‹‹ WEEK 1 — DAY 1 ››

Morning Nourishment

Exo. 25:22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the expiation cover, from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testimony, of everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

38:21 This is the sum of the things for the tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were counted according to the commandment of Moses...

   Exodus 25:10 says, “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood.” According to verse 22, this ark was called “the Ark of the Testimony.” In the book of Exodus the testimony refers to the law. God regarded the law decreed through Moses on Mount Sinai as His testimony.

   The law was given that we might have a portrait, a description, of God and thereby understand what He is. For this reason, God considers the law as His testimony. As a testimony of God, the law is a type of Christ. Christ is the living portrait of God, His living definition and description. Therefore, Christ is the real testimony of God. Just as Christ is the testimony of God, so the church is the testimony of Christ. The church is a portrait, a picture, of Christ and is therefore the testimony of Christ.

   Furthermore, the tabernacle is called the Tabernacle of the Testimony (38:21),because the testimony is in the Ark, and the Ark is in the tabernacle. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 983-984)

Today’s Reading

   The Ark of the Testimony was the first item of the furniture of the tabernacle. The tabernacle had a number of important furnishings: the altar and the laver in the outer court; the showbread table, the lampstand, and the incense altar in the Holy Place;and the Ark in the Holy of Holies, the inmost chamber of the tabernacle....As the first item, [the Ark] occupied the place of preeminence. We know from Exodus 40:2 and 3 that it was in the tabernacle, and from 40:20 and 21, that it was in the Holy of Holies.

   As a type of Christ, the Ark typifies Christ as the embodiment of God’s testimony. Christ is the embodiment of God....All that God is, is embodied in Christ. Colossians 2:9 says that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. Our use of the word embodiment is based on this verse. Because God is embodied in Christ, He is portrayed, defined, and explained by Christ. Christ is God’s definition, His explanation. As God’s testimony, Christ is typified by the Ark of the Testimony.

   The Ark of the Testimony is the center of the Tabernacle of Testimony (Exo.38:21)....Although our heart is not located at the exact center of our body, we nonetheless regard it as being in the center. Likewise, because the Holy of Holies is in the inmost part of the tabernacle, it is the center of the tabernacle. It is the focus of the tabernacle and signifies the center of God’s dwelling place. God dwelt in the tabernacle but not in the outer court or in the Holy Place. He dwelt in the Holy of Holies. The Ark in the Holy
of Holies signifies the center of God’s dwelling place, the church (Eph. 2:21-22).

   The Ark also signifies the contents of the church as the house of God (1 Tim.3:15-16). Just as the Ark as the embodiment of God’s testimony was the content of the tabernacle, so Christ as the embodiment of God is the content of the church.

   Inwardly the church must have Christ as the content in reality and not merely in terminology. Outwardly the church must be on the proper ground, the ground of oneness. This ground is also the ground of locality. Any ground other than the ground of locality is not the ground of oneness.

   If we would be the church, we must comply with both the outward prerequisite and the inward prerequisite. The outward prerequisite is the ground of oneness,and the inward prerequisite is Christ as the contents, as the embodiment of God’s testimony....The church is the Body of Christ with Christ as life and everything.The content of the church is Christ as the embodiment of God’s testimony. (Lifestudy of Exodus, pp. 984-988)

Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 84