Turn with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 6, verses 19 and 20.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and stedfast and entering into that which is within the veil;
whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Now turn to Hebrews, chapter 10. We will begin reading from verse 19 through verse 25.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh;
and having a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water,
let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for He is faithful that promised:
and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works;
not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
Lord, we thank You. We praise You, because it is You who have called us unto Yourself.
Lord, we sense in our spirit that we are standing on holy ground. We desire to take off the sandals from our feet, for the place upon which we stand is holy ground.
Lord, we plead that You would speak to us, that we may hear Your voice and carry out Your will. We commit this time to You. Look for the Holy Spirit to do the work. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen.
Yesterday morning, we shared on the importance of spiritual communion. We discovered that communion with Him is God’s destined purpose for us, His people. He is after this; therefore, He paid a great price so that we can commune with Him.
So we must take this grace firmly, and we must learn to commune with our Lord.
This morning, we will look from a different angle at this matter of communion. It is the matter of the life within the veil.
For the sake of the younger saints, I will say a little of my own story. In 1930, I attended a summer retreat. I was still unsaved, but I wanted to be saved. The reason I attended that summer conference was because I wanted to be saved.
At that retreat, we had meetings in the afternoon and also in the evening. In one session, the speaker talked about the tabernacle. I was still unsaved, and though he was speaking about the tabernacle, it was all foreign to me.
Especially because the speaker was from Shantung and had a particular accent, I could not understand what he was saying. Yet my heart was desperate; I wanted to be saved. After listening to the message on the tabernacle, I could not understand a thing.
Perhaps some of the young brothers and sisters here this morning may have the same feeling I had. But praise God, even though I did not understand what was being spoken, the Lord indeed saved me.
In these many years, the more I have meditated on this matter of the tabernacle, the more precious it has become to me. Through the story of the tabernacle, God unfolds what is in His heart to His people. We can learn many, many lessons.
At this point, we would like to consider the tabernacle in order to learn the lesson of how to live a life within the veil.
God delivered His people out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai. There He gave them the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments simply express what God is like. Through the commandments, we discover that God is indeed a just and righteous God. As far as God is concerned, the Ten Commandments are His testimony; they testify what kind of God He really is.
But on man’s side, they become law and ordinances. Because God is holy and righteous, He wants us to be righteous and holy like Himself. Through these commandments, the Lord separated Israel as a nation from all the other nations of the world, that they might become a peculiar people unto Himself.
But at Mount Sinai, God not only gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. At the same time, He also revealed to them the pattern of the tabernacle.
Most believers know about the commandments given on the mount, but they overlook the fact that on the mount God gave Moses the pattern of the tabernacle. Strictly speaking, the law is but a process; the purpose is in the tabernacle.
The Ten Commandments are for the tabernacle. The tabernacle is what God wants. God redeemed His people out of Egypt and gave them the commandments so that they might draw near to Him and that He might dwell in the midst of His people.
In Exodus 25, God said to Moses:
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I show thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the furniture thereof, even so shall ye make it.
God’s heart is to dwell in the midst of His people. For this reason, He wanted His people to build a tabernacle.
The tabernacle, its construction, and all its furniture were given according to God’s pattern on the mountain. This tabernacle was a revelation given by God Himself. He would not allow man’s way to come into the building of His dwelling place.
The colors, the nails, every detail, and every material used were all given by God through revelation. God told the people, “When you build the tabernacle, everything you do must be according to the pattern given to you on the mountain.”
Yet God did not build it Himself. He wanted His people to rise up and build the tabernacle. These people were the redeemed of the Lord.
When they came out of Egypt, they did not come out alone. Their children came out with them, their flocks came out, and they took the precious gold and silver from Egypt with them.
Therefore, when God redeemed His people, He redeemed them abundantly, full of grace. Then God said, “Now I want you to build a tabernacle for Me.” Everything was provided and given by God.
As the Spirit moved them, they gave out of a willing heart the contributions the Lord desired for all the furnishings and equipment. According to the pattern, they built the tabernacle.
On one side, the tabernacle is a revelation of God. On the other side, it is man’s offering and man’s submission to God. Because these two things were brought together, the tabernacle became a reality.
We know that the tabernacle is a type. The tabernacle is a type of the church today.
