Numbers 7 shows the offering of the leaders of each tribe that they made to the sanctuary. Then when each had made an identical offering, Moses wrote,

This was the dedication offering for the altar from the leaders of Israel, when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold pans…All the silver of the vessels weighed two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The twelve gold pans full of incense weighed ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary… (Numbers 7.84–88).

What caught my attention in this text was the fact that the valuation was made according to the sanctuary. The sanctuary determined everything, because the sanctuary represented Israel’s connection with God.

Likewise, the world may not realize it, and the church may not realize it, but everything on this Earth is connected to the church. The world continues to exist because the church, which is the salt of the Earth and the light of the world, continues to exist. The Lord manipulates things behind the scenes, all for the sake of the church, which is the kingdom of heaven.