His Glory Among Us

Prayer

Making of the Tabernacle

I want to start this morning right off the bat with our Scripture passage, with Exodus 25:1-9, which chronicles God’s command to Moses and his people to build a sanctuary for him, a place for him to dwell, a tabernacle:

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 8 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

So God commands the Israelites to bring together all the materials needed to build the tabernacle - gold, silver, bronze, colored yarn and fine linen, animal skins, olive oil, acacia wood, etc. - we see later in the book of Exodus that the response was so overwhelming by the people that they had to tell them to stop.

Two things I want to point out about God’s instructions:

First is why God wants them to build this tabernacle - it is going to be a sanctuary for God, a place for him to dwell among his people, to be with them.

Second, God has very explicit instructions for the tabernacle and the furnishings - “exactly like the patterns I will show you.” God is the designer, and there’s a purpose as to why it is to be built in this particular manner, which we’ll come to later.

Most of the rest of the book of Exodus details both the instructions (Chapters 25-30) and then the actual construction of the tabernacle (Chapters 35-40). Those instructions also include the clothing for the priests. Needless to say, we will not be going through all those instructions in detail this morning - it’s a lot.

But I do want to give you an overall sense of what the tabernacle - and later the Temple, looked like and how it functioned. Because this became the center piece of the Israelites - for their worship, their identity as God’s people, this is where their God was dwelling with them. I’ve got a series of images that will give you a good idea of what the tabernacle looked like.

Image 1 - I want to start from the outside in. One of the first things I want you to notice is that the tabernacle was a tent - it’s sometimes referred to as the tent of meeting. The tabernacle was constructed to be able to set up, take down and be transported as the Israelites made their way through the wilderness (this was the job of the tribe of the Levites, each clan within the tribe of Levi had their specific responsibilities for parts of the tabernacle).

Image 2 - Now, within that outer area was the courtyard - which is where we find the main altar and the wash basin. This was the area that the Israelites could enter into and bring their offerings to the priests. Now the priests themselves had to be out of the tribe of Levi, from the family of Aaron (little ironic, considering he was the one who constructed the golden calf).

Now next week as we move into the book of Leviticus (so we’re officially finishing book number two through our journey through the story of the Old Testament) we’ll do an overview of the offerings the Israelites were obligated to bring - as well as the freewill offerings.

But this was the area - on this altar that the animals were brought forth for the various sacrifices that the Israelites were to offer. Typically, altars of to the Lord were to be made of uncut stone - but because they took the tabernacle wherever they went, the altar had to be movable. This altar was made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, with horns on the corners. The basin, which was used by the priests for washing as they made their way into the actual tent, was made of bronze.

Image 3 - From the courtyard we’ll move into the main tent, which was divided into two areas by a thick curtain. The first area was known as the Holy Place, and only priests were allowed to enter into this area, and it was in this place that they conducted their daily duties.

Those duties included tending the lampstand, the Menorah, made of seven lamps lit by olive oil. The entire lampstand was made of pure gold, and lamps, the cups that held the oil, were to be shaped like flowers, with buds and blossoms.

This area also included an altar on which they would burn incense. It, too, was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The priests would also burn incense twice daily on the altar, once in the morning, and again at twilight. God’s instructions included a very specific recipe for the incense burned on this altar, a recipe no one else was to use.

Finally, there was the table, like the others - made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Included with the table were plates and dishes, pitchers and bowls, all made out of pure gold - these were used for offerings. On this table the bread of the Presence was to be before the Lord always.

Image 4 - Finally, we come to the second half of the main tent, the innermost chamber, which was known as the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies. Within this chamber was placed the covenant, the Ten Commandments, the stone tablets on which they were written.

The tablets were placed within an ark (hence, the ark of the covenant), a box made of acacia wood and plated with gold. The ark included a lid on which were carved two cherubim, the creatures whose wings covered over the lid. The construction of the ark also included poles to carry the ark (as did the other furniture).

Now, because this was the place, the place, where God resided within the tabernacle - this was his sanctuary, his dwelling place - the only person who could enter the Most Holy Place was the high priest. And even then, he could only enter it on one day of the year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This was the day that the high priest made sacrifices for his own sins and for the people.

Image 5 - Now, also included in these chapters are the instructions for the priests - those who would serve in the tabernacle, and the clothing they were to wear - their robes, undergarments, head covering - turban, an ephod (apron), breast plate, as well as tunic, sashes and caps.

The Significance of the Temple - God dwelling among his people

Now, if you want more detail - the actual dimensions of the altars and the tents and how many sections it was built into, the framing of it, how much gold was used, the coloring of the different fabrics and so on - it’s all laid out in Exodus 25-40 - go crazy. So, you may be asking (or maybe not) - this is very interesting, Rob, but so what? What do all these instructions for the tabernacle have to do with us here today? What does it have to do with following Jesus? I’m so glad you asked.

We get some insight into this at the very end of Exodus, after the construction of the tabernacle is completed, Exodus 40:34-38...

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

God comes down into the tabernacle - and he comes in a big way - the cloud covers over the tent of meeting and his glory fills the temple.

