The Everlasting Covenant

Content with a Shadow

This was not “the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched,” but one made by man. The tabernacle and its furniture were only “the patterns of things in the heavens,” and not “the heavenly things themselves.” ¹ It was but a shadow of the real substance. The cause of the shadow will be considered later on. But the believing ones of that olden time knew as well as Stephen did in later years, that “the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” as saith the prophet, “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of My rest? ² Solomon, at the dedication of his grand temple, said, “But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house that I have built?” ³ EVCO 314.4

All of God’s really faithful children understood that the earthly tabernacle or temple was not the real dwelling-place of God, but only a figure, a type. So of the furniture which the sanctuary contained. EVCO 315.1