Silver Sockets - The Foundation Part 1

Exodus 26:1-25 -- “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole. “You shall also make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you make. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall be the same size. You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over at the front of the tent. You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. “You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together that it may be a single whole. And the part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. And the extra that remains in the length of the curtains, the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it. And you shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams' skins and a covering of goatskins on top. “You shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. There shall be two tenons in each frame, for fitting together. So shall you do for all the frames of the tabernacle. You shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side; and forty bases of silver you shall make under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons; and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side twenty frames, and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame, and two bases under the next frame. And for the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames. And you shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear; they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring. Thus shall it be with both of them; they shall form the two corners. And there shall be eight frames, with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame.

Exodus 30:11-16 -- The Lord said to Moses, “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel [2] according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), [3] half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord's offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives. You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

I realize this is going to be a long post, and a lot of Scripture, but I really want to get as much context as possible into this series. I know this violates all of the rules of blogging, but here goes!

RANSOM

We will get to the outer court foundations, (which are bronze), in another installment of this series -- I wanted to start with the foundation of the Tabernacle itself.

Notice where the silver for the foundation came from: all the other materials for the construction of the tabernacle were free-will offerings from the people, however the silver was derived from the ransom (atonement) money paid by the Israelites. This symbolizes something very wonderful about the foundation of our faith. As we examine the ‘silver sockets’ today, I pray that we will see the beauty and incredible ways of our Lord and Sovereign.

Silver is Levitically recognized to symbolize blood; it was used to redeem one’s life, and both Joseph (Genesis 37) and the Messiah were sold for silver. The Israelites are told in the Exodus passage above that they are to give a ransom for their lives. This is the silver used for the foundation of the Tabernacle. The ransom money had to be paid by all of the Israelite men who were 20 years and above if they were to be a part of the people of God. It is so serious that the Lord warns of a plague if the ransom is not collected.

The foundation was cast out of a metal representing both blood and redemption/ransom! This so beautifully illustrates the reality of our foundation! The Messiah did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. The foundation of our faith is the blood of Christ, which redeems us! All other aspects of our faith rest upon this solid foundation!

The Hebrews were erecting the Tabernacle in places where solid ground would be difficult to find; they needed a foundation that would support the structure of the Tabernacle, against all the wind and weather that it would face in the wilderness. We, too, need something that will give us a solid foundation in all the conditinos this life throws at us! Where do we find our foundation? Only in Messiah!

1st Corinthians 3:11–17 -- For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

You are the Temple, and what is your foundation? It is the Messiah, perfectly reflected in the blood money that created the foundation for the Tabernacle!

Next post I will look at the value of this foundation.