The Tent over the Tabernacle

Introduction

It is a very simple thing to determine that which is most important to individuals because it will be that thing which they center their lives around. For some this is their profession, for others, fame, fortune, money, family, education, truly the list can go on. However, for the people of God, the center of their lives should be Him. Everything else that is part of our lives should be subject and secondary to that truth. This can be very difficult given the number of things surrounding us everyday and seeking to call our attention and focus off of Him and on to something, anything else. Thankfully, through by the grace of God, through the work of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we not only have God dwelling within us in the person of the Holy Spirit but we also have the very revealed Word of God to enable us, even in the midst of all the distractions of the world, to keep Him as the center of our lives.

Last week we returned to the book of Exodus and the epic historical narrative of the Israelite people as they made their way out of the land of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and across the wilderness to the foot of Mount Sinai. It was there, encamped around the base of this mountain that God and His people officially entered into covenant together. As they did so, Moses once again was called up on the mountain to commune with God and he was given the specific instructions to build the tabernacle, or dwelling place of God among His people. It was to be there, in the very center of His people, where God would take up residence. Philip Ryken writes:

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Limited Access

The heart of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, where God reigned in glory. The tabernacle, in turn, was at the heart of Israel, with all twelve tribes surrounding it. And Israel was the heart of the world, the centerpiece in God’s plan for saving the nations.

David, in Psalm 15, opens this short Psalm up with an interesting question. He asks in Psalm 15:1 “O Yahweh, who may sojourn in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?” As we think about the both the commands of God to Moses regarding his approach on Mount Sinai and the warnings to the people to stay away, and the conversation we had last week regarding the exclusivity of the interior of the tabernacle, this question should become even more profound. As challenging as the question itself is, the answer which David provides in the remainder of this Psalm does nothing short of magnify it to the extreme, listen to the words David writes in Psalm 15:2-5 in response to the question posed in verse 1:

Psalm 15:2–5 LSB

He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear Yahweh; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Only the righteous one, the perfect one, the blameless one may enter the presence of God or dwell on His holy mountain. What a terrifying truth? When rightly understood this claim immediately disqualifies all of humanity. In multiple places in scripture we are reminded of our inability to come to God. We are told:

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 3:10–12 “as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.””

Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away.”

Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your transgressions and sins,”

And again, we are brought around to the question that David asks. Psalm 15:1 “O Yahweh, who may sojourn in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?”.

It is a difficult place to be, an uncomfortable position, when are souls are laid bare before us and we recognize how desperate our situation is, how hopeless it all seems…but then we are reminded of some of the most beautiful words in all of scripture…BUT GOD...

In the very design of the Tabernacle God has demonstrated a great truth, that there is a way to dwell with God, to enter into His presence. For the people of Israel it was through the sacrificial system that allowed the priest to enter to make atonement for the people, foreshadowing the perfect and final sacrifice, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, the Christ.

We saw last week that God displayed within the very curtains that formed the tabernacles walls and ceiling, a pure white linen adorned with cherubim, who symbolically guarded the way to God, the realities of Christ’s nature. This week we turn our attention away from the tabernacle proper to the tent that would cover the tabernacle. Our text for this morning will come from Exodus 26:7-14.

Text

Please stand for the reading of God’s Holy, inerrant, authoritative, sufficient and complete Word:

Exodus 26:7–14 LSB

“Then you shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains in all. “The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall have the same measurements. “And you shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. “You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. “You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it will be one unit. “The overlapping part that is left over in the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle. “The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other, of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and on the other to cover it. “You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above.

Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word, for it’s principles, it’s promises, it’s directions, and it’s light. As we partake of Your Word this morning, may we learn more of Christ, teach us to behold our Creator, Your ability to save, Your arms outstretched, Your heart big for Your people. Father, may we have confidence in Your power and love, committing ourselves to You without reserve, may our lips be well tuned cymbals sounding thy praise, may we be surrounded in heavenly mindedness that radiates to all those around us. Teach us the attending to temporal things with a mind focused on the the eternal things. Help us to not only receive Christ, but walk in Him, depend upon Him, commune with Him, be conformed to Him, follow Him, even though it be our efforts be imperfect, may we press on, thankful for Your salvation and rest. May it be that as we are saved by grace through faith that we continue to live by that faith, feel the joy of that faith, and do the work of that faith. Acknowledging nothing in ourselves, but finding in Christ, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for Your names sake and glory above all. Father we ask these things in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Three Coverings and Their Purpose

As you will have noticed from the text this morning there are three distinct layers mentioned here in the construction of the tabernacle. The first is described in similar language to that of the curtains of the Tabernacle proper but are overall larger than the linen curtain. When the tabernacle was assembled, these curtains were placed over a wooden frame that we will discuss next week. As they were draped across and secured to this frame the fine linen curtain that formed the walls and ceiling would hang across the top and down both sides and the back, but it would fall approximately 18 inches (or one cubit) from reaching the ground.

