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Jim Wolfe traces God’s redemptive plan through four Old Testament “roadside attractions” that foreshadow Christ — skins, boxes, baskets, and snakes. Along that scenic route, we arrive at the true meaning of Christmas, an attraction we actually need.
The following study questions are AI generated and may contain errors.
The preacher describes four “types of Christ” — skins, the ark, Moses’ basket, and the bronze snake. How do each of these Old Testament accounts specifically foreshadow Jesus’ sacrifice and redemption, and what does this teach us about God’s consistent plan of salvation throughout history?
The sermon emphasizes that God’s mercy and love coexist with His justice and wrath. How do the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s flood, and the bronze snake demonstrate this balance, and what does this reveal about God’s character?
In what ways does the concept of being “covered” — by skins, pitch, or Christ’s blood — recur throughout the sermon? What is the spiritual significance of needing an external covering rather than relying on our own efforts, as Adam and Eve attempted with their fig leaves?
The preacher contrasts paper maps with real-time GPS guidance to illustrate how Scripture functions as a “better map.” How does recognizing these Christ-types along the biblical route help us understand both our position before God and our mission in the world? What does it mean to see the big picture of God’s redemptive plan while also trusting His real-time guidance in our daily lives?
Charles Wesley’s line “God and sinners reconciled” is presented as the heart of Christmas. The Israelites’ complaint in the wilderness led to judgment through snakes, yet repentance and looking upon the bronze serpent brought healing — just as Jesus connects that moment to His own lifting up on the cross in John 3. How does this cycle of sin, judgment, repentance, and redemption deepen your appreciation of what the incarnation and cross accomplish, and how should it shape our response to God’s correction in our own lives?
This transcript has been automatically generated and may contain errors.
Well, we have a treat tonight. We have Jim here, our brother, who has been here before. I have been at Faithtoberfest twice, I want you to know. And I really wanted to mention this for our online folks that you may have not seen him at Faithtoberfest, although I bet you remember the music that he shared with his daughter at a Christmas faith tree last Christmas.
His musical talent, what you may not know, is he also has a gift to preach God’s word. And I’m really excited to hear from you tonight, brother. So I’m back, by the way, and thanks for coming. Well, somebody dropped a hat, and so here I am to preach. Here I am to preach. Tim, thank you for letting your pulpit fall to the likes of me. And it’s great to be here. Bob, it’s great to be here. Good to see you, brother, and your wife, Jenny; I think we shared some time with you at Faithtoberfest out there munching down on hot dogs. It was a great time.
I brought some visual aids with me tonight. We got all kinds of interesting things going on. So Tim Butler and my son-in-law, Brandon Lewis, a couple of weeks ago, have been illustrating Little Hills Church’s main theme in recent weeks, “a better map,” which you can see up there on the screen. Brandon showed how the birth of Samuel was the very beginning of a long road which leads us to Jesus, since Samuel would grow up to be Israel’s kingmaker, or maybe his king anointer, at least, you said, and that that line of kings would culminate in King Jesus, who came from the Royal lineage of David.
Well, last week, Tim asked the rhetorical question in the course of his sermon, who, he asked, still has a big old paper map of the state of Missouri? He noted that paper maps were good for a broad overview of geography, but that they couldn’t show you your exact position at the moment. In other words, where exactly you were in relation to the rest of the map. Are you with me, Bob? Okay, thank you, brother. You had to figure that out for yourself.
Tim was pointing out how we can use the Bible as a road map to see in the broad sweep of our lives our position before God. It’s actually not such a good position, since as human beings, we are by nature on a collision course with God’s wrath. But after seeing clearly our position before God, we are able to fully understand our mission, which is ultimately to avoid his wrath by seeking salvation through Jesus’s sacrifice, and then passing that salvation on to others in a fallen world who need the Lord.
Well, how do we do that? Well, we do that by telling them about Jesus and how he has saved each of us. Actually, Tim, I’m proud to say that Linda and I not only still have a paper map of Missouri, but we actually have paper maps of a lot of the states of the union. Thanks to our membership in the AAA Auto Club. A round of applause for paper maps. There you go.
Back in the day when it was vacation time, it meant a trip to the local AAA office to get a stack of maps. Here we have New Jersey, Pennsylvania. North and South Carolina. Florida, Texas, New Hampshire, Vermont. And of course, remember Maine. We’ve got Maine in there too.
