What did the tabernacle and its furnishings symbolize?
The tabernacle and its furnishings symbolized the work of salvation Christ accomplished at the cross, which is called propitiation. Its gold, silver, stones, priestly service, shed blood, and intercession in the Holy of Holies pictured His complete redemptive work for the sins of the whole world.
Les teaches that every single aspect of that tabernacle—its composition, the gold, the silver, the stones, and all the rest—was a picture of the work of salvation Christ accomplished at the cross. He calls that whole work propitiation. Everything seen in that tabernacle is the work of propitiation, and that included Christ's work as high priest, the shed blood of the sacrifice, and His interceding in the Holy of Holies. That tremendous work of propitiation is still appropriate, and not for ours only, but God has done it for the sins of the whole world.