Then you shall make curtains…

Exodus 26:7

In Exodus 26:7-14 we learn about three more layers of curtains. It would be a curtain of goat hair that would cover the beautiful curtain of fine twisted linen. This curtain of goat hair would be woven in eleven pieces and would be long enough that it would drape all the way to the ground completely covering the inner curtain.

Practically speaking the curtain of fine twisted linen and beautiful colors and designs would not be able to withstand the weather. So the Lord made provisions for three more layers of curtain to cover it, each one more weather resistant that the last. However, true to the inner curtain, these next three hold their own story of the person and work of Christ and His people.

This curtain of goat hair would also be held together with clasps, but these clasps would be made of bronze. It is believed by many that bronze has always represented judgment. This curtain, covering the curtain underneath that represented the glory of Christ, His Kingship, Priesthood, and Deity and even deeper under its layer covering the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat, the Table of Showbread, and the Lampstand could it possibly be that this goat hair curtain would represent the humanity of Christ?

It would be Jesus who was fully God who would take on flesh and humble Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8), so that He could receive the full judgment of God on our behalf. He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Perhaps the reason this curtain was held together with clasps was because after the judgment, after the resurrection, our Lord would stand before His disciples not in the form of God alone, but also in the form of humanity. He would still bare the scars of His judgment, the wrath of God that should have been on us, on His flesh. He would say “see My hands and put Your hand in My side and know that I AM“. He would still be the One who could wrap us up in His arms and allow us to be able to stand in His presence though we, although forgiven and justified in His sight, still live in this tent of sinful flesh, this weak jar of clay.

The next curtain would be made of ram’s skin and it would be dyed red. In Genesis 22 it would be a ram that would catch the eye of Abraham after the angel stayed his hand before he offered Isaac on the altar. This ram would be sacrificed in place of Isaac and the Lord would teach Abraham and us that He would provide the sacrifice. It would not be Abraham’s son that would be offered for the sin of the world, but His.

There are no measurements given for the size of this curtain. There are no instructions for it to be cut into pieces or held together with clasps. As far as we know it is sewn together to be one solid piece. For it would be one sacrifice, one offering, that would be enough for all people for all time (Hebrews 10:12-14).

The fourth curtain would be that of porpoise skin. There are no measurements given for the porpoise skin curtain either. Its purpose is simply to protect the precious. From a distance, from a stranger passing through, this tabernacle covered in porpoise skin would give no evidence of the glory that rested underneath it’s covering. It could be a shelter, refuge, a place to weather a storm, but someone seeking grandeur and power would pass right on by never taking a second glance.

Yet, for someone who was hurting, someone who was hungry, someone who was weary, to this one it would scream a place of rest. It would shout, “I won’t turn you away because you smell. I won’t reject you because you are broken. I won’t pretend that I did not hear you knocking. I will let you in. Come inside, the door is open.”

In Isaiah 53:2 we read,

“For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

Even the curtain of porpoise skin was there to be a foreshadowing of the One who was to come. It was not the charisma or the sweet talk of Jesus that drew people to Him. It was the hidden glory within. It was a pull that no one could explain. They just knew He was real. They just knew that the closer they got to Him the more sinful they would feel, but it was not a feeling of condemnation but of conviction that allowed them to also feel free to cry out for mercy.

And as we draw nearer to Him and pull back the curtains and step even deeper into His nearness He reveals more and more and more of His beauty to us… more and more of His grace… more and more of His glory… more and more of His holiness… and we become ever more amazed that He even considered to come and rescue us.

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