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The Tabernacle
In our Introduction--Day 1, we read the praise song of the newly rescued Hebrew slaves. Exodus 15:17-18 --"LORD, you have prepared the place for your dwelling; Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary. The LORD will reign forever and ever!" On the Red Sea's freedom side, Moses and the Israelites are already singing of a day when the LORD will dwell among them. They may not have known what that meant--they'd only known slavery and foreign taskmasters. But the story of Father Abraham had likely been passed down to them through oral tradition. They may have heard of Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD who provides, who Abraham trusted to provide a worthy sacrifice in the place of his son, Isaac. God provided then and He has provided again, from an unlikely source--the Egyptians. Exodus 12:35-36 The Hebrews asked the Egyptians for precious, expensive goods, and the Egyptians--moved by the LORD they didn't worship on behalf of the people who did--gave them what they requested. (Never doubt the LORD's faithfulness. 💓 )
Ten chapters later, when the Israelites (Hebrews) have only been on this new adventure for 6 months 😲, God gives Moses--their faithful leader--a pattern for the tabernacle. Exodus 25:9 The instructions start with an offering from everyone who is willing to give. What do 6 months free/400 year slaves have to offer in the wilderness? Exactly what God provided for them on the night of their rescue. (I'm crying at how good He is to them, because He's been that good to me, too. He's the same God.) It's an expensive list, and God and His dwelling place are worth it. Exodus 25:1-8 It's a precise list with exact measurements for every element, because God is a God of order. God spends the next 3 chapters outlining every aspect of where His presence will abide. The ark, the mercy seat, the table, the lampstand, the copper altar, the altar of incense, and the basin will furnish the tabernacle. But for this study, we will focus on the tabernacle itself, its structure. Exodus 26:1-30 details elaborate curtains as coverings for the entire tabernacle, and also for each section. Exodus 26:36-37 instructs them to make a screen over the entrance of the tent. Exodus 27:16 is the template for the gate to the courtyard.
The priests, who will keep the tabernacle's perpetual worship of the LORD, also have regulations for what to wear in His Presence. Exodus 28 describes the ephod (a kind of apron), the breastplate, the robe, the turban--all to be worn by the priests. If they were not properly attired, they would die.
So much detail. So much artistry. So much effort required to follow God's intricate pattern. Can you imagine? Where did these generational slaves learn to weave, to carve, to build, to sew, to dye? Another gift from God. Exodus 31:1-11 God gifted them with the ability of every craft required through the power of His Spirit.
But I skipped over one item in the tabernacle--the veil. The tapestry. Our focal point.
"And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat on 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."
What story is this ancient, beautiful, blue, purple, scarlet, linen, angelic tapestry trying to tell? It's a story for them then. It's a story for us now. It's the greatest story ever told.
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