Theological term
Covenant Sign
3 sermons · All terms
The Tabernacle Erected, and the Glory of God
Exodus 35–40 records the construction, assembly, and divine consecration of the Israelite tabernacle, culminating in the glory cloud filling the completed dwelling place. This session surveys those chapters as the climax of the book of Exodus, tracing the biblical-theological theme of God's dwelling with his people from Eden through the tabernacle, the Solomonic temple, and forward to the incarnate Word who tabernacled among us. A sustained exegetical focus falls on the tension in Exodus 40:35 — Moses unable to enter the glory-filled tabernacle — and its resolution in Leviticus 9, where blood atonement transforms God's dwelling place into a meeting place. The session closes by drawing out the regulative principle of worship, the typological significance of the tabernacle as a shadow of Christ, and the necessity of blood atonement for sinful creatures to approach a holy God.
The Superiority of the New Covenant
Hebrews 8 presents Christ as the minister of the true heavenly tabernacle and the mediator of a new covenant that is categorically superior to the Mosaic economy. The old covenant was not defective in its essence but in its inability to justify and renew fallen humanity, and its breakability exposed the fatal flaw of any covenant whose continuance depended on human fidelity. The new covenant, announced in Jeremiah 31 and now realized in Christ, is unbreakable, writes God's law on the heart, grants saving knowledge of God to all its members, and secures the full remission of sins — four blessings that belong essentially, not accidentally, to every member of the covenant. Because membership in the new covenant is defined by these regenerate characteristics, believers' baptism by immersion is the only covenant sign consistent with new covenant theology.
Covenant Faithfulness and the Lord's Victory at Jericho
Joshua 5:1–6:5 brings Israel to the threshold of Canaan for two covenant rites — circumcision and Passover — before the campaign against Jericho begins. The uncircumcised second generation receives the covenant sign, qualifying them for the Passover meal and for life in the land God swore to give their fathers. The cessation of manna as Israel eats the land's produce is treated not as the end of divine care but as its continuation through ordinary providence. The passage climaxes with the pre-incarnate Christ appearing as commander of the Lord's army, commissioning Joshua with the promise that Jericho is already given — a promise to be received by faith, not taken by military prowess.