The Pattern of the Tabernacle

Introduction

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the house they live in. Are they rich or poor? Organized or disorganized? Utilitarian, minimalist, or artsy? Do they have a family or do they live alone? What are their interests? Priorities?

At this point in the book of Exodus, the revelation God is about to give Moses centers around the tabernacle, the special temple-tent God had Israel build according to the pattern he showed Moses on the mountain. This was to be God’s house; a place for him to dwell among his people. In Exodus 25 we begin our look at the tabernacle and see what it can teach us about God himself, as well as how his plan of salvation leapt forward when this tent was built.

PRAY

Our text is Ex 25 & 37_ (p. in the pew Bible). Turn there now.

Background/Review

· At the end of ch. 24 (:18), the covenant has been confirmed and Moses just went up the mountain for 40 days and nights. The next section is the revelation God gave Moses while he was up there.

· The section we are in takes us all the way to the end of ch. 31 when Moses comes down again (Golden calf incident).

o This section is mostly about the tabernacle.

o Ch. 32-34 is taken up with the calf and the fallout.

· Only in ch. 35 does Moses deliver these mountain words (25—31) and the tab is finally built.

· A tabernacle & golden calf sandwich. 25—31, 32—34, 35—40.

Main Points

· The tabernacle itself:

o Its materials

§ Free will offering (not compulsory) (25:2)

§ Precious metals, fabrics, skins, hardwood, oil, spices, gem stones. (25:3-7)

o Its purpose

§ To be a sanctuary (miqdash) – a holy place (25:8a)

§ “That I may dwell in their midst” (25:8b)

o Its Pattern

§ Divinely given on Mt. Sinai (25:9).

§ Moses will be shown (told) the blueprint. (25:9)

§ It needed to be exact. God will teach his people with the details of its construction.

§ Details given from the inside outward.

§ In the most holy place:

· An ark with rings and poles to carry it without touching it. It carries the testimony (covenant document) that Moses received on Sinai (25:10-16). Bezalel made all these things exactly as prescribed (ch. 37ff).

· On top of the ark is the mercy seat – a symbol of God’s throne with two cherubim covering it with their wings. God will speak with them from this place. (25:17-22).

§ In the holy place:

· A table for the bread of the presence (Lev 24:5-6: 12 loaves). A constant reminder and thanksgiving that God is the source of their bread (Ex 25:23-29).

· A menorah: 7 lamps in one, divided into 6 branches and one stem. To provide light and symbolize his presence in smoke and fire, just as they had seen at the Red Sea and the mountain (25:30-40).

o Its message to Israel?

§ Value of materials increases as you move in – God is more precious to Israel than his decadent throne room. They gave the materials to create the tabernacle, demonstrating right priorities and true worship – God is worth more to me than my gold or gem stones.

§ Built of long-lasting materials, showing God’s long-term commitment to the people – he is not going to be fickle or abandon them. Be convinced that God is faithful and will keep all his promises. He is as true as he is eternal. If he is with you, he will not leave you.

§ A place of washing and atonement. Know that you can’t simply walk into the king’s throne room. You are sinners, and you may only enter by means of a substitute.

§ A place to fellowship with God in his presence. Many of the sacrifices of the sacrificial system are about more than dealing with sin and guilt – they speak of fellowship, a desire to thank God, eat a meal in his presence, and provide food for those whose only inheritance is to serve him – an act of love which provided for the priests and the poor.

§ A visible sign of God’s continued presence in their midst. If you want to know if God is with you, go check if his dwelling place is among you. Training wheels for their faith when panic, fear, or temptation strikes.

§ The first limitedreturn to the garden in the OT. Adam and Eve had unhindered access and fellowship, but Israel will know God through a series of curtains, walls, sacrifices, washings, and mediator-priests. Still, this is a major shift in the OT – the first time since Eden God will dwell among his people.

§ In summary it teaches who God is, and demonstrates one more step in his plan to restore humanity to himself.

· How it points us back:

o The tabernacle reminded Israel of Eden.

§ Entry from the east, so as you move west you enter God’s presence.

§ The holy place was guarded by a curtain with cherubim (next Sunday)

§ God’s presence inaccessible to his people – except some for certain reasons.

§ Man’s sin is covered with the death of an animal.

§ If the tab reminds Israel of Eden, it is a symbol of God’s intention to once again walk among his people and reverse the curse.

o The tabernacle reminded them of the covenant made at Mt. Sinai.

§ Tab is Sinai turned flat.

§ The testimony is at the very top, where Moses alone went. The high priest alone may enter the most holy place.

§ There is thick darkness in the most holy place, just like the top of Sinai.

§ God will command his people from the most holy place, like he did from Sinai.

§ The holy place is accessible to the priests who are invited due to their duties, just like Moses took a small group incl. Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and Joshua part way up the mountain.

§ The tabernacle court was accessible by a larger number of people, but not everyone could simply come and go. Just as the 70 elders ate and drank with God at the foot of the mountain.

§ The outer court kept most of the people out most of the time, just as God made sure Israel built a fence around Sinai lest anyone touch the holy mountain and die.

§ So, entering the tabernacle symbolized both ascending Mt Sinai and reentering Eden – a constant reminder of where Israel came from and where they’re going.

o This is the big story of the Bible – how can God and man dwell together? The tab is a glorious first step, but it also teaches that there is a long way yet to go. Atonement and access, yes. But also fences, limited access, and always the threat of death for the unholy. So the tabernacle is a huge step forward, but also declares that God isn’t finished his plan of salvation.

· How it points us forward:

o The heavenly tabernacle where atonement is needed and God’s full presence is offered. Accomplished in Christ.

o Heb 8:5 “They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

§ The tabernacle was always an instructional tool, not the ultimate reality.

o Heb 8:6-7 “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.”

o (Christ the new Moses when he enters the most holy place.)

o It is not only the guilt offering of the sacrificial system that Christ fulfills. The tab is a major inflection point in the big story of the Bible: God restoring sinful humans to the fellowship we had with him in the garden. It is this mission above all that the tabernacle taught and Christ accomplished.

· Call to action:

o Let’s understand that we can learn the same things Israel learned from the tabernacle. The message is not any different, except that what the tabernacle pictured and promised, Christ, has now come.

o If we marvel at what the tabernacle was teaching Israel, its beauty and permanence, let’s not miss what it was a shadow of: full and final restoration of the lost Eden by the blood of Christ.

o This is the goal of freedom. The very first slavery lifestyle was experienced by Adam and Eve: disobedience, nakedness and shame, isolation from our creator, and his righteous curse on us. Freedom will be the reversal of these things.

o The exodus stopped the economic, political, and social slavery, but not the spiritual slavery.

o This is what we have in Christ.

o Heb 9:23-26 “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.”

o The tabernacle was amazing, patterning lesson for Israel and reminding them of Eden and Sinai, but Jesus is better – the fulfillment of everything the tabernacle only patterned.