Members of One Another

"And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle."

Exodus 36:13

The Bible contains many lists of people in genealogies, offerings brought by leaders of tribes, and items made for the service of the LORD in the tabernacle.  It may be tempting to skip or gloss over such passages, but God can still speak volumes by verses that seem obscure or mundane.

When I read about the offerings people brought daily for the tabernacle, it struck me how God employed a combination of materials He created that were freely offered by His people to build it.  God created gold, silver, trees, every variety of precious stones, olive oil, goats with hair and rams with wool, as well as naturally occurring dyes.  God's people brought these articles which were skillfully weaved, cut, carved, beaten and shaped into the desired size and shape to fit together.  Fibres of wool were twisted into yarn, and the yarn was dyed and weaved into curtains.  Golden clasps were tied to the curtains to connect them all together and make one single unit--massive curtains all connected by gold clasps to be one tabernacle where the presence of God dwelt.

It was important when making the curtains that each of the 50 loops of blue on one curtain lined up with the 50 loops on the next curtain so 50 clasps of gold could join them together as one.  If one loop of blue or golden clasp was missing, it was not a complete tabernacle; it was unfit for service because it did not meet God's standard in His Law.  Think of all the goat hair, wool of rams and trees were needed to make the curtains and to provide a structure to support them!  Consider all the people who worked together to join yarn, threads and boards together to make a massive tent in the wilderness that could endure windy days, hot sun and flash floods.  At God's direction it was all disassembled, carried where God led them, and reassembled again.  The earth is God's footstool made for mankind to dwell in, and God allowed mankind to construct a place where He would dwell among them.

In thinking of the elaborate structure of the tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem, I was reminded that Christians are now the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.  We are all members of the Body of Christ (the Church) and Jesus is our Head.  As the tabernacle was comprised of many threads, boards, loops, clasps and sockets, so the church is made of many members who are part of one body.  The New Testament teaches us Christians are members with one another, having the same Spirit and mind of Jesus.  Ephesians 4:25 & 32 explains our identity ought to lead to living in unity:  "Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another...³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."  If a loop was torn or a golden clasp missing, the right thing to do was to set about repairing it.  Should there be a schism in the church among brethren due to lying or lack of love, we ought to do our part to work toward restoration.  In Christ we are members of one another, after all.