The second layer, the curtain made of goat hair, was fabricated larger than the first and when draped across the frame and first curtain, would have come all the way to the ground on each side and the back. The linen curtain was made of ten panels of the same size that were then connected to form one unit but the goat hair curtain was made of eleven panels of the same size. This left one panel that would have fallen to the front of the tabernacle. The total height of the tabernacle is roughly fifteen feet and this one panel would have draped down about six of those feet, however, the instructions are that this piece is to be doubled over toward the front or face of the tabernacle. There is some disagreement over the purpose of this doubling over although one of the prevalent theories is that it would serve as some type of awning.

Above the curtain made with goat hair there are two additional coverings that are very briefly mentioned in verse 14. There are a few very significant distinctions made here between the first two layers and the final layers. These layers are obviously still of significance to the overall construction but are separated from the first two layers firstly in what they are called. While both the linen and goat hair layers are identified specifically as curtains, these are identified only as coverings. Secondly, it should be of significance to note that there are no measurements given to us regarding these two coverings. As we have mentioned previously in our dealing with the instructions of God regarding the tabernacle there are some things which are revealed to us today and there are some things that are not, but because Moses would have been given the instructions verbally and visually there are things that he would have been privy too but we are not, such as the overall measurements of these layers, how they would be connected together, how many panels there would be, etc.

A third difference is the material of construction. The first two panels were made of fabric, the first, as we discussed last week of fine linen. The second was made of goat hair which would have been woven into a type of yarn and then woven into fabric. This technique was still in use in recent years by the Bedouin people of the same region. The last two curtains, however, were made of animal skins, the first of ram skins, the second, depending upon the translation would be listed as either porpoise, sea-cow, or possibly even badger skins. The simple fact that they were made of animal skins may account for the fact that there are no specific panel dimensions given and that it was to be understood that, as the outer two layers of protection, they would need to be large enough to protect the structure and their overall size was what matters.

The Price Paid

Last week as we began this in-depth look at the tabernacle itself I talked about how there are those who would argue that the significance of the of the tabernacle lay only in the overall construction and purpose. There is no question that there is an overall significance to the tabernacle in that it is to be the dwelling place of God, that it, in and of itself is a type and shadow pointing us towards Christ, but if we dismiss the remainder of what we see in the text, especially when there is additional proof or evidence from scripture, then we miss so much of the beauty that God would have us to see in His eternal plan.

One of the ideas that has taken root in some portions of Christianity is that God is reacting to the decisions that we make as if He were caught off-guard. The work of Christ is seen, not as something that was planned before the very foundation of the world, but as something that is a secondary plan in response to this decision made in the garden by Adam and Eve and God now had to scramble around and figure out how to fix things. In studying scripture, all of scripture, properly, we see that this idea of God reacting is ludicrous. Our understanding of the eternal plan is deepened, as is our faith and our certainty of the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work. We get a fuller and more robust picture that in turn strengthens our faith and solidifies our hope.

In our text for this morning God very specifically calls out the type of material that is to be used in the fabrication of the curtain of the tent. You may recall last week that we discussed that God makes a clear distinction between the tabernacle, closing out Exodus 26:6 with the words ““You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and you shall join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit.” This means that the tabernacle proper is completed. In verse 7, instead of the word tabernacle, or dwelling place, we find the common word that is used for tent. There are those who can and do make the argument that these words are simply interchangeable and that the different word means nothing but this again, to me slights God’s word. If it were simply that we were translating the same original word into different English versions, then it certainly could be the case, but the original language is different, meaning that even though these may be part of the same structure, there is a fundamental difference and that we should approach each defined piece seperately.

