I would here offer a remark as to the real meaning of the "gold" and "brass" in the furniture of the tabernacle. "Gold" is the symbol of divine righteousness, or the divine nature in "the Man Christ Jesus." "Brass" is the symbol of righteousness, demanding judgment of sin, as in the brazen altar; or the judgment of uncleanness, as in the brazen laver. This will account for the fact that _inside_ the tent of the tabernacle all was gold,--the ark, the mercy-seat, the table, the candlestick, the altar of incense. All these were the symbols of the divine nature--the inherent personal excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, _outside_ the tent of the tabernacle all was brass,--the brazen altar and its vessels, the laver and its foot.
The claims of righteousness, as to sin and uncleanness, must be divinely met ere there can be any enjoyment of the precious mysteries of Christ's Person, as unfolded in the inner sanctuary of God. It is when I see all sin and all uncleanness perfectly judged and washed away that I can, as a priest, draw nigh and worship in the holy place, and enjoy the full display of all the beauty and excellency of the God-man, Christ Jesus.
The reader can, with much profit, follow out the application of this thought in detail, not merely in the study of the tabernacle and the temple, but also in various passages of the Word; for example, in the first chapter of Revelation, Christ is seen "girt about the paps with a _golden_ girdle," and having "His feet like unto fine _brass_, as if they burned in a furnace." The "golden girdle" is the symbol of His intrinsic righteousness. The "feet like unto fine brass" express the unmitigated judgment of evil (He cannot tolerate evil, but must crush it beneath His feet).
Such is the Christ with whom we have to do. He judges sin, but He saves the sinner. Faith sees sin reduced to ashes at the brazen altar; it sees all uncleanness washed away at the brazen laver; and, finally, it enjoys Christ as He is unfolded, in the secret of the divine presence, by the light and power of the Holy Ghost. It finds Him at the golden altar, in all the value of His intercession; it feeds on Him at the pure table; it recognizes Him in the ark and mercy-seat, as the One who answers all the claims of justice, and, at the same time, meets all human need; it beholds Him in the vail, with all its mystic figures; it reads His precious name on every thing. O, for a heart to prize and praise this matchless, glorious Christ!
Nothing can be of more vital importance than a clear understanding of the doctrine of the brazen altar; that is to say, of the doctrine taught there. It is from the want of clearness as to this that so many souls go mourning all their days. They have never had a clean, thorough settlement of the whole matter of their guilt at the brazen altar; they have never really beheld, by faith, God Himself settling, on the cross, the entire question of their sins; they are seeking peace for their uneasy consciences in regeneration and its evidences,--the fruits of the Spirit, frames, feelings, experiences,--things quite right and most valuable in themselves, but they are not the ground of peace. What fills the soul with perfect peace is the knowledge of what God hath wrought at the brazen altar. The ashes in yonder pan tell me the peace-giving story that ALL IS DONE. The believer's sins were all put away by God's own hand of redeeming love. "He hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor. v.) All sin must be judged: but the believer's sins have been already judged in the cross; hence, he is perfectly justified. To suppose that there could be any thing against the very feeblest believer, is to deny the entire work of the cross. His sins and iniquities have been _all_ put away by God Himself, and therefore they must needs be perfectly put away. They all went with the outpoured life of the Lamb of God.
Dear Christian reader, see that your heart is thoroughly established in the peace which Jesus has made "by the blood of His cross."