But the best thing was, you talk about a better map, the AAA TripTick. Oh yeah, the AAA TripTick. I dropped one of my maps here. Hang on just a second. This one was put together by Katie Chandler, who used to work for the AAA. Katie, if you’re out there somewhere, God bless you. Katie put this TripTick together for us. And the cool thing about the TripTick was it was a custom map that would start you out in your point of departure. And it’s even got highlighters on there. They would take your bobs through everywhere you needed to go. And if there was road construction, it was marked on this thing. I tell you, it was a great help. But you had to read it and pay attention to where you were headed to make sure you stayed the course and wound up where you needed to go.
But then, after we started putting all those satellites up in space— Linda Rose, hand me that thing, please. This thing right here down in your purse. Forgot one of my visual aids. Sorry, those of you at home. I walked out of the frame. We started putting all those satellites up in space. And then we found out a way to make the satellites communicate with the Bell system. And all of a sudden, we got this thing, right? And we hold up the cell phone here. And now the crazy thing talks to you and tells you where to turn. It even gets mad at you if you go off course. Has anybody here— have you ever programmed something into your cell phone, someplace where you know how to get to, and then purposely take a different route? Oh my goodness. It gets mad at you. It says, make a left here. Return to the route. Make a left here. Return to the route. Make a left here. Return to the route. And sometimes, it even gets really mad. And it makes this little sound that goes bloop. And that means the phone is going— it’s giving you the evil eye. Yeah.
But I have to admit, Waze, Apple Maps, whatever GPS-based guidance system is on your phone, is a much better map than the old paper maps because it knows where you are. And it leads you in real time to your destination. Of course, unless you want to be a big picture type person, that’s kind of me. You want to be a big picture type of person and know exactly where you are in relation to the rest of the state or the country. In that case, you need to open this thing. Here we have southern New England. So let’s say, for example, that I’m down here, gee, in New York City. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere, you know? And I want to go way up here to Haverhill, which is in Maine, right on the coast, right before you get into Canada. And if I look at this thing, I go, man, you know what? That’s a fur piece. That’s a long way. But I get a kick out of the cell phone because if you bunch in your trip and you start on the trip, you get this chirpy voice that tells you how to get to the main highway from where you are. And then once you are on the main highway, it says, now, continue straight for the next 875 miles. OK, this is going to take a while. At least the old paper map gave me an instant visual of what lay ahead of me, even past the distant horizon.
Well, that’s all well and good. But tonight, since we are past Halloween and the Christmas season will soon be upon us, I wanted to look at a few of the roadside attractions on the biblical map, that better map that leads us all the way from the creation of this world to the redemption of this world, which was accomplished, of course, by the work of Jesus on the cross.
I call this sermon Skins, Boxes, Baskets, and Snakes, a Christmas preview. And as we begin this lightning journey through biblical history, a quick review. First of all, Tim, at Little Hills Church, I haven’t come to your services a lot. But do people ever say amen when they hear something they really like? Let’s try it once. Give me a good amen. Jesus is our Savior. He came to seek and save that which is lost. And that’s us, anybody who has ever lived on this planet. Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf was the ultimate sacrifice, a sacrifice that defeated Satan, defeated death, and assured for all who will believe an eternal place in the heavenly realms. Very good. Now, you can hang on here. Very good, very good.
Now, Jesus’ sacrifice was a pivotal point in time, measured chronologically, around 33 AD, right? And that, of course, is the big attraction along our better map of the biblical highway to heaven. But leading up to the big attraction, the Lord provides previews, Ginny, previews, if you will.
See, I lost my place. He provides us previews of the salvation— that’s what I meant to say— available to us through Christ. Theologians call these previews types of Christ. We’re talking about people or maybe even inanimate things that come along in the biblical narrative that serve as models of the salvation that is ultimately found in Jesus. We speak of Jesus’ blood covering our sins. We are admonished, especially in the writings of Paul, to be found in Christ. Well, let’s look at some of the roadside attractions that give us previews of those two important concepts. Are you with me so far? All right, thank you.
Our first roadside attraction on the Bible’s better map this evening finds us way, way back in the third chapter of Genesis, where we find ourselves parked right outside the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve have had an idyllic life in the garden, tending it, nurturing it, and having daily communication and interaction with the Lord himself. But then along comes Satan, determined to ruin and upset the plans of the Lord. And what better way to do that, what better way to attack the Lord than to go after his most splendid creation, that being mankind?
