Approaching a Holy God

Exodus 25:1-9

Exodus 25:8-9 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

These instructions came to Moses on Mount Sinai, where he stayed for 40 days.

I) Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

50 chapters total in the Bible devoted to the tabernacle. The final 16 chapters in Exodus are devoted to instructions and fashion of the tabernacle.

The instructions were two-fold. first the Israelites would have to be intentional, and second it would be a lesson in obedience.

II) The Layout and Purpose of the tabernacle

The Courtyard - 150x75 ft

The tabernacle - 15x45 ft

The Altar of Burnt offerings. This would be the first object you would come to when entering the courtyard of the tabernacle.

The first altar in scripture was built by Noah just after they had came off the ark.

This altar would be for repentance. This would be where the sin offering would be made.

4, The Bronze Laver - (30:17) Between the tabernacle and the altar. Large bowl of water to cleanse the hands and feet. The altar and the Laver was to bring them to a place of a pure heart.

III) Entering the Holy Place

After the sin offering and the cleansing, one would now be ready to enter the holy place.

(CH 37)On the left upon entering one would see the golden lampstand. This lampstand would be complete with 7 lamps(verse 23). It would be made of pure gold. This was to represent the wisdom and presence of God. Leviticus 24:1–4“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually.”

Across from the lampstand we would see The table of consecrated bread (25:30) Table shewbread. 12 loaves symbolizing the 12 tribes. 2 equal rows. They were not touched during the week. On the Sabbath the were eaten by the priests and replaced with 12 fresh loaves.

The altar of Incense - separated the how from the holy of holies. CH 30:1-10. Verse 34 shows ingredients to be in front of the veil, by the ark of testimony, before the mercy seat. Priests were not permitted to go beyond this point except for on the day of atonement.

The Veil separated the holy from the Holy of Holies. Only the priests could come into the Holy of Holies and only at specific times. Mainly the day of atonement. Hebrews 9:7 “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:” Matthew 27:51 “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;” Jesus sacrifice on the cross permanently destroyed the veil that separated people from God. Thus showing that Jesus was the mediator and that all people could come to God through Him.

The Ark of the Covenant The ark of the covenant was a wooden box or chest with a lid; it contained the tablets of the law (vv. 16; Deut 10:2, 5; 2 Chr 5:10). The ark of the covenant was patterned after the Egyptian palanquin. A palanquin found in the tomb of Tutankhamen is nearly identical in size and has rings underneath for carrying poles (see Exod 25:12–15). The ark went missing after the Babylonians destroyed the Jerusalem temple (586 BC). From antiquity until today, Jews placed the scrolls of the torah (“instruction”) in a small box called the aron qodesh (“sacred ark”) that is kept at the front of the synagogue.

John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ex 25:10.

IV) What the Children of Israel were doing while Moses was getting these instructions Ch 32

The worship was intentional in those days. They had to work to prepare for coming into the presence of God. Jesus made the way for us to come unto God freely, but that should not ever make us feel entitled. We have become like the Pharisee in Luke 18:10. We should prepare ourselves to come to the House of God, before the Holy God. Instead of coming out of habit and hoping to hear something good.