Importance: 10%
The Big Idea: An📝Essay I wrote in seminary about the tabernacle.
What did the Tabernacle look like?
The tabernacle itself was a multilayered tent. The basic frame of the tent was made out of pillars of wood. These pillars were then plated in gold and fit into metal base pieces in order to stand upright. These pillars where joined together by horizontal cross beams which were also gold plated. This frame was set up in a rectangular floor plan. Curtains were hung from the cross beams around its perimeter and clasped together to create a solid wall. This layer of curtain was “finely spun linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them” (Ex. 26.1).
The next layer was made of goat hair and set over top of the tabernacle. These were joined together and then to the frame to create the base layer of the roof. There were sections of this layer that extended beyond the top of the tabernacle and were allowed to drape over the sides. The next two layers were placed directly over this: “Make a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of fine leather on top of that” (Ex. 26.14).
A similar curtain to the others that made up the interior of the tabernacle was used to divide between the Holy of Holies and the Holy place within the tabernacle itself. Within the Holy of Holies was placed the Ark of the Covenant with the special top of the ark called the mercy seat placed on top. The mercy seat consisted of two golden cherubim on either side of the lid with wings stretching toward each other. In the Holy place was kept a table for offerings, a lamp stand, as well as a small alter for incense. To finish off the entrance to the Holy place from the outside was another curtain of, “blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen” (Ex. 26.38).
Outside of the tent portion of the tabernacle was a courtyard. This courtyard was bordered by a wall that was constructed similarly to the walls of the tent itself. The wooden posts were banded in silver as were its connector rings. The curtains hung on them were “made of finely spun linen” (Ex.27.18). The gate of the wall however was made of a curtain that was made of “blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen” (Ex. 27.16) similar to the tents gate.
Inside the courtyard was a square alter made of wood overlaid in bronze. This alter had bronze horns placed on the corners of it. In addition to this it was made with “pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans” all of bronze as well (Ex. 27.3). Underneath the Alter there was added a mesh of bronze that connected to carrying poles for travel. Between the tent and the Alter there was set a large bronze basin used for ceremonial washing. To finish this all off, “all the utensils of the tabernacle for every use and all its tent pegs as well as all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze (Ex. 27.19).
How did the Tabernacle foreshadow Christ?
The name tabernacle is ןָּכ ְׁש ִמ in the Hebrew which is transliterated Mishkan. This comes for the Hebrew word ןַכ ָּש) shakan) that means to settle, rest, or lie down. The tabernacle was given as the purely divine and holy place for God to settle and rest in the midst of His people Israel. The pattern and even the crafting of it was all inspired by God. This made the Tabernacle the center of God’s presence for his people. It was also a movable center as the Israelites traveled/wandered around the wilderness. This made it an ever imminent place of God’s presence and a physical place that they could point to and know that God was with them. 1
Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this abiding presence of God. In John 1:14 John uses the Greek equivalent of tabernacle to get across the idea that Christ came and tabernacled with us. This is Jesus direct fulfillment of Yahweh to dwell with His people. In the tabernacle there was a tent, and a location, for God to begin dwelling with His people again similar to how he did in the Garden of Eden. But in Jesus this presence is no longer tied to a building or place but in the actual person of God himself in the flesh.
The entire question of salvation history is how can a righteous and just God live in the midst of a sinful and rebellious people. As the course of history unfolds we see how this is possible through sacrifice and purity laws. But these are temporary and ultimately not enough to be able to reconcile humans to God. Jesus is the ultimate solution to this problem and makes it possible for the presence of God to be unrestricted to His people. This was graphically depicted during Jesus death when the veil was torn in Matt 27.51. The physical barrier in the temple that kept God’s righteous presence away from consuming a sinful people is able to now be poured out without fear of destruction. Jesus reconciled the people to God once and for all and separation is no longer necessary for the sake of the people.
Jesus is able to accomplish this miraculous reconciliation by becoming the perfect sacrifice for sin. The purity and sacrificial system the God gave the Israelites was able to make it possible for God to dwell with them in the tabernacle and later the temple. But things were not quite back to the way they were meant to be. Jesus replaces the sacrifice of the tabernacle and temple (Heb 4:14) finally changing and reorienting the reality of God’s dwelling with His people. After Jesus resurrection the covenant promise of dwelling is wonderfully fulfilled with the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit with believers. This is a truly unimaginable and humbling move for God to move his place of dwelling to the actual individual. He does not just dwell with or near but in, a kind of intimacy that can hardly be imagined possible but is accomplished by the strong work of our Savior Jesus Christ. 2
Footnotes
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Milinovich, Timothy. “Religious and Ritual Objects.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). ↩
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Selvaggio, Anthony T. From Bondage to Liberty: The Gospel according to Moses. Edited by Iain M. Duguid. The Gospel according to the Old Testament. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014). ↩