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Subject 11-1 : The Tabernacle
[11-1] The Salvation of Sinners Revealed in the Tabernacle (Exodus 27:9-21)
(Exodus 27:9-21)
9 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.
10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be silver.
11 Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver.
12 And along the width of the courton the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets.
13 The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits.
14 The hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets.
15 And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets.
16 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.
17 All the pillars around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze.
18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, made of fine woven linen, and its sockets of bronze.
19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for all its service, all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.
20 And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually.
21 In the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening until morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of the children of Israel.
The length of the courtyard fence of the tabernacle is 100 cubits.
In the Bible, one cubit is defined as the length from the elbow to the tip of the fingers, which is about 45 cm.
Therefore, the fact that the length of the courtyard fence of the tabernacle is 100 cubits means it is about 45 meters, and the width being 50 cubits means it is 22.5 meters.
Thus, we can see that the tabernacle, where God dwelled among the people of Israel in the Old Testament era, was of that size.
There Is a Fence Set Up Around the Outer Court of the Tabernacle
Have you ever seen a picture or model of the Tabernacle? When you look at the Tabernacle as a whole, it is divided into the courtyard of the Tabernacle and the Holy Place, which is the house of God.
Inside the Tabernacle, which is the house of God, there is a small house called the Holy Place.
The Holy Place is covered with a covering skillfully embroidered with cherubim in finely twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, a covering made of goats’ hair, a covering made of ram skins dyed red, and a covering made of sea otter skins.
On the east side of the courtyard of the Tabernacle, there is a gate woven with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen.
When you go inside through that gate, you see the altar of burnt offering and the laver. After passing the laver, there is the Tabernacle. Inside the Tabernacle, it is divided into the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant of God is.
And the courtyard fence of the Tabernacle has a total of 60 pillars and is hung with white linen curtains. On the other hand, the walls of the Tabernacle are made of 48 boards.
First of all, we must understand the overall structure of the tabernacle so that we can know what God is telling us through the blueprint of the tabernacle.
God dwelled inside the Tabernacle, which was made with 48 boards, and at night a pillar of fire and during the day a pillar of cloud stayed above the Tabernacle, showing the Israelites the presence of God, and the Most Holy Place was filled with the glory of God. God was in the Most Holy Place.
In the Holy Place, there were the table of the showbread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense, and in the Most Holy Place, there were the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat.
Only the priests appointed by God could enter and serve God with all the furnishings in the Holy Place, and only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place once a year.
This tells us that even in this era, only those who have faith like gold, believing in the gospel of water and the Spirit, can serve and live with God.
What does the bread on the table of the showbread in the Holy Place mean? It means the Word of God.
What does the altar of incense mean? It means prayer.
In the Most Holy Place, there is the Ark of the Testimony, and the atonement cover made of pure gold is placed on top of the Ark. The cherubim spread their wings upward, covering the atonement cover with their wings, and their faces are turned toward each other, facing the atonement cover. That place is called the atonement cover, the place where grace is given.
Inside the Ark of the Testimony are the two stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded, and a jar containing manna.
And the Ark is covered with a lid (the mercy seat) made of gold, and above it, the angels look down toward the mercy seat.
Where Do Those Who Have Been Cleansed of Sin Live?
Those who have had their sins blotted out live in the Holy Place. The Holy Place is made with 48 boards, and all of them were overlaid with gold.
Everyone, just think about it. If you saw not just one or two, but 48 boards covered with gold, how dazzling would the golden light be? In this way, the Holy Place where God’s presence dwells is a place where all the furnishings are made of gold and shine brilliantly.
The altar of burnt offering and the laver in the outer court of the Tabernacle are all made of bronze, and the fence of the courtyard is made of linen curtains and pillars whose capitals are overlaid with silver.
In contrast, all the furnishings inside the Holy Place are made of gold. The lampstand is gold, and the table of the showbread is gold. Because all the furnishings inside the Holy Place are made of gold, the Holy Place always shone brilliantly with dazzling golden light.
This dazzling golden brilliance inside the Holy Place represents the life of faith that the saints—who have had their sins cleansed away—live within the church.
The sinless saints who live by faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are like pure gold within the Holy Place.
The life of these saints living in the Holy Place means being together with the church, receiving the Word of God through the church, praying to God, praising, and coming before the throne of God to receive grace every day. This is the life of faith in the Holy Place.
Please remember that only those who have been saved by water and the Spirit and are righteous without sin can live this life of faith in the Holy Place.
God Clearly Separated the Inside and Outside of the Sanctuary
Just as most houses have a fence, the courtyard of the tabernacle was also surrounded by a fence made of 60 pillars and enclosed with fine linen curtains.
On the east side of the tabernacle courtyard, there was a gate made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, so that anyone could easily recognize the entrance, and its width was as much as 9 meters.
As we study the tabernacle, we must clearly understand what kind of brilliant faith God desires, what kind of faith those who are saved have, and how the Lord saved us through the materials used in the tabernacle.
To learn about the brilliant, golden life of faith contained within the sanctuary, we must examine the laver, the altar of burnt offering, the fence in the outer court of the tabernacle, and all the materials used there, and understand the reasons for them.
Through this, we can know what kind of faith is required for one to enter the brilliant, golden sanctuary.
What is in the outer courtyard of the tabernacle? There is the bronze laver and the burnt offering altar. And there are sixty wooden pillars surrounding it, and a fence made of fine linen is stretched over those pillars.
In the outer courtyard of the tabernacle, there is a fence, and there are sixty wooden pillars. The wood used for the fence pillars is acacia wood. The acacia wood used for the tabernacle pillars is firm in material, has strong reproductive power, and is very light.
The pillars of the tabernacle made from such wood are about 2.25 meters high. Therefore, people of average height cannot look over into the inside of the courtyard fence from the outside. If someone deliberately brings something to stand on and looks over, they might be able to see inside, but normally it is not possible. This tells us that it is not possible to enter the kingdom of God by human effort.
At the bottom of the wooden pillars of the outer courtyard fence of the tabernacle are bronze sockets, and at the top of the pillars are silver capitals.
Since the fence pillars cannot stand by themselves, there are silver bands that serve the role of holding the pillars together. In order to hold the pillars securely, the silver bands connect the silver hooks attached to the top of the pillars and the bronze pegs driven into the ground, thereby firmly fixing the pillars.
What Were the Materials of the Gate of the Tabernacle Courtyard?
The materials of the gate of the tabernacle courtyard were blue thread, purple thread, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen.
The gate of the tabernacle courtyard was about 2.25 meters high and about 9 meters wide, and it was a curtain woven of blue, purple, scarlet thread, and fine linen, hung on four pillars. Therefore, anyone who wanted to enter the tabernacle courtyard could easily find the gate.
The materials of blue, purple, and scarlet thread used in the tabernacle gate represent that God would save us from all sins through the four ministries of His Son Jesus.
The sixty wooden pillars with the fine linen fence in the outer courtyard of the tabernacle also precisely show how God would save you and me from sin through His Son Jesus.