God’s desire is to dwell in the midst of His people. The church is God’s dwelling place. This is what God is really after.
For this purpose to be accomplished, God’s people must offer themselves and be joined together according to the pattern given by God. The church itself is not the end. The end of the church is Christ.
The church is God’s house, prepared as a place for God. Through this type, we can learn many lessons. God’s purpose is for Him to dwell in the midst of His people.
Why does He want to dwell in the midst of His people? For what purpose? In Exodus 25:22, God said:
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
The tabernacle is God’s dwelling place, and the purpose of the tabernacle is that He may meet with us, commune with us, and converse with us.
For example, you have a home in which parents and children live together. Why do they live together? They live together because they can meet one another.
But because of the peculiarity of contemporary life, especially in homes in the United States, parents may never get to see their children, and children may rarely see their parents. In the morning, the parents go to work, and when they come home, the children are already in bed.
Even though they live in the same home, they never meet one another. If they do not meet, converse, and talk with one another, what is the reason for dwelling together? If the husband ignores the wife and the wife ignores the husband, that is not a home.
In the same way, God wanted the Israelites to build Him a tabernacle so that He could meet with them, commune with them, and converse with them. Meeting together, communing together, and conversing with one another—that is communion.
When God brought His people to Mount Sinai, He told Moses to prepare and purify the people, because He wanted to speak to them. They had to purify themselves and wait at the foot of the mountain.
But when God spoke, the people could not bear it. They said, “You be an intermediary. You listen to God, and you come and speak to us. We are afraid to hear God’s voice directly.”
While Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, the people were already sinning at the foot of the mountain. They made and worshipped the golden calf. They immediately violated God’s commandment.
Because they disqualified themselves, they could not draw near to God. God’s original intention was for His people to become a kingdom of priests, able to draw near to Him. But because they disqualified themselves, God could only choose one tribe and one family to be priests.
The rest of Israel was not qualified to approach God directly. Yet even in that situation, God still wanted to dwell in the midst of His people. How could a holy God dwell in the midst of a sinful people?
God prepared the tabernacle. Through the tabernacle, God provided a way for man to approach and come into His presence. We can see God’s desperate desire to invite His people to draw near to Him.
According to man’s condition, man should be excluded completely from God’s presence. But God continued to desire to draw man to Himself. Therefore, He prepared a way.
The tabernacle was divided into three parts. There was the outer court. In the outer court were the brazen altar and the laver.
Then there was the holy place. In the holy place were three pieces of furniture: the golden lampstand, the table of showbread, and the golden altar of incense.
Then there was a thick veil, dividing the holy place from the holy of holies. In the holy of holies there was only one piece of furniture: the ark of the covenant, with the mercy seat.
God’s glory dwelt above the ark, above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim. For man to approach God, he had to begin from the outer court and come step by step closer.
The curtain of the outer court was always open. Once you entered the outer court, you came to a large piece of furniture: the brazen altar.
The altar speaks of the cross. On the altar, sacrifices had to be offered. It was made of brass, and brass in Scripture speaks of judgment.
For man to come to God, sin must be judged. The wages of sin is death. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment.
But thank God, our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. Through the cross, He offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God. He was judged for us on the cross.
Today, through faith in Christ and His cross, we are justified. God will not pursue our sins any longer. The first step in approaching God is through the cross of Christ and the shedding of His blood.
Even though our sins are forgiven, we are spared from the judgment of death, and we have eternal life, does that mean that we have already arrived at the end? No.
For most believers, once they are saved, they think that is the end of God’s purpose. Afterwards, they simply wait to be caught up to heaven. But the Bible tells us that justification is only the beginning.
When the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt, He said to Pharaoh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” To be set free did not mean that they were free to do whatever they wanted.
Formerly, they were slaves in Egypt. They had no freedom; they lived for Pharaoh. Now they are saved, but they are not free simply to live for themselves. God redeemed them that they might serve Him. Before they served Pharaoh; now they should serve God.
Between the brazen altar and the holy place was the brazen laver. It was for Aaron and his sons, because they were priests. In their service, they had to offer sacrifices, enter the holy place to light the lampstand, place bread upon the table, and burn incense on the altar of incense.
But before they could serve, they had to pass through the brazen laver. They had to wash their hands and their feet. We are told that if they served without washing their hands and feet, they would face destruction.
