Of all the patterns of the Old Testament, one of the greatest is the Tabernacle of Moses.

Moses, a prophet of God, was given its design upon the mountain, and told to build everything according to the Pattern He had seen there.

Of its physical elements, there were several major elements, and possibly more than listed here.

There were materials for the posts, curtains, drapes, and altars.  There were dimensions (lengths and widths).  There were counts (number of posts, pillars, etc).  There was furniture (the altars and tables).  There were their utensils (shovels, rakes, censers, etc).  There was its orientation (which way it faced).  There was its layout, with three chambers, each further in.

In addition, there were its gates, how it was to be consecrated, packed up, transported, and set up again, and the way that the priests related to these.

All of these regulations were a part of the pattern given to Moses, and yet, no matter how mundane they may appear, as Jesus said, not even the smallest part of the Law will pass away until all is fulfilled.

For us today, this is the picture of Christ.  This is His body, this is His Spirit, and this is communion with Him.  This is His life, and this is His ministry.  This is everything that Christ is.

As one approached the place of worship, little could be seen.  A fence stretched around it, white linen about seven and a half feet high, higher than most men, stretched around it, with only one gate.  Perhaps, especially if viewed from afar and from an altitude, one might see a smaller tent in the middle, but little could be seen of it.

As we approach any man, any person, all we are ever given of them at first is their outward acts.  Unless the Lord opens to us the secrets of their heart, a person is known in what they do.  So too, Christ, to many people, was His acts.  As white linen represents the righteous acts of the saints, so too, we do not initially see the inner glory of any man, but, like treasures hidden in earthen vessels, it is the glory of kings to search this matter out.

There was only one gate, and, by tradition, it’s name was “the Way”.  It led into the outer courts of the tabernacle.  It is said that we enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  It opened up into a wide open area.

Very little was here, except for three visible things.

Immediately in front was the Brazen Altar.  Beyond that was a great basin of water.  And, beyond that, the building of the tabernacle.

The Altar was covered with bronze (or copper by some renditions).  It speaks of that stands the test of fire and trials.  It is a “baser” metal, but stands the test of time.

Beyond that was the Bronze Sea, or basin with water.  All priests were required to wash in this water, hands and feet.  It was bronze, and sat upon its base.  Again, every piece had a purpose, a reason, a basis.  Not even the slightest detail of its pattern was mere accident, was carnal, even down to the shovels for the ashes of the altar.  For, even as the Lord Jesus had angels ministering to himself, in perfect proportion and supply, so too, in every detail, the altar was perfectly supplied for every good work, and in Christ, we also are as well.

The cleansing of the water was placed upon the stand, as all preaching of the Word must be.  It is set upon something, that it might be supported, set up, and be in its place.

Finally, beyond these two items was the building.

It was covered with dark, unattractive covering, which spoke nothing of its interior.  It’s one entrance was another curtain, this one traditionally called “The Truth”, as it is the thoughts of a person, their speech, their language, and their truth that gains us access into their deeper inner life.  If we desire to enter Christ, we must be about His Truth as the entrance into the deeper things of God.  We first pass through His Way, into the general character of His Body, coming to the altar, and to the water, and coming further to His Truth, by which we have access into the deeper things of His heart, for this is His Body we are in, and it is His heart that we are entering into.

Things changed here, distinctly.

The linen courts were surrounded by white linen, with sixty posts.  The posts for their bases, were bronze, for as the divine stands upon the Earth, there is potential for conflict, even as the feet of Him were seen to be as bronze glowing in a furnace because of the trials.  They are capable to stand.  As were the tent stakes, holding up the pillars.  The tops of the posts were, however, of silver, speaking of His salvation.  All His outward presents His Salvation.

All around were sixty posts.  While there may be many understandings of this, there were twenty on the left, and twenty on the right, ten in front and ten in back.  If one were to start walking on the left down the side, you would get to twenty before you made the turn around the back.  Twenty was the age that a man was fit for many things in nation, including war, but not yet for the priesthood.  As one crossed the back, ten more, thirty posts had passed.  This now was the proper age for service in the temple.