God clearly shows us the secret of salvation through the outer courtyard gate of the tabernacle.
Let us look at the materials used in the gate of the tabernacle courtyard. It was woven with “blue thread, purple thread, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen.” Everyone, these four threads are extremely important for us to believe in Jesus and receive salvation. If these materials were not important, the Bible would not have recorded them in such detail.
All the materials used in the gate of the tabernacle courtyard were essential materials for God to save you and me. These four threads were necessary for God to save sinful people, and therefore, the gate of the tabernacle courtyard was necessarily embroidered with blue, purple, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen.
God determined it that way. Therefore, God showed Moses the model of the tabernacle on Mount Sinai and commanded him to make the tabernacle courtyard gate in this manner.
What Do the Blue Thread, Scarlet Thread, Purple Thread, and Finely Twisted Linen Mean?
In the door leading into the sanctuary, a curtain embroidered with blue, purple, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen was used, and the veil between the sanctuary and the Most Holy Place was also made of these four threads.
Moreover, the garments of the priests who served in the tabernacle were also made of blue, purple, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen.
So then, what do the blue thread, scarlet thread, purple thread, and finely twisted linen signify? What do these, which are absolutely necessary for our Lord to save us, clearly tell us? This is a part we must carefully examine.
First, the blue thread speaks of the baptism of Jesus Christ. People who do not know about baptism do not know that the blue thread refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ.
So, those who are not born again generally say about the meaning of the blue thread, “It means that Jesus Christ is God, King, and came in the flesh.” However, the Bible says that the blue thread is ‘the baptism that Jesus received to take on the sins of the world when He came to this earth.’
Some people also say, “The blue thread simply means the Word.” However, the Word of the Bible clearly shows that the blue thread refers to the water baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist.
As I was looking at the Word regarding the tabernacle, I came to realize, ‘Aha, God wants to reveal to us the importance of the faith in the baptism of Jesus.’
The outer robe that the high priest wears when offering sacrifices is also woven with blue thread. And on the turban that the high priest wears on his head, there is a gold plate attached, and the cord that ties this gold plate is made of a blue cord. On that gold plate is engraved the inscription “HOLINESS TO THE LORD.”
We can clearly see that the blue cord tying the gold plate on the high priest’s turban represents the baptism of Jesus, which offers holiness to the Lord.
In this way, God speaks to us about the salvation of truth through the blue cord that ties the gold plate on the turban. In other words, the connecting link that gives us holiness is blue, and this is the baptism of Jesus.
Ordinarily, when we generally think of blue, we associate it with the blue sky and think of God, but blue does not simply mean God.
Among the blue, purple, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen, the blue thread means the baptism of Jesus Christ. In other words, the blue thread means that Jesus Christ received baptism and took upon Himself all the sins of every sinner in the world (Matthew 3:15).
If Jesus had not received baptism to take on the sins of all people, none of us believers could have attained “HOLINESS TO THE LORD.” Without the baptism that Jesus received, we could never receive holiness before God.
Everyone, do you understand the spiritual meaning of why God commanded that the gate of the tabernacle courtyard be woven and embroidered with blue thread? The gate into the courtyard, which leads into the tabernacle where God dwells, refers to Jesus Christ.
Without Jesus Christ, no one can enter the kingdom of heaven. That the courtyard gate, which points to Jesus, was woven with blue, purple, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen clearly shows that God wanted to reveal to us the truth that leads to salvation.
Therefore, the blue, purple, and scarlet threads speak of the baptism of Jesus, His death on the cross, and that He, who is God, came in the flesh of man.
The ministry of Jesus represented in the blue, purple, and scarlet threads gives us the faith by which we can come before the Lord in holiness.
The purple speaks of the Holy Spirit and tells us that ‘Jesus is the King of kings.’ The scarlet thread speaks of the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the cross. The blue thread, as just mentioned, speaks of the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist.
Jesus, who is God, came to this earth clothed in human flesh, and by receiving baptism, took upon His body all the sins of sinners, and for all the sins of humanity, Jesus took the judgment and curse on our behalf and shed His blood—this is the spiritual secret contained in the blue, purple, and scarlet threads.
Until now, you may have thought that the blue thread simply represented God or the Word of God. But now you must clearly understand. The blue thread speaks of the baptism of Jesus Christ.
The baptism of Jesus, by which all our sins were transferred onto Him, is an indispensable and crucial truth in Jesus’ work that gives us the blotting out of sins.
For this reason, even from the tabernacle of the Old Testament, God clearly spoke of the blue thread—that is, the baptism of Jesus.
The Baptism That Jesus Received Was to Take on Our Sins
The pillars of the tabernacle fence were made of acacia wood. At the bottom of those pillars were bronze sockets. And on top of those pillars were silver capitals made to cover them. This tells us that sinners must be judged because of their sins.
Only those who acknowledge that they are sinners who, because of their sins, can only go to hell, can receive salvation. Those who do not acknowledge that they are sinners destined for hell cannot receive salvation. Such people can only receive eternal punishment, which is judgment, before God because of their sins.
As it is written, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), sinners must surely receive God’s terrifying judgment because of their sins.
Therefore, a sinner must once, by faith, be judged before God regarding sin and then, by receiving God’s grace, come back to life. That is what it means to be born again by faith.
The faith of the blue thread—that Jesus Christ took on all our sins through His baptism; the faith of the scarlet thread—that Jesus received judgment on the cross and saved all of us sinners from sin; this faith is what causes us to die to sin and be born again.
You must know that for those who do not believe this fact and do not pass through judgment by faith, only eternal judgment awaits.
The baptism of Jesus was precisely to take on all the sins of the world in order to save us sinners from sin. The baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist was to take on all our sins.
Jesus is God, but in order to save us, He put on a human body, received baptism from John the Baptist—the representative of all humanity—to take on all the sins of sinners, and offered His body on the cross, shedding His blood and receiving judgment on behalf of sinners.
The gate of the tabernacle courtyard shows in great detail the work that Jesus did to become our Savior. Through the blue, purple, scarlet thread, and finely twisted linen of the tabernacle courtyard gate, God clearly tells us that Jesus became the Savior of sinners.
The finely twisted linen signifies that God has given us the words of the Old and New Testaments, which are so detailed and perfectly matched.
The finely twisted linen is woven so delicately, strand by strand. Through the finely twisted linen, God is speaking to us very specifically about the Word by which He saved us.
When you look at a carpet, you see that various threads are woven together, strand by strand. In the same way, God commanded that the gate of the tabernacle courtyard be made by laying the finely twisted linen as the base and then embroidering blue, purple, and scarlet thread on top of it.
This tells us that hidden within God’s detailed Word is the truth that Jesus, who came through water (baptism), blood (the cross), and the Holy Spirit (Jesus being God), is the door of our salvation.
Now we can know the right faith concerning Jesus Christ as revealed in the delicate Word of God, receive God’s love, and fully receive salvation by faith.
Jesus Christ did not save us in a rough or careless way. You can know this by looking at the tabernacle. Jesus saved sinners in a detailed, precise way.