What does this mean? Those who are saved should naturally have a desire to serve God. The purpose of salvation is that we may serve Him. Once we are saved, we ought to have a heart to serve God.
If you say that you have no heart to serve God, I question your salvation. This does not mean that everyone must become a preacher. But every saved one ought to be consecrated to the Lord.
In an ordinary revival meeting, the last meeting is always on consecration. Consecration is for service.
At the summer conference when I was thirteen years old, I was newly saved and on fire for the Lord. The preacher said, “If you really love the Lord, you must offer yourself to be a preacher.”
At the back of the platform, they hung a map of China. You could choose where you wanted to go to serve the Lord. I thought, “The Lord loved me and saved me. I must go to the most remote, most difficult place to serve Him.”
They said, “If you want to consecrate yourself, come up and point your finger to the location where you want to go.” So I went up to the platform and put my finger on Mongolia. To the Chinese, Mongolia was the remotest place. I wanted to serve the Lord.
Even though I was foolish in some ways, my heart was sincere. From that day onward, I kept preparing myself to go to Mongolia. But even today, I have never been there yet.
Strictly speaking, every saved one ought to be a consecrated one. Romans 12 says that by the mercies of God we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service.
Everyone who is saved ought to rise up and serve the Lord. We ought to live just for Him. We should never again live for ourselves or do things merely for ourselves. We need to live according to the way God has arranged things for us.
If the Lord puts you in a home, in school, in society, or in the church, wherever you are, you are there to serve the Lord. We are all full-time serving Him.
I do not like the expression “full-time serving the Lord,” because all of us are full-time servants of the Lord. If that is not the case, what do you do with your time? What are you serving—mammon?
Every one of us ought to rise up and serve the Lord according to His will. But to serve does not mean that we do whatever we think we are capable of doing. We must not serve according to our own will.
If we serve according to our own will, it is because we have not washed our hands and feet. Such service will not be accepted by God; God will judge it. God is holy, and unless we are holy as God is holy, we are not able to serve Him.
We are not only to be justified; we also need to be sanctified.
After we are saved, we are baptized and washed clean. But while we walk and live on this earth, we touch this world. Our hands touch many unclean things in the world.
These things may not necessarily be sin, but they defile us. As we touch the world, unconsciously there is a coat of dust upon our spirit. We may not be cut off from our communion with God, but communion becomes somewhat unnatural.
It is as though our feet have a coat of dust and our hands are unclean. If we are like this, how can we serve? Therefore, we need to pass through the brazen laver.
Where did the brass of the laver come from? In Exodus 38, we are told that the bronze used to make the laver came from the mirrors of the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting.
In olden times, mirrors were made of brass. When they were polished, you could see yourself in them, because in those days they had no glass mirrors.
I believe all the sisters like to see themselves in a mirror—and perhaps some brothers too. We like to look at ourselves in a mirror, and perhaps we enjoy a little self-admiration.
But the hearts of the women who served at the tent of meeting were captured by the Lord Himself. They had forgotten themselves because they had no need of mirrors. So they offered their brass mirrors, and from them the laver was made.
When the priests came to the brazen laver to serve, the light reflected from the brass exposed the defilement of their hands and feet. After judgment came the water to wash their hands and feet.
You remember that on the evening when the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He rose from supper, poured water into a basin, girded Himself with a towel, and went to His disciples to wash their feet.
Peter said, “Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?” The Lord answered:
If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.
Peter then said, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” But the Lord said:
He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.
You are clean because of His word. Yet, as we walk through this world, we need the washing of our feet.
When you serve the Lord, have you ever thought of the need to wash your hands and feet? Or do you simply do what you consider right in your own view, moving your hands and feet according to your own thought?
Many serve the Lord in this way, full of zeal. But in our service, how often do we ask the Lord what He desires?
I will tell you a short story. In the early days, there was a brother who loved Brother Watchman Nee very much. Brother Nee simply said, “This dish is very delicious,” and the brother cooked that dish for him every day.
He used his own money to buy the food and cook for Brother Nee. He truly loved our brother very much. But this kind of love can sometimes become almost unbearable.
Sometimes the Lord may say, “How about asking Me once in a while?” Have you asked the Lord? Have you come to the brazen laver and allowed yourself to be exposed by that mirror?
