Open Houses
God desires His people to be 'open houses' attracting others to come in and dwell with Him.
Exodus(87) (Part of the Rescued(88) series)
by Marc Webb(126) on August 31, 2025 (Sunday Morning(400))
Extraordinary(2), Faithfulness(19), Foundations(1), Functional(5), Humility(8), Infinite(2)
Open Houses
You can learn a lot about someone and what they are like by visiting their home. It is an opportunity to get to know them better and to see their tastes and what they value. What can you learn by visiting someone’s home? You can learn if their house feels welcoming. You can learn what memories fill their house by noticing their family pictures and other mementos that are on their walls or set out. You can learn if they are creative decorators, or what things you have in common with them. You can learn if they are neat, organized and orderly. You can learn if they have children and if their children participate in sports or play an instrument. You can learn if they like to read or if they like antiques or more modern things. You can learn what their favorite sports teams are or if they have pets. What is displayed in the public spaces of houses says, “this is who I am and what matters to me.”
We can also learn a lot about God, what He is like, and what matters to Him by looking at what His Word teaches us about His house. The major reason for the tabernacle and later the temple was because God wanted to dwell among the Israelites so they could come to know Him better and so that He could bless them. The tabernacle and the furniture in it were to show the people what true and proper worship of the Lord should look like. It was where the Israelites could be “right” with God and where He would dwell in their presence. Today, the dwelling place of God is in His people. The longer we live as the temple of God and in relationship with Him, the more we realize what it means for us that He is dwelling inside of us and wants to know us intimately. As Christ-followers, we have a great responsibility as the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. We need to be living a Christ-centered and Spirit-filled life so that when those who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior come into our “open house” they are attracted to Him.
When we are properly exhibiting the tabernacle and its furniture in our lives and in the life of our church, they should be able to see God in us, know what He is like, what He requires of His people and how to worship Him properly. In pointing them to Jesus, we allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in drawing them to Jesus for salvation. The goal in “showing” our “open house” is so that those who need to hear the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will want to come in and make their home with Him. That brings is to our big idea that God desires His people to be “open houses” attracting others to come in and dwell with Him.
Let’s pray:
Again, this morning’s scripture, found in Exodus 37, has been covered before, in Exodus 25 and 30. And again, I am not going to read those verses because we will mainly be looking at the symbolism found in them. The main difference between the two accounts is that the blueprints for the furniture were given to Moses first before the tabernacle in chapter 25. This was because God started from a theological and worship point of view then and this time He started from a practical point of view. The tabernacle had to be built first so it could house the important items of furniture that would be in God’s House. The other difference is that the blueprint for the Altar of Incense wasn’t given until chapter 30 but here it comes directly after the Ark, the Table and the Lampstand. These four items of furniture instructed the Israelites on how to properly worship the Lord and pointed them to the coming Messiah.
Our first point is Furniture Illustrated. Bezalel was to make or supervise the making of four items of furniture: one for the Holy of Holies and three for the Holy Place. Each piece of furniture was to show the Israelites who God was, His character, and what it meant to dwell with Him. The first and most important item of furniture was the Ark of the Covenant. It was to be built in the shape of a box, made from acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Its dimensions were approximately three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches wide, and two feet three inches deep. The Ark was to be placed in the Holy of Holies behind the veil with the cherubim embroidered on it. The cherubim on the inner ceiling curtain and on the veil would remind the priests that they were in the presence of a Holy God and would warn them that they needed to properly approach the Lord. The purpose of the Ark was to hold four items, three inside and one on top. The first item was the two stone tablets that the Ten Commandments were written on. The Ten Commandments were the laws that God gave the Israelites and were a permanent reminder of the God who saved them and that He wanted them to live a certain way. If they were obedient to the law, He promised to bless them abundantly. The Ten commandments showed the Israelites that God was the Lawgiver, and their Savior and Lord.
The second item was an Omer, or a day’s worth, of manna. In Exodus 16, God commanded Aaron and Moses to take manna, put it in a jar and then place it in the ark after it was built. The manna was to be a permanent reminder of God’s providential care. He wanted them to acknowledge that He was actively and purposefully directing, sustaining, and governing all events in their lives to accomplish His perfect will and good purposes. It also symbolized that God would satisfy their needs and would be their faithful provider. The third item was Aaron’s budded staff. In Numbers 17, the Israelites were grumbling against Moses and so God had Moses take twelve staffs, one for each of the heads of the tribes of Israel and put them in front of the Ark. Whose ever staff sprouted was the man that God chose to lead His people. The next day, the staff belonging to Aaron had budded, blossomed and produced almonds, and so God confirmed Moses’ leadership. Moses was to put Aaron’s budded staff in the ark as a permanent reminder of God’s authority and rule in Israel. And it symbolized His shepherding care of them.