This fact can also be known by looking at the pillars of the fence. Everyone, why specifically is the number of pillars sixty? It is because the number 6 refers to man.
In Revelation 13, the expression 666 appears, which is the number of the beast, and it says that the one who has wisdom understands the secret of this number.
On the other hand, the number 3 is the number referring to God. The number 6 is the number of man. The number 666 means that humans act as if they are God.
What is the desire of humans? Is it not to become a perfect, god-like being? To truly become a god-like being, one must be born again through faith in Jesus and, by this, become a child of God.
However, instead of having faith in what Jesus has done, people act in proud evil by trying to become sons of God through their own efforts.
It is for this reason that people reinterpret all of God’s Word according to their own desires and end up believing wrongly through human thinking. Rather than following faith, they follow their own desires and oppose God.
Because of the desire to become perfect on their own, to perfect their own flesh, they ultimately become far removed from the complete Word of God.
The Word of Salvation Revealed in All the Materials of the Tabernacle
In order for Jesus Christ to save sinners and bring them into the sanctuary, all the furnishings and materials of the tabernacle were necessary. The burnt offering altar was needed, the laver was needed, the pillars and the bronze sockets and the silver coverings were needed, and the hooks and the silver bands were also needed.
All of these are the furnishings outside the sanctuary, and the materials of all these furnishings were absolutely necessary to make each and every sinner into a righteous person.
All of these are needed for a sinner to come in and live within the kingdom of God, but among them, the most important was the blue thread (the baptism of Jesus).
That is why blue, purple, and scarlet threads were used at the gate of the tabernacle courtyard. This speaks of the three ministries of Jesus that are absolutely necessary for us to believe in God.
First, Jesus came to this earth and took on all our sins through His baptism.
Second, that Jesus is God (the Holy Spirit);
And third, that Jesus died on the cross to receive judgment for all the sins that were passed onto Him at the Jordan River through John.
All of these are essential elements of faith for sinners to be saved from sin and become righteous.
When we look at the Bible, we come to know, ‘The Lord is so detailed.’ We clearly come to know that it is God Himself who saved us so delicately, like finely twisted linen thread, one strand at a time.
Moreover, God commanded to make the gate of the tabernacle court by embroidering blue, purple, and scarlet thread on a fine linen curtain that was 9 meters long.
Therefore, no matter how far away someone was, they could accurately recognize the gate of the tabernacle when they looked at it.
The white fine linen curtain on the fence of the tabernacle court represents God’s holiness.
Therefore, the sinner comes to realize that they cannot dare to come close to the tabernacle.
Thus, the sinner must know the fact that they can only enter into the tabernacle court if they receive salvation by believing in the work of Jesus revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread embroidered on the gate of the tabernacle court.
In this way, God made it known to sinners that Jesus Christ, through the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, has blotted out all their sins and saved them.
Not only that, but even the materials of all the instruments that make up the tabernacle, including the gate of the tabernacle court, also reveal God’s detailed word needed to make the sinner into a righteous person.
God commanded to make the gate of the tabernacle court large enough so that anyone could find it, and because the gate of the tabernacle court was made as the word commanded—finely embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread on the fine linen curtain—He made it so that anyone who saw the gate of the tabernacle court could clearly know the word of truth that makes sinners into righteous people.
The gate of the tabernacle court tells us that we, who are like acacia wood, have been perfectly saved from sin through the blue thread (baptism), the scarlet thread (the blood of the cross), and the purple thread (Jesus being God).
God set it so that only those who clearly believe this can enter the Holy Place, which is the house of God.
Jesus Christ Speaks to Us
God tells us that in order to live a golden, splendid life of faith inside the Holy Place, we must come before the Lord with the faith that Jesus received baptism and washed away all sins.
Therefore, God Himself showed Moses the blueprint of the tabernacle, had the tabernacle built through Moses, and allowed the people of Israel to receive the removal of sins through the system of this tabernacle.
We must know and believe the faith that we must go through in the courtyard of the tabernacle before we can come into the Holy Place.
God continues to speak in the courtyard of the tabernacle about the faith that Jesus saved us through the water (baptism), blood, and the Holy Spirit.
The faith in the gate of the courtyard being woven with blue, purple, and scarlet thread, the laying on of hands by the high priest on the sacrificial lamb and the shedding of the sacrificial lamb’s blood, the faith in the high priest washing his hands and feet at the laver, the faith in the gospel of water and the Spirit—this is the pure gold-like faith that allows us to enter the Holy Place and live gloriously.
God, through the tabernacle, has permitted all of us to receive the grace and blessings of salvation.
Through the tabernacle, we can know the blessings that God has given to us.
Through the tabernacle, we can come before the throne of God’s grace and know and believe in the grace of salvation that allows us to receive salvation once and for all.
Everyone, do you understand?
Through the tabernacle, we can see and believe just how delicately our Lord has saved you and me, how delicately He planned to save us, and how He fulfilled that plan to make us sinners into righteous people.
Have you perhaps vaguely believed in Jesus until now?
Are you perhaps believing that the blue means the sky?
Are you only knowing and believing with the faith of purple and scarlet, that the King of kings, Jesus Christ, came to this earth and saved us on the cross?
If so, now you must meet the true faith.
You must clearly know the blue faith, the baptism of Jesus, and receive the immeasurable grace of salvation given by God.
God did not save us by blood and the Holy Spirit alone.
God clearly speaks of the blue, the scarlet, and the purple, and through these three threads He is clearly telling us how Jesus saved us.
Our God has delicately shown the work of Jesus’ salvation through the tabernacle.
God commanded Moses to build the tabernacle, and then, through this tabernacle, promised that God would save us in this way.
And just as He promised, Jesus Christ came to this earth clothed in human flesh and, in the water of the Jordan River (blue), received baptism to take on the sins of the world.
Through the baptism, Jesus actually saved sinners from all sins.
That is why: how delicate, how precise, how certain the salvation we have received is!
When you enter the Holy Place, you see the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense.
Before entering the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant of God is, we who have been saved by faith are in the Holy Place where the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense are.
In that Holy Place, shining brilliantly with gold, we get to freely eat the bread of the Word and live. How blessed is this!
Before going to the Kingdom of God, we, as those who have been born again by the gospel of water and the Spirit and have been fully saved, live in the church of God.
The church of God that gives us the bread of life is the Holy Place.
In the Holy Place, that is, in the church of God, there are the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense.
The lampstand was made by hammering one talent of pure gold into its base, shaft, bowls, ornamental knobs, and flowers.
Just like this lampstand made from one hammered talent of pure gold, God is telling us that we, the righteous, must unite with the church of God.
And on the table of showbread is placed unleavened bread that has no yeast mixed in, which means the nourishment of God’s pure Word, untainted by the evil and filth of the world.
The Holy Place, that is, the church of God, spreads the pure Word of God without yeast, lives without doing evil before God, and lives with pure faith.
In front of the Most Holy Place is the altar of incense.
The altar of incense is the place to offer prayers to God.
