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The Revelation of God's Purpose for the Tabernacle
There’s an old saying about not being able to see the forest for the trees. You can be hiking in the woods on some twisting trail and lose all sense of direction. You might want to find your way out, but you cannot tell when you are near the edge. You are blinded by the trees right in front of you. You need a bird’s eye view, a map that shows you where the path is headed.
Of course, you do not have to be in the woods to experience that sense of lostness. It happens to us as we follow life’s twisting path. We get swallowed up in our immediate circumstances, the blessings and particularly the trials. Then we wonder, “Where is it all heading?” Is it random? Does God exist? Is he in control? If so, what is his purpose for me?
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We could turn to several key Bible verses for answers to those questions. You have probably heard all of them before. Unfortunately, our familiarity with them can numb us to their insights. But I think we also find answers to those questions in a part of the Bible that we tend to skip over.
This section of Scripture is filled with so many details that we can get lost in it. But if we take a bird’s eye view, keeping in mind how it relates to the Bible as a whole, it can revolutionize our understanding of who God is and where he is leading. I am speaking of the account of the revelation and construction of the Jewish Tabernacle that is recorded in Exodus 25-40
At the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century, the Tabernacle was a popular subject for Christians. Dozens of books were published on the topic. Most of them attempted to find symbolic significance and spiritual application for every little detail. People were hungry for deeper knowledge. But many assertions in those studies are purely speculative. So, subsequent generations of believers seem to have overreacted by writing very little about the Tabernacle.
But I believe what Paulsays in2Timothy 3:16, “AllScripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, forcorrection, and fortraining inrighteousness.”So, I have been preaching through the Book of Exodus verseby-verse. In 2021, I focused on chapters 1-18. I called the study “Humble Leadership” because that section shows how God prepared and used Moses to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Then in 2022, I presented a series called, “The Boundaries We Need,” that looked at the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant in Exodus 19-24. I explained that the Old Testament Law reveals the character of God and thus defines what it means to have a relationship with him.
So, this journey through Exodus brings me now to chapters 25-40. As we work our way through, we will see that the Tabernacle is one expression of a pattern that occurs repeatedly throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Even though most of this portion of Exodus reads like a verbal blueprint, we will find that it is all about the presence of God with his people. So, rather than speculating over hidden meaning in the details, we will trace the main principles of God’s design.
To begin we need to back up to Exodus 24:12. God saved the people of Israel from slavery, led them through the Red Sea, and established a covenant relationship with them. But why? What was his goal? What was he working toward?
Exodus 24:12-25:9 introduces God’s revelation of the Tabernacle. As it does so, it leads us up three steps toward understanding his purpose for the Tabernacle and for everything else that he has done, is doing, and will do.
A Reminder of Separation
Some mountains are notoriously difficult to climb. Mount Everest ascends to over 29 thousand feet above sea level. People spend a fortune on gear and preparation and still fail to reach the top. The mountain that is traditionally identified as Sinai, however, is only around 7,500 feet high. Hundreds of tourists climb it every day. But in the book of Exodus, Moses is the only one who reaches the top.
This privilege granted to Moses is a reminder of separation, and the distinction is emphasized at the end of Exodus 24. Verses 12-14 tell us,
The people of Israel were not allowed to come near the mountain at all. When the Lord led them there, he told Moses to set limits for them (Ex 19:12). Of course, once they saw the thick cloud and lightning and heard the thunder and the voice of the Lord declaring the Ten Commandments, they were terrified (Ex 20:18-19). It is doubtful whether any of them would have tried to approach the mountain at that point.
But after they formally accepted God’s covenant, the elders were allowed to come part way up for a special fellowship meal. Exodus 24:10 tells us that they beheld a vision of God similar to what is described by Ezekiel and later by John in Revelation. Very few people have ever had that experience, but they would climb no further. They were supposed to remain with the people to provide leadership. We will find out later that they failed miserably in that responsibility.
So, Joshua and Moses begin to climb, but Moses alone enters the cloud of glory. Verses 15-18 say,
I suspect that verse 16 sums up what had already happened. It had been a week since the glory cloud had come down upon Mount Sinai. Moses had been up and down several times to receive the stipulations of the covenant and to communicate them to the people. But none of the people could draw near.
