure Christ.11 Both are in danger but rescued in childhood (Exodus 2:1–10; Matt. 2:14–15); both are chosen to be saviors and deliverers of their people (Exodus 3:7–10; Acts 7:25); both are rejected by their people (Exodus 2:11–15; John 1:11; Acts 7:23–28, 18:5–6); after being separated from his people, Moses returns to deliver Israel, just as Scripture promises God will return to deliver Israel (Exodus 4:19–31; Romans 11:24–26; Acts 15:14, 17); both have to do battle with Satan or his forces (Exodus 7:11; Matt. 4:1); both fast forty days (Exodus 34:28); both take control of the sea (Exodus 14:21; Matt. 8:26); both feed the multitudes (Exodus 16:15; Matt. 14:13–21); the faces of both radiate with God’s glory (Exodus 34:35; Matt. 17:2); Moses is a leader of his people and Jesus is the King (Deut. 33:4–5; John 1:49); both are distrusted and challenged by their immediate families (Num. 12:1; John 7:5); both advocate for their people (Exodus 32:32; John 2:1–2, 17:9); both intercede for their people (Exodus 17:1–6; Heb. 7:25); about seventy people (Jesus had seventy-two) are appointed to help each of them (Num. 11:16–17; Luke 10:1); both establish days of commemoration to the Lord (Exodus 12:14: Luke 22: 19); both engage in healing ministries, specifically for leprosy (Num. 12:10–13; Matt. 8:2–3); both choose twelve messengers (Num. 13:2–16; Matt. 16:17–19; Mark 3:16–17); both perform significant historical events on a mountain (Exodus 19:20; Deut. 6:5–25; Matt. 5:1–12); God’s voice is heard when a cloud overshadows Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, just as His voice is heard when a cloud overshadows Peter, James, John, and Jesus (Num. 12:5–8; Matt. 17:1–5);12 and both reappear after their physical deaths, albeit in different forms (Matt. 17; Acts 1:3).13
There are even more analogies. Moses, like Christ, humbly and quietly suffers for his people’s sins. Even when Miriam and Aaron speak against him, He remains silent (Num. 12).14 Indeed, despite his position as leader and his intimate relationship with God, Moses “was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3). Moses is called the servant of the Lord (Deut. 3:24, 34:5), as is Christ (Rev. 15:3). Moses dies so that his people can enter into the Promised Land (Deut. 1:37, 4:21–22), while Jesus dies so that we can enter into life.15 Moses, like Christ, is also a priest (Psalms 99:6; Heb. 7:24) and, like Christ, his work as a priest is interrelated with his role as a prophet.16 Moses, like Christ, was a shepherd (Exodus 3:1; John 10:11–14) and is faithful (Heb. 3:5), obedient, and mighty in word and deed (Acts 7:22; Mark 6:2).17
God singles out Moses as a mediator between Himself and the people because He cannot look upon sin (Hab. 1:13). No impurity can be in His presence. In view of this, Pastor Timothy Keller observes that our idea of God’s holiness is inadequate. “We have a Hallmark-greeting-card understanding of God,” writes Keller. “To us, holy means reverent and inspiring and organ music in the background.” But this doesn’t capture the infinite contrast between God and mankind. When Moses encounters God at the burning bush, Keller continues, God doesn’t say, “Come in Moses, I’d like to give you a hug.” He says, “Stop! Come no closer.” Moses, says Keller, was rightfully scared because “if even a cow touched” that holy ground “it died because of the otherness of God, because of the transcendence of God, because of the magnitude of God.” Yet Moses occupies that sacred ground without being harmed, much less being wholly consumed. This is only possible, argues Keller, because “the Angel of the Lord was in the bush. . . . It’s the Angel of the Lord who is mediating the presence of God.”18 Of course, we understand from our previous discussion that the Angel of the Lord is Christ in His preincarnate form (a Christophany). So while Moses is a type of Christ in his mediatorial role on behalf of his people, even he, in that very moment, also needs a mediator, and that mediator is Jesus Christ.