Through the instruments in the Holy Place, God tells us that when we come before God, there must be unity, faith in the pure Word of God, and prayer.
Only the righteous can pray, because God listens only to the prayers of the righteous.
And only the one who prays before God can meet God.
In this way, the Holy Place tells us how glorious it is to have been saved in the church of God.
The main materials used in the tabernacle — the blue thread (Jesus receiving baptism), the scarlet thread (Jesus taking on all our sins through His baptism and dying on the cross, receiving judgment for sin), and the purple thread (Jesus is God) — speak to us of the indispensable faith we must have.
These three are everything in our faith.
If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and, as the very being of God, saved us sinners through the blue, scarlet, and purple thread, we can enter the golden, splendid Holy Place where God’s presence dwells.
If one does not believe in the works of Jesus shown in these three threads, no matter how much they say they believe in Jesus, they cannot enter the Holy Place.
Even if one says they believe in Jesus, not just anyone can enter the sanctuary.
Those Who Dwell in the Courtyard of the Tabernacle With Mistaken Faith
Today, even while believing in Jesus and living a life of faith, there are many who cannot enter the Holy Place. There are many who want to be saved by believing roughly day by day.
Those who think that just believing in the blood of Jesus Christ and that Jesus is God and the King of kings is enough to be saved are exactly such people. They believe in Jesus in a very simple way.
They only believe in the blood of Jesus and go into the altar of burnt offering every day and pray blindly.
‘Today, too, I am a sinner. Lord, please forgive me. Lord, I am so thankful that You were crucified and died in my place. Oh Lord, I LOVE YOU!’
After doing that in the morning and going back, when evening comes, they come again to the altar of burnt offering and say the same prayer.
Those who believe in Jesus like this but, as sinners with sin in their hearts, commute back and forth every morning, every evening, every month to the altar of burnt offering are those who have not been born again and have fallen into the error of believing according to their own thoughts.
They put the sacrificial offering on the altar of burnt offering, where the bright red fire blazes, and offer the burnt sacrifice.
As the meat burns in the bright red fire, the smell of burning meat rises, and black and white smoke continuously goes up.
The altar of burnt offering is not a place to weep asking for sin to be removed, but actually a place that reminds one of the fearful hellfire for sin.
There, morning and evening, they go and say, “Lord, I have sinned. Please forgive my sin” and, feeling as if they have been forgiven by themselves, they return home happily.
“♪I am forgiven, you are forgiven, we are forgiven♪.”
They happily hum songs as they go back.
But that feeling is only momentary.
Before long, they sin again and say, ‘Lord, I am a sinner,’ and end up going again before the altar of burnt offering.
Those who go to the altar of burnt offering as if going to work every day and return from it as if getting off work every day are still sinners every day, even if they believe in Jesus.
Such people can never enter the holy Kingdom of God.
Then who is it that, by faith, receives complete remission of sins and enters into God’s Holy Place?
It is the one who knows and believes in the secret of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread that God has established.
Such a person passes by the altar of burnt offering with the faith that believes in Jesus’ baptism, by which his sins were passed onto Him, and His death on the cross.
And after standing before the laver, again reflecting on how all sins were passed on through baptism, and washing his hands and feet, he is able to enter into God’s Holy Place.
The one who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and has received the remission of sins enters heaven by faith — because he has passed the test of faith.
I hope that all of you will know and believe that the blue thread in the Bible means the baptism of Jesus.
Today, there are many people who believe in Jesus, but I have seen so many times that it is rare to find someone who goes as far as believing in the faith of the water , which is Jesus’ baptism.
This is such a heartbreaking thing.
Jesus did not just come to this earth as God and die on the cross — yet many people, leaving out the most important faith in Jesus’ baptism, believe only partially, and this is truly heartbreaking.
Even now, I hope that all of you will know and believe in the faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and become those who enter the Kingdom of God.
The Blue Thread, Purple Thread, and Scarlet Thread, Which Are the Materials of the Tabernacle, Represent, and We Must Be Saved by Believing in the Lord, Who Is the Substance
Our Lord has saved me and you. When we look at the tabernacle, we come to know how meticulously the Lord has saved me and you. We cannot help but be so thankful for that.
I am truly grateful to the Lord who has saved us sinners from sin with the blue thread, purple thread, and scarlet thread, and who has also given us the faith to believe in the blue, purple, and scarlet threads.
A sinner must pass through God’s fearful judgment of sin by receiving God’s grace. Otherwise, he can never enter the sanctuary. How can someone who has not passed through the judgment for sin open the door of the tabernacle and enter the sanctuary? He cannot enter.
If such a person enters the sanctuary, he will be cursed to become blind. “Oh, it’s dazzling. But why can’t I see? When I was outside, I thought I would be able to see everything if I just entered the sanctuary. Why can’t I see anything and is it completely dark? When I was outside the sanctuary, I could see well.... They said it would be bright inside the sanctuary, but why is it even darker?”
It is because they have been spiritually blinded due to lacking the faith to believe in the blue, purple, and scarlet threads. In this way, a sinner can never enter the Holy Place.
Our Lord has allowed us to receive the blessing of living forever in the Holy Place without being blinded inside it.
God precisely spoke of the way He would save us through the blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and the fine twisted linen used in the tabernacle, and according to that prophetic word, He saved us from all sins.
The Lord saved us through water, blood, and the Holy Spirit so that we would not be blinded but could enjoy God’s brilliant grace and live forever. He saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet threads and the fine twisted linen.
The Lord told us that He promised through God’s delicate word and fulfilled that promise to save us.
Do you believe that you and I have been saved by the delicate work of Jesus revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet threads and the fine twisted linen? —Yes!—
Were you just roughly and carelessly saved? —No.— You cannot be saved without believing in the blue, purple, and scarlet threads.
The blue thread does not refer to God. The blue refers to Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, by which He took on all the sins of the world’s sinners.
However, even if one does not believe in the blue thread, which is Jesus’ baptism, they can still go to the altar of burnt offering inside the tabernacle. They may even be able to go as far as the laver placed after the altar, but they cannot enter the Holy Place where God is.
The only ones who can open the door of the tabernacle and enter the Holy Place are God’s children who have fully believed in the gospel of water and the Spirit and have received the removal of their sins. However, no one who still has sin can enter the Holy Place.
Without believing in the spiritual meanings revealed in these three threads, you cannot pass through the door of the Holy Place.
Ordinary people usually think that just entering the courtyard of the tabernacle through its gate means they have been saved, but in fact, that is not salvation. Then, how far must one enter to be considered saved? It is not salvation just to enter the courtyard of the tabernacle; the one who enters the sanctuary where God is, is the one who is saved.
The Difference Between the Faith Outside and Inside the Tabernacle
The altar of burnt offering and the laver in the outer court of the tabernacle are all made of bronze, and the fence is made of wood, silver, and bronze. However, once you enter the Holy Place, the materials change completely. Therefore, the characteristic of the Holy Place is that it is called the “house of gold.”