As man is born, he must grow up, and become fit, but he is not yet ready to serve.  In God’s perfect plan, a servant must be trained, apprenticed, and only when he is ready, can he carry the weight.  So, as there were twenty going out, and ten crossing over, now the man prepares to return.  For twenty more posts a man progressed until he made his next corner.  At age fifty, a man could no longer serve in the temple (Number 3:4).  And, as one crossed back, while it is speculation, it is probably sufficient to believe that those who once served now are required to pass on their knowledge to the others, so that the cycle is complete.  Beyond that, who knows, but one thing is certain, Jesus began His ministry at thirty, and though His years were cut short, He is now high priest forever.

Yet, now, on the tabernacle building itself, this changes.  On the bottom of all the posts and pillars is now silver, and the tops are gold, speaking of His divinity.  The salvation is not lessened, but as we enter into His heart, He is God, and there He is God alone.  All who enter must be washed, they must be prepared.  They must be priests, or they will die.

And, as we pass through the second veil, we come into a smaller room.

This is the Holy Place.  Now, the walls are gold.  There are three pieces of furniture here, the lampstand on the left and the table of shewbread on the right.  In front, before the third curtain, is the altar of incense.  Considered by some possibly to be movable, so that when the day to enter the final veil had come, that it could be moved in with the priest.

The only light that shone here was the candlestick.  It was made from solid gold, with pure, clear oil, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.  The twelve loaves of bread on the table symbolize the nation of Israel, one loaf for each tribe, indicating that we are all one body, ground and baked together in one loaf.

Finally, the altar of incense, overlain with gold.  Before it, incense was burned, with censers and utensils for its use.

For, in the Holy Place, the only light, our only guidance, is the Spirit’s leading.  And, His whole body is held up before Him, mixed with incense, eaten in His presence by the priest.  This too, is the place of His intercession.  He, who is our chief intercessor, makes intercession before God’s throne, before us.

Because of sin, the way into the last was for us closed.  For a man to enter that place was death.  But, Christ’s flesh was that veil, that separated us from the most holy place.  It is traditionally called, “the Life”, and it is entering into His life that we have access to the Father, to come boldly before the throne of Grace.

Beyond the altar of incense, through the third and last veil, was the innermost place of God, where the ark of the testimony was.  It was the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies.  The ark held the tablets of stone from Moses, Aaron’s budded rod, and a jar of manna from the wilderness.  It symbolized the law Moses brought, God’s ruling authority, and His provision for the people.  And, on top, all gold, was the mercy seat, with the cerubim above it.

There, between those cherubim, above the mercy seat, God met with Moses face to face, and spoke to Him.  There, yearly, the priests of Israel brought blood once a year to mark the atonement.  An atonement they did not understand, but would come to see with their own eyes years after Moses, upon a hill called Calvary, upon a bloody cross in the death of their Savior, and ours.

There was no place to go here.  There was no natural light, neither from the sun nor from the burning of lights.  The only light was that from the flame of the presence of Him who lives forever.

In here, through His Life, man was forbidden to come, because of the fall, but today, because of the blood, we have an anchor within this veil.

In this place, in the holiest of all, there is no service, other than of the incense or of the blood.  There is no activity, other than to stand.  There is no understanding, except the oneness.  There is no place to go, no further thing.  For, in the Presence of the Holy, all will stand still in His presence.  In the light of His Glory, Let God be God, and nothing else remain.

This was the place of His abiding  Glory, the hope of Israel, the light of the World.  Here He lived, alone and undefiled.  A room measuring only fifteen feet by fifteen feet by fifteen feet high, with a curtain behind, embroidered by cherubim.  These cherubim speaking at least in part of the very cherub that He once put guarding the way to Eden, lest man eat of the tree of life.  Here sat they, guarding the way to the ark, and His Life.

