Exodus: The Tabernacle
What’s This?
As we conclude our study on the book of Exodus this week, we will be looking at something very descriptive and vital that our Lord wanted us to take note of. This thing is so important that it takes the final four chapters of this book to describe it in detail. We’re talking of course, about the tabernacle. Now why exactly would God want us to know about a building? Throughout this book, we have seen God raise up a flawed man to rescue His people, bring judgment upon Egypt and Pharaoh, and even give particular laws for Israel to follow in order to be in communion with God Himself. So after all this, why would we need to know about some fancy tent? Probably one of the best ways we can answer this is by looking at what The Bible Project has to mention about the Tabernacle. They state, “The Tabernacle overturns a popular misconception in Christianity, that God’s holiness prevents him from being near human sin. On the contrary, God makes it his purpose to live among his people, and he draws nearer and nearer throughout human history.” This building isn’t just some fancy place to represent God, it is quite literally a place that is built so that God may dwell among His people. This one building at the end of this book is a great example of how God is all-holy and all-loving at the exact same time. How exactly does He do that? Let’s find out.
God Is Holy
To start, we must see how God remains holy while deciding to leave the heavens and dwell among His people in a sinful and fallen world. In order to do this, you would have to create a place that is perfect and sinless just like heaven is. You may be thinking that this is a next-to-impossible task to complete, and you’d be right. That is why there is so much detail that goes into this building process. The Tabernacle is mentioned all throughout the Pentauech and is described in very thorough detail. These four chapters discuss the overall layout of the Tabernacle, the specific rooms that will be made, the only objects that are allowed to be inside of it, and even the very detailed garments that are to be worn in order to enter into this holy building. When you read through this book for the first time, you may have been wondering why this info was so important to know and why these descriptions were left in God’s Word in order for us to read about them today. The reason for this, of course, was because it shows us just how holy and perfect God is.
This next-to-impossible task must described and laid out in next-to-impossible detail in order to show the perfect standard that our Lord requires. Our Lord’s standards and demand for holiness were so vital, that the very people who were over the building of the Tabernacle were picked out and filled with the Holy Spirit by God Himself. Look at what Exodus 35:30-33 says, “Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. “And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship; to create designs for working in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work.” The holiness of God can not be overstated or overlooked in this section of scripture. God cannot break His own standards just to be with His sinful people, otherwise, His character would be flawed and therefore He wouldn’t be God. In order to be a perfect being that dwells amongst imperfect people, He needed a perfect place to dwell. And that place was the Tabernacle.
God Is Love
Now this shows the holiness of our God, but why did God need to dwell amongst His people in the first place? Why didn’t God just leave His people to their own devices and figure out lives for themselves? The answer to this is that God loves His people. While the Israelites were wandering around in the wilderness, it became obvious that the fallenness of mankind was too great to expect them to uphold their end of the covenant and enter the Promise Land. This is why God decided to tell Moses on Mount Sinai, that He would be coming down in a cloud that would surround the Tabernacle and they were to follow the cloud wherever it led. Exodus ends by actually telling us exactly how they would do this. Exodus 40:36-38 tells us, “Throughout their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.” As God’s chosen people, God refused to leave them in the wilderness left to their own devices where they would surely die without ever seeing the Promise Land. So our Lord in a great act of love decided to dwell in a holy place among His people in order to lead them by His presence. The picture that the Tabernacle paints for us is a picture of God’s perfect love and holiness working together to lead sinful mankind to the place that God promised they would end up. This picture is a beautiful image in the Old Testament that foretells the beautiful picture we will see in the gospels as well. Because of God’s love for His people, He sent His perfect son to lead us to eternal life in Him. What an amazing picture of God’s grace. As we close our study on Exodus this month, I hope and pray that you have seen this book in a different light and have grown in your knowledge of God because of it. May this study further your hunger and passion to learn more about our Lord as you continue your own personal study of His word.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Exodus: What’s so special about the tabernacle? (n.d.). BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/podcast/whats-so-special-about-tabernacle/#:~:text=KEY%20TAKEAWAYS,back%20to%20the%20Eden%20narrative.
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