The 48 boards of the Holy Place, made of acacia wood, are all overlaid with gold. The table of showbread and the altar of incense inside the Holy Place were also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, and the lampstand was hammered out from one talent of pure gold. So, all the utensils inside the Holy Place are made of gold.
On the other hand, what are the bases of the boards of the tabernacle made of? They are made of silver. The bases of the pillars of the courtyard fence were made of bronze, but the bases of the boards of the tabernacle were made of silver. Also, the pillars of the courtyard fence were wood, but the boards of the Holy Place were acacia wood overlaid with gold.
However, what are the five bases of the pillars of the tabernacle entrance made of? They are made of cast bronze. While the bases of the boards of the tabernacle were made of silver, the pillars of the entrance of the tabernacle were made of cast bronze. What does this mean?
It means that anyone who comes before God must pass through the judgment for their sins.
However, if someone, being in a sinful state, reaches death and comes under God’s judgment, how can they come before God?
If they die with sin still in their heart, they cannot come before God.
Therefore, God used bronze as the bases for the five pillars of the tabernacle entrance. In other words, the use of bronze as the bases tells us that although we had to be judged for our sins, Jesus took on our sins through His baptism and was judged on our behalf because of those sins.
We were those who had to be judged for our sins. But the sacrificial offering took all the judgment for those sins on our behalf. Someone died in our place so that we did not have to die. The one who received baptism to take on our sins and was judged and died on our behalf was none other than Jesus Christ.
The faith represented by the blue thread is the faith that believes Jesus Christ took on all our sins through His baptism and blotted out all our sins.
God the Father resolved all the sins of mankind by receiving the life of Jesus Christ—by transferring them to Jesus Christ and by judging Him on the Cross.
Therefore, from now on, there is no longer any judgment we must face because of sin.
The faith represented by the scarlet thread is the faith that believes in the blood Jesus shed on the cross. That faith believes that Jesus Christ took the judgment for our sins on our behalf.
Only those who, by believing in Jesus’ baptism, pass all their sins over to Jesus, and by believing in the blood He shed on the cross when He was put to death in the flesh for all those sins, have received judgment for all sin — only they can enter the Holy Place.
The reason why the bases of the entrance pillars of the tabernacle are made of bronze is precisely because of this. Therefore, we must believe in Jesus’ baptism, by which He took on all our sins, and in the blood of Christ, who was judged on our behalf.
God determined that only those who have firm faith in the fact that Jesus Christ, who saved them from all their sins, is God Himself (purple thread), in Jesus’ baptism (blue thread), and in the fact that Jesus was judged on behalf of our sins (scarlet thread), can enter the Holy Place.
God has permitted only those who, by putting their faith solely in what Jesus has done, have received judgment for their sins by faith, to enter the Holy Place.
The bases of the pillars of the tabernacle were cast from bronze.
The bronze bases carry the spiritual meaning that all sinners, born as descendants of Adam, must have the faith in the blue thread (Jesus’ baptism), the scarlet thread (Jesus being judged for sinners), and the purple thread (Jesus, who is God, has perfectly saved us from sin through water and blood), in order to be able to enter the Holy Place where God is.
That the bases of the pillars were made of bronze speaks of the gospel of God, according to the word, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23), which declares that Jesus has blotted out all our sins through water, blood, and the Holy Spirit.
We Must Believe in the Word of God and Not Disregard It
Just because you believe in Jesus does not mean you are unconditionally saved. Just because you go to church does not mean you are unconditionally born again.
In John chapter 3, our Lord said that only those who are born again of water and the Spirit can see the kingdom of God. To Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews who believed in God well, Jesus said, “Are you a teacher of Israel and do not know about being born again? Unless a person is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God,” He stated clearly.
A person who believes in Jesus can be born again only when he has faith in the blue thread , the scarlet thread , and the purple thread , which represent the works Jesus has done.
Therefore, all sinners must believe, through the blue, purple, and scarlet threads used in the tabernacle, that “Jesus is the Savior of sinners.”
Because many people do not know or believe this, they cannot be born again even though they believe in Jesus, and they do not know the word of being born again.
Our Lord clearly said that even if you believe in Jesus, if you are not born again, you can never enter the sanctuary, the Father’s kingdom, and you cannot live a proper life of faith.
From a human perspective, we may think, “How nice would it be if everyone who believes in Jesus is born again?” Isn’t that so? “♫You are saved, I am saved, we are saved, jjan-jjan♫.”
If just calling on the name of Jesus without knowing in detail about the work Jesus accomplished to save humanity, or even if just saying with words “I believe,” were enough to be saved, then people would consider believing in Jesus to be extremely easy and convenient.
If their faith is correct, would we really need to evangelize?
They think that just by calling on the name of Jesus they are saved, and since they are saved anyway, they believe they can still live however they want, taking salvation lightly.
However, God has said that you can never be born again with such faith. Rather, He says that those who claim to be saved without knowing the gospel of water and the Spirit are workers of lawlessness.
Being Born Again Is Not of the Flesh but of the Spirit
Jesus became a human and came to this earth to save us through the gospel of water and the Spirit.
As we have heard by oral tradition, Jesus’ earthly father was a carpenter, and Jesus served under His carpenter father, working as a carpenter for 29 years.
Just as Jesus had both divinity and humanity, we who are born-again righteous people also possess both natures. We have both flesh and spirit.
Therefore, if someone says they believe in Jesus but their spirit has not been born again, that is not truly being born again. If there is someone who says they believe in Jesus while their spirit has not been born again, that person is like Nicodemus, who tried to be born again in a fleshly way, and they are never truly born again.
Even though Jesus was the very essence of God, He came to this earth clothed in the weak flesh of a human. Therefore, when we say we are born again, it means that our spirit has been born again, not our flesh.
If all the people who believe in Jesus now were really born again, I would probably have become known as a very gentle pastor.
Why? Because now, as I preach with a desperate heart wanting those who do not know the truth to come to know it, I end up raising my voice and shouting, but before those who are truly born again, I would not have done that.
I would probably have been known as a very kind, very polite, courteous, gentle, soft, and humorous pastor. If I wanted to, I could easily do that.
It’s not that I lack the ability to instill in your hearts the thought, “Ah, that pastor truly resembles the holy and merciful image of Jesus.”
But the human flesh cannot be changed, and just because someone’s flesh appears a little kind, gentle, and merciful does not mean that person is a born-again righteous person.
One cannot be born again through the flesh. Only the spirit — the other nature that a person possesses — must be born again by believing in God’s Word.
To believe in Jesus correctly, one must know the truth. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
Only the truth of God can make us be born again, set our souls free from the bondage of sin, and make us be born again as righteous people.
Only by knowing the Bible correctly, believing it correctly, and preaching it correctly can we enter the Holy Place, live a life of faith, and also approach the mercy seat in the Most Holy Place.
The gospel of water and the Spirit, which makes our souls be born again, is the truth, and the faith that believes in this removes all our sins and allows us to live together with God within the world of faith.
The gospel of water and the Spirit in our hearts enables us, as born-again children of God, to live happily with the Lord in the spiritual and light-filled world.
