Jesus is the Tabernacle

Intro

We don’t need to be shaken when we see things in this world that attack Christianity. We don’t need to be shaken in this world because God has always been doing His redeeming work and He won’t stop until it’s finished.

Qualifying Some Teaching

John 1:1–14 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Dwelt in v. 14 is the Greek word skenoo- dwell, or pitch a tent. This comes from the root word skene, which means tabernacle. This connection is strengthened even more when we look at all of the other times this word is used. Just 4 other times, all in Revelation.

John 2:19–22 “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he will be with them and their generations. If we read that as spiritual lineage, we are included in that blessing. That may sound like wishful thinking until we remember the name of the one who came.

Matthew 1:23 ““Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” Calling back to the prophet Isaiah

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

The Altar of Burnt Offering

Biggest piece of furniture. 7.5’x7.5’

The first piece of furniture you encounter as you enter

As soon as you enter the outer court, you would see this huge consuming fire burning a sacrifice. Once you were welcomed in, you couldn’t continue any further without a sacrifice.

Uses: Consecration of priests, sin offering, Day of Atonement.

In 1 Kings, Adonijah clings to one of the horns for safety.

Everything within the Tabernacle is made of gold, everything in the outer court is made of bronze

The Outer Court

150’x75’x7.5’ with a 30’ gate facing East

56 pillars total

Tabernacle is 45’x15’x15’

You come in through the one way, a sacrifice is given to you, you are washed clean, you see God’s provision in the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the prayers of the saints being lifted to God in the Altar of Incense. Then you may pass through the veil, into the presence where you approach God, where He judges you righteous in His presence.

As you draw nearer to God, you pass through His people, into the outer court, receive your salvation, your sins are washed away, you behold the provision of your mighty God, and you walk right through that 30’ torn veil, straight into the throne room of God BOLDLY, all because of the work, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The Oil

Centennial lightbulb- 1901

Livermore, CA

A perfect and eternal light

Conclusion

In the Tabernacle, we see God providing a way for Israel to approach Him. In the Tabernacle, we see how God provided a way for us to approach Him. In Jesus, we see how all of these requirements for us to approach God have not been removed, but they have been fulfilled.

The Door

John 10:1–5 ““Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.””

John 10:9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

The one who tells you that they’ve found another way into the Tabernacle may make it in, but they will find themselves eternally separated from their Father.

The Altar

Hebrews 9:13–14 “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

The Laver and the Lampstand

1 John 1:5–10 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

Table of Showbread

John 6:33–35 “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Altar of Incense

Romans 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

The Veil

Isaiah 59:2 “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

Matthew 27:51 “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

The Ark

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.””

It is in Jesus’ death that the true and ultimate atonement for all sin is made.