Have you discovered that your hands are full of dust and defilement from the world? Have you discovered that the way you serve uses the ways of the world? God will reject that.
May God’s light and His word cleanse us, so that we may be a holy people. Holiness means separation from the world. Righteousness means separation from sin. We also need to be separated from the performance and methods of the world. Then we can begin to serve God.
Once we enter the holy place, we see the golden lampstand. The lamp is lit, and the light shines.
This means that we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light. Then we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. That becomes our testimony.
Then we see the golden table of showbread. A table always speaks of communion or fellowship. The showbread literally means the bread of the presence.
The Lord Himself is there. We commune with Him and share with Him, just as we break bread together in remembrance of the Lord. The bread speaks of the Lord Himself and His body broken for us.
We have fellowship with Him in the Body. Because we are in fellowship in the Body, we become His Body. Though we are many, there is one bread and one cup. Christ Himself is our life.
He is not only our life and our testimony; He is also our very light.
Then we come to the golden altar of incense. This speaks of prayer. In the Lord, we intercede for one another. Interceding prayer is part of the service found in the church.
This is service within the holy place. The service in the outer court is the preaching of the gospel to those outside. The service within the holy place is for the testimony of Christ: the expression of the glory of His life, fellowship with Him, and interceding prayer for His people.
But we have not yet arrived at the holy of holies. Between the holy place and the holy of holies, there is a veil.
This veil was very thick. It was made of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, with cherubim woven into it. It was a very beautiful piece of work, but it separated the holy place from the holy of holies.
The ark of the covenant and the mercy seat were behind the veil. Even though one had entered from the outer court into the holy place, one had not entered into the holy of holies or come face to face with God.
No one was allowed to enter except the high priest, once a year. He entered with blood and incense to make atonement for the sins of the people.
When the high priest entered, the people listened carefully. On the hem of his garment were golden bells. As he moved within, they could hear the sound of the bells.
If the bells were ringing, they knew that the high priest was alive. It was a very tense moment. To enter the presence of God was not a small matter.
The veil testified that the way into the holy of holies had not yet been opened. This is what we find in Hebrews 9.
But thank God, our Lord Jesus Christ came. John 1:14 says:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us
(and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father),
full of grace and truth.
The word translated “dwelt” means “tabernacled.” While our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was like a tabernacle. Indeed, He was the true tabernacle.
The temple in Jerusalem was a magnificent edifice, built over many years. But the holy of holies was empty. There was no ark, no mercy seat, and no glory of God.
When our Lord Jesus Christ came, He Himself was God’s tabernacle. He was called Emmanuel—God with us. God dwelt in Him, and He communed with God continuously.
His communion with God was never broken. There was no shadow and no darkness.
His flesh was like a veil. On one side, the veil faced the holy of holies; on the other side, it faced the holy place.
As far as the Lord’s life on earth was concerned, in Himself He was always face to face with His Father. He always beheld the Father’s face. He lived a life fully pleasing to the Father.
But on the other hand, His life was like a veil before the people of the world. His holy and perfect life told the world that we are unworthy to behold the face of God. His life exposes and disqualifies us from approaching God.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God drove them out of the garden and placed cherubim and a flaming sword at the east of Eden to block the way to the tree of life.
Our Lord’s life on earth was a holy life, a perfect life. He was the only One worthy to have communion with the Father. We sinners are unworthy.
The Lord lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years. On the Mount of Transfiguration, He could have entered into glory from the mount. But if He had done so, there would have been only one Person in heaven, and we would be totally hopeless.
But our Lord did not ascend into glory from the Mount of Transfiguration. He went instead to the Mount of Calvary. He hung on the cross.
When He cried, “It is finished,” the veil in the temple at Jerusalem was torn from top to bottom. The body, the flesh, of our Lord Jesus was that veil.
Hebrews 10 tells us that today we have a new and living way to approach God. The way has been opened because the Lord shed His blood for us.
He not only shed His blood; His body was broken. The veil was torn. Now the way into the holy of holies is open.
He has become our great High Priest. He is our Forerunner. He has already entered into the holy of holies, and He wants to bring all of us with Him into that place.
In the Old Testament, no one was qualified to enter the holy of holies. The way had not been opened. Even the high priest entered in fear and trembling, through the blood of animal sacrifices and beneath the covering of incense.