Why is this separation maintained between them and the Lord? The answer to that question is found in the opening chapters of Genesis. According to Genesis 1:26-27, the Lord made human beings in his own image. In other words, he designed us to have a relationship with him. He placed the first man and woman in a garden, and they experienced the blessing of living in his presence until they disobeyed his command. Genesis 3:8 tells us,
Their sin created an immediate separation between them and the Lord. For the first time in their existence, they are uncomfortable in the presence of God. They experience the emotions of guilt and fear. They try to hide and avoid him, but the Lord confronts them and reveals the consequences of their disobedience. There will be pain in childbirth, conflict in marriage, hardship in growing food, and a limit to their physical existence. So, Genesis 3:24 tells us,
Cherubim are angelic beings associated with the presence and glory of God. Their mission here in Genesis 3 is to enforce the separation of human beings from the presence of God. After that verse, they are not mentioned again until Exodus 25. We will see that they become a central theme in the artwork of the Tabernacle.
We all need to be reminded of this separation. We are born into this broken relationship with God. We have no right to ascend the mountain and draw near to the Lord. In fact, our personal disobedience only deepens the division. Isaiah 59:2 tells us that the prophet said, “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
This separation shapes everything about our current existence. This life is not the way that God meant it to be. It has deviated from his original purpose and design. On a personal level, we should acknowledge our sins and confess them to the Lord. But contrition alone is not enough, and it gets worse. We learn another step toward developing our understanding of God’s purpose as Moses enters the cloud.
A Requirement of Contribution
Economists tell us that there is no free lunch. Everything costs something, if not money, then time and labor. As we work to provide for our basic needs, we realize that some things are far more expensive than we could ever afford. But does that apply with God? Isn’t everything free with him? Not exactly.
The next step in this introduction to the Tabernacle reveals that there is a requirement of contribution. Exodus 25:1-7 tells us,
These are costly items. It is hard to estimate their value in modern terms. The precious metals alone would probably cost a fortune. We will see in a moment that these supplies were necessary to build the Tabernacle. This is what the Lord deserved and what he required. But these people had been oppressed as slaves in Egypt for several generations. They had probably lived hand to mouth. How could they possibly contribute this kind of wealth?
The Lord provided exactly what they would need. Exodus 11:2 tells us that before the tenth and final plague came upon Egypt, the Lord instructed Moses to have the people ask their Egyptian neighbors for silver and gold jewelry. When the plague struck and firstborns throughout the land died, the Pharaoh and the Egyptians wanted to get rid of the Israelites as soon as possible. Exodus 12:35-36 tells us,
How does this scenario fit with the prohibition of stealing in the Ten Commandments? Since the Egyptians had exploited the Israelites as slaves, this wealth was probably their just recompense. It was the Lord’s layaway plan!
But what good is silver and gold when you are trying to survive in the wilderness? Traders passed through the Sinai Peninsula, but not enough to provide sufficient food to sustain over a million people. The Lord took care of their needs by giving them manna and quail. They were just holding on to this wealth temporarily to give it back to the Lord.
But the Lord made it clear that this offering was to be from the heart. There was no individual requirement to contribute. These donations were expressions of personal worship. So, in that sense, this offering models the principle of generosity toward the Lord’s work that should always characterize believers. In 2 Corinthians 9:7-8, Paul wrote,
On the other hand, the Tabernacle could not be built without this contribution. At that point in history, it was the place of God’s presence. So, this expensive offering was required of the people as a group in order for them to draw near to God. Drawing near to the Lord is always costly. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, Paul said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”
We do not need silver and gold to enter God’s presence. We need righteousness, but we have lived as slaves of the evil one. We have run up an incalculable debt of sin. But to save us, Jesus humbled himself to the point of dying in our place on the cross. He experienced the deepest level of spiritual poverty to pay our debt. Yet when we believe in him, he sets us free and credits the incalculable riches of his righteousness to our account.
So, salvation is costly, but Jesus paid the price to so that he could offer it to us as a free gift. When you place your faith in him, he provides everything you need to meet God’s requirement. But why? What is God’s purpose?
A Restoration of Habitation
We like to say, “There’s no place like home,” and that sentiment is never felt more strongly than when you are out sleeping in a tent. Now most people seem to have better experiences with camping than I do. As soon as I pull my tent out the clouds roll in. But even when you love the outdoors, you begin to long for the comforts of home after a few days.
So, we invest a lot of time, money, and effort in making a house everything we want it to be. We try to make it a place of safety, comfort, rest, and joy. But no earthly house will ever fulfill those longings. We will never be truly home until we are able to live fully in the presence of God forever. We need what was lost at the fall: the restoration of God’s habitation with his people.
The Lord had this purpose in view as he instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle. Exodus 25:8-9 tells us that he said, “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.”
