The Tabernacle

We are going to briefly look at the Tabernacle of Moses, which was constructed during Israel’s time in the wilderness after leaving Egypt (heading for ‘The Promised Land’) in the book of Exodus.

During their travels through the wilderness, Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses went up onto the mountain to meet with God.

Exodus 24:15-18

:15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.

:16 Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

:17 The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.

:18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

For 40 days and nights Moses was on the mountain, in the cloud - the glory and Presence of God - receiving the Law and the detailed instructions for the Tabernacle.

God gave him instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle, which was to be the centre of Israel’s worship. These included very specific instructions about worship, the Priesthood and the sacrificial system that Israel was to follow.

This was not just to be an ordinary Tabernacle or man’s idea of worship. This earthly Tabernacle was designed by God Himself to follow the pattern of the true Tabernacle in the heavenlies.

Speaking of how the earthly Tabernacle was a type and shadow of the true one in heaven, the writer of Hebrews says the following:

Hebrews 8:1-5

:1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

:2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

:3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

:4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

:5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

Hebrews 9:23

:23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

The earthly tabernacle was a ‘copy and shadow of the heavenly things’. Because of this, Moses was given very specific instructions to build is exactly according to the plan given to him on Mount Sinai.

The book of Revelation speaks more of this Temple in Heaven:

Revelation 11:19

:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightning’s, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

50 Chapters in the Bible are dedicated to Moses Tabernacle!

13 in Exodus

18 in Leviticus

13 in Numbers

2 in Deuteronomy

4 in Hebrews

If you include how many chapters are dedicated to Solomon’s Temple, which was later constructed, you will see that the Bible dedicates a lot of time to this subject.

Many New Testament words and phrases find their basis in the Tabernacle:

Veil, Mercy Seat, Propitiation, Laver of Reconciliation, Lamb of God, washed, cleansed, purged, reconciled, sacrifice, offering, atonement, shedding of blood, bore our sins, throne room of grace

An understanding of this Tabernacle in the Old Testament can only increase our knowledge of the great truths of Redemption

Exodus 25:8

:8    "And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

(see also Exodus 29:45)

The Tabernacle Moses was instructed to build was to be God’s dwelling amongst His people.

God has always desired to dwell with and walk with His people. He is not a God who desires to be distant and ‘aloof’. He desires closeness and fellowship.

Right from the Garden of Eden, God walked with His man, His creation. Sin separated God and man, and the plan of Redemption is about bringing man back into fellowship. The Tabernacle allowed man to fellowship with God, through the blood sacrifices where sin was atoned for, which were a type of the work Jesus did on the cross, where sin was once and for all dealt with so that man can be restored back into fellowship with God.

The Tabernacle consisted of 3 sections:

1) Holy of Holies - Most Holy Place

2) Holy Place

3) The Outer Court

The Outer court was like a courtyard, it did not have a covered roof, but did have a wall around it made out of fabrics.

The Tabernacle itself was a tent, which was within the walls of the Outer Court and it consisted of the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies, which was like an inner room within the Holy Place.

The Holy of Holies and the Holy Place were separated by a thick veil. It was this veil which was torn in 2 when Jesus died on the cross signifying that the time of an earthly Tabernacle or Temple made with human hands where God’s presence dwelled was over.

Matthew 27:50-51

:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

Sacrifices were done in the outer court on the Altar of Burnt offering.

Duties of the Priests were carried out in the Outer Court and Holy Place, but only once a year could the High Priest enter the Holy of Holies with the Atoning Blood Sacrifice - Hebrews 9:6-8

The Day of Atonement:

Leviticus 16 records the Day of Atonement where once a year the High Priest was to make a sin offering and a burnt offering for himself and the people sins. God made it very clear that no one, including the High Priest was to enter the Most Holy Place behind the veil without doing this. That was sacred, holy ground and was not to be treated lightly.

Leviticus 16:2-3

:2 and the LORD said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

:3 "Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering.

God gave them very specific instructions about how the High Priest was to make these offerings to atone for the people’s sins. On that day, once a year, the people’s sins would be atoned for

Leviticus 16:30, 34

:30 "For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

:34 "This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year." And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

The New Testament teaches us in Hebrews that this atoning sacrifice could never properly wash people from sin, which is why it had to be offered again every year. It was only a temporary washing of sin, until Jesus Christ came and offered His own blood as THE sacrifice for sin. Jesus then went as the High Priest with His own blood into heaven’s Most Holy Place and offered His blood upon the Mercy seat, purchasing eternal redemption from sin, and not only covering our sins temporarily, but washing us once and for all from them.

Hebrews 9:11-14

:11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,

:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 10:10-12

:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

Hebrews 9:7-8

:7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance;

:8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

As long as the Old Testament system was in place, the way into God’s presence was blocked. It was not until the death of Jesus that this veil was torn and open access to God was made available through the blood of Christ!

