LOOKING UNTO JESUS OR CHRIST IN TYPE AND ANTITYPE. BY ...

It has already been noticed that the tabernacle was first
erected as a movable building, and as such must have been
constructed in just the manner it was. "Therefore," says
Fairbairn, "to seek for some deeper and spiritual meaning
for such things as the boards and bars, the rings and
staves, the different sorts of coverings, the loops and
taches, etc., is to go entirely into the region of conjecture,
and give unbounded scope to the exercise of fancy."
p. 104, Para. 1, [LOOKING].
The candlestick was formed after the fashion of the almond-tree,
the first to awaken from the sleep of winter and
show the leaf and buds of spring. Its trunk and branches
alternated with golden flowers and fruits, intimating that
God seeks for a like living and fruitful character in his
people. p. 104, Para. 2, [LOOKING].
The light shed by the lamps of the candlestick, was a
beautiful symbol of the spiritual illumination which God
ever desires to shed upon his people. The anointing oil and
incense were of careful and costly preparation, and were
not to be imitated for any secular purposes, showing that
nothing common or profane would mingle with the work or
worship of the Lord. Incense was the emblem of prayer. The
law was placed inside the ark, but over it was the mercyseat,
which is the central idea of the gospel. This shows
that the law and gospel always go together. They cannot be
divorced. To destroy the law would render the gospel uncalled
for and useless; to destroy the gospel would leave
mankind to destruction. But there is still another lesson
to be learned from what is here said about the law. When
directions were given for the erection of the tabernacle,
the first object described was the ark, which was made expressly
as a receptacle for the law. So in coming to
Christ, the sinner has first to do with the law; for it is
the law which convicts of sin. He must believe that God
"is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him," and that consequently he will leave to their own
fate, all who will not seek him. Not till he is thus seized
and slain by the law, will he see the need of the remedy
provided by the gospel. But when, thus awakened, he seeks
help in Christ, he does not then find the law standing at
the threshold of the temple of divine grace, as if it would
say to him, First comply with my demands, and then you may
go in and seek mercy from God, but he finds an invitation
to him to come in, and then he shall be provided with grace
to keep the law. He now finds the law enshrined in the in-