Satan urges Eve to feast on the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam, of course, is asleep at the switch and does not say, Eve, don’t eat it. Instead, he says, that does look tasty. I think I’ll have a bite. Sure. You know what goes down in Genesis 3. The eyes of Adam and Eve are opened. They see that they are naked and immediately craft some rudimentary garments out of fig leaves, thinking maybe the Lord won’t notice. He does notice and judgment is swift. God condemns the snake to crawl on his belly through eternity. And Adam and Eve are invited out of the garden. Eve now cursed with the pain of childbearing. Adam cursed with having to combat a hostile creation just to be able to put some food on the table.
Now, last week, Tim spoke of the mercy of the Lord and the fact that the Lord still considers us a valuable inheritance, even though we all still carry the sinful nature handed down from Genesis 3 to all of us. Tim likened us to an item we come across at a garage sale or a thrift shop, something that looks good, something that is attractive until we see that it is actually broken and only good for parts. Not so desirable, but the Lord loves us even if we are broken and need repair. Tim said the Lord loves us even if we are only good for parts. I like that, Tim Butler. I like that.
And in such a way, after Adam and Eve failed and were expelled from the Garden of Eden, sinners though they were, the Lord still loved them. Now, they had made these cheesy clothes from fig leaves. The Lord knew these clothes wouldn’t last very long. Maybe he even figured those clothes were not fit for the children of God, even if they were sinners. Genesis 3:21: The Lord made garments of skin for Adam and Eve and clothed them. He covered their nakedness with something better than they had come up with on their own. But blood had to be shed for that covering. Something had to die so that Adam and Eve could have protective clothing made of skins.
Theologians refer to this as the proto-evangel. The first time a sacrifice was needed, the first time blood was shed to cover the sins of mankind. Those skins were then a type of Christ. Much later, the blood of Jesus would be shed to cover the sins of mankind in a much more complete way. But on Adam and Eve’s way out of the garden, a parting gift and a proto-evangel. Our first type of Christ this evening, skins.
Well, back on the highway to heaven with a better map in the glove box, our next destination is a roadside attraction also in Genesis, but this time in Genesis chapter 6. The time span between the events of Genesis chapter 3 and Genesis chapter 6 was not brief. In three chapters of the Pentateuch, we go from a world populated by two people to a world populated by many. But Houston, we have a problem. Though we have a goodly number of people on Earth, we don’t have many goodly people on Earth.
Genesis 6:5-7: The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on Earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he’d made human beings on the Earth and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, I will wipe from the face of the Earth the human race I have created and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground, for I regret that I have made them.
Strong words from the creator of mankind and a death sentence for most of the human race except for one man and his family, that being Noah. Scriptures tell us that Noah was not found to be wicked. On the contrary, he was, as we see in Genesis 6:9, a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
Now you know the story. The Lord tells Noah that he is going to put an end to all people so as to put an end to the corruption and violence that had become the norm among the citizens of the Earth. The Lord tells Noah to build an ark, not so much of a ship as we know it, but more like a gigantic box made of cypress wood that will float atop the worldwide cataclysmic flood that the Lord says he will send. Noah and his family will go inside as well as two of each type of unclean animals and seven pairs of each kind of clean animals and seven pairs of each kind of birds. Basically what the Lord is doing is starting over, addressing a reset for creation, starting over not so much from scratch but close to it.
The floating ark that Noah is instructed to build is huge even by contemporary standards. According to the folks at Ark Encounter, you ever been there? I have not but it looks pretty interesting. According to those folks, the ark was 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high. That’s long enough, actually more than long enough to put three space shuttles nose to tail on top of the top deck. That top deck was one of several that were filled with animals, food for animals and of course, Noah and his family. In all, the ark had the same storage capacity as 450 standard semi-trailers. That’s one big box.
