15 And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up. 16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.
These boards were the solid hard structure in which the curtains were to cover. I find it curious that the curtains were covered first. If I were instructing someone on how to build the tabernacle, I probably would have started with the boards and sockets, since these probably went down first; kind of like a foundation. But instead, God gave instruction first on what was inside the structure, then what was outside the structure, and then finally the structure. Am I the only one that thinks this odd? I can’t help but think of Ezekiel. First it was bones, then skin outside, and finally the breathe inside.
(Ezekiel 37:7-10) So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
So I wonder if there is any significance in all that. Maybe that first things should be first. What is the skeleton and the flesh without the breath? Is it possible that the instructions of the tabernacle may also layout an order of importance? Or an order of reality? Make sure the inside is in order first. Then worry about the rest. Maybe?
The boards are ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. If a cubit is 18 inches (as most believe), then that makes the board 27 inches wide. That’s a wide board! You can’t find solid wood at Home Depot that wide. You’d have to buy plywood. So that makes me wonder if these were solid boards, or were they pieced together, maybe like a butcher block? Also, the bible doesn’t say how thick they were. Or maybe they were framed to that size with lighter wood around it? They did have to carry these things. Or maybe something similar to how a door is constructed; a frame with panels. Some people think that they were only frames and not solid; in order to see the beautiful tapestries on the sides. There has got to be some explanation because a 27 inch solid board by 15 feet long is a serious problem. It’s like trying to get 6 foot wide 20 gauge stainless. Good luck!
If it was indeed solid, then they would have had to find 46 of the biggest, oldest, straightest trees in all the land. So God is definitely not a tree-hugger. Even pictures of the largest shittim trees just aren’t big enough. It may be possible that larger ones existed in abundance 4000 years ago, but the sheer weight would just be nuts. So I’m not trying to change badger to sea-cow. I just think that most likely, the boards were not solid boards. They were some kind of fabricated structure that was formed to the given size. I think also the word board back in 1600’s could be used to describe a table; which no doubt could be made of several boards.
Anyhow, the scripture that comes to mind is this: (Ephesians 2:19-22) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Now to use this verse will begin to push us away from our type of the tabernacle that we’ve been exploring of late; a picture of the individual believer and the indwelling state of the Holy Ghost. Perhaps, it reveals another glorious picture in that of the church. The individual believer is the temple of the Holy Ghost; an holy temple in the Lord; an habitation of God through the Spirit. But this verse deals not with just the individual, but the entire church. In fact, this area of Ephesians is really dealing with the merging of both Jews and Gentiles into one body. We see in this verse, and cannot deny, that the Holy Ghost dwells also in the body of Christ as a conglomeration; or a congregation; or an assembly.
Now is this to be viewed as an abiding presence as the indwelling of the Spirit? Can the body be filled with the Spirit as an individual can be filled with the Spirit? I most assuredly believe so; Pentecost being our primary example. (Acts 2:4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And after Peter and John were released from custody and prayed with the disicples, the bible says (Acts 4:31) And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. There’s individual worship and corporate worship. And in Acts 4:31, we see there’s individual service and corporate service for it says that they spake the word of God with boldness.
Let me say this and I’ll quit. I enjoy when the Spirit of God moves through the congregation; when the wind blows across the tabernacle, and each board begins to shake, the embroidered angel’s wings begin to flap, and the smell of incense is spread all around. Each board, each saint, 27 inches wide and 15 feet tall, cannot help but move as the wind passes by. Those angels tells us that all heaven takes notice at the worship of Jesus. All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall. The incense, of course, is the prayers of the saints going up into the nostrils of God. There ain’t nothing like it. May our church meetings be an holy temple in the Lord; an habitation of God through the Spirit. Grant it Lord, that there may always be your abiding presence in our sacred assembly.
We’ll definitely come back and look at more details regarding the boards. I’m not ready anyhow to leave the application to the individual. So I’m still studying.