The fourth item which sat on top of the ark was the Mercy Seat or the Atonement Cover. It was made from pure gold and built to the same dimensions as the Ark so that it would completely cover the top of it. That was important because the law of God, symbolized by the Ark, had been broken by the people, and they deserved the punishment of death. But the Atonement Cover completely covered the law and their guilt and sin. God was present in all His purity and the power of His holiness, but He was also present with His mercy and grace and initiated reconciliation with His people.
There were two things on the top of the Mercy Seat. The first was two cherubim. The cover and the cherubim were to be hammered out of one solid piece of gold. As I mentioned last week, the cherubim were throne bearers of God in heaven and so they were a permanent reminder that the Ark was God’s throne on the earth. It also showed that God was ruler of all heaven and earth. The second thing on top of the atonement cover would be the blood of a sacrifice. To properly approach the Lord blood had to be shed. One time a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest, would sacrifice a goat, take its blood and sprinkle it on the Atonement Cover in the Holy of Holies. This was where God showed mercy to sinners as the sacrifice made atonement for their sin. The blood of the sacrifice did two things for the people. It was an expiation meaning it removed the guilt of their sin, and it was a propitiation meaning it turned aside God’s wrath for their sin. The Ark of the Covenant along with the Atonement Cover or Mercy Seat showed that God was a God of mercy and justice who wanted to forgive sinners and would do so based on a blood sacrifice.
The second item of furniture in the tabernacle and of next importance was the Table of Showbread, that sat in the Holy Place. It was also made of acacia wood covered in gold and its utensils; its plates, dishes, pitchers and bowls were made of pure gold. Its dimensions were about three feet four inches long, one foot eight inches wide and about two and a half feet high. It was about the size of a coffee table, and its purpose was to hold twelve cakes of unleavened bread called the Bread of the Presence which was to always be on the table before the Lord. Every Sabbath the priests would place fresh bread on the table, and they were allowed to eat the bread from the previous Sabbath. In this way, God sustained the priests for their service in the tabernacle. The twelve cakes of bread symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel and that God was their provider and sustainer. The bread was also an offering to God and so symbolized that the Israelites were to offer themselves as servants before the Lord. The bread was to be a permanent reminder that they were bound by God’s lasting covenant with them. Leviticus 24:8 says, “This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant.” It was to also remind them that God wanted to commune with them in a personal and intimate way. It symbolized a binding covenant of friendship, that was sealed by partaking in a meal together. Ryken says, “sharing a special meal together was an act of friendship and personal communion.” The table was to be a permanent reminder that God is a God who provides and wants to sit down at the table of friendship and fellowship with His people.
The third item of furniture in the tabernacle was the lampstand which illuminated the Holy Place and was made from one piece of pure gold. We are not given the dimensions of it, but it was probably the same height as the ark and the table at about two and a half feet. The purpose of the lampstand was to light the tabernacle because the four ceiling curtains would have rendered the Holy Place pitch black. Its light would have aided the priest in fulfilling their duties and would have shown them the beauty, brilliance and glory of God’s house. It was the duty of the priests to keep the lampstand lit as it was a permanent reminder that God is light, all light comes from God and that His light is pure and perfect. 1 John 1:5 says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” God’s light makes everything clear, exposing the darkness of sin and evil. The lampstand was fashioned with buds, blossoms and flowers on it, which were hammered out of the same piece of pure gold. The buds, blossoms and flowers were to represent the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden and later in New Jerusalem. Just like the Tree of Life was planted in the Garden of Eden, the Lord planted the lampstand in the tabernacle to show His life-giving power. The lampstand showed that God is a God of absolute purity, truth and righteousness and He is the giver of light and life.
The fourth item of furniture in the tabernacle was the Altar of Incense. It was also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold and had four horns, one on each corner, which was fashioned from one piece. Its dimensions were eighteen inches square and about three feet tall. The altar stood in the Holy Place directly in front of the Ark that was behind the veil in the Holy of Holies. The priests would burn a specially made and sacred incense every morning and evening on it. The incense was offered by the priests in God’s presence in worship to Him as they praised God for His holiness and thanked Him for His mercy and grace. It was also offered for the intercession of the people. The incense would fill the tabernacle with a pleasing aroma symbolizing the people’s petitions rising to heaven. Psalm 141:2 says, “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” And Revelation 8:3-4 says, “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” The Altar of Incense showed that God is a God who hears our prayers and desires to answer them according to His will and for His glory.
So, what is God like? When God makes His dwelling with us, we encounter a God who is everything we need. He is the God of heaven who came to earth and tabernacled among us. He is the God of all truth who gave us the law. He is the God of guidance and direction who rules from His throne. He is the God of mercy who offers us forgiveness based on the blood of the sacrifice. He is the God of providence who sent bread from heaven. He is the God of the covenant who sits down at the table of fellowship with us. He is the God of light and life that shines the way and offers us eternal life. He is the God of intercession who hears and answers the prayers of His people.
