Verse of the day: Exodus 27:9, 16 “You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long for one side.” “For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets.”
In order to enter the Tabernacle, the Israelites first had to enter by way of the Outer Court. The Outer Court was white; a symbol of purity and righteousness, and it had only one entrance on the east side, The Gate. The Gate was made of blue, purple, and scarlet, intertwined with white, a reminder that they were entering a heavenly place of royalty and one that required blood and sacrifice in order to be pure. In constructing the Tabernacle as He did, God was communicating to the Israelites how He was to be approached, and worshipped. They were to approach Him, and worship Him, in accordance to His direction, and not by manmade, merely religious, rituals. By having only one way in, God was also communicating that not every way was acceptable for entrance into His presence. Once inside, the first article approached is the Brazen Altar where animals were sacrificed, as burnt offerings, and where the blood was dabbed on the horns of the Altar. The Gate was a picture of the coming Messiah, by which all of us are granted access to God. Jesus said in John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” The Gate, being the only way, and the narrow way to enter the Outer Court, as they made their way into the presence of God, and was also a picture of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the only Way to the Father (John 14:6). Jesus said in Matthew 7:13:14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Interestingly, the Gate was not secure in any way to keep anyone from entering. Like salvation today, all who wanted to enter could enter by the only way provided, the Gate. However, the choice had to be a personal choice (Romans 10:13). Once you entered the Outer Court, everything around them was covered in bronze, a reminder of the judgement that loomed over them. However, as the horns of the Altar were a symbol of power, and the blood on them signifying the power in the blood to grant forgiveness of sins, they were also a symbol for a place of refuge (Exodus 21:12-14, 1 Kings 1:50-53). The only way to proceed from the Altar to the presence of God, in worship, was to first present a blood sacrifice, without blemish, that was acceptable to the LORD, and finding refuge in that sacrifice that was the acceptable substitute. This is the only acceptable way before God. We have that today in Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, who is the Gate, the Way, the Propitiation (or payment) for our sins, and our Refuge, who makes us acceptable before the Father (1 John 2:2; Matthew 11:28-30). The bottom line is that the Israelites could not approach God in any way they wanted. They had a prescribed way, and to stray from that way could cost them their lives. There are far too many people today who are making up their own way of approaching God; and sadly, there are far too many Christians who have decided that whatever ritual they have made up is the way to approach God or please Him with their lives. The only acceptable way to the Father is the Son (John 14:6). Even our works of righteousness, outside of Jesus, and for our own selfish purposes, or base on false doctrinal beliefs, is unacceptable to God (Titus 3:5-7). God told us in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” If what we are relying on is our own righteousness to be right and acceptable before God, then we are on a path to eternal damnation. If, as born again believers, we are relying on our works of righteousness, done outside of being a work that comes out of our faith, then we are relying on ourselves and not the righteousness that has been imputed on us in Christ (Hebrews 11:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). The only way that we, and our everyday worship (to include our words, attitudes, actions, and deeds), are acceptable before our Heavenly Father, is through His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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