The material that God chose to make the curtain of the tent is, as mentioned earlier, a material that has recently been and quite possibly still is, in use in that are of the world. Goat hair would have been a plentiful resource and when it was shorn off of the goat it was taken and spun into a type of wool. Here again, the tendency can be to simply dismiss the calling out of the use of goat hair as a common place material that would have been readily available and carries no significance, but I then ask, why bother to mention it specifically at all. If the instructions to Moses are not of significance why dedicate scripture to it at all.

It is interesting to note that when one looks at the overall structure of the sacrificial system in which the Israelites used scripture repeatedly talks about goats…in the form of sacrifices for the sins of the people. As we weed through the law of God we see no less than eleven different situations where goats are spelled out as the sacrifice for sin:

The Feasts of Israel

The most important moments in the life of Israel are celebrated by feasts and on the occasion of those feasts there are sacrifices to be made. The new year begins with the Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread. As we are well acquainted this feast celebrates the deliverance of the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt and to this very day is celebrated with an elaborate meal and specific set of instructions known as a Seder. In Numbers 28:17–22 we read “‘And on the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. ‘On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. ‘And you shall bring near an offering by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh: two bulls from the herd and one ram and seven male lambs one year old; they shall be for you without blemish. ‘Now as for their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. ‘A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs; and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you.”

Then of course there is the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost) in which Leviticus 23:15–19 contains the following instructions “‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. ‘You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall bring a new grain offering near to Yahweh. ‘You shall bring in from your places of habitation two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to Yahweh. ‘Along with the bread you shall bring near seven one year old male lambs without blemish and a bull from the herd and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh. ‘You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.”

Next comes the Feasts of Trumpets as detailed in Numbers 29:1–5 “‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets. ‘And you shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to Yahweh: one bull from the herd, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without blemish; also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs. ‘And offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you,”

Then of course the greatest of the feasts, the Day of Atonement, in which not one but two goats are used. This is detailed out for us in Leviticus 16 and specifically regarding the goats we look at Leviticus 16:6–11 ““Then Aaron shall bring near the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. “And he shall take the two goats and present them before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. “And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh and the other lot for the scapegoat. “Then Aaron shall bring near the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell, and he shall offer it as a sin offering. “But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement upon it, to send it out into the wilderness as the scapegoat. “Then Aaron shall bring near the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.”

The final feast of the year is the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Ingathering. This feasts is detailed out in Numbers chapter 29. This feast is a little different than the others. During this feast the sacrifice is repeated, daily. Numbers 29:12–19 “‘Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall celebrate a feast to Yahweh for seven days. ‘And you shall bring near a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to Yahweh: thirteen bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without blemish; and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘Then on the second day: twelve bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and their drink offerings.” This is repeatedly daily through the eighth day of the feasts.

Other Sin Sacrifices

In addition to these there are at least six other occasions when a goat is to be sacrificed for the sins of the people:

When a ruler sins - Leviticus 4:23 “or if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a male without blemish.”

When the common people sin - Leviticus 4:27–28 “‘Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, or if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.”

During the consecration of the priests, for their sins - Leviticus 9:2–3 “and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a calf, a bull, for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and bring them near before Yahweh. “Then to the sons of Israel you shall speak, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without blemish, for a burnt offering,”

During the dedication of the altar of princes - Numbers 7:11–16 “Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Let them bring their offering near, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.” Now the one who brought his offering near on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; and his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering;”

When one commited a sin of ignorance - Numbers 15:24–27 “then it will be, if it is done unintentionally, hidden from the sight of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to Yahweh, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the legal judgment, and one male goat for a sin offering. ‘Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be pardoned; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error. ‘So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be pardoned, with the sojourner who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error. ‘Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring near a one year old female goat for a sin offering.”

Finally, on the first day of each month - Numbers 28:11–15 “‘Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall bring near a burnt offering to Yahweh: two bulls from the herd and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish; and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for the one ram; and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb, for a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. ‘And their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull and a third of a hin for the ram and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. ‘And one male goat for a sin offering to Yahweh; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.”