Everything that God is like points us to the one who fulfilled all of those things and to whom the items of furniture in the tabernacle spoke of which brings us to our second point, Fulfilment Illuminated. Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of Majesty in heaven.” Jesus Christ is God in the flesh who came down from heaven to tabernacle with His creation. He fulfilled what the tabernacle and its furniture testified to, which was God’s salvation given for all, that Jesus would one day provide through his blood sacrificed on the cross. The Israelites were to be saved by faith, by trusting in the Savior to come represented by the tabernacle and the rituals performed in it.
How is Jesus the fulfilment of these items of furniture in the tabernacle? First, He is the fulfilment of the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat because he made atonement for our sins. He is our propitiation as His blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven. Romans 3:25a says, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” Now whoever has believed in Jesus for salvation has their sins forgiven by God and He represents us before God making us acceptable to Him. We are transformed into the temple of the holy and living God and can enjoy His presence because of Jesus. Also, Jesus was exalted by the Father and is now enthroned between the Cherubim. He now sits on the throne of heaven reigning as Lord, demanding our worship and obedience. Second, Jesus is our Table of Showbread. He is our sustenance and the Bread of Life. In John 6:35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus sustains us by giving us our physical and spiritual daily bread. He feeds and watches over us individually and corporately. He also wants to sit down at our tables to fellowship and commune with us as friends. Revelation 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
Third, Jesus is our Lampstand. He is the Light of the World and of Creation. John 8:12 says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” And John 1:9 says, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” He is also our source of life. John 1:4 says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” And John 14:6 says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And lastly, if we want to live eternally with Him, we need to walk in His light. 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Fourth, Jesus is our Altar of Incense. He intercedes on our behalf before God. His prayers rise like incense to God’s throne in heaven. He prays for our salvation and our sanctification. Hebrews 7:25 says, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” Jesus Christ is everything we could ever need. He was the blood sacrifice for our sins, He is the Bread of Life for our physical and spiritual hunger, He is the friend at our table for fellowship and communion, He is the lampstand of life illuminating the darkness and He is the prayers of intercession for all our needs and troubles. In fact, Jesus is praying for those who are far away from Him right now—He is praying that they will come to Him for salvation so the Holy Spirit, can make His dwelling in them. If you are in my hearing this morning, and you are far from Jesus, I want you to that God does not want you to stay away. He wants you to come to trusting in His son, Jesus, for your salvation so He can make His house inside of you. That brings us to our first next step which is to Come into the house of the Lord trusting in Jesus for my salvation. If you marked that next step, please put your name on the front of your communication card so I can be in touch with you.
So, what does all this mean? For the Israelites it meant being in covenant with God and through their obedience He would bless them to be a blessing to all the world. What does it mean for us? That brings us to our third point, Family Instructed. Access to the house of God was restricted to one family, the Levites. They were a family of priests who had the responsibility to intercede for the people and instruct them in the commands of the Lord and in obedience to them. The lives of those who were outside God’s House was dependent on the obedience of the family of priests fulfilling their responsibilities inside God’s House. For Christ-followers today, we are now in the new covenant with Jesus. We are His treasured possession, a holy people and a kingdom of priests. We are now the household of God, His “open houses,” and we have similar responsibilities. Those outside the family of God are dependent on our obedience and affected by how we live as a temple of God and how we act in the house of the Lord.
What are our responsibilities as a kingdom of priests in obedience to the Father? What does He want us say and do to point the lost to Christ? First, we must not water down the truth of the Gospel. We must be diligent about helping the lost to realize that they have a sin problem and to teach that believing in Jesus and what He came to earth to do is the only way to take care of that problem. Admitting that they are a sinner, believing in Jesus and confessing Him as Lord of their life is the only way to the one true and living God. It is our responsibility to instruct new believers to lead a life of obedience, to take up their cross daily and follow Him and become more like Jesus. It is also our responsibility to model a life of holiness and obedience, not hypocrisy. We want them to be attracted to Jesus, by our lives, so that they will want to come into God’s House and enjoy His presence (Big Idea).
Second, we must feed on the Bread of Life, so that we are priests who are growing up spiritually in Christ and are equipped to serve Him and others with our fruits and gifts of the Spirit. When we are in obedience to this, again, our lives are attractive to those who don’t know Jesus and the Holy Spirit uses us to draw them to salvation. Third, we must be the light of the world and share the light and life of Christ. Just like the lampstand illuminated the Holy Place so the priests could perform their duties, we need His light to be able to serve Him acceptably and properly. We need His light for us to show the glory of God to the lost. Mathew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Fourth, we must be “open houses” who are caring and praying on behalf of the lost. When we are Christ-centered, filled with the Holy Spirit, fed by the Bread of Life, illumined by the Light of the World, then we are strengthened to intercede for others for the good of the Kingdom of God. That brings us to our second next step which to Live as an “open house” of the Lord, attracting others to come in and dwell with Him.
As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray:
Opening: by Doug Van Meter https://brackenhurstbaptist.co.za/life-in-gods-house/
