The Five Pillars

Having come through the Way gate, passing through the Brazen Altar and the Laver, we now approach the five pillars which make up the Truth gate.

Exodus 26:36-37 “And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework. And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.”

Exodus 36:37-38 “And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework: And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.”

We have three doors in connection with the Tabernacle, the Court Gate, the entrance to the Holy Place, and the entrance to the Holy of Holies. Jesus is all three.

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

We need to make mention of these doors and their sizes: the Way gate (the entrance into the court), was twenty cubits wide, and five cubits high with four pillars. Now the Truth gate (the entrance into the Holy Place), is only ten cubits wide and ten cubits high. It is just half as wide as the first gate, but twice as high. Here we have a narrow way, but our vision is higher. This door does not have four pillars like the Court gate. This door has five pillars and just as the four pillars in the first gate speak of the four gospels, these five pillars speak of the five ministries of Christ, the Apostolic Order. Jesus Christ had all five of these ministries working in and through His life: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher.

Five is the Bible number of Grace and this number is found over and over again in the Tabernacle. The court fence was five cubits high, the Brazen Altar was five cubits square, and there were five different vessels made for it and there were five pillars at this entrance. There is a passage in the New Testament that we should mention right here:

John 5:2 “Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.”

The five entrances mentioned here provided a way into Bethesda, which means House of Mercy. This is a beautiful picture that typifies the House of Mercy as the Church and the five gates (porches) typifying the five-fold ministry, which are the gates into the Church.

Ephesians 4:11-13 “And he gave some, apostles; and some prophets, and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work

of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

In the Tabernacle, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers are seen in Aaron and his four sons, and in the five different vessels that were made for the Brazen Altar. The five pillars at the entrance of the Holy Place are typical of the five-fold ministry in their vertical position, which represents their standing before God. The five bars that run through the boards are also a type of the five-fold ministry and their relationship with the Church, which is His Body. It is through these five ministries that you reach perfection (maturity).

Hebrews 5:13-14 “For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

Hebrews 6:1 “Let us go on unto perfection.”

We cannot go on to perfection without this five-fold ministry. Don’t stop in the Court where the Altar and Laver are. The Court is typical of the Body and the Holy Place is typical of the Soul. Within the Holy Place, knitting takes place but there is not knitting taking place out in the court. Only in the Holy Place can we go on to perfection, after we enter through the five pillars at the entrance.

Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

Many believers choose to remain in the Court. You can tell those living in the Court by the way they live, carnal and shallow, and by the way they act, talk and dress, and by their worldliness and by their habits. But we are to keep walking in a path that starts at the gate and continues on to the Brazen Altar and the Laver, then on to the Holy Place. This is the path that leads to the perfect day.

Hebrews 10:38-39 “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

After you have been in the Holy Place, you will be miserable trying to live in the Court. God created us for His good pleasure and we must go all the way into the Holy of Holies to receive the fullness of what God has for us. You didn’t receive it all at the gate of the Brazen Altar or the Laver, but the path gets brighter as you press on to perfection. When you get to the Brazen Altar, you have a legal right to all that is in the Tabernacle, but you have to keep walking that path to get there. Jesus came to His own and His own received Him not, but as many as received Him, He gave them the power (authority) to become the sons of God (or to go on and get all that He has for them).

These five pillars make up the gate or the entrance into the Holy Place. They stand erect and upright in sockets of silver and represent the Five-fold gifted ministries of the New Testament. They represent God’s authority, God’s government in the Church. This five-fold ministry has two functions. They stand vertical for God and horizontal for the saints. They have a work to do in their vertical position and a work to do in their horizontal position.

Exodus 26:26-27 “And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.”

Notice there are five bars for the sides, five bars running horizontally holding the 48 boards together which make up the Tabernacle or the dwelling place of God. The ministry of God is the gate or the entrance by which the material enters. This ministry continues its work in a horizontal position holding the bars firmly and tightly together. There is one more thing to notice in regard to these bars: four of these bars just covered a portion of the sides, but there was one bar that went all the way around. It had a part in holding all the boards together. This bar that goes all the way around speaks of the Apostle of the assembly. God’s ministry is very important. It is for the purpose of holding forth the Word of God and presenting every board perfect to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

Ephesians 4:16 “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”

Ephesians 2:20-22 “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the spirit.”

Colossians 1:28 “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 4:12 “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

Through this ministry we enter into the Holy Place and here our soul can receive its needs. Here we can overcome our nature and get all our priorities straight. Here we stand in silver sockets.

Exodus 36:30 “And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.”

Remember silver speaks of Redemption.

Numbers 3:47-49 “Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs;) And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons. And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites:”

It was the redemption money that was used to make these sockets. You will notice through the Old Testament scriptures that blood and silver are closely related.

Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

The blood in the New Testament takes the place of the silver in the Old Testament. Next, let us deal with the boards of the Tabernacle proper.