The word “sanctuary” could be translated as “holy place.” It was to be special, set apart from common things because it would serve as God’s dwelling place among his chosen people. He would manifest his presence there visibly in the cloud of glory.
The Lord’s description of this Tabernacle fills seven chapters in Exodus. The English translation runs over five thousand words. But the Lord told Moses to make it exactly as I show you not “tell” you but “show” you. What did Moses see? Was there some sort of diagram?
The author of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews quoted this verse in Hebrews 8:5 and said that priests, “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.” So, Moses must have seen heaven, the true holy place. The Tabernacle and its furniture was designed to reflect the pattern of heavenly realities.
So, was the Tabernacle the full restoration of God’s habitation with his people? Did it abolish the separation between human beings and God? Certainly not. We will see that if anything the design highlights that separation. But it also illustrates the way that God will ultimately fulfill his purpose. As I mentioned this pattern is repeated, and each time it takes on greater significance.
Four hundred and eighty years after the Exodus, King Solomon began to build the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Ki 6:1). His father, David, thought it was wrong that he was living in a house while God was still in a tent (2 Sam 7:2). So, David made a plan and gathered materials, and after he died Solomon oversaw the construction.
The Temple was a larger, more permanent version of the Tabernacle. It did not fundamentally change God’s relationship with his people. But David understood that it pointed to heavenly realities. In Psalm 27:4, before the Temple was built, he wrote,
No one dwelt in the Tabernacle or the Temple. Only the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of holies and see the glory of God, and that only happened once a year. David was seeking the true house of the Lord.
The third expression of the pattern is in Jesus himself. John 1:14 hints at this connection. It tells us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Greek word for “dwelt” comes from the same root as the Greek word for Tabernacle that is used in the Greek translation of Exodus 25:9. You could say that Jesus “tabernacled” among us. Other than during his transfiguration, his full glory was not visible. It was concealed by the tent of his humanity. But he is Immanuel, God with us. He fulfills God’s purpose better than the Tabernacle or the Temple. As we continue our study of the Tabernacle, we will see that various elements of the Tabernacle anticipate his saving work.
The fourth expression of the pattern begins when Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to indwell believers. His presence within us makes us God's temple. His glory is not visible for all to see, but he manifests it as he leads us to turn away from sin and to bear spiritual fruit. The Spirit accomplishes the heart change that the Law and the Tabernacle could not bring about. So, in 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says,
This ongoing work of the Spirit prepares us to enter the presence of the Lord. For all who believe in Christ that is our destiny when we die. Interestingly, Paul spoke of life here and now as being in a tent. He may have been drawing upon the concept of the Tabernacle in 2 Corinthians 5:3-4 where he said,
It is difficult to interpret these verses, but it seems that Paul did not just want to die and go to heaven. He wanted to be resurrected in a physical body to experience life the way that God meant it to be forever. Ultimately, everything that keeps us from enjoying the presence of God will be swept away. That pattern will be fulfilled. Every barrier will be removed.
In Revelation 21:3-4, John describes a new heaven and earth by saying,
I quote those verses often because they clarify the purpose of God. Everything leads toward the goal of life in the presence of God. That is when we will finally be home. God’s habitation with human beings will be fully restored. That is when we will truly find the safety, rest, comfort, and joy that we long for. Until then, we are making do with a tent. But we must keep reminding ourselves that there is no place like home.
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So, in the account of Moses ascending Mount Sinai to hear from God, the Lord’s purpose is revealed. First, we are reminded of our separation from him that exists because of sin. Next, we are introduced to the idea of a required contribution. The people of Israel could only build the Tabernacle and draw near to God through the wealth that he miraculously provided. And we can only meet his requirement of righteousness through the righteousness he provides us as a free gift in Jesus Christ. Finally, we see that in the Tabernacle and throughout history God has been working toward restoring his full, unhindered habitation with human beings forever.
The study of the Tabernacle can be challenging and even overwhelming. Don’t miss the forest for the trees! Latch on to the main concepts. We have seen that God wants us to dwell in his presence forever. But you must seek him. If you have never done so, I encourage you to start. Begin to learn. Begin to believe. Begin to confess your sin and to trust in Jesus as your Savior. If the idea of separation from God is new to you, I encourage you to read the opening chapters of Genesis.
If you are a believer in Christ, then you are a walking Tabernacle. The Spirit indwells you. Do you honor his presence? Are you becoming a holy place, a proper sanctuary for him? Are you inviting him to transform you day by day or are you resisting? What could you do to yield to his work? Are you sharing with others the purpose of God?
May people see the reflection of his glory in us!