Savor that: Moses, the quintessential mediator, himself needs a mediator. This underscores Charles Spurgeon’s point that “we must approach the Lord through a Mediator: it is absolutely necessary.”19 This Mediator walks among and on behalf of His people, just as Moses did. As Spurgeon observes, “Moses was truly one of the people, for he loved them intensely, and all his sympathies were with them. They provoked him terribly, but still he loved them. We can never admire that man of God too much when we think of his disinterested love to that guilty nation.”20 The most striking parallel I see between Moses and Christ is that they are both unique bridges to God because of their special relationship with their people and their special relationship with God. Each of them, in a sense, has a foot in both worlds—the human and the divine. And though Moses pales greatly in both capacities in comparison with Christ, Moses more closely resembles Him in this respect than any other person and thereby prefigures Him.
THE PASSOVER
When none of the first nine plagues moves pharaoh to liberate the people (in fact, each plague merely hardens pharaoh’s heart), God pulls out all the stops. He would not only attack Egypt, but pharaoh specifically. He would bring death to the firstborn of all Egyptians but spare the Israelites (Exodus 11:5–7). God institutes the Passover as His means of setting apart the firstborn of the Israelites for salvation.
The Passover is strikingly typical of Christ and His sacrificial and saving work. Like our salvation in Christ, the Passover is a function of God’s sovereign and gracious will. It is an illustration, in real-life history, of how God saves sinners through the shedding of blood. The Passover story probably has as much New Testament symbolism as any event in the Old Testament. This episode and its subsequent commemoration unmistakably point to the cross.
God tells Moses to instruct His people to set aside lambs without defects. The animals are to be slaughtered at twilight and their blood is to be applied to the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses (Exodus 12:5–7). God reveals that on that same night He will “pass through” Egypt and strike down every firstborn man and animal, bringing judgment on Egypt and her gods. The lambs’ blood will be His sign to “pass over” the houses of the Israelites who will thereby avoid the plague (Exodus 12:12–13). God also commands them to commemorate this event for posterity by celebrating it as a festival to the Lord (Exodus 12:14). The Israelites obey God’s instructions and, as promised, are spared the plague.
The symbolism and even language of the Passover event is emphasized in the New Testament—just as the Passover blood spares and redeems the Hebrews, the blood of Christ redeems Christians from their sinful state. For example, Paul tells the Romans that God presented the sacrifice of Christ “to demonstrate his righteousness, because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed” (Romans 3:25). The selection of the lamb is particularly meaningful. Note John the Baptist’s proclamation about Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), as well as Paul’s description of Christ as “our Passover lamb, [Who] has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). Moreover, the Passover lambs must be without defect, just as Christ, in His sinlessness, lived without defect. Peter makes the connection: “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18–19).
In describing the sacrificial lamb, God tells Moses, “You shall not break any of its bones” (Exodus 12:46). This admonition connects to Christ’s crucifixion: “But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of His bones will be broken’” (John 19:33–36).
To be spared God’s tenth plague, the Israelites have to take specific action—anyone failing to apply blood to his doorframe would meet the fate of the Egyptians. Thus, the Passover also teaches that in order to avail oneself of God’s saving work, you have to appropriate it for yourself—you have to smear the blood on your door, metaphorically, by placing your saving faith in Jesus Christ. “The provision must be applied personally,” Dr. Roy Matheson writes. “It is not enough that the provision was made at Calvary for my sins. I must appropriate and apply this provision by trusting Christ in a personal way.”21 This points to God’s requirement that Christ’s blood, in order to effect our individual salvation, must be appropriated by each of us and applied personally by our faith, trusting in Him and His redemptive shedding of blood. The late Pastor Ray Stedman put it well: “The Passover is a beautiful picture of the cross of Christ. . . . But the Israelites—those who, by a simple act of faith, took the blood of a lamb and sprinkled it on the doorposts and lintels of their houses—were perfectly safe. Then and now, salvation is accomplished by the simple act of faith, a trusting response to God’s loving provision of a Savior who has settled our guilt before God. Then and now, the angel of death passes over those who are covered by the blood of the Lamb.”22
