How To Read Your Bible
Tabernacle
Tabernacle
Theme
In the first movement, we followed the theme of the name of Yahweh, and then explored the theme of the test in the second movement of Exodus. In this movement, we’ll be tracing the theme of the temple.
Tabernacle
Theme
The third movement of Exodus centers around Moses’ experience with Yahweh atop Mount Sinai, where he has a vision, or apocalypse, and sees the heavenly temple. God wants to dwell with his people on the land, so he instructs Moses to build a tabernacle that mimics his dwelling place, the heavenly temple.
Exodus 25:1-9
1The LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. 3And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,
Exodus 25:1-9
4blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, 5tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, 6oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.
Exodus 25:1-9
8And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
Yahweh instructs the Israelites to collect gold and precious stones, animal skins, and fine fabrics, and then tells Moses why.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
Exodus 25:8 Let them construct a sanctuary (miqdash) for me, that I may dwell (shakhan) among them.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
Miqdash is related to the word qadosh, which means holiness. A miqdash is a holy place—in this case, a place unique and set apart for the elohim above elohim to dwell within.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
Shakhan means to dwell in a tent. Yahweh shows Moses the heavenly temple and then gives him a pattern to follow as he organizes the construction of the earthly tabernacle.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
When humans enter this earthly tabernacle, they are meant to realize they’re inhabiting two spaces at once, both heaven and earth.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
Every element of the tabernacle structure represents some element that would draw people back to the Eden narrative, from its three-tiered structure that mimicked the ancient Hebrew conception of the garden, to the cherubim carved by its entrance, to its furniture that represented different elements of the garden.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
In a way, when we see moments in the Bible where a place represents Eden, this is actually Eden reappearing. Eden isn’t just a place where heaven and earth symbolically meet—it’s a place where literally heaven and earth are one, which is why it rematerializes in other geographic locations throughout the story of Scripture.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
The rituals and tabernacle articles are part of how God makes a way for humans to come into his presence. The tabernacle is truly Eden, but a limited Eden.
Tabernacle
Quote: Tim Mackie
The tabernacle flips a well-known Christian phrase that is a dangerous half-truth, which is that God can’t have anything to do with sin, or sin cannot be in the presence of God. The tabernacle actually turns that over and says, “No, God’s purpose is to live among his people.” That means God moves into sin. God stakes out a claim in the region of sin and dedicates it and redeems it by his holy presence.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
If you’re familiar with the story of the Bible, you know where the story is going: God dwells with humans first in Eden, then in the tabernacle and temple, and then finally in the presence of Jesus, who announces he is the greater temple.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
Consequently, it’s easy to downgrade the significance of God’s presence in the tabernacle and temple as a mere symbol, when it’s actually a reality. God is dwelling with humans in these sacred places.
Tabernacle
A Place for God to Dwell
Eden is a space that operates outside the laws of the four dimensions we are familiar with, including time. In this way, Eden and eternal life are closely linked. Eternity is not a future state we are solely meant to look forward to, but a quality of existence that can be accessed at any time.
Tabernacle
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
The description of the tabernacle is one in which God’s priestly image bearers rule and maintain order, as they obey him and listen to his voice. Sounds a lot like Eden, right? The whole movement is conveyed in structures and patterns of seven, and every
element of the tabernacle is designed to remind us of Eden.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
For example, at the center of the tabernacle is the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat, where God’s presence dwells, guarded by two carved cherubim.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
After the list of materials and description of the ark comes a golden table for bread, a menorah (lamp), and the altar of incense, all of it rich with symbolic meaning. For instance, the priests arrange 12 loaves of bread on the table—one for each tribe of Israel.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
The menorah is a lampstand with seven lights on it that never go out, but constantly shine on the loaves of bread as an image of God’s light shining perpetually on his people.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
The altar of incense also burns constantly and represents the prayers of God’s people rising up before him.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
If you were to walk through the tabernacle, you would pass through two outer courts en route to the Holy of Holies. The entrances of each court, guarded by cherubim, would remind you that each boundary you pass brings you into greater proximity to God’s own presence and the location where heaven and earth are one.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
The altar in front of the Holy of Holies plays a major role in the relationship between God and Israel. Its position served as a reminder that a sacrifice had to be made before humans could enter God’s presence.
Tabernacle
Does Furniture Really Matter?
Yahweh creates the Israelite sacrificial system to form their identity as people—to remind them of their own sin and moral brokenness, but also to impress upon them Yahweh’s desire to dwell with them. The sacrificial system taught Israel to be a people of perpetual surrender.