When Moses under God’s instructions built the Tabernacle he was told to make it with three distinct areas: the outer court; the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies or (the Most Holy Place). Each of these sections contained certain pieces of furniture that were designed for specific purposes.
The Bronze Altar
The bronze altar for burnt offerings stood in the outer courtyard with its poles removed. It was a hollow wooden box, overlaid with bronze. It measured 4.5 feet high and 7.5 feet long and wide. (1400 mm x 2300 mm x 2300 mm) It was grated with bronze on the top and on the sides of the altar.
The outer court held the brazen altar or the altar of burnt offerings. It is here that we begin our approach to God. To the Israelites an altar was “a slaughter place.” It symbolized the cross and the blood, where Jesus Christ was led as a Lamb of God to the slaughter.
Therefore it is at the cross where we begin our approach to God. When sacrificing an animal according to God’s instructions, a priest would kill the animal, cut in pieces, and place it on the altar. God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices daily laying down our lives, our desires and choosing to accept His will. By doing so we sacrifice our own wills and make an acceptable sacrifice that is pleasing to God (see Romans 12:1).
How does this apply to our intercession? We can’t work our own way into the presence of God. The place of intercession must be led by the Spirit of God, lest we defile the altar by our own works or good deeds to the finished work of Jesus Christ.
In her book, Beyond the Veil, Alice Smith says,
Intercession is a place of death, a place of lowliness and humility. It must be God directed, Christ honoring, and Spirit led. It is the authored and finished work of Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith flowing through us.
The Bronze Laver
The second item in the outer court was the Bronze Laver. It was made of bronze symbolizing that sin was still present. The Lord told Moses to set the laver between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it (Exodus 40:7). Why did God tell Moses to put the laver in that exact position? When you look at some published drawings of the Tabernacle furniture arrangement, the laver is off to one side or the other of the door into the sanctuary.
There is something that missing here. The laver was to be placed directly “between the doors of the Tent of Meeting and the altar of burnt offering which completes the “cross” made by the arrangement of the furniture, from the ark to the altar. It could have no significance to the Israelites of that time, but God who planned it had those in mind to whom Christ would one day say:
But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me (John 5:38-39).
At the foot of the “cross “there is an altar, signifying our complete surrender, and then the laver, picturing our cleansing, that we may enter in through Him who alone is “the Door” to the eternal Holy of Holies. Jesus said,, ‘I am the door’, ‘I am the good shepherd’, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’, and ‘I am the true vine’. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (see John 10:1-9).
Because this laver was bronze, it represented those things in us that were not yet purified. How do we know that? It is because gold represents purity. The Apostle Peter writes,
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7).
When the ancient priest washed himself in the washbasin, he noted every detail of his reflection because the laver of bronze was made from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of Meeting (Exodus 38:8). This was a preparation to enter into God’s holy presence; therefore the heart must be pure. Our lives are also reflected, and all our weaknesses are exposed before us. When we wash in the water of God’s Word, we ask the Lord to purify our hearts, thoughts, and motives, because our hearts are deceptive and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 139:23-24).
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13).
The Menorah or the Golden Lamp Stand
Inside the Holy Place were the seven-branched candle stick, which are the “seven Spirits of God (Revelation 1:4) it is also known as the Menorah or the Golden Lamp stand. It stood six feet tall and remained lit constantly. “And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be allowed to go out” (see Leviticus 6:12).
It also consisted of oil lamps (see Matthew 25:1-3), not candles which burn out. The light produced by the Menorah symbolizes Holy Spirit, who gives divine light and inspiration. Inside the Holy Place, the priest walked by its light. Intercession is dependent upon the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
We are the living temple of the Holy Spirit. Your physical body is the outer court of this temple. The soul is the inner court. This soul realm consists of the mind, will, and emotions and it is where our choices are made that bring either light or darkness into our lives.
Your spirit is the holy place. It is the inner sanctuary where the Lord dwells, and manifests His presence. You may be overcome with the “most holy emotions” (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5) because of the presence of the Lord within you. You may laugh, weep, travail, groan with brokenness and great compassion. We should learn to recognize and discern the manifestations of God’s presence in our secret places.
But prayer and intercession is always and only the work of the Holy Spirit. This is where we come to realize our total dependence upon the Holy Spirit, because we do not know how to pray as we should unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. We reach deep inside our innermost being where the Spirit dwells and He intercedes for us and through us in ways that are beyond our comprehension:
The Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit (what His intent is), because the Spirit intercedes and pleads (before God) in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will (Romans 8:26-28).