The law let God come to man, but not man to God.  God dwelt in His nation, but as set apart, for no one was good enough that they might approach, and none could touch Him, lest they die.

Yet, by the blood, because we have died and live only by Christ, we stand, and we live.

This is the Holiness of God, and while we may not understand what it is, it is who lives within us who have believed, for those who have not the Spirit of Christ are none of His.  This is He of who the prophets spoke, and all creation groans and longs for, who will judge this Earth and all who are in it.

Yet this whole place is Christ Himself, and there is no part of it that does not speak of Him.

For, we enter into this walk called The Way, and live by Him.

If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Ephesians 4:21-24

For, this is the whole of the conversation of Christ.  When we come to Him, that brazen altar, we lose our very lives.  We are sacrificed with Christ upon that brazen altar, and completely destroyed.  It is not a natural man that results, not a fixed up nature, but a new spirit and a new heart in Christ, for He has healed us, and we are healed, every whit whole.

We repent of dead works unto a living and real faith, even as John the Baptist preached, for it is only in true repentance that we come to true faith.

And, we are renewed in the Spirit of our minds.  This is the holy place again, in truth.

Finally, we put on the new man, Christ, in His life, which is only the most holy place.  We are re-created in Christ as a righteous being, dwelling with true righteousness and true holiness.

This is the whole work of Christ, and it must not be taken lightly; it must be understood.

It is not simply coming to the altar, if we are not renewed in the spirit of our minds, entering into the holy place.  It is not simply living baptized into a cloud and into the sea, if we do not put on the new nature, clothed with Christ.

For, if we live by the flesh, we will die, though we are yet “brethren” (Romans 8:12-13).

It was not simply an outer court with a brazen altar.  It was not merely the sacrifice and the washing that was sufficient.  This was required, yet it was the outer courts.  The fullness of the Man, the fullness of the Gospel, while surrounded by the court, is in the heart, is in the new man, in the Spiritual creation, of spiritual substance.

As the outer was based on natural light, the inner and innermost depend completely upon His insight to take us Beyond.  As the materials changed from lesser to higher, so too, we progress further into His divine nature through His covenant.  We partake of His godliness, apart from whom we can do nothing, but only as branches upon the true vine.

This is the fullness of the Gospel, that we become Sons of God.  That we dwell in the completeness of who He is.

This is begun at salvation, it is walked out through sanctification, and though it is not clear what we become, we will be like Him on that day.  He is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance to come!  This is His promise, and this is His Word.

What is the man who has seen Christ?  Let Him attest that these words are true.  For, the prophets saw Him who was Divine and wrote of Him.  Paul saw Him, and was changed.

He saw the whole of the Gospel, laid out, for they saw the man, his substance, and His glory.

This is the seal of the true disciple, that one lives holy in Christ Jesus.  Not that a man does not stumble, but that he does not continue to do so.

In this is your Father glorified, that you bear much fruit.

The Gospel has always only ever been this, for as Paul wrote to Timothy, its foundation is both solid and sealed.

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

2 Timothy 2:19

The man who does not turn away from wickedness is not His.

If we do sin, if we do fail, there is mercy at the cross.  There is mercy and grace to learn, to stop doing evil.  As the Lord said to Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:7, portion).

Yet, this is not of our own efforts, but His.  By His Spirit within us, we put to death everything of our Earthly nature, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.  We die to the pleasures of this world, that we might partake of Him, and be pure and holy, only His.  We hate this world and all that is in it, that we might know Him, love Him, and be known in His love.

This is the fullness of the Gospel, as preached from Jesus, to Peter, to Paul.

In the fullness of the tabernacle, it is accomplished, for it is Christ.

Each time a sacrifice was burned in the tabernacle, it looked forward to a time when one sacrifice would take away all need for the blood of an animal ever again, so that today, as it is prophesied by Isaiah,

He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

Isaiah 66:3

While those of the tabernacle walked out a faith that looked forward to a thing, the substance and the reality of it is found in Christ.