Everyone, blindly believing in Jesus is not true faith.
From a human point of view, I have many shortcomings. I’m not just saying that with words — when I actually try to do something, I realize very much how lacking I am.
For example, when I prepare for the retreat so that the believers and new souls who attend can listen to the Word comfortably, receive much grace in their hearts, be blessed to be born again, and return with rest in both body and heart, I often find how many things I fail to prepare because I did not think ahead of time.
Things that could have been done with just a bit more attention and care always end up being revealed when the retreat begins after the preparation period is over.
Even when preparing for the retreat, if I had just given a little more heart and care, the congregation and new souls would have listened to the Word well, received salvation, and stayed well, but I think, “Why didn’t I think about and prepare for these things in advance?”
Also, even when we gather and work all day for preparation, there are so many cases where the work is inefficient and the outcome does not match the effort, and I personally feel my shortcomings very much.
“Why can’t I do this? Why couldn’t I think this far? Why can’t I do something that would only take a bit more care?” When actually doing the work of serving the gospel, I feel deeply how lacking I am.
So, I come to know and acknowledge, “This is the kind of person I am. I am this lacking.”
I think highly of myself in my heart, but it’s not just in words that I say I am lacking; I see that I cannot even do small things thoroughly and just do things roughly. When I look at myself, I really feel my shortcomings a lot.
We Obtain Holiness from Sin through the Faith of the Blue Thread
When a person thinks about themselves, they may feel as if they make no mistakes and do everything well. However, when they actually try doing something themselves, their true ability and shortcomings are laid bare. They come to see that they are truly lacking and that they are someone who inevitably commits sin.
Also, when one is caught up in the thought that they are doing well, they fall into the illusion that they will enter the kingdom of God because they believe well. But the flesh is never transformed. There is no flesh that is not lacking, and it always commits wrongs and reveals shortcomings.
If any of you have the thought that you can enter the Lord’s kingdom because your flesh does something well, know that whatever the flesh does well, it is of no use before God.
The only thing that enables us to enter the Lord’s kingdom is the faith in the truth of the Lord’s salvation — the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Because the Lord saved us with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, we can enter the sanctuary by faith.
If God had not saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, none of us would ever be able to enter the sanctuary. No matter how good our faith is, we cannot enter.
Why? Because that would mean we could only enter if our daily acts or faith that come from our own flesh were good enough. If we could only enter the kingdom of God by having good faith every day, how could we, who have flesh, keep our faith good every day to enter?
We cannot avoid committing sin every day, nor do we have the faith to turn back when we sin — then how could we possibly enter heaven by keeping our faith good every single day? That would mean we would need to pray repentant prayers without fail every day, fast, and be a holy body that does not commit sin at all — but who could possibly do that?
If God had not saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, there would be no one among us who could enter the kingdom of heaven.
People are such that even if they have good faith for a moment, that faith soon disappears. As one repeats the cycle of having good faith and then losing it, in the end, they become confused as to whether they even have faith, and they lose even the faith they had at the beginning. Eventually, they end up becoming even more of a sinner despite believing in Jesus.
But Jesus saved us lacking sinners according to His plan of salvation shown in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the finely twisted linen. He gave us the removal of sins.
Only when one has this evidence can they attach the golden plate inscribed with “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” to the turban like the priest. And only then can they fulfill the duties of the priest.
The people who can perform the priestly duty of testifying to others about “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” are those who have the evidence in their hearts that they have received the removal of sins through the gospel of water and the Spirit.
On the turban that the priest wears, there is a golden plate, and what ties this golden plate to the turban is a blue cord.
But why did God command that the turban be tied with a blue cord? Because what was absolutely necessary for our Lord to save us was the blue thread, and this blue thread speaks of the baptism that Jesus received to bear all our sins.
If the Lord had not borne our sins and taken our sins away through baptism in the New Testament, which was in the form of the laying on of hands in the Old Testament, no matter how well we believe in Jesus, we could never obtain holiness before Jehovah.
That is why He commanded that the golden plate be tied to the turban with the blue cord.
And whenever people see the high priest wearing the golden plate inscribed with “HOLINESS TO THE LORD,” they can be reminded in their hearts that they must be made holy by receiving the removal of sins before God. And they come to think about how we can become holy before Jehovah.
Then we also must think about this: How did we become righteous?
Let’s look at Matthew 3:15, “For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
Jesus saved all of us from sin by receiving baptism. Because Jesus received baptism and took on our sins, those who believe this are without sin.
If Jesus had not received baptism for us, how could we possibly dare to say that we are without sin?
Does merely thinking about Jesus dying on the cross and squeezing out tears that won’t come give us the removal of sins?
Because it’s too difficult to feel sorrow just by thinking of Jesus, who died for us without any connection to us, many people end up crying while thinking about their grandfather or grandmother who passed away, or recalling how sad they were when they were sick, or when they were suffering during hard times.
Even if they cry like that artificially or weep because they feel sorry for Jesus who died on the cross, sin can never be removed.
Just as the golden plate engraved with “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” is tied with a blue cord, it is the baptism of Jesus that removes our sins and makes us holy.
Because Jesus bore all our sins through His baptism, because God the Father laid the iniquity of us all on His Son, and because all the sins of the world were transferred to Jesus through baptism, our hearts have received the removal of sins.
Even if we have no emotions in our hearts or our actions are lacking, because the Word of the blue thread that brings salvation is recorded here in the Bible, we have become righteous by believing this fact.
When we look at our flesh, we cannot be confident, but in our hearts, we have the faith of the blue thread — that is, the perfect gospel of water and the Spirit, which tells us that Jesus bore all sins through baptism and received judgment on the cross. Therefore, we can confidently and boldly proclaim the gospel.
Because we have the gospel of water and the Spirit, we can live with the faith of the righteous, and we also spread this faith of the righteous to others.
I cannot express how thankful I am for the Lord’s grace. I am all the more grateful because our salvation was not achieved in a careless or superficial way.
The salvation we have received is not a common salvation that anyone can receive without believing according to the law of salvation that God planned and accomplished.
It is never the case that everyone who simply calls out “Lord, Lord” in their own way will be saved.
It is because we have the evidence in our hearts that our sins have been removed through the gospel of water and the Spirit, by which the Lord saved us in detail with the blue, scarlet, and purple threads and the fine twisted linen, that we are so thankful for this great salvation.
It is said that everyone who believes in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has this evidence in their hearts (1 John 5:10).
If there is no evidence in the heart, it makes God out to be a liar, so we must have the assurance of salvation in our hearts.
Those who have the assurance of salvation can boldly provide the following evidence without feeling the slightest bit intimidated, even if someone challengingly and skeptically asks, “Show me the evidence that you are saved. You say you received the gift of the Holy Spirit when your sins were blotted out, so show me that evidence.”
They can confidently testify as follows: “Within me is the gospel of water and the Spirit by which Jesus has perfectly saved me. Through this, I have received perfect salvation, so I am without sin.”
