The Tabernacle

Intro:

I remember when I was in the 6th or 7th grade I broke my foot messing around with some of my friends. (now that’s really beside the point) But because the way the bone in my foot broke I had to go to physical therapy multiple times a week for a little over two months.

And weirdly enough, the detail from those appointments that still sticks out the most in my mind is the TV that was in the waiting room. — and how it was always on the same TV Channel… HGTV. And if you aren’t familiar with HGTV, it stands for Home & Garden Television, and they have all the shows like the property brothers, house hunters, but my favorite of course was a show called restoring Galveston. — — The show is about a husband and wife who find these really old houses in Galveston that are in really bad shape and they work to restore them to their former glory. — and in many cases while they aren’t building these houses completely from scratch, the houses are in such bad condition that they might as well be starting over, they need to be very careful with all of their detailed measurements as they rebuild walls, replace roofs or floors or whatever the project needs.

I really enjoy watching this show. I love Galveston and it’s rich history. It would be a dream of mine to live in any of these houses. — But the scripture we’re going to be looking at today is going to sort of be the Old Testament version of HGTV.

So far in Exodus we have seen the people of Israel’s incredible escape from slavery in Egypt. Then we come to mount Sinai and God gives the people of Israel the law that instructs them how they should live their lives. — But this is where it might feel a little bit like it turns into HGTV… Exodus 25:8-9 says this

Exodus 25:8–9 NIV

“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

So the tabernacle is this physical place where God is going to dwell and be with His people. — This may sound familiar to you because this is not the first time in the Old Testament when we see God’s desire to be with His people. We also see God with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden… And it’s wonderful. But then Adam and Eve rebel against God. And then Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden.

Because God is ABSOLUTELY holy by nature that means that he is completely pure and set apart from anything that is impure. And therefore what is impure cannot be in the presence of the most pure God. So the tabernacle is the next avenue God uses to dwell among his people.

The Tabernacle

So lets talk about the tabernacle. we have established that the tabernacle is this place where God dwells among his people on Earth. But we also know that whatever is impure can not directly be in the presence of God. So God designs the tabernacle with this in mind. When we look back to Exodus 25:8-9 we see that the tabernacle is this holy tent sanctuary where God dwells, but while that might seem like a pretty straight forward concept but roughly a quarter of the entire book of Exodus is about the tabernacle. So lets really look into it, shall we? Exodus 26:30-37 says this:

Exodus 26:30–37 NIV

“Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain. “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Put the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law in the Most Holy Place. Place the table outside the curtain on the north side of the tabernacle and put the lampstand opposite it on the south side. “For the entrance to the tent make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. Make gold hooks for this curtain and five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. And cast five bronze bases for them.

Leading up to this in chapter 26 there is even more instruction regarding this sanctuary. We’d be here for hours if we were to break it all down. But if you look at verses 33-34 it mentions a separation from the holy place to the most holy place. — The entire tent was a holy place but the inner most chamber of the tent was the dwelling place of God and that is why it was considered the most holy place.

Outside of the sanctuary tent was the courtyard which is still part of the tabernacle which is described in Exodus 27:9-19 as

Exodus 27:9–19 NIV

“Make a courtyard for the tabernacle. The south side shall be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains of finely twisted linen, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. The north side shall also be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. “The west end of the courtyard shall be fifty cubits wide and have curtains, with ten posts and ten bases. On the east end, toward the sunrise, the courtyard shall also be fifty cubits wide. Curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, and curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on the other side, with three posts and three bases. “For the entrance to the courtyard, provide a curtain twenty cubits long, of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer—with four posts and four bases. All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands and hooks, and bronze bases. The courtyard shall be a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide, with curtains of finely twisted linen five cubits high, and with bronze bases. All the other articles used in the service of the tabernacle, whatever their function, including all the tent pegs for it and those for the courtyard, are to be of bronze.

So now we have this more complete view of the tabernacle space. We have this outer courtyard which was open for all the Israelites so that they could make sacrifices at the altar, then only priests were allowed to enter the sanctuary holy place, but only the high priest could enter the inner most holy place and only once a year on the day of atonement.

So we see this extraordinarily detailed blueprint for the dwelling place of the Lord. — — And at first glance this is not super exciting. Reading through construction plans might not feel as riveting as God parting the Red Sea to give safe passage to the Israelites but the tabernacle represents the climax of Exodus! In Exodus 29:44-46 the Lord tells Moses:

Exodus 29:44–46 NIV

“So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

God created humanity not by mistake — but purposefully in his own image. God created humans to be in relationship with Him. But in the garden, Adam and Eve rebelled against his love and they could no longer exist in his direct presence because of their brokenness. — But in spite of Israel’s rejection of God, their disobedience, their brokenness — God still desires to be in relationship with his people.

As I was going through the Bible Recap readings this week, this section reminded me of my time watching HGTV in the waiting room of physical therapy. and of course I felt the urge to go watch some HGTV — I was watching this one episode where at the end a couple was moving into their new beach house, they said that they “found their little slice of heaven on earth.” — And that’s what the tabernacle represents, “a little slice of heaven on earth,” Where God dwells among his people!

Could you imagine what it would be like to pull aside the curtain in the tabernacle and enter the space of the most holy? Because in the days of Exodus only the high priest who was the most righteous was allowed to enter that space. — But Jesus— Who was better than any offering we could make, better than any priest— opens the curtain to the inner most chamber for us. For anyone who believes in Jesus has been washed clean by the blood of the Messiah, their impurities have been washed away — and they have been made righteous to God, AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS WITHIN THEM!

Friends, … if you want to experience “that slice of heaven on earth”, look to Jesus. The Lord, our God wants to be in relationship with each and everyone of you.… He’s waiting!

Let’s pray!