Outside of the sacrificial system the use of goats in scripture is predominately linked to evil, Rebekah used goat hair to fool Issac, Joseph’s brothers used goat blood to deceive their father, Michal used goat hair to deceive Saul and in what should not be considered the least of these, although it will be the last mentioned, Matthew 25:31–34 ““But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

The Great Sin-Offering

Do you see? Do you see now that there is more to this mention of goat’s hair than simply a common material in great supply. Truly, as the Israelites stood and looked at the tabernacle they would not get the greater significance, but in seeing the goat hair fabric doubled over at the entrance to the Tabernacle, would they not be reminded that entry came at a cost. Can we not now, looking back at the goat hair curtain, at the sacrifices that were required, points forward to the greatest and final sacrifice, the one of Christ on Calvary’s cross? In the time of ancient Israel, they had to continually sacrifice so that their sins could be forgiven for us we can only look to Christ, the one true offering, the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the World for the sins of His people.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:20–21 “So then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as God is pleading through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Isaiah told spoke God’s word to the people in Isaiah 53:10 “But Yahweh was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If You would place His soul as a guilt offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand.” and in Isaiah 53:12 the fulfillment was recorded “Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many, And He will divide the spoil with the strong; Because He poured out His soul to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

I wonder, did you note the phrase there “He poured out His soul to death”? Let the words of Leviticus 4:25 call it to your attention: “‘Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.” This pouring out of the blood is only mentioned at the sin-offering, other times this blood was sprinkled. Christ’s blood was poured out at Calvary’s cross, the one, the true, and the final offering of sin for all those who will believe. A few weeks ago we talked about Jesus asking Martha the question, do you believe this? and that same questions stands before us today as we look from the tabernacle to the cross and see that the goat hair curtain points us toward the greatest work in all of human history, the only work that can reconcile men to God.

The Final Coverings

The last thing that scripture teaches us regarding the covering of the tabernacle is simply that there were two additional coverings, the ram skins that were dyed red and the sea-cow or badger skins that formed the outer service. It is necessary that we briefly mention each of these as they are contained within the text of Holy Scripture and as such are still profitable. AW Pink is helpful in this regard as he remarks “In a word, these external Coverings, on the outside of the goats’ hair Curtains, give us a twofold view of Christ enduring the judgment due the sins of His people: they show how He then appeared to the eye of God and to the eyes of men.”

Arthur Walkington Pink, Gleanings in Exodus (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), 224.

The first covering is made of ram skins. We see the ram used in the consecration of the priests in which they were set aside and devoted unto the service of God. We also see the ram as taking the place of Issac when his father Abraham, in obedience and devotion to God, bound him to the altar. Finally, the ram, as the head of the flock, represents Christ as the head of His people, the red dye speaking to the obedience of Christ unto death on the cross in perfect devotion to the Father.

While the ram skins represented “how {Christ} then appeared to the eye of God” the final covering, represents how Christ was seen in the “eyes of men”. The claims of Christ, that He was Messiah, were not welcomed by the majority because He did not fit their image of what the Messiah would look like. He was born to a lowly carpenter in a barn, He did not take up arms to fit for the physical freedom of the people as they expected. Isaiah taught us in Isaiah 52:14 “Just as many were appalled at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.” and in Isaiah 53:4 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.” They saw Him on the cross, and they mocked, Pink writes:

Gleanings in Exodus 7. Their Purpose

They deemed Him utterly helpless, unable to come down from the cross. Thus the rough and unsightly badgers’ skins over all, spoke of the shame and humiliation of our precious Savior before men.

Conclusion

As we come to the conclusion of this message, consider the profound truths we’ve uncovered today about God’s dwelling among His people, His holiness, and the great cost of reconciliation through Christ. The tabernacle, with its coverings and design, pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice—Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whose blood was poured out for the sins of His people. Every layer, every material, every instruction was a shadow of His work on our behalf.

Psalm 15:1 asks, “O Yahweh, who may sojourn in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?” And the answer reminds us that only the righteous, the blameless, and the perfect may enter God’s presence. By this standard, none of us qualify. But the beauty of the gospel shines here: Christ has fulfilled that standard for us. He is our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption.

The coverings of the tabernacle, from the linen curtains to the goat hair, the ram skins dyed red, and the outermost layer, all symbolize aspects of Christ’s work. His holiness, His sacrifice, His devotion to the Father, and how He appeared to humanity—misunderstood, rejected, and yet victorious.

So now I leave you with this thought-provoking question: What is at the center of your life? Is it Christ, the one who made a way for you to dwell with God, or is it something else that pales in comparison?

If it is not Christ, what keeps you from fully surrendering to Him today? Reflect on His sacrifice and the immense love He has shown, and consider what response He deserves from you. Let us not delay but come humbly to the cross, laying our lives at His feet, for He alone is worthy.