God had no need for the blood of bulls and goats.  As He said, if He were hungry, He would not tell us, for He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

While the pattern stood for something, God is not served by human hands.  The sacrifices of God are a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  Psalm 51:17.

This distinction could not be more aptly distinguished, perhaps, than by the words of the prophet William Branham:

The third age revealed by the Spirit of prophecy that the worldly church would adopt Nicolaitanism as a doctrine. The separation of the clergy from the laity grew from the Biblical truth of the elders (shepherds of local flocks) ruling the flock by the Word, to the ‘deeds of Nicolaitanes’ wherein the clergy set themselves in ranks one over the other, which un-scriptural formula then evolved into a priesthood that placed the clergy between man and God, giving the clergy certain rights all the while denying the laity their God-given rights. This was usurpation. In this age it became a doctrine. It was established in the church as the assured word of God, which indeed it was not. But the clergy called it the Word of God and therefore the doctrine was antichrist.

Because human government is politics pure and simple, the church became involved in politics. This involvement was welcomed by a dictator- emperor who joined church politics with state politics and by force established the false church (Satan’s false religion) as the true religion. And through various edicts by various emperors we find the false church with state power destroying the true vine even more avidly.

–from An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, by William Marrion Branham

Further, he went on to describe the doctrine of Baalamism, as he understood it.

Now watch this doctrine of Balaam most carefully. Notice above all, that it is the deliberate maneuver of a corrupt clergy to bind the people to them, by leading the people deliberately into the sin of unbelief. The Nicolaitane doctrine was the corruption of the clergy as they sought political power amongst themselves, while Balaamism is the subjection of the people to their system of creed and worship in order to hold them. Now watch this carefully. What was it that bound the people to the nominal church and thereby destroyed them? It was the creeds and dogmas formed into church tenets. It was the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. They were not given the true food, the Word. They were given the food that came from idol worship, Babylonian paganism wrapped up in Christian terminology. And that very same spirit and doctrine is right amongst all Protestants and it is called DENOMINATION. Nicolaitanism is organization, humanizing the leadership of the church, and thereby deposing the Spirit. Balaamism is denominationalism which takes the church manual instead of the Bible. And right to this hour, many of God’s people are caught in the snare of denominationalism and God is crying to them, “Come out of her My people, lest ye be partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues.” You see they are ignorant. But if the rapture should take place at this moment, ignorance would be no court of appeal from the judgment of God for being in the wrong ranks.

For the clergy to organize themselves with one rank over another until they are finally headed up by a president is a manifestation of the antichrist spirit, regardless of how wonderful and necessary it may seem. It is nothing but human reasoning taking the place of the Word. And any person who is in the organized denominations is right in the midst of an antichrist system. Now let me say this and make it very plain. I AM NOT AGAINST THE PEOPLE. I AM AGAINST THE SYSTEM.

–from An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, by William Marrion Branham

You see, religious forms and man’s doctrines and rules will never do what only Christ did.  Man makes books and organization and structure, quite often out of a human heart simply to handle the people.  Deacons were set in order to look after the widows and other affairs of the church, and so forth.  But, as man focuses upon the visible, and the seen, and supposes it to be “religion”, and as man puts more stock into the structure of a meeting, the layout of a service, and the ritual forms and emblems, he becomes more and more bound by unbelief.  Where unbelief is a greater understanding on, relying on, and trusting in the visible and created order, rather than Christ.

When any people looks to the natural created order, and places it before the living, true, and sincere relationship with Christ, and so much as it teaches people to look with a natural eye to discern and to understand, rather than by knowing in faith, it has become mired in carnal, false religion, and has ceased to be spiritual.