THE EXODUS
“The exodus,” writes Tremper Longman, “was the most important salvation event of the Old Testament. God rescued his people from Egyptian bondage by miraculous and extraordinary means.”23 It is a redemptive event at the beginning of Israel’s history different from all other events in Scripture. “It was a stupendous happening,” marvels Gerard Van Groningen, “promised by God to Abraham (Gen. 15:16), a central theme of Moses’ farewell address. . . . [I]t was a significant point in Joshua’s final rehearsal of God’s covenantal faithfulness to the victorious Hebrews (Josh 24:5–7).” It was also often sung by the psalmists and invoked by later prophets, both Major and Minor.24
The delivery of Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land points to the work of Christ in salvation, representing judgment on the wicked world25 and salvation for God’s people. Describing the exodus as a key messianic event, Van Groningen outlines the many separate redemptive events included in the story: Israel’s bondage; Egypt’s cruel treatment of Israel; the people’s anguished cries for deliverance; the unique preparation and calling of Moses as the delivering agent; Moses’ confrontations with Egypt’s self-described deified ruler; the plagues; Israel’s departure; the destruction of Egypt’s armies and Israel’s safe passage to liberty; God’s providential provisions for Israel in the wilderness; the formalizing of the covenant; the military organization of the people; and the people’s tutelage in worship practices.26
Van Groningen, however, cautions that the exodus is not “the messianic event per se for all times and all places.” The exodus, along with the wilderness experiences, brings redemption and freedom, but it largely matters because it “was a necessary preliminary event which set the stage for the new, full, and complete exodus. . . . The first exodus, effectual and productive as it was, was a type; its antitype, Christ’s redemptive work, the new exodus, made this type effectual.”27
The exodus, says J. Sidlow Baxter, means four essential things for Israel: a new life, a new liberty, a new fellowship, and a new assurance. “All of this has its counterpart in the Gospel of Christ,” he argues. “The exodus under Moses is indeed a type of that which Christ has wrought for us.” And just as the exodus represents these four essential things for Israel, “so the Gospel of Christ means all this to the believer.”28 Naturally, the event means something dramatically different for Egypt—the exodus exposes the falseness of idolatry and the impotence of false gods, the futility of rebelling against God and resisting His will, and the notion that Egypt belongs to “the world” apart from God.29
MANNA
Shortly after being delivered from Egypt, the people begin grumbling in the wilderness, asking why God had liberated them if He’s just going to let them starve (Exodus 16). God then tells Moses He will rain bread from heaven. God gives them just enough to get by on each day so they will realize they are dependent on Him for their daily sustenance, which is to send the greater message that they are dependent on Him for spiritual sustenance.
The manna signifies the presence of the Lord with His people and His shepherding care. It typifies Christ because, like Christ, it is all the people need.30 The manna is practically the sole nourishment the Israelites have until they enter Canaan (Josh 5:12). “So Christ is the food of the soul during its entire pilgrimage through the wilderness of this world, until it reaches the true Canaan, heaven,” states Rev. H. D. Spence. “The Israelites were in danger of perishing for lack of food—they murmured—and God gave them the manna. The world was perishing for lack of spiritual nourishment—it made a continual dumb complaint—and God heard, and gave his own Son from heaven. Christ came into the world, not only to teach it, and redeem it, but to be its ‘spiritual food and sustenance.’ He feeds us with the bread of life. He gives us his own self for nourishment. Nothing else can truly sustain and support the soul.”31
In later times, when the Jews remind Jesus that Moses had provided manna in the wilderness and ask what signs Jesus could give them that He is the Lord, Jesus replies with the stunning revelation that He Himself is the manna: “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:30–33).
WATER FROM THE ROCK
Not long after God provides the manna, the people test Him by quarreling with Moses and demanding he give them water to drink. Moses, at God’s command, strikes the rock at Horeb and water flows from it (Exodus 17:1–7). In another incident, God commands Moses to speak to the rock but he strikes it instead (Num. 20:11). Though water comes out, God is displeased by Moses’ lack of trust and bars him from entering the Promised Land.
