Seeing a Prefigure of the Church History in the History of the Ark and the Tabernacle

The history of the Ark and the tabernacle in 1 and 2 Samuel is a prefigure of the church history, giving us a full portrait of the course and situation of the church from the very beginning to the present time; today the Lord is enlarging the church life and making it more solid. Praise the Lord!

This whole week we have been looking at and prayerfully studying the history of the Ark and the tabernacle in 1 and 2 Samuel, and we saw that there are five main aspects of this history.

These five aspects apply to us today – they apply to the church life, to the stages of the history of the church life, the course and situation of the church, from the beginning to the present time.

We are grateful to the Lord for His word and for the ministry that opens up His word so that we may see not only the intrinsic significance of the divine revelation in the Bible but also apply it to our daily life and church life.

It is outstanding to see these five situations, the Bible references in the Old and the New Testament, and realize their application in the history of the church with all the details.

The Church with Christ in it – the Ark in the Tabernacle, the Normal Condition of the Church

The first situation is in Exo. 40:24-28, where we see the Ark in the tabernacle as it was ordained by God.

This typifies the church with Christ in it, the absolutely normal condition of Christ being the content of the church and the church being the expression of Christ.

Eph. 3:16-21 describes such a normal situation; the Father is strengthening us into our inner man according to the riches of His glory with power through His Spirit, and Christ is making His home in our heart through faith.

As we are being strengthened into our inner man by the Father through the Spirit so that Christ may make His home in our heart, we are being rooted and grounded in love, and we’re full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are.

Then, we know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ and are filled unto all the fullness of God.

And it is He who does this all in us – He is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power which operates in us, and He gets all the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever! Amen!

In the first aspect of the history of the Ark with the tabernacle, we see the Ark in the tabernacle and the glory of God being upon the tabernacle.

This is a picture of the first stage of the church in an absolutely normal condition of Christ being the content of the church and the church being the expression of Christ.

It should be normal that Christ is our center and content in the church life, and we as the church are the expression of Christ who fills us and saturates us with Himself.

This should be normal; this is what was in the beginning, on the day of Pentecost, and this is how it should be today.

Lord Jesus, may our church life be filled with Christ as the center and content of the church! Amen, may the tabernacle of the church contain Christ, the Ark, to have the presence of God and His blessing. May all the local churches on earth be brought to a normal situation in which Christ is the content of the church and the church is the expression of Christ. Amen, Lord, be our everything today. Be our all in all.

The Church without Christ in it – the Ark being Captured and Separated from the Tabernacle

Due to the failure of the people of God, the Ark was captured and separated from the tabernacle; it was taken by the Philistines and kept in the house of their gods.

Thus, the tabernacle became empty, and the Ark was not with God’s people anymore.

This is a type of the failures of the Christians causing the church to lose the reality and presence of Christ.

When Christ as the content is separated from the church, the church becomes an empty vessel.

Many so-called “churches” today are devoid of Christ; they may have the word of God and some religious practices that resemble the ones we see in the Old or New Testament, but there is no presence of Christ with them.

Many so-called Christian churches today are empty tabernacles without Christ in them as the reality.

This is a very sad situation, for the name of the Lord is put to shame by those in the world because of such “churches” that have no Christ in them.

When Christ is not in the church, as we see in the Dark Ages, the whole world is in darkness; when Christ as the living word of God is not in the church as the content and reality of the church, the church is merely an empty shell.

Rev. 2:4-5 and 3:20 show that Christ is outside the door of the degraded church, knocking at the door; He is not in the church but outside the door, trying to get in.

Such degradation begins with losing our first love; when we lose our first love for the Lord, He will eventually be outside the church, at the door, knocking and trying to get in.

May we open the door to the Lord and let Him in.

May we allow Him to come in, fill us with Himself, saturate us with Himself, and be our content and center in the church life.

And may we pray for those in such “churches” that are devoid of Christ, that they would find Christ and be brought into the proper church life.

