Our Tabernacle

Exodus 26:30-35 - And you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it which has been shown you on the mountain.  "And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; in skilled work shall it be made, with cherubim;  and you shall hang it upon four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, upon four bases of silver.  And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in thither within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy.  You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.  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.

Moses was given the directions for building the tabernacle…the holy house of God. Fine materials of linen…of royal colors…would be used to make great curtains that had the form of a cherubim skillfully worked into the cloth.  The hard sturdy wood of the acacia tree would be used to make poles. Gold and silver and bronze would be used to overlay the wood…..and make study bases for the poles to sit in. It would be a grand tent…a temporary place for God to live….a temporary place for the people to place  to place the ark of the covenant he had them build…to house his commandments. The whole tent would be covered in the finest animal skins…to make it waterproof…to protect the holy things inside.

The tabernacle would have 3 parts….an outer court where anyone could come to worship and pray…an inner room sanctified only for priests…where the bread of God’s presence…his lampstand…and the container of incense stayed ….and the most inner room of the tent of God would be sanctified to hold the ark…containing the stone tablets of God’s covenant with the people of Israel.  A simple veil separated the two inner rooms… hid the presence of God from the priests…except for the one chosen each year to offer an atonement sacrifice once a year for all the people.

The temporary house of God they built in the desert… is much like our temporary body God gave us to reside in while we walk the Earth. It’s rough exterior….the fine animal skins …they were just coverings to protect the rooms inside. The part inside is what mattered most….for the heart of the tent kept the most important part….the ark. Our hearts are where God lives…our exterior shell just protects his holy creation from the world

And this tent…you approached it from the outside…just like we approach God.  You had to enter it…and move through its inner room to get to his presence….you had to be chosen to be the one to offer that yearly sacrifice…so God could wash the hearts of the people clean each year. God stills works that way with us….we approach him from the outside-in…but he changes our hearts from the inside-out.  I love what Reverend John Schultz said in one of the commentaries I read, “The tabernacle speaks of God’s holiness which separates him from man, and his love that draws man to himself.”

Oh father…I thank you that you gave Moses the directions to build the first house that you lived in. I sit here and imagine that it was a grand place…built out of what the people had in their possession.  You took all that they had and showed them how to build a tent worthy of your presence….a temporary place for you to reside in their midst. I thank you that you now reside in my heart…the holy of holies that you created inside me….a place for me to write your covenant straight on my heart.  Help me father to keep it holy and worthy of you…help me father not to worry about how the outside looks….but concentrate more on the beauty you placed within. Amen.