If there is no evidence of salvation in the heart, then one has not received salvation.
No matter how much a person says they believe in Jesus, if there is no evidence, that is not salvation.
That is only unrequited love.
“♫Why is it that my heart races, whenever I see her, whenever I see her, I must be in a one-sided love♫.”
Even if one’s own heart trembles, if the other person has no reaction, that is exactly what a one-sided love is.
The one who is the target of this one-sided love is like this: “♪Why is it that my heart does not race, even when I see that person, even when I see that person, I guess I do not love them♪.”
No matter how the other person feels, it does not matter to them at all.
Just as a person whom you cannot love won’t suddenly love you just because you look at them with a fluttering heart, with expectations, feeling love, and sending longing glances — in the same way, God will not embrace someone who has not received the remission of sins just because they look at Him with an anxious heart.
That is exactly what a one-sided love is.
To love God, we must love Him by believing in God’s Word within the truth.
We must not love God in a one-sided love all by ourselves.
We must tell Him about our love and then love Him after knowing whether He truly loves us or not.
If the other person does not love you, but you give all your love to them, in the end, you will only end up with a wounded heart.
The Lord has clothed us with the glory of being saved from sin so that we would not face the judgment of sin.
He has allowed us to enter the kingdom of God, to live together with God, and has given us the gift of receiving the remission of sins before God by His grace.
God’s salvation has brought us countless spiritual blessings of heaven.
This one salvation that God has given us through the water, the blood, and the Spirit has allowed us to receive all the blessings that God gives.
The Salvation That Jesus Himself Makes for Us
Our Lord saved us with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
The Lord gave us a salvation made with three threads of different colors.
This salvation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread is the gift of salvation that God has given.
This gift of salvation is what allows us to enter and live inside the sanctuary.
The gospel of water and the Spirit has made you and me righteous, and it has allowed us to come to God’s church, to eat the bread God gives, and to live a pure life.
It has allowed us to receive grace as we eat God’s spiritual Word inside the church.
At times, by letting us come before the throne of God’s grace to pray, it has also given us the faith to take hold of the abundant grace that God pours down.
Because of this one thing, salvation, such immense graces have become ours. That is why salvation is so precious.
Jesus told us to build our house on the rock.
This rock is the salvation that comes through the gospel of water and the Spirit.
Therefore, we must be saved and live a life of faith, be saved and go to heaven, be saved and enjoy eternal life, and be saved and become righteous.
This world has now entered the last days.
Therefore, in this age, people all the more need to receive salvation through the precise Word.
There are some people who say, “Do we really have to know and believe in the message of the blue, purple, and scarlet threads? Can’t we be saved just by roughly believing in Jesus? If we are saved like that, isn’t that enough? Is it really necessary to talk about a life of faith?”
However, the reason I repeatedly say this is because only those who have received the forgiveness of sins in their hearts can live a life of faith.
Because the heart of a person who has received the remission of sins is a holy temple where the Holy Spirit dwells, they must live a life of faith in order not to defile that holiness.
The life of the righteous is on a completely different level from that of sinners.
From God’s perspective, the life of sinners is below standard.
The life of sinners is full of hypocrisy.
Sinners put in a lot of effort to live in a way that fits the law on their own.
They set rules for how to walk, how to live, how to speak, how to laugh.
But this is far removed from the life of faith that comes from the faith of the righteous.
The life of the righteous is vastly different from the life of sinners.
God speaks delicately to the righteous: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself” — this is the law of life that God has given to the righteous.
It is fitting for us, the righteous, to love God with all our heart, with all our strength, and with all our mind, and to live following God’s will.
And we must think of all the sinners of the world, our neighbors, as we think of our own bodies, and we must also preach to them the gospel of water and the Spirit.
We must make many investments to save our neighbors.
This is the life of a Christian.
You cannot truly follow the life of a Christian with the mindset that it is enough if you just do not sin yourself.
Before I was born again, I practiced a legalistic life of faith in a conservative Presbyterian denomination, so I followed this legalistic lifestyle very thoroughly.
Nowadays, many people tend not to live that way, but because I had been practicing religious life since long ago, I was very accustomed to keeping the law in my daily life.
Since the law said to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, I absolutely did not work on Sundays, and I was so thorough in keeping the law that I would not even ride in a car on Sunday.
If, in this age, you were also forced to live that way, almost none of you would be able to properly live such a legalistic life — my life before being born again was that legalistic.
But the legalistic faith and the faith of the righteous are completely different.
Everyone, do you have the faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread?
Because Jesus’ salvation was contained within those three threads, we can enter the sanctuary by faith.
And even before we came to know Jesus Christ, when we were still weak, Jesus had already, about 2,025 years ago, received baptism, taken on all our sins, and died on the cross, receiving all the judgment for our sins.
That is why salvation has been accomplished for us.
Salvation from Sin Is Determined in Jesus Christ
People who are not born again are like those who, when entering the Tabernacle, do not go through the gate of the Tabernacle courtyard but instead illegally climb over the fence to get in.
“Why is the linen fence of the Tabernacle so white? It’s burdensome, really burdensome. Why not put some red color or some blue color on it? That’s what’s trendy these days, but why is this so white! This is just too special. And why is it so high? It’s 2.25 meters tall. I’m not even 2 meters tall, so how am I supposed to get in when it’s this high? Fine, let’s put up a ladder and climb over,” they say, and try to enter the Tabernacle courtyard.
Such a person is someone who tries to enter by their own good deeds. By prayer, offering, charity, and patience, they climb up the fence of the Tabernacle courtyard, thinking, “No matter how bad I am, surely I can jump down from 2.25 meters,” and then they jump down.
After climbing over like that and feeling pleased, they look back and see the altar of burnt offering. Looking ahead from the altar, they see the sanctuary, but what catches their eye first is the laver placed in front of the sanctuary.
The height of the courtyard fence pillars is 2.25 meters, but the height of the pillars and the veil at the entrance to the sanctuary, where God’s presence dwells, is 4.5 meters.
As for entering the Tabernacle courtyard, if you just have the desire to enter, you can go in by your own will. But even if you jump over the 2.25-meter fence and enter the Tabernacle, to enter the place where God’s presence dwells, you will face the pillars and veil of the sanctuary, which are 4.5 meters high. This is the limit of humanity.
This means that when we first believe in Jesus, we may believe as a matter of religion.
Also, some people can, by their own will, believe in Jesus as their personal Savior, or believe in Him as one of the four great sages.
No matter how one believes, faith can be held in whatever way one chooses, but one cannot truly be born again.
To truly be born again, one must pass through the gate of the blue, scarlet, and purple thread by faith.
By believing that Jesus is our Savior, that He is the gate of truth, and that He saved us through the water, the blood, and the Spirit, we are born again before God.
The faith that believes in Jesus’ work revealed in the three threads is the faith of water, blood, and Spirit.
It is free to believe in anything else, but there is never any assurance that by believing in those things, one will gain salvation or receive great grace.
Only this faith in the gospel of water and the Spirit is confirmed by God and allows one to receive the great grace and blessing of God’s salvation.