Furnishings of the Tabernacle:

Each section of the Tabernacle had furnishings. These furnishings were:

The Ark of the Covenant, Altar of incense, The Table of Show bread, The Golden Lamp stand, The Bronze Laver and The Altar of Burnt offering.

All of the furnishings of the Tabernacle are found in the book of Revelation in relation to the heavenly Tabernacle:

Revelation 2:17 - hidden Manna (Table of Showbread)

Revelation 1:12 - 7 Golden Candlesticks

Revelation 4:6 - Sea of Glass (Laver)

Revelation 6:9 - Altar of Sacrifice

Revelation 8:3 - Golden Altar (Altar of Incense)

Revelation 11:19 - Ark of His testimony

More information about the furnishings in the Tabernacle can be found on my hub on that subject

The Tabernacle was in the centre of the camp, it was to be central to their lives and was the centre of their worship and relationship with God. They were given specific and detailed instructions as to how to go about this worship, through a series of feasts and sacrifices / offerings.

Details of these are given in the book of Leviticus. The Tribe of Levi was set aside as Priests to serve and fulfil the duties of the tabernacle and the sacrifices. Moses Brother Aaron was set up as the First High Priest.

The Tabernacle of set up - Exodus 36-40

One year after the Departure from Egypt, The Tabernacle was set up and the glory of God filled it

Exodus 40:17

:17    And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day     of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.

Exodus 40:34-35

:34    Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the     LORD filled the tabernacle.

:35    And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the     cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

With the tabernacle now constructed, and the priests ready to serve at its altars, the Israelites began a new phase in the history of their nation.

Everything about the Tabernacle, its Priesthood, anointing oils, furnishings etc were all holy to the Lord.

Through the Tabernacle, the Israelites were to learn about what holiness meant. Over and over we see ‘Holy’ or ‘Holiness’ used in connection to the Tabernacle, at least 31 times in Exodus alone.

The High Priest wore a sign of pure gold which said, ‘Holiness to the Lord’, and the names of various parts of the Tabernacle spoke of holiness (The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies). The entire Tabernacle was carefully guarded from anything that would defile the sanctity of God’s dwelling.

This same truth carries into the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

The word “Holy” is the Hebrew ‘qadosh’ which means ‘set apart, to be treated with respect’

When something was made Holy, it meant it was to be set aside and separated aside for exclusive use for God and His work. Things that were thus set aside were not to be treated or viewed as common, nor treated with disrespect.

God view their separation unto Him seriously and expected the people to see it the same way.

In the Old Testament, when people misused or abused things that were holy - set apart - swift judgement followed.

The Holy Anointing Oil - Exodus 30:22-33

God gave them instructions for the making of Holy Anointing oil. Everything in the Tabernacle was anointed with the Holy Oil. This anointing with oil signified that these Priests and furnishings of the Tabernacle were being set apart for exclusive use as the things of God, and is typical of the anointing of God upon a person which separates them for service to the Lord.

Anyone who used the anointing oil for common, everyday use was to be cut off from Israel (Exodus 30:32-33). This showed how serious God was about things that were set aside for His use being used properly and with the proper respect. This included God’s ministers.

The Tithe is ‘Holy’

Leviticus 27:30

:30 'And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S. It is holy to the LORD.

Leviticus 27:32

:32 'And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.

God declared that this same attitude of things being HOLY and set apart for His exclusive use was to apply to the tithe.

The word tithe means ‘tenth’ and refers to the tenth of Israel’s harvest, seed, fruit etc which was to be brought to the Lord and given to Him.

The same attitude that went with misusing the holy things in other areas applied also to the tithe.

People were not to misuse the tithe but were to view it as God‘s and set aside for Him. Malachi shows that the misuse of the tithe brought a curse on the people, because they did not regard it as exclusively set aside for God’s use. (Malachi 3:8-10)

God took this tithe and used it to support the Levities who were the Priests

Numbers 18:21

:21 "Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.

God did not expect the Levites to perform the duties of the Priesthood for nothing. They were to be given the tithe to support them. The Priests were to dedicate their time exclusively to the priesthood and were not to have to be distracted with ‘secular’ employment. God took care of them using the tithe.

Christ in the Tabernacle:

The tabernacle was a “Type” (symbol) of Christ. The book of Hebrews teaches us some of this typology, showing us that the Tabernacle was symbolic, a shadow of what was to come.

Hebrews 9:9

:9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--

Hebrews 10: 1

:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

All of the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to Jesus and His work. The Tabernacle pointed to Him. That is why it had to be made exactly according to the prescribed pattern. God wanted it to accurately point people to the work that Jesus was coming to do on this earth for our Eternal redemption

This article only briefly covers the Tabernacle to give you a basic working knowledge and familiarity with it. Further study is recommended to understand this important part of the Bible.

I have other hubs on the Taberncale available from my profile page