So now, why is Noah’s ark considered a type of Christ? Well, a couple of reasons. First, it provided safety even in a world that was about to be destroyed. Anything that was inside the ark, be it animal, vegetable, or Noah and his family would be spared from drowning. Second, there was a critical construction consideration that is noted in Genesis 6:14. As the Lord tells Noah, make yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
So Bob, what is pitch exactly? Yeah, according to Wikipedia, from whence we derive all truth, wink, wink, Tim, wink, wink, yeah, there you go. Pitch is a viscoelastic polymer which can be natural or manufactured from petroleum, coal tar, or plants. Now back in Noah’s day, before there was much in the way of commercial oil refining going on, pitch would have, thank you, pitch would have probably been gathered from trees like the pine tar that baseball players put on their bats. Although pitch is also known to bubble up from the earth, usually in areas near oil fields.
Well, however you get it, pitch is a thick, sticky substance that has for centuries been used to make boats and sailing vessels watertight. Since in Noah’s time, surface water was more or less an unknown quantity, there probably was no shipbuilding as we know it. Thus Noah was a watercraft pioneer led by the Lord himself. And the Lord said, build this huge box and cover it with pitch to make it waterproof. Did it work like a charm? For three and a half months, about 110 days, the ark bobbed on top of the flood until the waters receded. Even then, Noah and his family stayed on board for about 13 months because it took a good long time for the land to dry out and be able to support the weight of man and beast.
So to recap, Noah built an ark. Within the ark was safety from the Lord’s wrath against the people on earth and to make sure the ark would float and thus assure the survival of all aboard, it had to be covered with pitch. That covering was all important, life-saving even. Thus, since safety from the Lord’s wrath is accomplished by being found in Jesus and having our sins covered by the blood of Christ, we can think of Noah’s ark as a type of Christ, a buoyant box of safety and deliverance, a big buoyant box of safety and deliverance.
Our better map of biblical history now takes us to Egypt about four or five hundred years later. For our next roadside attraction, we find ourselves on the banks of the River Nile and the daughter of Pharaoh and her entourage are at the river for a little bathing and relaxation. Things are a little tense in the Hebrew neighborhoods around the land of Goshen right now as the current Pharaoh has forgotten all about the friendship between Joseph and Pharaoh and Joseph, the patriarch Joseph.
In fact, things are so tense that the mother of a little infant guy named Moses is concerned that he will meet an untimely end at the hand of Pharaoh’s death squads who are intent on lowering the number of Hebrew children born in Egypt. She’s been hiding him since he was born, but it’s getting harder to do since he is now a three-month-old with a good set of lungs. She decides to throw a Hail Mary and cast her bread upon the waters along with little Moses in a basket and let the Lord protect him.
Exodus 2, verses 3 and 6: But she could hide him no longer. Well, when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying and she felt sorry for him. This is one of the Hebrew babies, she said.
Anybody hear a Star Wars fan? Any Star Wars fans here? I’m a casual Star Wars fan. I saw about the first three of them. But I remember a scene where Han Solo is riding this animal called a Tauntaun. He’s on the freezing planet Hoth searching for his friend Luke Skywalker who is in trouble. Well, Han’s Tauntaun dies, but Han has found Luke and Luke is about to die too when he’s found by Han. So to keep Luke warm, Han Solo takes his lightsaber, opens up the belly of the Tauntaun which is still kind of warm and he takes Luke and puts him inside to keep him warm. Golly, a desperate move, but it works. Luke and Han both live to fight another day.
Well, Moses’ mother’s move is sort of like that. She doesn’t know where her baby will end up, but wherever it is, it will be better for him than coming to a cruel demise at the hands of Pharaoh’s death squads. As it turns out, Moses is adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in the house of the very same Pharaoh, the very same one who wanted to kill him. Had his daughter not had compassion for the little Hebrew boy in the basket.
And about that basket, it’s made of papyrus, right? Papyrus is a light, flexible reed that grows in the Nile River. It’s buoyant, it’s used for a lot of things, including baskets like the one Moses’ mom used for him. It was no doubt light and floatable, but not watertight. And since Moses was three months old and gaining weight, it would have been like putting a bowling ball in the basket. So to make the basket more buoyant and absolutely waterproof, what did she do? She took a page from Noah’s shipbuilding manual and covered that basket with pitch, the same waterproof life-saving substance that Noah used to cover the ark.
Thus, Moses’ basket is added to our list of types of Christ covered with pitch, like the blood of Christ, which covers us, a vessel that offered safety to the one inside, just as being found in Christ offers safety to believers even today.
