Tabernacle Study Feb. 12th 2023

The tabernacle was a copy of the heavenly sanctuary (He. 8:5; 9:24; cf. also Acts 7:44; Rev. 15:5) and was designed to foreshadow things to come (10:1).

Its regulations were temporary (9:10), its sacrifices imperfect (9:9; 10:1–4), and the access it afforded to the divine presence very limited (9:7f.).

But Christ has offered Himself as a perfect, once-for-all sacrifice (9:12–14, 26). He has entered the heavenly sanctuary not made with human hands (8:2; 9:11), thereby opening a “new and living way” into God’s presence for all believers (10:19–22; cf. 6:19). Believers can therefore approach the “throne of grace” (i.e., the heavenly counterpart of the tabernacle “mercy seat”) with the confidence that they will obtain the mercy and grace that they need (4:16).

John’s Gospel announces the Incarnation by saying that “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us,” as the locus of God’s glory (John 1:14)

The tabernacle is a significant preaching point in Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7:44-50.

and Revelation speaks of heaven and the New Jerusalem as God’s “tabernacle” (Rev. 13:6; 15:5; 21:3).

The priesthood and sacrifices are regarded as types of the work of Christ, the great high priest, toward this goal (Heb. 8–9).

The tabernacle foreshadowed a time when God’s dwelling with mankind would be not temporary but permanent.

The consummation of the divine plan will be reached when the “dwelling [lit “tent”] of God is with men” (Rev. 21:3).

The Courtyard

Now, let’s talk about the significant elements in the courtyard.

Last week, we talked quite a bit about there being only one way in.

Show pic of tabernacle

An outer view of the Tabernacle

To get a better idea of the layout, I found this video:

The first significant element you would see when you walked into the tabernacle was the bronze altar.

The Bronze Altar

This bronze altar was the place of sacrifice.

It was 7.5 feet square and 4.5 feet tall (Ex. 27:1-2)

On each corner was a horn where the blood of the sacrifices was smeared.

Why do you think the altar of burnt offerings was just inside the entrance to the tabernacle courtyard?

Here’s the picture: To get to God, there’s only one entrance… and to enter there must be sacrifice.

This was the common place for repentance.

On this altar was sacrifices made daily, in the morning and in the evening.

This is the place where someone would sin and bring a sacrifice to ask for forgiveness.

This altar was the next step in approaching God.

The altar’s placement revealed that coming to God or receiving the benefits of His presence requires dealing with the problem of our sin first.

Later, Jesus would say, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6; cf. 10:9).

This ancient altar spoke unmistakably of Calvary, underscoring the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross, which was the ultimate substitutionary sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:1–18).

Access to God is ours only when we come to Him through the perfect, atoning sacrifice of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Bronze is often associated with judgment in the Bible (see Numbers 21:9; Isaiah 60:17; Revelation 1:15). Bronze is harder than gold and silver and better able to resist heat and fire. In Deuteronomy 33:25 and Jeremiah 1:18, bronze is a symbol of the ability to endure.

The bronze altar was a shadow of the reality found in Jesus Christ, who took our judgment and who alone possessed the power to endure the fire of God’s holiness. Only Christ could withstand the cross and not be consumed by the flames of God’s wrath and divine judgment.

1 Peter 2:24 NASB95

24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The Bronze Basin (Ex 30:17-21)

The basin was the place of cleansing for the priests. Not only did the priests need to offer sacrifices for their sins, they also had to be physically cleansed before they could move into the Holy Place to complete their work.

This was a constant task for the priests. They would need to cleanse before and after most tasks they would do in the tabernacle.

The NT speaks of cleansing for believers:

John 13:3–8 NASB95

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

Jesus says, If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me…

Paul goes on to describe the word as cleansing like water:

Ephesians 5:25–26 NASB95

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

In both cases, it is this idea of a cleansing done by engaging with Jesus.

I do want to point out that in these new testament passages, it is not a self-cleansing. Jesus is doing the washing in both cases.

It’s not by works, but by His grace. His mercies are new every morning… I need his cleansing mercy every day.

The Holy Place

The people would bring their sacrifices to the courtyard of the tabernacle, but only the priests were allowed to enter the Holy Place.

The holy place was separated from the courtyard by curtains and housed the golden lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense.

The Lampstand (Ex. 25:31-40; Lev. 24:1-4)

The lampstand was formed from pure gold.

It was estimated to have weighed 120-132 lbs

The lampstand had 7 branches, three on each side and one in the middle.

Each branch had a lamp cup “shaped like an almond blossom complete with buds and petals” (v. 33)

The fuel was pure olive oil from pressed olives. (Lev. 24:2) (The guide says this was a purer oil than the normal boiled olive oil)

The lampstand was the only source of light that guided the priests through his duties.

John 8:12 NASB95

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Jesus can free from the darkness of sin and guide the life of the Christian through His marvelous light.

The Table of the Bread of the Presence (Ex. 25:23-30; Lev. 24:5-9)

The bread of the presence served as sustenance for the priests, but also represented God’s provision for His people.

Each Sabbath, twelve fresh loaves were placed in two rows on the table (Lev. 24:5-6). One for each of the tribes of Israel.

In the New Testament, after Jesus feeds the five thousand, He and the disciples crossed the sea and the next morning they were surrounded by people wanting more bread.

That’s when Jesus tells them,

John 6:48–51 NASB95

48 “I am the bread of life. 49 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

He was telling them, I am your source, your life, your sustenance, your strength, your provision.

In the wilderness, when He was tempted with hunger Jesus rebukes satan by saying, Matt 4:4 “4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ””

Here again we have the importance of the Word on display. Jesus is the Word, the bread, the light in the darkness, and the sacrifice that allows us entry.

The Altar of Incense (Ex. 30:1-10)

The alter of incense was in the holy place, directly in front of the curtain that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies.

This is a depiction of the temple that came later, but the placement of the altar of incense was the same.

Like the alter of burnt offering it had horns that Aaron would sprinkle with blood of the sin offering only on the day of atonement to cleanse the altar.

Like the table of show bread, it was made of gold.

Twice daily Aaron the high priest would burn incense that was specifically made for this altar.

This was to be done from “Generation to generation” (v. 7) God specifically instructed that the older generation of priests was to teach the younger priests how to obey the commands of God and prepare the incense.

There was a strict prohibition against any incense other than what God had instructed, and nothing else was to ever be burned on it.

In the NT, the smoke of incense is depicted as the “prayers of the saints”

Revelation 5:8 NASB95

8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

David also spoke of this:

Psalm 141:1–2 NASB95

1 O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! 2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.

The picture here is clear: the way to approach the mercy seat is through prayer.

Not only do we approach the throne through prayer, but Jesus also prays:

Romans 8:34 NASB95

34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Hebrews 7:25 NASB95

25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

If there’s time, read Heb. 7:23-8:2

Hebrews 7:23–8:2 NASB95

23 The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. 1 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.