Yes, it's figurative, but the figurative leads into the spiritual. And the spiritual can only be seen when God "reveals" it to you through your relationship with him.
The ark was literal. The tent of the meeting was literal. The temple was literal.
What you are calling the spiritual aspect of any of those items is literal.
If you are seeing a shadow, it is of something that is real. The real thing is casting the shadow.
Build it exactly to my specifications...
That's the one eye--both together--the miracle...
This thread is flying again . . .sheesh! First off . .these things are not casting shadows . .they "are" the shadows being cast. The substance casting them is Christ. The tabernacle . . .the grandaddy of the shadows of Christ . . .it is a type and shadow . . .Hebrews states that.
A shadow is without substance . .all it is, is the "form" of the substance. The "act" of a literal animal sacrifice is "shadowing" the act of "the" sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The physical lamb is a shadow of the spiritual Lamb. The physical washing of the priests at the laver is a shadow of the cleansing of God in us as he equips us to enter into the ministry of the temple.
The temple is a shadow of Christ . . .the book of Revelation is an "unveiling" of CHRIST. If you want to understand the book, you need to study up on the blueprint the book was taken from . .and that is the tabernacle. You'll find every article of the tabernacle in the book of Revelation.
If you look down on the tabernacle from an areal view . . .you'll see Jesus stretched out on the cross . . .his feet are the altar of sacrifice, the spear in his side where water and blood came forth . . .water and blood was the contents of the laver . . .the candle stick giving light on his one hand, the table of shewbread that the light illuminated on the other hand . . .the altar of incense . . .another altar . . .fill your "mind" with heavenly "thoughts". This is where the prayers of the saints are ushered up and mixed with praise. And there lies the body . . .the desire of my own personal heart is that the church would see that it's not about the ministry in this temple . .but it's about the veil that's been removed and what lies beyond. It's what the head is "crowned" with . .the presence of God that "renews" the mind.
All of these things are literal . . . but when you see how they are a shadow of Christ . .that's where they become spiritual . .when you take them in you on a "personal" level. What? know ye not that YOU are a temple? This is how Christ lives "in" you. You are his dwelling place. Once Jesus left the temple in Matthew 23, he never went back because his purpose was not to dwell in brick and mortar, but in a temple of flesh . . .soul and spirit.
While your elevated there . . .you see the articles mentioned form a cross. Well . .outside the temple, each tribe was "assigned" a section where they would set up camp . . .and that formation also forms a cross as well. . . .AND . . .. at the east gate of the temple is where Judah was assigned to always be. Know why?
Judah means "praise". If you want to enter into "this" realm of the temple . . .you can only come through praise.