Lord Jesus, save us from losing our first love. Keep us loving You and enjoying You with our first love, doing the best works, and being intimately joined to You. May the church life be filled with Christ. Save us from being devoid of Christ. May all the local churches be filled with Christ and focused on Christ. Bring many from the so-called “churches” to the proper church life with Christ as its center and content!

Having Christ without having the Church – the Ark being without the Tabernacle

The third situation in the history of the Ark with the tabernacle is prefigured by that of the Ark without the tabernacle.

First, the Ark was in the house of Abinadab for twenty years (1 Sam. 7:1-2) and then in the house of Obed-edom for three months (2 Sam. 6:10-12).

These had the Ark in their house, and God blessed their house; they treasured God’s presence, and God was with them; however, the Ark was not in the tabernacle.

The Ark was apart from the tabernacle; this was an abnormal situation.

Yes, the blessing of God came upon Obed-edom’s house because of the presence of the Ark, but the tabernacle was in Shiloh and the Ark was not in the tabernacle.

This is a better condition than before, but still not normal.

If we read church history we will see that, from the second century to the present time, there have been many persons like Obed-edom who had the reality and presence of Christ in their personal lives.

They loved the Lord, had His speaking and living word, and the Ark was with them both in their personal life and in their family life.

Actually, many of us in the church life might have been such ones, for we wanted to enjoy Christ and experience Him, and we gave Him the preeminence in all we had and did.

However, we did not have the church, the reality of the tabernacle; rather, we and the Lord were so close, yet there was not much expression of Christ in the church.

Some of these who had Christ without having the church include many spiritual giants whom the Lord has used greatly and who wrote so many books, but who had no practical church life but rather, it was them and the Lord.

Some pursuers of Christ had deep experiences with the Lord and even wrote books that remained throughout the centuries concerning their experience of Christ, but there was no proper or normal church life.

May the Lord bring many such ones to the reality of the church life where Christ is everything to us for the church!

May many of His seeking ones not only find Him but also find the church and come home, be fully satisfied, and be part of the testimony of Jesus in their locality!

Having Christ with an Inadequate Church – the Ark in David’s Tent but not in the Tabernacle

The fourth situation of the Ark and the tabernacle was when David wanted to bring the Ark into the tent that he pitched for it in the city of Jerusalem, even in Zion.

David had a good heart for the Lord, and he wanted the Ark to be in this particular tent which he prepared in Zion.

However, this tent was not the tabernacle made according to the pattern revealed by God on the mount.

If we read church history we see many such events.

So many faithful Christians had the Ark – they had Christ – and then, they had a sense of the church life to express Christ, so they “pitched a tent” to “contain the Ark” according to their opinion.

Many faithful believers not only loved the Lord and enjoyed His presence, having Him with them, but they also set up a meeting according to their understanding.

They may have even seen something of the denominations being degraded and becoming a system of Christianity, and they left the denominations and started their own independent, free group, which they called the church.

However, there was never full rest and satisfaction with such ones; rather, the “tabernacle” they set up divided and others left to pitch their own tabernacle according to their opinion, and division continued.

Most people in such a poor condition do not have full peace or satisfaction, for they fall short of the full purpose of God concerning the church life.

The fourth situation is that of Christ with an inadequate church; David had prepared a tent for the Ark in Jerusalem, but it was not according to the pattern revealed by God to Moses; many Christians have the Ark — Christ — with an inadequate church (1 Sam. 6:17; 1 Chron. 15:1; 2 Chron. 1:4; Exo. 25:9).

Some of us in the church life, before we were shown mercy by the Lord to come into the Lord’s recovery of the proper church life, have been such ones having Christ with an inadequate church.

We might have met with so many dear brothers and sisters, and we really yearned to have the proper church life, but we practiced it according to our opinion and feeling, not according to God’s purpose in His economy.

