Podcast Introduction

Our reading today is Exodus 25-28, and I’m calling the episode “The God of Details.”

Comments on Exodus 25-28

The first time I read these chapters, I was struck by the detail of God’s instructions. Nothing was left out. Everything that was to go into the tabernacle was intricately laid out, from the materials to use, to the measurements, to the design, to the placement of the items. 

But of course, that God thought of every detail is not at all surprising, right? He is a God of details. Think of creation itself. Think of our solar system. If it were not for the details of how our solar system is laid out, life as we know it on Earth could not exist. If we were just a little closer to the sun, or just a little further, the temperature would not support life. If the Earth was not the size it is, gravity would be too great or not great enough. The examples I could give go on and on. Think of the incredible detail of our bodies. The way the cells work, the way our nervous system works, our brains, our muscles. Think of the details in a snowflake, and how, supposedly, no two snowflakes are alike. Details. There are nearly an infinite amount of details in our universe. And all of them work together. 

Beloved, there is no way in the world that anyone could convince me that creation happened by chance. There are too many details for that. And I am not speaking as just a religious fanatic. I have a degree in biology. I know some science. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’m not completely ignorant about these things. 

Let me switch gears for just a moment. I got to wondering about the materials that God told Moses to collect as offerings. What I found was interesting to me, so hopefully you’ll find this interesting, too.

Gold: This represents deity. Gold cannot be made by man. It can only be made by God. The gold refers to the fact that Jesus is divine.

Silver: Represents redemption. In Scripture, silver was always the money used for redemption. Joseph was sold for silver, as was Jesus. Silver speaks of the redemption that comes only through Jesus. 

Bronze: Represents judgement. It has an extremely high melting point, so it was used in the altar where burnt offerings were made. Bronze speaks of the judgement that Jesus took upon Himself to atone for the sin of mankind. 

The blue yarn represents Heaven, because it is the color of the sky. 

The purple yarn is symbolic of Royalty. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. To make purple, you mix blue and red. The blue, as I said, speaks of Heaven, and red represents Sacrifice, blood and death. Thus, the purple speaks of the deity of Jesus and the sacrifice He made as man. He is, after all, God and Man.

And as I said, the scarlet, or red yarn, is symbolic of the Sacrifice. 

Fine linen is symbolic of the Purity and righteousness of Jesus, the spotless, pure, sinless sacrifice.

Goat’s hair represents the sin offering. Goats were very common and were used for many things, including food, and dairy, their skins were used for clothing and carrying water, and their hair was used to make yarn for clothing. Goats were sacrificial animals, too. The yarn made from their hair was coarse and drab, which speaks of the humanity of Jesus.

Rams skins, dyed red symbolize the substitutionary sacrifice. God provided a ram as the substitute for Isaac when God tested Abraham’s faith. And the ram’s skin was died red to show the sacrifice of the substitute.

In the translation we read today, the next item required by God is manatee skins. The KJV says badger skins. Another translation says “another type of durable leather.” In other words, we don’t know exactly what the original Hebrew means. But we can surmise the meaning. It was to be an outer covering of a skin that was very durable and probably looked very nondescript, which speaks of Jesus’ humanity.  We are told in Isaiah 53:2 that “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

I’m going to speed things up here and just tell you the symbolism, and not go into detail.

Not that the details aren’t interesting, to me anyway, but in the interest of time.

So next on the list is Acacia wood. This speaks of the incorruptible humanity of Jesus.

The Oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

The Spices for the oil and incense represent a sweet smelling fragrance to God.

So many details, with so much meaning. And you can be sure, we just scratched the surface. Our God is infinite in so many ways, isn’t He, beloved?

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 25-28 HCSB

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