Isaiah 59:19 says, “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”

One of the definitions of “standard” in this text is, “an ensign that makes our praise the sign of our victory that points to none other than Jesus Christ.” When you think of a sign, it either brings instruction or direction. For example, a sign may instruct you to “STOP”. However, the sign itself does not make you stop, but you yourself make that choice. If you see a sign that says, “50 miles to New York City,” the sign itself is not New York City, but it is giving you direction and information on how long it will take to get there. Your banner of praise is an ensign because it does not point to you, but shows forth the image of God, giving Him the glory for everything He has done! Signs are to follow us because it does not point to us, but to God. Whether people choose to follow that sign or not is completely up to them, but if you choose to follow Jesus Christ, it will most definitely be the best decision you have ever made! Just as the rod of miracles was a sign, our banner contains an ensign that points to the greatness of God!

 

The Ark of the Covenant is a perfect example of an ensign because it points to the throne of God. Everything that Moses did within the Tabernacle he patterned after what God showed him in heaven through divine revelation. The man spent at least three different times in 40 day fasts upon the mountain, which is why God revealed so many incredible things to him. Since the very beginning, God’s greatest desire has been to be with His people, and during Moses’ day, building a temple for God to dwell was the perfect way. Exodus 25:8-9, 40 says, “8And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it…40And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.” Hebrews 8:5 says, “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” Hebrews 9:23 says, “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Moses designed the tabernacle after the temple he saw in heaven, for Psalm 11:4 declares that the LORD is in His holy temple. Let me explain this tabernacle to you. Hebrews 9:1-5 says, “1Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.” The tabernacle was divided into three sections: the outer court, the inner court and the Holy of Holies, which could represent what makes up us, which is body, soul and spirit. Between these three compartments were seven pieces of furniture. In the outer court was the brazen altar and the brazen laver. The inner court contained the golden lamp stand, the golden altar of incense and the table of shewbread. Finally, in the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the budded rod of Aaron (representing choice of priesthood), the golden pot of manna (representing miraculous provision), and the 10 commandments (representing obedience to God’s commandments) inside of it. Therefore, if you want to be carriers of the Ark of the Covenant within your bodily temple, you must be part of that royal priesthood, receive miraculous provision and obey God’s Word. Of course, these things come out of great sacrifice!

 

These three compartments also symbolize the growth and maturity of a believer. The outer court shows the earliest stage of a believer’s life. The brazen altar is where we give our first sacrifice, turning our lives over to Jesus Christ as we confess with our mouth the LORD Jesus, and believing in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead. It is the place where the fire was always burning and never going out, showing that God is ready to receive any sinner and make them holy in His sight (Leviticus 6:13; Exodus 27:1-8). Then, we have the brazen laver, which was used for the priests to wash their hands and feet in before they ministered in the tabernacle and offered sacrifices. This symbolizes our baptizing, which represents us burying and dying to our sins and resurrecting into a new creature in His sight!

 

The next compartment is the inner court, which only the priest could step in. This represents going to the next level before God. Inside of it was the table of shewbread, which literally means “bread of face.” It was to lie continually before Jehovah as a meat offering presented by the 12 tribes. The bread was not for Jehovah to eat, but for the priests as a symbol of spiritual food. This reflects feasting off the bread of life, who is Jesus Christ, getting our spiritual nourishment from the Word of God. It signifies our transition from the milk to the meat, which is doing the will of our Heavenly Father. The next piece of furniture is the gold lamp stand or candlesticks, which represents us being the light of the world, the true church! While the sunlight was the light to the outer court, the lamp stand was the light in the inner court. This is what the prophet Zechariah saw in Zechariah 4:2, which says, “And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof.” It is also the vision that John saw in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1:12-13, 20 says, “12And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle….20The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” They symbolize the seven churches of Asia Minor in which John the Beloved overseen, or what we can prophetically insert as the church that is fully pleasing unto God and the one He is coming back after! Since the words are written in red, we can take that Jesus said unto the pastor of the church of Ephesus, “These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks” (Revelation 2:1). He even gives them a warning that if they did not repent and return back to their first love, their candle stick would be removed (2:5)! Moses patterned this lamp stand after what he saw in heaven, for Revelation 4:5 says, “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” Only by His Spirit can we truly be the light of the world. Just as Moses, when we get in His presence long enough, His glory will be illuminated through our countenance, insomuch that even being round certain people will convict them and they will want you to hide that light! We are to be that golden lampstand, just as it appears in heaven! Then, you have the golden altar of incense. Burning incense was one of the ways divine worship took place, which was done in the Old Testament. In a believer’s life, it represents prayer and worship. Psalm 141:2 says, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Moses patterned it after what he saw in heaven. Revelation 5:8 says, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.” Revelation 8:3-4 says, “3And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” This means that an angel of the LORD carries our prayers from here to there, and it goes as a sweet smelling aroma of incense into His nostrils. Our worship in spirit and in truth, and maintaining a consistent, continual relationship with God is what brings us to a new dimension in God!

 

Finally, there is the Holy of Holies. It was entered into one day of the year by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, a day for the entire nation to enter into prayer and fasting. The High Priest would shed off all of his garments, only going before the LORD with linen garments. He would make sacrifices for the entire nation. It was a dark room, and the only piece of furniture in that place was, again, the Ark of the Covenant, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwells, or is enthroned, between the cherubim (2 Samuel 6:2). If the sacrifices of the high priest on the Day of Atonement were accepted, the nation of Israel would know it because God’s presence would come down, and when He comes, He does so in power and authority! A light would fill the Holy of Holies because God Himself is the light of that room, not the sun or a golden lamp stand. The children of Israel looked upon the Holy of Holies, and when God’s presence filled that room, it would expand like a lung, and the sound that was made in the Hebrew was “rooach,” which is the “breath of God.” This is why when the Holy Spirit sat upon His throne, which is the head or mind of believers, upon the Day of Pentecost, and a mighty rushing wind came in the place, and cloven tongues of fire fell upon each of them. God’s light had now come upon them, and the wind was the breath of Almighty God! The tongues was correcting everything that had happened with the Tower of Babel, bringing an understanding of the Kingdom of God more than ever before, as people from all tribes, tongues and nations will make up that heavenly citizenship. We need to build God a throne through our lives, with our body being the temple of the Holy Ghost, being carriers of the Ark of the Covenant, and being equipped with the mind of Christ! Hebrews 1:8 says that His throne is forever and ever! There is no end to His kingdom. That is why I have joy because my kingdom is not of this world. These kingdoms and empires will come to and end, but the kingdom that is coming will have no end. I am part of that kingdom!