“And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.” Exodus 29:43
In Scripture there is great power in a picture, for by the picture that God gives of something, a structure or a situation, He reveals to man what is His purpose in seeking the souls of men. That which is so remarkable about the pictures that God gives, is that they point to a knowledge, and experience of the believer that is beyond what he could ask or think with regard to communion with God. The giving by God of the instructions to Moses concerning the tabernacle that was to be built and situated in the midst of the children of Israel, was such a picture. The immense value of the creation of the tabernacle, and its specific design, was given so that man could grasp something of God’s way by which any Israelite could come to God, know Him, and commune with Him. The tabernacle was to be a tent of meeting, the meeting of God with man, and this in a most certain and concrete manner. With God’s provision of the tabernacle, in physical form, with every detail speaking of who God is and His purpose, God intended this “picture” to the people so that they could clearly understand what it meant to come to God with assurance, approaching Him in faith, and coming to know and experience profound and personal fellowship with Him. The Heavenly and Holy God would come down to the man, who at the opening of the tabernacle would come in a certain attitude of faith, according to the truth, and there be fully persuaded that God would meet Him. So, what is the tabernacle, and what does it mean, or portray of the ways and purposes of God?
It was first a tent, a portable structure designed to accompany a people who were moving towards the promised land. It was not a very large structure, being only 150 feet long, and 75 feet large. However, every detail was given by God in order to communicate to all men that there was a certain, clear way to God. God began the creation of this picture, which became a physical reality also, by giving to Moses the details and dimensions of the structure. He included all that was in the tabernacle, concerning the placement of every enclosure, and all that was to be seen as one would enter the different enclosures. There were not a lot of items in the tabernacle as a whole, but only those necessary for the people to understand, and follow, God’s declared and confirmed way into His presence. Beyond the Altar of Burnt Offering, there was the Bronze Laver. After that there was the internal, most important structure of the Tabernacle, where the Holy Place was located. Three things adorned this room, the Table of Showbread, the Golden Lampstand, and the Altar of Incense. Beyond this chamber, there was the separate inner chamber of the Most Holy Place. All that is revealed in meaning by the items preceding the final “destination,” or entrance, into the Most Holy Place, was given by God to instruct man concerning the attitude of mind and heart that is acceptable to God, to know profound fellowship with God. The Holy Place was the great destination for man on earth to know the God of heaven, for in God had promised to reveal Himself to man in a very special way. Though for the moment, the high priest of God’s choosing, only had the right to enter that chamber, and this, only once a year, there being in that chamber, was the Ark of the Testimony, or Ark of the Covenant. On the basis of all that God sought to communicate to man in his approach to Him, God now reveals to all men that Christ has entered once and for all into that Holy Place to obtain salvation for all men, so that all men might know Him. Christ has become God’s living Way into God’s presence.
Dear Father, Lead us to Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.