The Tent of Meeting

The Barriers Between Us and the Lord

Exodus 27:1–21 NIV

“Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar. Make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. The poles are to be inserted into the rings so they will be on two sides of the altar when it is carried. Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain. “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. “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.

Since the fall, the Lord has been intentionally pursuing His people. God has called His people out of slavery so that they might be in His presence. What the Lord has been doing physically in Exodus is a picture of what He has been desiring to do spiritually since the fall.

Today as we look at the outer court, we see, in very physical representation, the spiritual separation between God and man. God’s holiness clashing with man’s sinfulness.

The altar was the place where sacrifice would be made to cover the iniquity of man. The courtyard where all could enter, but always be at a distance from the Lord.

Coming into the Presence

Exodus 27:20–21 NIV

“Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.

But let us not lose sight of what the Lord was constructing for His people, a tent of meeting. A place where once again the people of God could sit face to face and converse with the Lord.

Moses would sit with the Lord in such intimate closeness, that the shekinah glory of the Lord would permeate the pours of his face and cause his face to glow for a period of time even after he left the tent of meeting.

Jesus offers us once again intimate fellowship with the Lord

Hebrews 10:19–22 NIV

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

We have been given unbridled access to the Father like none in history have ever experienced before. We are the living tabernacle, the walking tent of meeting. There are no more barriers standing between us and the Lord.

How will we respond to this most precious of gift? Will we be like the Israelites and relegate our access to the Lord to festivals and those moments where I find myself in need? Or will we sit with the Lord often, communicating without ceasing, shining His light wherever we go?