So much so, that even Moses, his faithful, humble servant - the one he knows by name, the one with whom he is pleased - cannot enter into the tent of meeting, because of his presence, his glory.

We’ve been talking over and over again about this constant tension that keeps surfacing in the Old Testament - God’s intention and desire to dwell with his people, to be their God, for them (for us) to be his people. That’s part of what this story is about - Israelites building a sanctuary for God to dwell among them.

This was the theme that I shared with you from Capernaum camp - for us to be in relationship right with God, experiencing God’s goodness and love, dwelling in his house forever.

And yet, we can see right away that not even Moses can enter in - God’s glory has enveloped the tent of meeting and it’s too much, his glory, his holiness, for Moses to bear. Moses - like all of us - falls short of the glory of God - we are tainted by sin, unclean.

This is the tension, the great problem of sin. We were created by God to be with him, to be in loving relationship with him - and yet, because of our sin, because it taints us - how can we be with a God who is perfectly good, holy?

In the weeks to come, we’re going to talk more about this cleanness / uncleanness, as well as what God has done to make it possible for people to enter into his presence (one big hint - it’s Jesus). I want you to see how everything in the Old Testament is point to this - pointing to the gospel, to Jesus, and the incredible gift salvation God offers through him, to make us clean.

But this morning, I want to talk about how the tabernacle is pointing us toward God’s beautiful and wonderful intent and desire to dwell with us, and us with him.

One of the ways that this is evident is through the tabernacle decorations. These very explicit instructions include decorations that reflect God’s creation - the lampstand made with lamps shaped like flowers, full of buds and blossoms. The priestly garments included pomegranates made of blue, purple and scarlet yard around the hem of the robe. The curtains had cherubim, those heavenly beings, interwoven into the material.

The tabernacle was meant to represent God’s dwelling place - in the book of Hebrews we are told that it was a copy, a shadow of the heavenly sanctuary. This was why the instructions were so exact, so his earthly sanctuary would reflect his heavenly one.

God doesn’t want to stay up in heaven, distant from his people. He wants to dwell with us - that was his original purpose. Remember, from the very beginning, in the garden, God was with his people, with Adam and Eve. It’s not until sin enters in that Adam and Eve must leave the garden, that they - and now us, are separated from God.

But what’s even more telling is seeing how Jesus is described in several places in the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of John.

John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus, God himself, took on flesh and tabernacled among us. He made his dwelling among us. John is intentionally using tabernacle language to describe Jesus’ coming to be with his (and notice that he comes, full of glory, just like God did when he came and filled the tabernacle.) This time, however, you can come right up to Jesus. As holy as he is, it’s not just once a year.

John 2:19-21 - Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus clearing the temple, and the Jewish leaders confront him on where he gets the authority to do this. And Jesus responds by pointing to his pending death and resurrection.

“But the temple he had spoken of was his body” - here Jesus is making explicit, I am the new temple - I am now God dwelling among you.

Finally, the new creation - Revelation 21:1-3...Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

And to make it even more explicit, vs. 22, I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The whole new heaven and new earth is God dwelling with us, and us with God. There is no more need to go to the temple, to the tabernacle to be with God, God is with us. His dwelling place is among his people.

Before we talk about spiritual discipline, I want to offer one final thought. This idea of God coming to dwell among his people, to be with us - only really matters to us when we realize how utterly and amazing God is. What it means to experience his glory and goodness, to receive his love and mercy.

There’s certain knocks at the door, you’re not interested - you want to get rid of them as soon as possible - person selling something, neighbor who’s come to complain.

But if it’s a dear friend, a beloved family member - open the door, so glad to see you. You immediately receive them, welcome them in, you stop whatever you’re doing to be with them - as they’ve come to be with you.

So it is with Jesus. He has come to be with us. It’s not simply that he offers us forgiveness and salvation (which is amazing enough), that he offers wisdom and truth through what he teaches (that would be reason enough) - he offers himself. His person. (Doc Sloop - his mercies are new every morning). The beauty of his grace - we’re not deserving, but we are worthy. Just to experience the fullness of his love. To be awed by his glory, his beauty, his majesty.

Spiritual Disciplines - Preparing Yourself to receive God as he comes to dwell with us. In 1 Corinthians we learn that it’s not just God who is the temple, but we are, too. Meant to receive, to let Jesus, his Spirit, dwell in us. Let me offer some spiritual disciplines, soul training exercises to become temples who would receive Jesus.

First is one we talk about a lot, Discipline of Confession - which is a way of pursuing holiness. We want our hearts to be places suitable for Jesus, a place he is pleased to dwell. A heart filled with rebellion, or bitterness, is one not open to Jesus. Jesus teaches in the Gospel of Matthew, where your treasure is, there your heart is also. If we treasure things above Jesus, that’s where our hearts will be. Sin of idolatry. So we repent of these things as a way to receive Jesus.

Discipline of Silence - preparing yourself to receive God, for him to come to you. Jesus coming to us is relational, experiential, we come to know him. But that can’t happen if we don’t sit still long enough to be with him. That takes time and effort and intention.

This story makes clear, that God longs to be with us, to dwell among us.