Whenever that which is merely mundane and of clay is elevated in man’s eyes to be seen as “spiritual”, the true spiritual, which is never of the flesh, is necessarily blocked out.  As the king of Babylon set up an image upon a plain and commanded men to worship, that act blocked out the true worship of the Holy.  That same act today is the picture of religion, for it is in the setting up of an image, whether in the first heaven, the earth, or the second heaven, the skies, that blocks out the true image, the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).  The elevation of anything, even a seemingly necessary thing, to the place of spirituality, except as it directly relates to Christ and His service, trains the man to see the natural, rather than the Spirit.  In this training, his spirits are dulled, for no one can serve two masters, and for the devil takes every opportunity to blind the unbeliever for their idolatry.  When this continues, the natural order of services, the particular patterns and forms, and even the words we say or don’t say become elevated above a simple, pure, devotion to a living God, a true Spirit, living and dwelling within us.  This grieves Him, for it is idolatrous, and we see Him less and less the more we are taught to see only the carnal.

But, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  Whenever man is given something other than the true Word and true Faith, he comes to rely, inherently, upon the created and natural order, rather than the Spirit.  This always results in a people knowing little of God.

When this unbelief grows further, and the true revelational knowledge of who Christ grows less and less, than all sorts of deception can creep in.  Yet, because people are bound to the organization structure, where the head of every man is the man above them, and not Christ, they are not free to readjust.  Because they are taught to come under another, and not under Christ, they cannot hear clearly, and the follow whichever way a leader leads, even as Israel under their kings.  Because they are bound then to their leaders, and they are then further led from the simplicity of Christ through everything but His Words, they are left susceptible to every wind of doctrine, to every cunning craft, and lack any power at all to speak the truth in love, and to see His light or speak of it.

But, as in the tabernacle, as the light of the sun gave way to the light of the Spirit, and the light of the Spirit was passed beyond into the sheer, pure, and shining glory of the Lord as the only light, so too, we must be willing to pass through the veil, pass through His flesh, and see beyond, into the holiest of all, into the flame of love, the flame of God.

In our daily experience, we must experience Him.  We must enter into Him.  We must commune with Him.

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

John 6:53

It is in this place, in the place of the Spirit, in the place of who He is, the innermost part of Him, that He is revealed, and we are changed from glory to glory, and faith to faith!

Hallelujah!  We are changed!

It is only in His presence, in His abode, that we are transfigured.

Even as Jesus was transfigured upon the mountain top, in increasing measure, we are being transfigured into His likeness, into His character, into His Name.

He is Holy, and He is divine, and there is none above Him.  The self existent one, the Eternal, the Holy.

His flame is a living flame, burning without our souls, and it cannot be quenched.  It will not be put out.

His passion and His desire is a all consuming flame.  Who can dwell with all consuming fire!

All of Israel stood at their tents while Moses went into meet with the Lord.  They stood at their own tents, while Moses went to the tent of the meeting.  It was only Joshua, Moses’ successor, that stayed in the tent after Moses went home.

Joshua stayed near the place of the visitation, even after the man of God went home.  He treasured, and prized even the lingering atmosphere of the visitation of the Lord that much.

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:5-10

Yet, as William Branham prophesied, while there is a true vine, and a true church, that desires spiritual fellowship with the true God, there is an organization that calls itself the “church”, which is not really church.

There is a group that is still in love with a form, that is still in love with a building and a layout.  While they look to be doing the same thing, and they might even see some results, even miraculous results, it must be understood that what they do is bind people to themselves.  They do not teach faith.  They do not teach truth.  They pay lip-service to Jesus, yet their hearts do not know Him, at least not deeply.

And, ultimately, they will, of a seeming necessity, many will embrace the false teaching and toleration of Jezebel.

Consider.

If the only form that God provide, the pattern of the mountain, was only a shadow of a man, and that man is Christ, then what is church?  What are our services?

If God was interested in a form, He would have kept it.  But the form He gave was merely a shadow of a man, named Christ.  To master His form, is to master Jesus, and to live the law of Moses is to embody the fullness of Christ.