The faith of the three colored threads, the faith in the gospel of water and the Spirit, is on a different level from other kinds of faith.
The purpose of this faith in the gospel of water and the Spirit is to clothe us with God’s grace. Do you understand?
When we think of the Tabernacle, do we just think, ‘It’s just a square on a flat surface, and there’s a house inside’? If you only think of it like that, it cannot become a beneficial faith for you.
The tabernacle conveys to us the complete faith, and we must know that faith accurately.
If you do not know the tabernacle well, you might think that the height of the sanctuary inside the 2.25-meter tabernacle courtyard fence would be about the same as the height of the fence itself.
However, the height of the sanctuary is not just that.
Even if you look at the sanctuary from outside the courtyard without entering the tabernacle court, you can see that it rises much higher than the courtyard fence.
Although you cannot see all the way to the bottom of the sanctuary, the fact that you can clearly see the wall of the sanctuary shows that the sanctuary is taller than the tabernacle courtyard fence.
Those who believe in Jesus and have entered through the gate of the tabernacle courtyard receive the washing of sins at the altar of burnt offering and the bronze laver, and then they must enter into the sanctuary.
To enter the sanctuary, there must certainly be self-denial.
The furnishings inside the sanctuary must be separated from all the furnishings outside.
Do you know what Satan the devil hates the most? He hates drawing the boundary between inside and outside the sanctuary.
But remember this.
God surely works through those who set this boundary. God is pleased with those who set this boundary, and He pours out grace on them so that they can live with radiant faith inside the sanctuary.
Believe that all the furnishings outside in the courtyard and all the materials used there were prepared and predestined by God for the remission of people’s sins.
And if you believe this and, by faith, come into the sanctuary, God from that point on pours out even greater grace.
The Mercy Seat Is the Place Where the Grace of Salvation Is Received
On the cover that covers the Ark of the Testimony inside the Most Holy Place, two angels are stretching their wings toward each other and looking downward. The space between the two angels above the Ark of the Testimony is called the mercy seat, and it is also called the seat of grace.
The mercy seat is the place where God bestows His grace upon us. On the cover of the Ark are the marks of the blood of the sacrificial offering on which hands were laid.
This is because the high priest sprinkles the blood of the sacrifice seven times on this mercy seat when offering the sacrifice on behalf of the people of Israel. Therefore, God dwells upon the mercy seat and bestows grace upon the people of Israel.
For those who believe this, God’s blessings, protection, and guidance begin. From this point on, they become true people of God and can enter into the Holy Place.
Among the many Christians in this world, there are some who have the faith to enter into the Holy Place, while there are others who do not have the faith to enter into the Holy Place.
What kind of faith do you have?
We need the faith that draws a clear line of salvation and allows us to enter into God’s Holy Place. Only that can make you a person who receives great blessings before God.
However, having such a heart is not so easy.
Satan, the devil, hates when people draw a clear line of salvation, so he keeps trying to scatter this line.
He says, “You don’t have to believe like that. Not everyone else believes that way, so why do you keep talking about it as if it’s so important? Just do it roughly.” In this way, he tries to scatter this clear line of salvation.
Also, Satan, the devil, exposes the shortcomings of our flesh and makes them into problems.
Everyone, do you want to become someone who listens to the deceiving words of Satan, the devil, who tries to distance us from God?
Or do you want to become someone who repeatedly reflects on salvation every day, unites with the church, lives a life following God’s Word and praying, and lives receiving the grace that God gives?
In fact, those who have received the removal of sins love to repeatedly reflect on salvation. They love to chew over the gospel of water and the Spirit every day.
Isn’t that true for you? It is good to chew over it repeatedly.
“Ah, we’ve already received salvation, and we’re talking about this again? Only the subject is different, and the way of telling it is different, but it’s all the same story. Ah, it’s tiresome.” Is there anyone like that?
If I were talking about myself every day like that, it would be tiring, but what can we do when the Bible tells us to repeatedly reflect on our salvation every day?
Both the Old and New Testaments speak about the gospel of water and the Spirit.
If someone who preaches the Word of the Bible delivers something other than this, that is evil before God.
All the words of the Bible speak about the gospel of water and the Spirit.
‘Salvation, life, faith, spiritual life, the battle with Satan the devil, the salvation of the soul’ — all of these are words related to the gospel of water and the Spirit.
‘Heaven, glory, grace, blessing, calling, gospel’ — if someone speaks of something other than these, that is precisely heresy and cult.
It may look similar, but what is not the same is a cult.
On the outside, it may look similar, but if the inside is different, that is a cult.
Isn’t it so wonderful that the church of God truly delivers God’s Word every day, not the deceiving words of cults?
It is a blessed thing to unite with the church of God, to hear and believe the pure Word of God.
The church of God always preaches the gospel of water and the Spirit, making the saints think of God’s grace every day, pray to God, revere God, and live a life that does not follow evil.
Everyone, doesn’t it feel good to hear and believe again the Word of truth that leads to the removal of sins? —Yes, it feels good.—
Everyone, I also truly enjoy this feeling.
If I were forced to preach something other than this gospel of water and the Spirit, it would truly be distressing.
If I were forced to teach not the Word of salvation, but some other human-centered things, I would want to avoid it.
Of course, it’s not because there’s nothing to talk about.
If we were to speak of human things, there surely would be a lot to say, but for us who are born again, it is just unnecessary leaven.
Only the gospel of water and the Spirit, through which Jesus, who is God, saved us, is the precious Word of God that still tastes sweet even if we chew it over and over again.
There are so many other things that could be said, but I enjoy it the most when I talk about the gospel of water and the Spirit through which we have been saved.
That is when I am the most excited.
Because it is a time to reflect once more on old memories, to chew over again what the Lord has done to save us, to give thanks once more, and to eat the food of salvation once more — that is why talking about this salvation is the most joyful thing for me.
I believe that you also like talking about this word of salvation the most.
Although you may say with your mouths that it is the same thing every day, in your hearts, you actually think, ‘Well—listening to it again, it’s even better. At first, it felt a bit repetitive, but as I keep listening, there really is no other word worth hearing as much as this one. Today, I thought it might be a bit of a special message, but in the end, it was that same message again. Still, it’s good.’ I believe this is your heart.
Everyone, the words I am delivering to you now are the words of Jesus. A pastor must speak the words of Jesus.
Preaching the truth of water and the Spirit through the recorded words about what Jesus has done—this is exactly what the Church of God must do.
We are now living the life of faith inside the church.
We enter the sanctuary, light the lamp with seven branches made by hammering a talent of gold, eat bread in the house of pure gold, pray at the altar of incense, go out to pray in the temple of God, and live in the house of gold.
This is the life of faith.
You and I are now living the life of faith that God has given us.
To receive the removal of sins and live the life of faith is to live inside God’s golden house.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
With the faith that believes in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine twisted linen revealed in the tabernacle, our souls are living inside the brilliantly shining golden house of God.
We give eternal thanks to God who saved us from all sin and judgment.
—Hallelujah.—
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