Ex 26:3, Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. 
We are in the midst of the detailed instructions given by God to Moses for the building of the tent of meeting. This was the tent in which God would meet with the priests as they offered the sacrifices unto the Lord and performed their services and worshipped Him. These are very specific requirements which mirrored the exacting necessities and honor that were to be in place before the Lord God Almighty. 
This was not just a casual throwing together something that would work. It was a defined and measured and calculated building of that which had to be perfect in order to honor God. It could not be just sufficient to meet the bare minimal specifications. It had to be exact and it had to be put together so that everything fit exactly as it was designed. Close enough was not a possibility. This was because it represented the temple that God has ordained to dwell in with regard to what is now in place by Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father. Everything was a type of the perfection that was necessary for man and God to tabernacle together in the living relationship that was always the plan and purpose of God in the creation of you and me. 
As such, this type, and the type of the temple to be built by Solomon, necessitated not only the voluntary desire of humanity after God, as we dealt with in our last sessions, but it required the precise detail as outlined by God. Nothing was left to man’s imagination or creativity. It was all specified by God and needed to be completed according to His blueprints to be worthy of His dwelling with man on this earth. 
The passage that we have before us shows why this was so important. It joins together with verse 8 of this chapter to give a more complete picture of what was instilled within the fabric of God’s design. Ex 26:8, And you shall join five curtains by themselves, and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. 
	There are some commentators who see the following encapsulated within the discussion of these curtains, and it might be that their understanding does reveal the depth of the work of Christ to this effect. I mention the following for your consideration before the Lord. The curtains, according to those who have deeply studied the construction of the tent, are representative of the people of God in the following manner. The first set of five is the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant. They were under the law, but they were constantly looking forward to the Messiah, to the Christ. The second set of five curtains is the New Testament Church of which we are a part. It has the sixth curtain, which presents the Lord Jesus Christ Who becomes the joining segment between the New and the Old, thus uniting them together into the one, complete tent. 
	While we do not seek to make this a doctrine, it does lead us to what is now true of us in Jesus Christ, and that is what we will consider for this week and next. It is a great opportunity to refresh our hearts and minds with what God has done in the building of the church into that which has become the true temple of His habitation. 
	We move forward with the High Priestly Prayer of Christ as our appropriate starting point of the image presented as to the unity that we have in Him. Please open in your Bibles to John Chapter 17, verses 20-23, where we have recorded for us that which was declared by Our Lord and Savior. John 17, verses 20-23, "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. 
	Jesus made it very evident that, in Him, we have an awesome union with God and with each other. There is a complete oneness in place that transcends any other awareness and reality. This, in no way, indicates that we are made to be gods of ourselves. Rather, because of the indwelling of Christ, by the Holy Spirit, we are now inseparable from God. He has come into our lives and beings in a manner that is beyond any human comprehension and He will be with us for all of eternity. He has made Himself to be the source and essence of the life that we are called to live. We can no longer function apart from Him, and were never intended to do so. By the working power of the resurrection life of Jesus, we are now brought into the union with God that was ever His masterpiece in creation. This could only be so because of the salvation that He established out of His so great love for you and for me. 
	As a direct result, and imminently connected to our essential being, we are now made to be the very tabernacle of God. According to the English dictionary, the Tabernacle was the tent where ancient Jews kept holy objects. That is what is now true of us. We are the tent in which the Most Holy Lord God Almighty has chosen to dwell on this earth. We are joined together as His dwelling place in His communion with us and we with Him through Jesus Christ. 
The other reality of this union is that we are joined together with one another in Christ, a union that transcends any other that we may yet know. We are made to be one with Christ and one with each other in Christ Jesus.
	The Apostle Paul highlights this truth in his first letter to the Church at Corinth, Chapter 3, verses 16+17. 1 Cor 3:16+17, Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. 
Inherent in this union is the fact that we are now made to be the temple of God. As He is holy, so does He consider us to be holy in order to be the dwelling place that is worthy of His presence. The key to this is the very fact of our union with Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father. None of us are holy on the basis of anything that we have done or could do. It is never a matter of our worthiness or our being someone of importance in our own efforts. It is all by and in and through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we are given this glorious and holy standing in the heart of God. As such, we are cherished and valued by God as His holy dwelling place in the midst of this defiled humanity. We are those living declarations among men that God is Who He says He is and the He does what He says He will do. We are made holy because we are covered by Christ’s holiness and for no other reason at all. 
	On this basis, in 1 Cor 6, verses 18-20, the Apostle urges us to show forth the reality of Christ in all our dealings with others and with ourselves and with God. 1 Cor 6:18-20, Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 
	He points out the fact that we are the temple of God in Christ Jesus. We are no longer our own to abuse and to neglect the truth that we belong to God, wholly and completely. We need to keep in mind that as much as God will deal with those who persecute and torment us because we belong to Him and are holy unto Him, so also are we to consider ourselves as holy unto God in the manner in which we deal with this truth. We are not free to get ourselves involved with those things which defile or defame the One Who now indwells us. We are to be ever observant of the fact of to Whom we belong, as my mom and dad always encouraged us as we left the house to gallivant around town. Our witness and testimony is far more precise and determined now that we bring God into every encounter with others and our estimation of ourselves. What we do and where we go must always be circumspect and circumvent anything that would besmirch the One Who indwells us. 
	Our final passage of this morning is a long one from the Apostle Paul which should serve to highlight the working reality of God within us as His temple, His tabernacle on this earth. Please follow along with me in 1 Cor 12:4-27, as the Apostle now uses another metaphor in the descriptive language of the unity that is part of God indwelling His church. 
1 Cor 12:4-27, Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness, whereas our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it. 
	The Apostle first highlights the fact that while there are different gifts and functions within the church, God, the Holy Spirit is the unifying One Who makes everything function in accordance to His wisdom and foreknowledge. He knows what is needed when and how to supply that need through those who obey and function. When healing is needed, He provides it. When one needs comforting, He manifests His comfort through those in whom He has worked it. Whatever is necessary and proper is supplied, sometimes from the same person, sometimes from various other people, but always the same source meeting the needs of the entire church through the perfect provision that He distributes. 
	Then we are presented with the view of the church as a whole in terms of our body relationship. There can be no closer or more intimate or reliable depiction than this. Everything within the body works together for the sake of the whole. Every element is important for the service it renders and no part can take credit over another in terms of necessity and function. When one part suffers, the whole body suffers. When one member is elevated, the whole body is elevated. There is a singleness in evidence from the many and varied parts that all function to make a whole being. 
	Just as with the tent of meeting, with the curtain panels being joined together to form the entire structure, so are we made to be the structure in which God dwells on this earth. Let it be very clear and precisely stated that we are not God and are not becoming little gods unto our own devices. We are the created vessels, the structure into which God has caused Himself to take residence through the working power and might and redemption of Jesus Christ. He holds everything together by the awesome and splendid functioning and operational supremacy and authority of the Holy Spirit fitting and keeping every one of us together. He makes us the complete expression of His Divine Gift of grace and mercy and love. Together, we make the whole body, temple, tabernacle of the indwelling Most High and Living Lord God Almighty, forever and forever. So be it!
	Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Col 3:16+17. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Amen.