The rock in these events represents Christ because, like the rock, Christ is struck with divine judgment—His crucifixion—and because He flows with the water of life, as shown in John 4:14: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” When Paul declares, “That rock was Christ,” he is confirming that Christ is our provider, protector, and always-present Lord.32 Furthermore, in the Old Testament God is frequently identified as a rock (Gen. 49:24; Deut. 34:4, 15, 18, 30, 31; Psalms 18:31, 62:2, 78:35, 89:26, 95:1), and the term is associated, typically, with Christ, often in connection with His redemptive work (Deut. 32:15; Psalms 62:2; 95:1; 89:26; 78:35; Deut. 32:18).33
THE TABERNACLE
At the same time that God gives Moses the Law, He also gives him directions for building the Tabernacle, a portable shrine the Israelites would use for worshipping in the wilderness.34 The Tabernacle is a prefiguring of the heavenly temple.35 The instructions for building it are curiously interrupted in the biblical record by the story of Israel breaking its covenant and making the golden calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai. After retelling that event, the narrative returns to the Tabernacle. Roy Matheson notes that this juxtaposition of the golden calf story emphasizes Israel’s desperate need for a means to approach God. “Israel has just been given the law and has promised to keep it,” writes Matheson. “But as soon as the opportunity arises, Israel is pictured as breaking the first two of the Ten Commandments at the base of the mountain. By doing so they demonstrate they will not be able to keep the commandments and thus need a means of approach to God. The Tabernacle provides such an approach. It is a demonstration of the grace of God even under the law.”36 Philip Jenson argues, alternatively, that the instructions are given twice because “it reinforces the significance and importance of the action and the reality of the divine dimension being approached.”37
God “walked” with Adam in the Garden and spoke to the patriarchs, but the Tabernacle is His first dwelling place on earth.38 Of course, God is always present, but the Tabernacle assures the Israelites of His presence.39 The Tabernacle is in the form of a tent, ten cubits wide and thirty cubits long. (A cubit is about eighteen inches.)40 Like the more permanent Temple to follow, it is divided into two compartments separated by a curtain or veil. The outer compartment, called the Holy Place, is the main chamber in which priests perform their routine duties. The inner sanctuary, called the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies, can only be entered by the high priest, and only on one day a year—the Day of Atonement, discussed below.41 The Tabernacle is surrounded by a spacious courtyard that is one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and is enclosed by a fence five cubits high. The Tabernacle structure is in the western half of the courtyard while the eastern half contains the bronze altar and the laver (water basin).42
Image used by permission: T. B. Dozeman, Commentary on Exodus (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), page 608.
Image used by permission: Holman Book of Charts, Maps and Reconstructions (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1993), page 144.
The only entrance to the Tabernacle courtyard is through the gate on its eastern side. This is significant because it seems that Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the east gate of the Garden of Eden, before the flaming sword.43 To prevent Adam and Eve from returning to the Garden after their expulsion, God “placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24).44 With the Tabernacle, God is allowing Israel to enter His presence through the eastern gate. (Incidentally, the design of Solomon’s Temple also echoes imagery of the Garden of Eden, as the Temple’s eastern gate models the gate of the garden.)45 The preceding illustrations show the Tabernacle’s layout.46
The Tabernacle prefigures individual Christians, argues David Levy. “Paul said, ‘Know ye not that your body is the temple [sanctuary] of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye are not your own?’ (1 Cor. 6:19). As a sanctuary where the Spirit of God dwells, believers are not at liberty to allow their bodies to be used outside of His designed purposes for them.”47 The Tabernacle and the more permanent Temple were also types of Jesus Christ, Who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Notice how this theme is advanced in Revelation as God tells us about the new heaven and the new earth: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:3–4).
The Tabernacle in the wilderness is the foreshadowing of Christ dwelling with us, putting an end to our sorrow, and bringing us everlasting joy. “By all the complex tabernacle operations, the sacrifices, and the ceremonies, God is picturing what Christ will do,” contends Michael Barrett. “These pictures are full of Christ and therefore are a key place that we must search for him.”48 Also note, in the Revelation passage cited above, God’s reiteration of the key element of the covenantal promise that we looked at earlier, which is now carried forward to the very end of the New Testament: “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezek. 11:20; cf. Gen. 17:7).
THE FURNISHINGS
God provides detailed instructions for the sanctuary’s furniture. Each of the furnishings points distinctly to Christ.
1. The brazen altar in the outer court, where animals are sacrificed, typifies Christ’s work on the cross to save all who place their faith in His blood shed on our behalf (Romans 3:24–25). No Israelite can come into God’s presence without sacrificing at the brazen altar, just as today no sinner may come into communion with God except through Jesus and the cross.49 The altar typifies the Atonement of Christ.50
2. The laver is also in the outer court, between the brazen altar and the Tabernacle. This water basin is solely for the priests, who are required to wash before entering the Tabernacle. Prefiguring the Christian’s need for purification, the laver speaks of Christ as our sanctification (Romans 6:1–9). It is a shadowy image of the work of the Holy Spirit, applying the redemptive work of Christ.51 Christians, while they are forgiven for salvation purposes, need to continue to walk with God on their path to sanctification. “The continual cleansing each of us needs is provided in Christ, and pictured in the laver before the tabernacle entrance,” notes Larry Richards. “Purified, we can freely enter the presence of our God.”52
3. The Table of Showbread, which holds twelve loaves of bread—one for each of Israel’s twelve tribes—is in the Holy Place. It foreshadows Christ as our spiritual sustenance. As Jesus proclaims, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger” (John 6:35, 48).