May the Lord have a way to bring many such ones into the recovery of the proper church life to enjoy full rest and satisfaction. May we pray to the Lord concerning such ones and ask Him,

Dear Lord Jesus, cause Your seeking ones to find You and to come into the proper church life according to God’s economy and heart’s desire. Have mercy on so many of those who pursue You and have Christ in their life and living to bring them into the church that has Christ as the center and content. Amen, Lord Jesus, call Your sheep by Your name and enable them to follow You, come out of any fold, and be joined to the saints in the church live so that there would be one Shepherd with one flock!

Having Christ with a Proper Church – the Ark with the proper Tabernacle to be Increase to be the Temple

The fifth situation is that of the Ark in the tabernacle, even the Ark in the temple, which is the enlargement of the tabernacle; this signifies Christ with a proper church, even Christ in an enlarged and strengthened church life (Psa. 90:1-2; 91:1-16; 92:12-15; 132:5, 8; 1 Chron. 28:11-20; 2 Chron. 3:1).

In such a situation, that of Christ with a proper church, He expresses Himself in full, and we feel completely at home.

When we come into the proper church life, when we find our home in the church, we realize not only that Christ is everything to us and only He is ministered and is the center, but we also are satisfied and in full rest because we have found our home.

Oh, home in the church – here we have given up our search.

God’s home is in the church, here He has given up His search, and both He and we are at home, in full rest and satisfaction.

This fifth situation is that of Christ with a proper church; this is typified by the Ark with the proper tabernacle that has been enlarged and increased to be the temple.

In this situation – Christ as the reality with a proper church as His expression – we feel completely at home.

This is what God is after, and this is what He is recovering today.

There are many believers in Christ on earth, many genuine seekers of God and sons of God, but they are in one of these five positions or conditions.

Some are in a completely empty position, having no Christ, others are in a good position but no church life, others have Christ but the church is according to their preference, while still others are in the recovery of the proper church life.

In these last days, the Lord desires not only to recover the original, normal condition of the church with Christ as its content and reality to be His testimony, but He will also enlarge the church and make it more solid.

He wants to enlarge the church (as the temple is the enlargement of the tabernacle) and make it more solid (as the temple was more solid than the tabernacle).

May we be those who are part of the Lord’s recovery and strengthening of the proper church with Christ as its everything to be the testimony of Jesus one earth!

Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing us home in the church; here we have given up our search, for we are at rest and You are at rest. Hallelujah for the church life according to God’s desire where Christ is the content and the center for the testimony of Jesus in the church! Amen, Lord, recover the original, normal condition of the church with Christ as its center and content, and enlarge the church life to make it even more solid! Praise You, Lord, for what You are doing today to recover the proper church life. Praise You for being the Good Shepherd caring for Your sheep and bringing them into the rich pasture for both God and man to be at rest!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1964, vol. 4, “The Vision of God’s Building,” pp, 256-259, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 4, entitled, The History of the Ark and the Tabernacle.
• Further reading on this topic, A Prefigure of Church History.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – In the divisions He sought us, / Weary and famished for food; / Into the good land He brought us, / Oh, to our spirit how good! / Glorious church life, / Feasting from such a rich store! / Here where we’re dwelling in oneness / God commands life evermore. (Hymns #1221)
  – O home in the church, / Where we’ve ended our search / With the brothers rejoicing all day; / Where Christ is our life, / And we’re through with all strife, / Now we’re home, hallelujah, to stay! / Home, home in the church; / Yes, it’s here that we’ve ended our search; / And through all our days / We will shout to His praise, / “Hallelujah for Christ and the church!” (Hymns #1233)
  – Now the Lord’s recovery is everywhere proceeding, / All the churches join in one to give the Lord command: / “Speed the day when all the earth will echo with pray-reading / And with hallelujahs for Christ our land.” / We’re churching in the Spirit / On the church’s local ground; / We’re churching with our brothers, / Our family we have found. / Oh, yes, we’re churching with the churches, / And we’ll make the earth resound / With hallelujahs for Christ our land! (Hymns #1236)