Gold covered the boards of the tabernacle, and was used for the furniture and utensils. In the Bible gold is often a symbol used of God when He tries man's faith. It speaks of His Deity and Divine and Kingly nature, His glory and His fatherhood.
"But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city (the new Jerusalem) was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." |
Examples of God trying the faith of mankind in relation to the symbol of gold include the gold metal representing the kingdom of Babylon in Nebuchadnezzar's dream image. Gold was used to make idols against God's will, such as the golden calf built and worshipped at the time Moses ascended the mount to receive the Law from God. The priests of Levi wore a golden girdle.
The Tabernacle Treasury collection of gold was 29 talents and 730 shekels - a total of 87,730 shekels. This is 270 shekels shortfall of 88,000 shekels, and everywhere in the Bible the number eight and concentrations of that number, refer to Jesus Christ and the regeneration, renewal and ultimately resurrection of mankind. The number 880 emphasises the progression of the Divine plan to lead wayward humanity back to righteousness through much tribulation. Just as the silver sockets provided the very strength and foundation for the support of the tabernacle boards, so too the gold provided a protective covering to those boards - that covering is provided through Jesus Christ.
In to order tally up 88,000 shekels, another 270 shekels were required. The number 270 is the number of human gestation. Could this shortfall of 270 shekels be symbolic of the expectancy of the future birth of Jesus Christ for Moses and his peoples? The second Apocryphal book of Esdras reads:
"As when a woman with child, the ninth month, bringeth forth her son, within two or three hours of her birth, great pains compass her womb, which pains ... they slack not a moment: even so shall not the plagues be slack to come upon the earth, and the world shall mourn, and sorrows shall come upon it on every side. |
To Moses and his people, the tabernacle gold promised hardships ahead, but with the added promise of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Way to salvation would be made clear.
Bible Chronology Measure the Temple CONTENTS |