But because of the blood of our Lord Jesus and because His body was broken, the veil is now torn. We can enter in without fear.
By faith, with a sincere heart, we can enter. What was previously the privilege of one man once a year is now the portion of every believer.
This is a tremendous redemption. We are not only justified. We are not only sanctified. Now we can come face to face with God and commune with Him.
More than that, we not only enter the holy place or the holy of holies for a moment. The holy of holies becomes our dwelling place.
Believers, our dwelling is in the holy of holies. It is not that we enter and then come out again. We can remain and dwell within the veil, living a life within the veil.
This is a tremendous privilege. Strictly speaking, from God’s point of view, we all need to dwell within the veil.
Then we can produce service within the holy place. If we do not have a life within the veil, how can we serve Him in the holy place? How can we have the service of the church? How can we serve the world with the gospel in the outer court?
We must dwell within the veil. Within the veil is our home, because there we see His face. Moment by moment, we are in communion with Him. We are there beholding His beauty.
This is the normal Christian life: a life within the veil.
If we do not have a life within the veil, we have no right to talk about service in the holy place or service in the outer court. Everything must issue from the holy of holies.
Do we have that life within the veil? Or are we merely busy on the outside—bringing an animal, helping someone else bring a sacrifice, sweating greatly, and considering this to be service?
We may think that we are serving in the church, or serving in the world, but is that true service? If we do not have a life within the veil, how can we have service in the outer court or in the holy place?
We need to live a life within the veil. We need to live before His face.
First of all, if you have a life within the veil, is your life merely external and before men, or is your life before God?
In Matthew 6, we are told that when we do good, we should not do it before men. If we give alms, we should do it in secret. Our Father, who sees in secret, will repay us.
When we pray, we should not stand on the street corners to pray in order to be seen by men. We should enter into the secret place. When we fast, we should not do it so that men may notice us. We should do it in secret.
Strictly speaking, the normal Christian way of life is a hidden life. This hidden life does not mean a life in darkness. This hidden life is within the veil.
People on the outside cannot see it. It is between you and God. Are we living before men and for men, or are we living before God and for God?
Are we living for men? Are we living for God? Are we living in the world? Are we living in ourselves?
We need God’s light to enlighten us and show us how much of our daily life is merely lived before men. How much is for the Lord to see, and how much is for men to see?
God be merciful to us. Oftentimes we live our lives before men, and we lack a life behind the veil.
We need God’s mercy to lead us so that we may live a life truly behind the veil. Man cannot see it, and we do not want people to see it. When God sees, that is enough.
The life within the veil is a life face to face with God. Oftentimes our back is toward the Lord, but His face is always turned toward us.
We often ask Him to turn to us, but our face is toward the world and our back is toward God. He wants to shine upon us from His face, but His light falls upon our backs.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says:
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as from the Lord the Spirit.
We need to turn our face toward the Lord. If we turn toward Him, we will behold His beauty, and the Holy Spirit will do a transforming work in us. We will be changed from glory to glory.
Glory has no other meaning than God Himself—His life, His nature, and His character incorporated into us.
What is the life within the veil? One who lives behind the veil is one who has gone outside the camp.
You cannot live a life within the veil and yet remain in the camp. If you live a life within the veil, you must depart from the camp and go outside the camp to meet the Lord there, because our Lord was crucified outside the camp.
One who lives within the veil is one who walks the way of the cross. The new and living way that He inaugurated for us is through the veil.
Therefore, we need the cross to work upon our flesh, to remove the self-life. Unless we deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him, it is impossible for us to live a life within the veil.
The life within the veil is the life of the cross. Yet the life within the veil is also a life full of light, because God Himself is light.
The one who lives behind the veil lives in the light. The one who lives within the veil also lives in love, because God is love.
In our lives, do we have this life within the veil? From God’s point of view, many things do not truly satisfy Him. What satisfies His heart is a life lived within the veil.
May the Lord be merciful to us, His people, that we may learn to sympathize with what is in God’s heart and satisfy what is in His heart.
Our Lord, we thank You. You have already paid that tremendous cost because You want to bring us into the holy of holies, to live a life within the veil.
There we can behold Your face. There we can commune with You.
Lord, do not allow us to reject You. Lead us, that we may rise up and live a life within the veil. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen.