COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 161 - HOW GOD WOVE STORIES AND PATTERNS INTO HIS DESIGN

A LAYER OF GOAT'S HAIR WOVEN INTO CLOTH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

I just spent eleven days listening to a professional weaver speak about her skills.  This is quite an amazing process involving whole rooms full of looms that do very technical and complex things.  There are very intricate ways of developing the treads together into a perfect pattern.  One must understand design and know about the different types of yarn that will do different types of things.  A few skilled women living in the wilderness during the time of the construction of the tabernacle had this same amazing skill.  It was a highly saught after skill that was greatly valued. Not many had the patience and wisdom to learn the techniques that worked.  

Only the best would do for God's tabernacle and God pointed out the best crafts people to help Moses.  There were women among the Israelites that God chose for this craft.  Perhaps they had served the master weavers in Egypt and had developed their skills from the forced slavery that they endured.  Now God would use the broken things in their lives and turn them into a way to display His glory.  

Can you imagine being one of them?

Do you think their hearts overflowed with joy when they saw that they could be useful to the God they loved by doing the things they were skilled to do well with passion?  

  

I wish I had brought this up with my visitor while she was explaining the ins-and-outs of her profession to me.  I had to wonder if possibly she could have been influenced by some of the same things that had led these ancient women to develop their skills into a craft that God considered worthy of sheltering His dwelling place among men.  It is amazing when you think about the possibilities.  

You could say that the white linen part (also woven by skilled crafts people) of the tabernacle was the actual heart of the tabernacle.  It was the most important part of the whole building.  The other coverings were like a tent for the tent, or a covering for the most important part.  The outside layers were simply accessories to cover the deep inside portions of the tabernacle.  Still, they had their place and they were important.

God told Moses to use curtains of goat’s hair for the next level of coverings.  Eleven goat’s hair curtains in all; which would be 30 cubits long and four cubits wide.  The goat’s hair sections were to be fastened together as a unit with bronze clasps.  One set of curtains contained five sections joined together, and one set of curtains contained six sections joined together.

First we must distinguish that God said goat “hair” not goat “skin.”  The goat hair was woven together most likely by the women who felt called to offer their expertise and skills to the building of the tabernacle.  God told Moses to only chose those who had a heart for their work.  Again, I thought of my friend and how weaving had been her life-long passion.  I thought of the eleven woven curtains and how God had blessed us with her visit for eleven days.  Be careful of the moments in which you live; God is always teaching, even when we are not paying attention.  Nothing happens by chance; everything is a pattern that God has woven just for you.  

Do you have a heart for using your skills to the glory of God?  Do you share this passion of these ancient weavers?

I really doubt they totally understood the importance of their task at the time.  

God only wants those to work for Him who have a heart for the work.  If you are coming to your labor with a grudge; you need not come at all.  God loves a cheerful giver.

The weaving they did formed a black cloth that was something similar to our modern day cashmere.  Most people think the color of the goat’s hair and thus the color of the cloth of this tent layer was black, as that was the color of most of the goats of the wilderness during this time period. 

This black cloth used in the covering of the second layer of the tabernacle tents is even mentioned in the words of the Bride as she speaks in The Song of Solomon.   She says “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.”   These tents crafted in the wilderness inspired many.

There is also a passage in the Song of Solomon that says; “Thy hair is as a flock of goats.”  It leads one to believe that the Bride here is speaking to her lover who has black hair, the same color found in the tabernacle of God that came out of the wilderness journey of The People of God. 

Many think the black goat’s hair used here symbolically represents our human flesh, in that it is useful and practical and has a certain beauty of its own; but it is not the most important feature of the tabernacle.  God looks right through our flesh to see into our hearts.  He sees further beyond our skin into what really matters the most.  God, from a heavenly view point could look right through this outer layer of the tents and see what was going on in the very heart of the tabernacle.  He could see right into the Holy of Holies.  He knew what worship was taking place.  If He was pleased; He would join mankind and dwell there among them for a temporary time. 

It has been said that “sackcloth” used in morning and repentance was made of black goat’s hair.  Many prophets of Jerusalem were said to sit in sackcloth and ashes in order to admonish the people to repent from their sins.

We saw in the white linen the representation of the linen garments of a priest; and now we can see how that white linen (also used as his grave cloth and laid aside when he arose) belonged to Christ.  It was representative of his priesthood just as the black goat’s hair covering is also representative of His office of a prophet. 

We should note that God asked Moses to make two such goat’s hair coverings. One was larger than the other.  Here we can’t help but recall that every year two goats were always brought to the high priest for a sin offering.  One was used as an offering and one was used as the “scapegoat.”  Lots were cast.  The lot that fell on one goat meant it was chosen as the sacrifice.  The high priest who offered it to God would cut it and drain the blood of it into a basin.  He would take the blood in the basin and sprinkle it on and near the mercy seat.  What was left of the sacrificial goat’s body was taken out by the same high priest and burned outside the camp.  The sacrificial goat was a substitute for the sins of the people. 

We can see this same symbolism in the story of Jacob and Esau.  Jacob sought to defraud Esau so that he could receive the blessing.  He used a goat and took its hair to cover his arms so that Israel would bless him instead of Esau. The goat's hair brought him atonement.

We see this same theory in action when Jacob’s youngest son Joseph is sold into slavery.  They took his coat of many colors and slayed a kid of the goats and dipped the garment into the blood to show their father who thought his beloved son had been slain. The blood on the garment (probablly woven of dyed goat's hair) allowed Joseph to live, even though he was sold into slavery, he escaped death because of the coat that had covered him; a gift from his beloved father.    

Later we hear of Jesus telling a parable about the nations being judged.  Those who have been enemies of God are referred to as “the goats” and those who have stayed true to God are referred to as “the sheep.”  Always, in all of these stories we see that the dark color of the goat’s hair refers to the sins of mankind. 

The goat’s hair cover that represented this sacrificial goat was the smallest covering.  It was to be put over the tent of fine white linen.  It represented the sins of mankind.  This is a perfect picture of our sins being placed on Christ as He hung on a cross.

The goat’s hair suggests sin, but it also suggests the remedy to sin, as being the garment of the prophet.  Many prophets in those days wore goat's hair garments.   It was the sacrificial offering of the goat that redeemed the people’s sins over and over each year as the high priest went in to the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood before the mercy seat.  The garments of the prophets proclaimed this.  

On the Day of Atonement we know of the places of the two goats; one was for a sin offereing and one was used as the scapegoat.  Aaron would lay his hands on the head of one goat confessing all the sins of the nation and symbolically place them upon the head of a goat who would bear them away to a land “not inhabited.”  This goat was also symbolic of Christ as our sin-bearer who takes away the sin of the world. 

The next covering, the one with six sections of goat’s hair was to be put over (or to cover) the first one. This is symbolic of how Christ covers the sins of mankind by offering himself in our place.  At the time of the tabernacle, the time before Christ the covering was of goat’s hair and not goat’s skin.  This was because at that time, the sacrifice of Christ had not yet been offered.  This was a picture that pointed to what was to come.   It was a picture of mankind (represented by the five curtains) joined to Christ (represented by the One added curtain.)  This was the protective covering of the most important part of the tabernacle.  It painted a picture of Christ covering the sins of mankind and them becoming One because of God dwelling inside them and forming them together as One.

It was God weaving His story into the walls of the wilderness tabernacle!  

Could they read the writing on the walls?  Sometimes it was invisible, only symbolic and very hard to grasp or see.  

Do we read the writing on the walls of our hearts within the tabernacles of our bodies?  

Do we read God's messages that he leaves within the walls of our own worship spaces?  

Do we need to fine-tune how we are crafting our tents?

Now all of these goat’s-hair curtains together were numbered eleven.  As we have already stated there was one set of five and one set of six.  The width of each curtain was four cubits.  That was the same as the width of the white linen which they covered, but the length of the goat's hair coverings were longer; being thirty cubits instead of twenty eight. 

They had 11 curtains separated into two sets of five and six, which are the factors of thirty.

Five is the number that represents responsibility.  This was shown by our Lord as He took full responsibility for our many sins.  The five curtains represent the sins of humanity that Jesus took responsibility for in our stead.

Six speaks of labor.  The days of the creation week showed the labor of God during those first six days.  This also set the pattern for the days God expected that mankind should labor.  “Six days shalt thy labor.”  The end of this time is God’s time. The end of this time brings God and mankind together.   The end of the labor of Christ is to bring men into the glory of God.  God will dwell among them and they shall behold Him because they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.  

The six curtains of goat’s hair represent how Christ has prevailed over the sins of mankind and joined men and God together.  The six curtains speak of the victory of Christ that allows man to dwell with God. 

There were fifty taches of brass that fastened the two sets of goat’s hair curtains together.  

The brass is symbolic of judgment.  This same brass metal covered the altar of the burnt offerings which spoke of atonement for sin by sacrifice.  

Men judged of God for their sins must carry the mark of the atonement of Christ.  With atonement, the body of Christ made up of the bride that is called his church, may come together perfectly with Christ and be fastened by the mercy of the judgment of God.  God will look at them and see their sins no more.  

He will only see the perfect story of how God has come to live with mankind because of the love of Jesus Christ.   God is the perfect weaver.  Let him stich your time and you will be blessed beyond measure.