The Mountain and the House

The two symbols, "mountain" and "house" are of great significance in the history of Israel. Wherever you see "mountain" mentioned in the Old Testament Scripture you can be sure it is symbolic of something. Wherever you see "house" mentioned by the prophets you can be sure it refers to God's House or God's Habitation. Furthermore the prophets and the psalmists ofter linked the Habitation of God or the House of God with mountains.

1. Isaiah the prophet said, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God of Jacob; ...." (Isaiah 2:2, 3, KJV, emphasis added).

2. Ezekiel the prophet said, "This is the law of the house; upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house" (Ezekiel 43:12, KJV, emphasis added).

3. Haggai the prophet also said, "Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord" (Haggai 1:8, KJV, emphasis added).

4. The psalmist said, "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever" (Ps. 125:1, 2, NKJV, emphasis added).

5. The psalmist also said, "His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob" (Ps. 87:1, 2, NKJV, emphasis added).

Holy mountains of Israel

There were many mountains in Israel but four of them were said to be Holy Mountains. Each of these Holy Mountains provided a foundation for God's divinely inspired structure. And each of these structures was a House of the Lord or God's Habitation during that particular period of time.

1. Mount Ararat (Genesis 8:1 - 5)

When the Flood had ceased, having fulfilled God's purpose of judgment on the wicked world, the Ark of Noah rested on the mountains of Ararat. Here we have the Ark, being a "house" of God provided for Noah and his household who were found righteous before God (Gen. 7:1), rested on a Holy mountain of God!

2. Mount Sinai (Exodus 24, 25; Hebrews 12:18 - 21)

The revelation of the Tabernacle of the Lord (commonly known as the Tabernacle of Moses) was divinely given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The divine purpose in building the Tabernacle of Moses is summed up in the key verse:

"And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8).

In other words, the Tabernacle was a temporary "house" of God or God's dwelling place. God's desire is to dwell in the midst of His redeemed people all through the Bible.

The Tabernacle of Moses was simply a portable tent with various curtains and coverings over a wooden structure. The foundation for the Tabernacle was provided by 40 sockets of silver (Ex. 26:19). The number 40 speaks of victory over judgment and silver speaks of Christ in His redemptive ministry. So the very foundation of the Tabernacle is Christ Himself!

3. Mount Zion (1 Chronicles 15 - 17; 2 Samuel 6:1 - 19)

Again the revelation of the Tabernacle of David could not be separated from a mountain - Mount Zion.

The Lord said, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; ..." (Isaiah 28:16, emphasis added).

Mt. Zion took on a special significance from the days of David and onwards because of the order of praise and worship established there in the Tabernacle of David. The people of God offered sacrifices of praise and worship before the Ark of the Covenant (God's "House"), the only piece of furniture in the Tabernacle of David. There were no Outer Court and furniture, no Holy place and furniture, and no veil. In fact the Ark of the Covenant had been transferred from the Tabernacle of Moses to the Tabernacle of David (2 Samuel 6:12 - 23; 1 Chronicles 15:1 - 29; 16:1- 3). The Tabernacle of Moses was left without the Most Holy Place and the Ark of the Covenant during that time. The people of God could simply and boldly enter to the Most Holy Place and minister to the Lord whose dwelling place was at the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant.

The Tabernacle of David spoke of the Church. As I mentioned before wherever you come across "Zion" in Scripture it always refers to the Church of Jesus Christ.

4. Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1)

"Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, ..." (2 Chron. 3:1).

Here in the building of the Temple of solomon (the House of the Lord) we are again struck by the significance of its site. Solomon's Temple was built on Mount Moriah.

Divine Significance of Mount Moriah

God spoke to Abraham, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off" (Gen. 22:2, 4, emphasis added).

Notice that Mount Moriah was called the "Mount of the Lord":

"And Abraham called the name of the place (Mt. Moriah). The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, 'In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided'" (Gen 22:14).

Abraham who "willingly sacrificed his only begotten son Isaac as a burnt offering" spoke of (in type) God the Father "willingly sacrificed His only begotten Son Jesus Christ for the sin of the world". This is a perfect example in applying the principle of hermeneutics to interpret the Scripture.

The principle of hermeneutics simply means this - All through the Old Testament God gets people to do typically what He Himself is going to fulfill actually.

Abraham and his son went a 3-day journey to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. Jesus later also went 3 days and 3 night's "journey" to sacrifice Himself. So the Temple of Solomon, the House of the Lord, was built on Mount Moriah on the basis of a sacrifice of God's only begotten son. Because of this fact the Temple of Solomon was a type of the Church.

Interpretation of the Mountain and the House

The Mountain

1. Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream: "You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of Iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (Daniel 2:34, 35, emphasis added).

2. An angel said to John: "Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time" (Rev.17:9, 10, emphasis added).

Therefore in Scripture a mountain is symbolic of a Kingdom.

The House

1. Paul said, "These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct youself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:4, 5, emphasis added).

2. The writer of Hebrews said, "... but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hop firm to the end" (Heb. 3:6, emphasis added).

3. Peter said, "... you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5, emphasis added).

Therefore in Scripture a house is symbolic of a Church.

Fragments of truth revealed progressively

As we have seen God and His Habitation are revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures in the form of various structures - the Ark of Noah, the Tabernacle of Moses, the Tabernacle of David and the Temple of Solomon. All these four structures were built by God's builders who received revelations from God. The revelation we get by studying these structures is progressive and each structure reveals a certain fragments of truth. We will not get the whole truth (as the sovereign God wishes to reveal) by just studying one or two of the structures.

It is beyond the scope of this message to study any of these structures in any detail. But it was found that the Temple of solomon was the embodiment in one structure of all that has gone before.

The Ark of the Covenant

It is interesting to follow the history of the Ark of the Covenant as it moved from one structure to another - signifying the presence of God in His dwelling place, moved from the Tabernacle of Moses, through the Tabernacle of David and rested in the Temple of Solomon.

First the Ark was placed in the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle of Moses and then it was taken from there and move into the Tabernacle of David where there was a whole new order of praise and worship, and singing with musical instruments. When the Temple was completed by Solomon the people brought the Ark into the Most Holy Place (1 Kings 8:6). There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Mosses put there at Moreb (V. 9).

The Temple of Solomon

The Temple of solomon was absolutely magnificent as compared with the two Tabernacles. There was the one and the same Ark of God, one golden altar of incense, and one brazen altar and one molten sea. All these spoke of Christ as the one and only way to God. As the Temple was the embodiment of what were in the Tabernacle of Moses, there were 10 tables of showbread, and 10 brazen levers in the Holy Place and Outer Court respectively. There were also 10 golden lampstand in the Holy Place (1 Kings 7).

Notice that the number 10 speaks of govenment, restoration and law and order. Therefore the Temple of Solomon spoke of Christ but more especially of Christ in His Church.

The Heavenly Jerusalem and the Ultimate Mountain of God

All the four earthly Structures were designed by God, the Wise Master Builder, but He chose men in the actual building of them. But when it comes to the City of God, the new and Heavenly Jerusalem, this ultimate structure, it is God Himself alone who is the Architect and Builder - not man (Hebrews 11:13 - 16, 12:22 - 24; Rev. 3:12; 21, 22).

John wrote, "And he (an angel) carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, ..." (Rev. 21:10, emphasis added).

So we see the Ultimate Structure of God will also be associated with a Mountain! The New and Heavenly Jerusalem is the City of Salvation. It is the Tabernacle of God where He dwells with men.

John heard a loud voice from heaven saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, God Himself will be with them and be their God" (Rev. 21:3, NKJV).