After Adam and Eve had sinned against God, they sewed together fig leaves to cover their nakedness, attempting to hide their sin from God. God in turn, sacrificed an animal to provide an acceptable covering for their sins. He had provided “skins” to protect them from His holiness. In Numbers 4, God instructed Moses and Aaron 7 times to cover all of the holy elements and vessels of the Tabernacle with “covering of badgers’ skins” in preparation for moving. This time rather than covering the people, God provided a covering for the elements and vessels of the Tabernacle which represented His holiness. Though the coverings changed, the sacrifices for the “skins” still remained as a covering for the people to protect them from God’s holiness.
Num. 4:15 “And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.”
LESSON - There are two lessons worth revisiting in this chapter as we examine the sacrificial coverings.
1. God is holy.
God’s character has not changed; therefore, we must never forget that God is still deeply offended by our sinfulness. We should never take the grace of God for granted by making lite of sin.
2. The “skins” represented Jesus.
The reason why the fig leaves sewn together by Adam and Eve were unacceptable is because they represented man’s good works. Our morality cannot remove our sin. Jesus‘ sacrifice did more than merely cover our sin, His sacrifice forever removed our sin by taking our sin upon Himself (Is. 53:6). Any time we think of Jesus, we should be overwhelmed with a deep sense of gratitude for Him allowing His “skin” to become our eternal covering.
~Mike