God's Tabernacle (Part 2)

INTRODUCTION

ILLUSTRATION: The Outside of our God-Ordained Home

When Candi and I finally settled on God’s call for us to step out and plant City Light, one of the first things we did was put our old house that was located in the county on the market. We loved that house but we felt God calling us not just to plant a church in the heart of Vicksburg but to plant our very lives there.

So we started shopping for a house in the city.

During our shopping, we were walking out of a house that we were viewing that was nice but wasn’t quite what we wanted and as we were walking out, Candi looked across the street at this great looking home that was not for sale and without having ever looked inside of the home turned to me and said “I really wished that house was for sale. I think it would work great for everything we are trying to do.”

I agreed with her but of course it wasn’t for sale. So we did a little more shopping and eventually settled on another house and placed an offer that was accepted.

Here’s where the story gets crazy. The house that we were preparing to close on fell through. And so we had to walk away from the closing table.

So, that very night, I was back online trying to see what other houses had come available in the past few weeks since we had stopped shopping and guess what house I see? That’s right! the house Candi saw and said “I wish that house was for sale.”

So, I sent an email to the buyer’s address because the listing had no realtor’s details on it and the buyer responded the next day and said “To be honest, we weren’t even ready to sale yet. I was just online fooling around with the website and you just happened to be browsing the site when I was doing that, but if you guys would like to take a look, I would be more than happy to move our schedule up.

Well we did want to look, so we went and looked and they moved their schedule up a little bit and we moved our schedule back a little bit and the rest is history! God placed us exactly where we were supposed to be.

But here’s the most important of that story for us this morning. Candi knew that house was an ideal house for us without even being able to look on the inside.

You see sometimes, we can get an indication that a place is special just by looking at the outside.

On last week, we took a tour of the inside of tabernacle. The ancient tent that was constructed by Israel from a blueprint designed by God himself. This week we want to take a deeper look at what is going on on the outside and what is God using the tabernacle to say to us and reveal to us.

The Tabernacle Is A Reminder That God Desires To Dwell With Us

But very few people had the privilege of actually going inside. Only the priests were allowed inside the Holy Place and only the High Priest was allowed in the Most Holy place. It was a sacred place because God came and made his dwelling there.

The tabernacle was a demonstration of God’s desire to dwell with His people. A desire that was demonstrated from the very beginning of Creation.

Genesis 3:8 ESV

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

From the very beginning God has sought to be present with His people in Holy Communion and Fellowship.

And from the very beginning God’s people have had to backpedal due to their sin.

The Tabernacle was yet again another expression of God’s desire to be with us, but it also communicated that God’s intent to dwell with us had to be on HIS TERMS

The Tabernacle Design

We first see that from the construction:

Exodus 26 tells us that the covering of the tent was beautifully adorned with multilayered, multicolored, multifabric custom curtains.

Exodus 26:1–6 ESV

1 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. 3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole.

This was the first layer: 10 Linen curtains 42 feet long and 6 feet wide. Sewn together into two sets of 5 and connected by fifty golden claps. These curtains served as the roof and the sides of the tabernacle.

Verses 7-14 highlight more layer of curtains. The second layer made with goat hair which it was basically a strong wool curtain. This layer contained eleven curtains in all (versus the 10 in the first layer), they were 44 feet long (versus 42 feet long in the first layer of curtains), and 6 feet wide (which means they were little wider because of the extra curtain)

On top of that layer was two more layers and both of those layers were made of some form of leather…The first was a leather from ram skins and the second was a leather made from the hide a what seems to be marine mammals.

This layers ensured proper weather proofing of the tabernacle. Protecting this sacred space from the elements.

Verses 15-29 in Chapter 26 describe the framing of the facility: Almost fifty Acacia Wood Pillars, each 15 feet tall, each about 2 and 1/4 feet wide, each overlaid with gold, and each supported by two silver bases.

You had twenty of these pillars on the south end, twenty of these pillars on the north end, and eight of these pillars on the west end which was the far end, the back side of the tabernacle. You also had 15 acacia wood crossbars that were overlaid in gold and were used to interlock all of the pillars and to hang the curtains off of.

Finally, in verses 31-37. we get two more elements: The curtain separating the Holy place from the Most Holy Place and the screen for the entrance of the tent on the East side.

Exodus 26:31–37 ESV

31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 35 And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side. 36 “You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. 37 And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.

So, here we have the final setup for the inside. This massive imposing curtain is setup between the Most Holy place where the ark of the covenant is placed and the mercy seat covering is placed on top and the Holy place where the table of showbread is placed on the north end and the lampstand is placed on the south end.

The Tabernacle’s Entrance

And then we have this entrance screen…again comprised of these different fabrics and colors; hanging off of five wooden pillars that have been overlaid in gold.

As you can imagine, the tabernacle was a very large and imposing structure that was intended to communicate this major truth: there is only one way into God. The south, north, and west end were intentionally closed from traffic. You could not get in or out through those sides. Only through the east end where you passed the altar table to make a sacrifice, you went through the Holy Place, and then to the Most Holy where atonement was made for Israel one day out of the year.

Again, God desired to dwell with Israel, to tabernacle with us, but it had to be according to his terms. And the terms were established primarily due to our sins.

Despite the provision made, our sin limited our exposure.

Some of you feel that today. In fact, I’m sure all of you have felt that or at least wondered that in your life. Can I ever experience God with the sin that is in my life? Will he ever draw near to me with the level of messiness, brokenness, and rebellion that my life is shaped by? Can I ever really know real relationship with God with all the junk that resides in me?