4. The lampstand fills the Holy Place with light, providing illumination for the priest as he ministers.53 It speaks of Christ as “the light of the world” (John 8:12), typifying our spiritual illumination. Remember that not everyone avails Himself of the Light of the world: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come into the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:19–21). The light from the lampstand, then, is a picture of Christ’s holiness54—as recorded in 1 John, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1:5). Indeed, Christ’s light is so radiant that by itself it will illuminate the new Jerusalem for all eternity (Rev. 21:23).
5. The Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:1–10), which stands in front of the curtain or veil in the Holy Place, represents the prayers of God’s people constantly arising in His presence. Intended to remind the high priest of the need for prayer in the presence of God (Rev. 8:3–4), it symbolizes prayer with Christ as our intercessor and high priest (Heb. 7:25; John 17:9). Christians should be aware of Christ’s work on our behalf as high priest, Who intercedes in prayer for us, for His Church, and with the Father. We should especially familiarize ourselves with John chapter 17, which contains the High Priestly Prayer, in which Christ prays to the Father on our behalf. We are to see His prayers rise up like the smoke of incense as a pleasing aroma to the Father.
I think we should look at this prayer in the context of the foregoing discussion of the Tabernacle as a prefiguring of Christ dwelling with us into eternity. In this prayer Jesus asks the Father to prepare us for that everlasting fellowship we shall enjoy with Him, thus showing us what are Jesus’ priorities and concerns for us.55 Jesus further prays that we would be filled with His joy (John 17:13) and protected from Satan (John 17:15); for our sanctification and growth in the Word and the truth (John 17:17); and for believers to become one, as a united Church, just as He and the Father are One (John 17:20–23).56
We should study this remarkable prayer, described by some as the true Lord’s prayer and by Warren Wiersbe as “the greatest prayer ever prayed.”57 In this prayer Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him, which is a remarkable assertion of deity, as no one other than God Himself would have been so bold. Moses, you’ll recall, merely asked to see God’s glory (Exodus 33:18), but would never have presumed to become part of it. In the prayer Jesus initially prays for Himself, but nevertheless in a selfless way, for He is facing the cross and is praying for the strength to complete the task that leads to our redemption. As Wiersbe explains, “The glorification of Jesus Christ meant the completion of the great work of salvation.”58 Jesus’ very words confirm this: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him” (John 17:1–2). Even at the height of His agony, Jesus is thinking about us and our eternal destiny.
6. The Ark of the Covenant—the only piece of Tabernacle furniture in the Holy of Holies—is covered with a gold “mercy seat,” which is literally translated as “atonement covering.”59 The ark, which is symbolic of God’s throne and presence, is the most sacred item of furniture in the Tabernacle. Indeed, the Tabernacle is built specifically to house the ark, so that God can dwell among His people.60 The ark holds the stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments, which is why it is sometimes called the Ark of the Testimony. The priest also spreads the blood of the sacrifice on it.
The ark is one of the most distinct types of Christ in the entire Bible. Its acacia wood typifies Christ’s life and ministry. It beautifully portrays the humanity of Christ, Who came from “a root out of a dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2) and was wholly sinless in His birth (Luke 1:35) and His life (1 Peter 1:19, 2:22). The gold in the Table of Showbread represents Jesus’ deity,61 and the ark represents Christ as the full satisfaction for our sins (1 John 2:2).
The priesthood plays a key role in ceremonies at the Tabernacle and later at the Temple. The sacrifice has to be made by the high priest on behalf of everyone else, and ultimately, God is not approachable except through the priestly caste. But the substitutionary death of Christ, our High Priest, changes that exclusivity, allowing us all to approach God through Jesus Christ. Note that at the precise moment Jesus dies,62 completing His work on our behalf on the cross, the veil of the Temple that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies “was torn in two, from top to bottom” by a supernatural act of God (Matt. 27:51). As a result, any man at any time by faith in Christ might enter directly into God’s presence.63 Lest there be any doubt, the writer of Hebrews assures us, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (10:19–22).