So skins, boxes, baskets, but what about snakes? Snakes, we’ve already seen one snake tonight that was an enemy to the Lord. Can a snake be a kind of Christ? To find out, let’s fast forward about 80 years and pull up to an observation post at the base of Mount Hor, not far from the Red Sea. In the distance, we see Moses. He’s on the move again, this time, as an energetic, youthful, but stressed-out 80-year-old leading the Israelites as they are wandering in the desert.
Moses is having a little trouble, as he often did, with the Lord’s chosen, who are once again complaining to him about the food, the water, the wilderness, and even the Lord himself. Let’s pick up the action in Numbers 21, verses 4 and 5:
They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea to go around Edom, but the people grew impatient on the way. They spoke against God and against Moses and said, why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, there is no water, and we detest this miserable food.
I’ve quoted Tim Butler in the course of this sermon, as he eloquently stated a week ago from this very pulpit, that the Lord loves us even though we are broken and barely good even for just parts. And that’s true, and that’s true. But even the Lord’s patience can run low. Even if what’s falling on his ears is whining, especially chronic whining, especially chronic whining that calls his goodness into question. And at this particular point in the desert near the Red Sea, that’s exactly what happened. They spoke against God. You know, you do that at your own peril.
Numbers 21:6: Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them. They bit the people and many Israelites died. Those snakes cursed to crawl on their bellies were essentially summoned by the Lord to slither right up and sink their fangs into the flesh of murmuring members of the camp who expired on the spot. Oh, this was not good. And it got the people’s attention real quick.
They saw the error of their ways and they begged Moses to intervene. Numbers 21:7: The people came to Moses and said, we sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us. So Moses prayed for the people. Nothing placates the Lord like bona fide repentance. And in this case, that repentance is rewarded by the Lord. But he still has a point to make. So he gives Moses an unusual assignment.
Numbers 21:8-9: The Lord said to Moses, make a snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on the pole. And when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
So the bronze snake was high and lifted up. And the people had to look upon it, acknowledge that their own sin had caused them to be bitten. Jesus himself in his conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus in the third chapter of the book of John calls this one.
John 3:13-15: No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness. So the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life.
When the ancient Israelites looked at the bronze snake, they knew their sin had made it necessary for it to be there, and looking upon it with repentance brought healing. When we as believers are confronted by Christ on the cross, high and lifted up, we know that it was our sin that made it necessary for him to be there. And looking upon him with repentance, as Isaiah said in the 53rd chapter of his book, verse five brings healing by his wounds, we are healed.
It’s right there at the bottom of the screen. So skins, boxes, baskets and snake. And what do these all have to do with Christmas again?
Well, what is Christmas all about, Charlie Brown? Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me rephrase that. What is Christmas all about, Charles Wesley? You know, Charles Wesley got it right 284 years or so ago.
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
God and sinners reconciled. Jesus, the Messiah coming to earth, condescending, seeking and saving that which was lost, reclaiming his sinful brothers and sisters by dying for us on the cross. Covering our sin with his blood so that we might be found in him safe and secure, free from facing the wrath of a kind, loving, but just God. A God who cannot be in the presence of sin and allowing us to gratefully enter in. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charles Wesley. And you nailed it in 1739. And in 2025, 284 years closer to the return of Jesus, that’s still what it’s all about.
Thanks be to the Lord who gives us his son. Thanks be to the Lord who has given us his word. And thanks be to the Lord who gets points for style as he takes things diverse as skins, boxes, baskets, and snakes, and points us toward Christmas and a joyful eternity in heaven, amen.
Let’s pray. Father and Savior, you have given us ample opportunity to get the point about Jesus all through your written history, all through the Bible, the Old Testament, New Testament. You have given us so many models, so many, it’s hard to miss. We really don’t need too much in the way of commentaries and other things to explain what’s going on here. Once you have opened our eyes through, and we’re seeing scripture through the lens of the Holy Spirit, we know exactly what we need to do with our life, and that is to acknowledge our sin before you, accept Jesus as our Savior, and then confess him as Lord to all we meet.
Lord, thank you for this chance to be together tonight. Thank you for all who are gathered here, for all who are part of this assembly, but couldn’t be here, may you keep them safe, for all those watching online through the gift you have given us of technology. May you be with us all, and may all we do be to your glory. For it’s in your name we pray. Amen. Amen.
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