That is when we are assured and know that all things are working together for good to and for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose.
Table of Shewbread
Then there was the Table of Shewbread “And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always (Exodus 25:30). This table is where the priests placed the “bread of the presence” before the Lord. Twelve loaves six of fresh bread were set in two rows and placed on this table daily (Leviticus 24: 5-9).
Our intercession comes from communion with the Lord which comes as we fellowship with Him by eating the Bread of Life–Jesus Himself who knew to be God in human flesh. John asserts that Jesus is the ‘manna’, the ‘bread which came down from heaven from heaven’….. He who eats this bread will live forever (John 6:26-58).
The Altar of Incense
The Altar of Incense represents the ministry of prayer and intercession. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Revelation 5:8) It was the altar of incense that stood directly in front of the veil leading into the Most Holy Place. It was nearest to the Ark of the Covenant that contained the presence of God. The Psalmist declares:
Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:2).
In the Old Testament, it was only the High Priest and other selected priests that could minister at the altar of incense. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies carrying the golden censer. He brought incense from the inner court and threw it upon the burning coals. He held the censer in his hand while the incense burned. The incense would fill the Holy of Holies and hide the mercy seat. The smoke from the altar of incense covered the priest’s humanity and this protected his life (see Numbers 16: 17-18).
In the New Testament, as Christians we have become priests, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation set apart to the worship of God (1 Peter 2:9). As believers we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus and go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. Why would we have this privilege? Because our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean and our bodies have been washed with pure water (Hebrews 10: 19-22).
It is the blood of Jesus Christ that gives you access to the Holy of Holies today. When you worship Him you are making smoke as sweet incense, you perfume the atmosphere with a sweet fragrance which attracts His presence. The worship smoke releases His covering mercy so you can commune with Him in an intimate relationship. This incense that was used in the Tabernacle was called sweet incense. The Lord gave the composition of this special incense directly to Moses in the Book of Exodus (see Exodus 30:34-38).
But unfortunately, the Israelites misused the holy incense in connection with pagan worship practices and the judgment of God fell upon those who misused the incense and the censer. An example is found in Leviticus. This abominable act was also mentioned three times in the Scriptures; Numbers 3:4, 26:61 and 1 Chronicles 24:2.
Today, as Christians, the true burning of incense is not like using the same substance they used in the Old Testament, instead it is the prayers and intercession of the body of Christ being lifted before the Lord’s throne. The presence of the Holy Spirit sets our hearts on fire with the compassion and power of God.
True Intercession
But true intercession is not presenting to the Almighty a prayer list of the things that have burdened our hearts. True intercession happens when God Himself takes the incense of His own heart and sprinkles it upon the Holy Spirit fire that He has already ignited within the hearts of His saints.
When the Lord Jesus finds a purified vessel He can use a priestly censer, He ignites the fire of the Holy Spirit within that person. Then He takes some of the incense that He has carried in His own heart and sprinkles it on the coals. The result is an explosion of prayer. This is how the burden of the Lord becomes the prayer of the saints.
Prayer is not just creating our own mixture of ingredients and, then bring them to God for His response. It is very easy to present to Him the burdens and cares of own lives, instead of discerning what is on His heart and making that our prayer agenda. The only way we can know what is on God’s heart is to read, study, and meditate on His Word. If we to be effective watchmen on the walls, we must become intimately acquainted with God’s Word.
As Andrew Murray says in his great classic, With Christ in the School of Prayer says,
It is the connection between His Word and our prayers that Jesus points to when He says, If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. …God is the infinite Being in whom everything is life, power, spirit and truth–in the deepest meaning of the words. When God reveals Himself in His Words, He does indeed give Himself-His love and His life, His will and His power-to those who receive these words, in a reality that surpasses our comprehension.
In every promise, He gives us the power to grasp and possess Himself. In every command, He allows us to share His will, His holiness, and His perfection. God’s Word gives us God Himself! That Word is nothing less than the Eternal Son, Christ Jesus.
Therefore, all of Christ’s words are God’s words, full of a Divine and quickening life and power. The words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. If My words abide in you. The condition is simple and clear. In His words, His will is revealed. As the words abide in me, His will rules me. My will becomes the empty vessel which His will fills, and the willing instrument which His rules.