The truth, the substance is the man, not the service.

If the only pattern we have was points to Him, and though perfect it still was not the substance, then why do we create form and system and pattern which we know to be less than the perfect, which wasn’t the substance of the real in the first place?  Why do we create another rather than the one given, which was perfect only as a shadow, and expect an even lesser form to be the substance of life and to be pleasing to God?  If we were to follow a pattern or a shadow or a type alone, we should at least follow the perfect one that pointed to Christ!  Yet, if we truly did that, we could come to the Man, the One, the person, and leave the shadow when we have the real!  For we know that in that pattern, it is only in the substance of what it pointed to that it gives life.  He who allows himself circumcised (for religious perfection) must obey the whole law!

The form, as perfect as it was, was a sign-post to the new.

All order of worship, all organization of meeting, and all symbols, typologies, and thoughts, if it does not lead us to a revelational, true, and spiritual knowledge of Him who created us, MUST be abandoned, cast aside, and hated.  This is the first of the foundation block of Paul, the repentance of “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1).  Not works that lead to death precisely, but works which are dead in themselves, the attempt to appease or  approach God by any means other than faith in His blood.  To attempt to create for ourselves some other way to approach Him is futile, for if it could have come through it, it would have come through Moses’ pattern.  But instead, the reality is found, in a person, in Christ, in Truth.

This is the Gospel handed down, the faith once entrusted to the saints.

By this, we enter into life, and by this, we are healed.

From start to finish, it is the Gospel, it is Christ, and it is Him.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  He is the Author and the Finisher of my faith.

William Branham wrote of this day, and this age, this statement.

Thus at this very moment we are in the complete fulfillment of Matthew 24:24 “insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” And who is it that shall attempt to deceive the very elect? Why, the spirit of antichrist in the “false anointed ones” of this last day. These false ones have already come in “Jesus’ Name” claiming that they have been anointed of God for the last day. They are the false Messiahs (anointed ones). They claim that they are prophets. But are they one with the Word? Never. They have added to it or taken from it. No one denies that the Spirit of God manifesting in gifts is upon them. But like Balaam they all have their programs, make their appeal for money, exercise gifts, but deny the Word or by-pass it for fear that a controversy might diminish their chances for greater gain. Yet they preach salvation and deliverance through the power of God, just like Judas, with a ministry imparted by Christ. But because they are wrong seed, consequently they have a wrong spirit motivating them. Religious? Oh my! They outshine the elect in effort and zeal, but it is Laodicean, not of Christ, for it looks for big crowds, big programs and startling signs amongst them. … Ah yes, this false spirit that in the last day is so close to the real, can be distinguished only by its deviation from the Word, and whenever it is caught in being anti-Word, it falls back on the one argument we have already shown to be false: “We get results, don’t we? We have to be of God.”

–from An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, by William Marrion Branham

William Branham was far from being completely right in everything he did in his life, but he had faith, and he saw by the Spirit clearer than many.  He truly brought much light to our time, yet it is also apparent that at the end of his life, he fell into error and was spreading much confusion through his wrong doctrine and teaching.

It is unfortunate that much of his ministry is ignored and discredited, yet he remains unmatched in our generation in power, accuracy, and in mighty miracles and revelation from God.

Yet, the end of his last book that he wrote, is the cry of much this generation.  He said he had one desire from his ministry, and if he accomplished that, it would be enough.  He wrote, in the last paragraph, that the one thing that he wanted to accomplish was “to see established a true spiritual relationship between God and men, wherein men become new creations in Christ, filled with His Spirit and live according to His Word.”

With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.  What even the Tabernacle could not do, in that it merely restrained sin, God did, through Christ, to bring us to communion, union, and fellowship with Him and with each other.

Truly, the whole of the law and the prophets hang on these two commands, that we love Him with all that we are, and that we love each other as our selves.

This is the fulfillment of the matter, and this is His example, that we be known by the world for our love for one another as brothers.