After Israel’s solemn entering into covenant with God, He gave laws to the partakers of His covenant—laws to which each would have to be subject. These laws are generally distinguished as follows: 1) the moral law, directing everyone unto a holy life; 2) the ceremonial law, governing man in his worship through faith in the future Messiah; and 3) the civil law, governing society in the form of a republic—its special focus being the maintenance of religion.
We have dealt comprehensively with the giving and contents of the Moral Law in volume 3, chapters 45-55. There we dealt with, among others, the following questions:
(1) Is the Moral Law a covenant of works?
(2) Is the Law of the Ten Commandments a formula of the covenant of grace?
(3) Is the law, the covenant at Horeb, a mixed covenant—partially derived from the covenant of works and partially from the covenant of grace?
(4) Was the covenant made at Horeb external, typical, and national—and thus distinct from the covenant of grace?
For our response to these questions see volume 1, chapter 16, p. 427, and volume 3, chapter 45, p. 35. We shall therefore not discuss this law any further here.
The ceremonial laws governed religion in harmony with the circumstances of that time frame, in order that by way of shadows the future Messiah and His works could be made known, and thus lead Israel to exercise faith in Him unto their salvation. These laws can be arranged under three headings: 1) the location where the ceremonial acts of worship were publicly performed, which first was the tabernacle and afterwards the temple; 2) the persons who performed these ceremonies—the priests; and 3) the ceremonies themselves and the manner in which they were performed.
The Location of Israel’s Ceremonial Worship: The Tabernacle and the Temple
The location of the ceremonial worship was first the tabernacle, and afterwards the temple. After Moses had been commanded and instructed to make the tabernacle (but prior to its completion), Moses erected a tent outside the camp where the people would congregate for religious worship until the tabernacle was constructed (Exod 33:7). David likewise made a tent for the ark until his son Solomon would build the temple, bringing the ark to this tent from the house of Obededom (cf. 2 Sam 6:17; 1 Chron 16:1). Concerning the tabernacle we must note: 1) the pattern after which it was constructed; 2) the materials from which it was made; and 3) its structural form, and the tools to be used.
The pattern of the tabernacle was neither an invention of Moses nor of any other wise builder. Rather, it was God Himself who stipulated everything from the greatest to the smallest detail. Thereby He depicted the Messiah in the clearest possible fashion. Thus, Christ is not patterned after the ceremonies, but the ceremonies are patterned after Christ. It was God’s will that nothing of man would either be taken from or added to it, as the ceremonies belong to the realm of religion—a realm in which only God has a right to legislate, and where there is not the least room for any institutions of man. God revealed everything to Moses, piece by piece, emphatically commanding him to construct everything according to the exact specifications. “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount” (Exod 25:40). Likewise, God gave commandments pertaining to all the details concerning the construction of the temple, giving David a pattern of all these things by the Spirit. David, in turn, gave that pattern to his son Solomon, reassuring him that “all this … the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern” (1 Chron 28:11-19).
Concerning the construction of the tabernacle, the materials used were of the most precious sort. They were the following: shittim wood (for it was not a house of stone, but rather of wood, so that it could be transported that much more efficiently), gold, silver, precious stones, copper, fine linen, fine twined threads, the most excellent colors (such as heavenly blue, purple, and scarlet), ram skins dyed red, badger-skins, goat’s hair, various items to decorate the sanctuary within, and various items to decorate the sanctuary without. All these materials were prepared in a most magnificent manner by the cunning workmen, Bezaleel and Aholiab, whom God had endowed with extraordinary wisdom for that purpose. Everyone donated these materials voluntarily in such an abundant measure that a proclamation had to be made that no one should bring any more. These voluntary gifts represented a value of multiple millions of pieces of gold. Add to these the half shekel contributed by every numbered male in Israel after the shekel of the sanctuary, concerning which no one was permitted to give either more or less. As the total of all the numbered men was 603,550, all of these together constituted a sum greater than could be imagined if God had not stated what it was.