Has anybody ever felt that way? Does God do anything about this or does He just leave us in this state. Let’s keep going to find out.

The Tabernacle and the Cherubim

There is one very important element that keeps showing up in the construction of the tabernacle that you may miss if you’re not paying attention. You see it chapter 26, verse 1:

Exodus 26:1 ESV

1 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.

You see it again in chapter 26, verse 31:

Exodus 26:31 ESV

31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

You even see in chapter 25 as God lays out blueprint for how to construct the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat:

Exodus 25:18–20 ESV

18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.

Throughout the tabernacle, the Lord has placed the cherubim. What is the significance of that?

In the cherubim we are reminded of what once was and what actually is and can be.

First...

The Tabernacle offers us a taste of what we’ve missed (EDEN)

In the book of Genesis, part of the curse from the fall of Adam and Eve is they are banished from Eden. The place where God dwelled and walked amongst them in the cool of the day.

Genesis 3:22–24 ESV

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

The cherubim placed throughout the tabernacle would have served as a reminder of where sin had taken them. However, it should also serve as reminder of where sin has taken us! AWAY FROM GOD, NO LONGER APPROACHABLE LIKE EDEN.

Many theologians have pointed out the parallels between the tabernacle and the garden of eden because the tabernacle serves as the slow recovery back to what we have lost. Theologian James Hamilton points out:

There were seven spoken acts of creation in both Eden and the construction of the tabernacle.

Eden and the Tabernacle were both places where God would dwell amongst his people.

The Eden and Tabernacle stories were both stories that ended with a emphasis on Sabbath rest

The Eden and Tabernacle stories both had falls in them where people try to substitute creation for God. Eden remember God says and Tabernacle we will later read of a Golden Calf.

Both accounts tell us about the cherubim guarding the presence of God into the east entrance.

But Hamilton rightly points out here that in Eden the cherubim only served as a mark of banishment but now the cherubim are welcoming back the people into the presence of God through the blood of sacrifice that they bring to sprinkle on the mercy seat. The cherubim show us that God is doing something to bring us back to himself...which leads me to a second point about the cherubims.

The cherubims remind us what we we’ve missed in Eden and they also point us to what we’ve longed for in Heaven...

The Tabernacle offers us a taste of what we’ve longed for (HEAVEN)

The prophet Ezekiel describes a vision in Ezekiel chapter 1 that he has where cherubims are present and guarding the throne of God.

The apostle John repeats this sight in his own vision in Revelation. John describes the features and duties of these creatures in chapter 4 verse 8:

Revelation 4:8 ESV

8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

With the tabernacle adorned with these divine beings etched and embroidered into the curtains on the exterior and interior and on the ark, We are getting a glimpse into Heaven. In fact, we read in Hebrews 8 that the tabernacle serves as a shadow and copy of that which is in the Heavens.

The cherubim in the tabernacle is a sign to us that though our sin pushed us out of Eden but God in his relentless love for us keeps pursuing us and in pursuing us has made provision to come down from Heaven and dwell amongst us.

The cherubim are the images that tie Eden and Heaven to the tabernacle. What we lost versus what God is restoring back. The ability to dwell with HIM!

One last thing on the exterior that I want us to look at...

Exodus 27:1–8 ESV

1 “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. 2 And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. 6 And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7 And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8 You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

On the outside of this exquisitely constructed tent was a courtyard and an altar. The altar was 7 1/2 feet long, 7 1/2 feet wide, and about 4 1/2 feet high. This altar and all of its utensils were bronze, not to be confused with the gold outside of the temple. The bronze was to serve as a reminder that God was not present in his heightened way outside of the tent as he was inside the tent. And the poles were made with acacia wood and overlaid with bronze and like all the other furniture with poles. They were used to carry the altar wherever Israel went.

In other words, Israel just couldn’t bring the ark with them when they traveled and they couldn’t just bring the tabernacle where they traveled because they needed a SACRIFICE.

At this altar animals were offered, the blood of bulls and goats. And just like the ark and the table of showbread, this altar was REQUIRED because entrance into the presence of God required a SACRIFICE!

God’s desire was to move the people back to EDEN…to bring HEAVEN Down…to dwell with them in the cool of the day…but our entrance depended on shedding of blood...

Hebrews 9:22 ESV

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

God gave Moses the law to reveal himself to his people to us but the law couldn’t bring us to God because the law couldn’t stop us from sinning.

That distance you sometimes feel…that hopelessness you sometimes feel…that lack of fellowship you sometimes feel…it is the reality of sin in your life and my life.

We look and behold a HOLY and PERFECT God and we say to ourselves how can we draw near when we are far from where He is.

But the answer comes not in the tabernacle. As spectacular as the tabernacle was, it was intended to only serve as a foreshadow of something greater to come!

John 1:14 ESV

14 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.

Pay attention to that word DWELT in verse 14…It comes from the same word in the Greek that we use to establish the word TABERNACLE!

Christ came and TABERNACLED AMONG US. He himself became the TABERNACLE but not only the TABERNACLE, HE BECAME THE PRIEST, but NOT ONLY THE PRIEST, HE BECAME THE SACRIFICE...

Hebrews 9:11–14 ESV

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 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, 14 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.

Hebrews 9:23–28 ESV

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

We all looked at the tabernacle...Like the house…we now live in…we had no access to...

...He makes us TABERNACLES....

CONCLUSION