Jesus’ work for us culminates here. He died so that we may have an everlasting relationship with Him, separated by no curtain, separated by nothing. Christ “is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (Heb. 9:15). Ray Stedman explains, “The blood of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice of the God-Man upon the cross, completes what the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament only symbolized. Through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, we now have access to the presence of God, which was forbidden to the common people in the days of Moses.”64 Stedman adds that because of Christ’s death for us, the Temple is no longer needed, because our bodies are God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16) and Christ dwells in all believers through His Holy Spirit. “The great truth for us here,” notes Stedman, “is that God has completely settled the problem of sin in us—absolutely and completely settled it!”65 As Paul writes in the Book of Romans, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (8:1).
This tearing of the veil not only signifies that we can go directly into God’s presence through Jesus Christ, writes Pastor Timothy Keller, but it also means that His glory is now in the Church: “Christ says, ‘Little flock, I have given you the kingdom.’ Now our lives are transformed because that kingdom power that was in the garden of Eden and then was in the tabernacle is now out in our lives.”66
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES IN EXODUS
We already discussed the messianic prophecies related to Christ as the Passover Lamb, particularly God’s instructions that the bones of the sacrificial lambs shall not be broken, just as none of Christ’s bones were broken when He was sacrificed on the cross. But Exodus offers another intriguing messianic prophecy—this one related to God’s instructions to Moses to consecrate to Him all the firstborn of both man and beast (Exodus 13:1–2; Num. 8:17). In the New Testament, Luke reports that Jesus was Mary’s firstborn son (Luke 2:7), and “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’)” (Luke 2:22–23). Elsewhere, the New Testament refers to Christ as the “only begotten” (John 1:14, 18, 3:16, 18) and the “firstborn” Son of God (Romans 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18).
The firstborn eldest son had substantial advantages in Hebrew culture. For example, he came ahead of his younger brothers according to his birthright, the firstborn being “preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power” (Gen. 43:33, 49:3). He was also entitled to a double portion of his father’s estate (Deut. 21:15–17). The pecking order was not absolute, however, as the firstborn could, through misconduct, forfeit his prerogatives. The father could also sometimes deviate from the rule, as when David chose his younger son Solomon, in obedience to God (1 Kings 1:12–30).
God instructs Moses to tell pharaoh that Israel is His firstborn son, and that he must “Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22). This passage is rich with meaning, indicating that God claims Israel as His special, privileged, and preeminent people—His chosen servants who will represent Him among the nations. Israel, as firstborn of God, also has certain duties, including to “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). The firstborn—Israel, in this case—must be respectful, grateful, and obedient.67 Just as God instructs Israel to consecrate their firstborn males once they were brought out of Egypt (Exodus 13:2), Israel’s firstborn status must be consecrated, which is among the reasons God instructs Israel to keep that status holy (as we’ll see in our discussion of Leviticus). God makes it clear that if pharaoh doesn’t release His “firstborn” from captivity, He will take pharaoh’s firstborn. Thus the concept of the “firstborn son” is integrally tied to God’s redemptive plan, and He will tolerate no interference with it.68
When the New Testament writers identify Jesus as God’s firstborn and only Son, they are endorsing the idea that the firstborn son introduced in the Old Testament reaches its fulfillment in Christ. “The firstborn typified Christ;” argues Gerard Van Groningen, “more so, the firstborn was a direct antecedent of Jesus the Christ, God’s only, firstborn son.”69 Walter Kaiser says that the terms used in the Old Testament concerning firstborn “were used of Jesus the Messiah. . . . He too was delivered out of Egypt and was given the same familial term, ‘my son’ (Matthew 2:15; cf. Hosea 11:1). Moreover, He was God’s ‘firstborn,’ (Romans 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 1:5).” Kaiser adds, “The continuity of terms, identities, and meanings throughout both Testaments is more than a mere accident. It is a remarkable evidence of a single planned program and a unified single people of God.”70
Exodus gives us a beautiful picture of Christ’s redemptive activities to come. We turn next to the Book of Leviticus, which points to the believer’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the pathway to holiness flowing from it.