“You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you.” (Exodus 25:9)
If you have ever built a home, you are keenly aware of all the choices you are faced with. Number of bedrooms and baths. Cabinet colors, countertop choices, backsplash tiles, flooring. The list goes on and on. When we had our condo built, as much as I enjoyed it, I found it a bit overwhelming. But I did learn that if we wanted it built to our liking, we had to think those choices through. Afterall, we were the ones who were going to have to live with our selections.
When God told Moses to build the Tabernacle, he was very specific with his selections as well. He knew exactly what he wanted in the Tabernacle, knowing that the Tabernacle would be the prototype for the future Temple. So, he told Moses to construct the Tabernacle and the furnishings exactly to his specifications.
It wasn’t that God was being a fussy tenant. But he was very picky, because he not only knew the sacrifices that were going to be presented to him had to be exact. He also knew that one day he was going to do amazing things in the Temple that would stand in Jerusalem at the time of his son’s crucifixion. Things that would be miraculous, but more importantly would send a very important message to the world.
Last week we talked about the miracle of the veil being torn in two. We also looked at the miracle involving the opening of the golden doors. We are going to look at another breathtaking miracle this week. The miracle we will look at this week has to do with what has come to be known as the Scarlet Redemption. It is recorded by the rabbis that in the time of the second Temple, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), a scarlet cord, representing the sins of the people, was tied to the Temple doors. When the ordinances of Yom Kippur were completed, the cord on the Temple doors would turn from scarlet to white. This phenomenon would take place every year on the Day of Atonement. The miracle would verify to the people that the sacrifice had been accepted by God.
However, later the miracle became even more amazing. The Rabbis write that at a certain time in the first century onward an event occurred in the Temple signifying a drastic change to the sacrifices. Suddenly the cord stopped changing from scarlet to white. Instead, from a certain point on it remained white. This amazing phenomenon happened about forty years before the destruction of the Temple. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in the year AD 70. Therefore, this miraculous alteration of the cord took place around the year AD 30. Same time as the golden doors opening.
That also just happens to be the same time in history when Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem to die as the final sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 10:12 tells us, “Jesus Christ offered for all time one sacrifice for sins.” When Jesus offered himself for the sins of mankind, there was no more need for any other sacrifices to be made. It was finished! Hence, from that point on the scarlet cord remained permanently white!
Darlene