OpenTheo
00:00
00:00

Introduction

The Tabernacle
The TabernacleSteve Gregg

Exploring the intriguing concept of the Tabernacle, Steve Gregg dives into its significance as a representation of God's desired fellowship with mankind. He draws parallels between the tabernacle and biblical stories such as Adam and Eve, emphasizing God's love and pursuit of humanity. Comparisons to Moses, Paul, and John highlight their visionary experiences aligning with the tabernacle's pattern. Gregg delves into the symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Holies, and the layers of spiritual meaning embedded in this sacred structure. Conceptualizing the tabernacle as a teaching tool, Gregg connects its relevance to the Church as a foretaste of the future fulfillment in Christ.

Share

Transcript

Today we begin our study of The Tabernacle and those things which pertain to it. We will read today chapter 25 of Exodus, verses 1 through 9, where we receive a general introduction to the subject of The Tabernacle. In the remainder of that chapter there are descriptions of the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat, the Table of Showbread, and the Golden Candlesticks.
The next chapter has other information about what to make. The next several chapters have information about how to build the tent, how to build the furniture, what the dimensions will be, what it will look like, and what it's all about. Now, let's read, first of all, Exodus 25, verses 1 through 9, where we see that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me an offering of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart, ye shall take my offering.
And this is the offering which ye shall take of them, gold and silver and brass and blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goat's hair and ram's skins dyed red and badger's skins and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense, onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. Now, the reference to the ephod and the breastplate here are the first time you ever hear of them, but eventually when we describe the priest's garments, we'll find that these are parts of the high priest's clothing and they needed precious stones to be set in the material for certain significance. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them according to all that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Now, the reference to the pattern, making it according to the pattern, this is not the only place we see this kind of a thing. The last verse in the chapter, also verse 40 says, And look that thou make them after their pattern which we showed thee in the mount. And there are other places that we will find as we read through Exodus where God reminds Moses that he had seen a pattern of the things he was supposed to make.
Now, we begin the chapter by seeing that God calls for an offering. He says, I want everyone to give according as their heart will allow them to do cheerfully, willingly. The Bible says the Lord loves the cheerful giver.
He didn't want to go and tax the people for this.
He wanted the tabernacle to be made from things that were given freely and generously by the people of God. Now, where did these people get these things? You know, these people were slaves for 400 years.
Only just a couple of weeks earlier, I suppose, they had come out of their slavery, were wandering through a barren wilderness. How is it that they could take a collection among these people and come up with gold and silver and all the things? And by the way, the amount of gold was worth millions and millions of dollars that was involved in making the instruments of the tabernacle. Where did these Jews get it? And of course, you will remember the answer to that is that when they were leaving Egypt, God told Moses to instruct the people to borrow from the Egyptians jewelry and things like that.
And the idea was actually the word borrow in the King James isn't the best translation. The actual word in the Hebrew means to demand of the Egyptians gold and such and to spoil Egypt in this way. So besides Egypt being destroyed as far as their crops and their herds and the firstborn being wiped out in the 10 plagues, besides this, they were spoiled financially.
The Jews were demanded them that they give them gold and silver and such things and expensive.
There's mention here of blue and purple in verse four and scarlet. This refers to cloth of these colors.
And by the way, dyes were very, very expensive in former times, in the days here and also in New Testament times. Scarlet dye was particularly expensive. And so these were expensive materials the tabernacle was going to be made of.
It wasn't going to be any second rate stuff. It was going to be a really ornate building. By the way, this does not set a precedent for us along the lines of demanding that a church building today be ornate, because we will find that the tabernacle was not a picture of church buildings.
The tabernacle was a picture of something else. So it is not so that modern churches should be designed and built in accordance with some of the principles that are involved in the tabernacle. The tabernacle represents something that is spiritual, not something physical.
God doesn't dwell in a house made with hens anymore, but he did, so to speak, in the tabernacle.
Now, during the Jewish history in Old Testament times and on into the New Testament somewhat, God sought to have fellowship with man. This was always God's desire, that he would fellowship with man.
We find it way back in the Garden of Eden, where God was walking daily with man in the garden.
He created man to have fellowship with himself, and he daily would indulge in long walks and conversations with Adam. We don't know how long this went on.
This may have gone on for days or weeks or even years. Most likely it was a short time, maybe just a few days.
But at a certain point, God came to the garden looking for Adam, and Adam didn't come to him anymore.
Instead, Adam hid himself from God. And instead of seeking after God, Adam was making God seek for him. In fact, of course, Adam was just terrified because he realized that he had sinned and that he couldn't stand before God in the same state anymore.
And so God, we find, seeking after Adam, saying, Adam, where are you? And God even making provision to restore man to fellowship by slaying animals and taking the skins of them to cover man's nakedness. And the slaying of those animals, of course, involved the shedding of blood, which we believe was the first blood sacrifice to cover the first sin. And the animal skins that were given to Adam and Eve were the covering of their spiritual nakedness so that they could stand unashamed before God again.
Yet, not exactly on the same terms. And so, society degenerated quite a bit, and eventually it was so bad that God had to wipe it out with a flood, you remember? Genesis chapter 6. And then after that, ten generations followed, and society had gotten pretty corrupt again. And God called an individual named Abram out to follow him alone, and God communed with Abram.
Now, in the meantime, God had communed with a few other guys. Noah had walked with God. Enoch also had walked with God.
Now Abraham had. But it was through Abraham that God intended to make himself a people that he could have regular fellowship with, people who would be a people under his name, under his praise, under his glory. And he wanted people that would stand for him in the world and would represent him to the world, and with whom he could have constant fellowship and communion.
Now, it's an amazing thing that God would seek this as though he needed anything. It would be much more realistic to think that we were the ones who sought after God. He has so much more to offer us than we have to offer him.
And yet the Bible says in Romans chapter 3, I think in verse 11, it says, There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. It is not man that seeks after God, it's God that sought to have fellowship with man. In 1 John chapter 4, in verse 10, it says, Herein is love, not that we loved him, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
It was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us. God did not wait for us to come after him. He came after us while we were still in rebellion, while we were still disinterested in having any relationship with him at all.
Yet he initiated this system. He made the overtures. He is the one who came to Moses and said, I am going to establish a place where I will meet with you and have fellowship with you and commune with you.
Moses didn't say, God, would you please, we're building this tent here, would you please come and visit with us here and find some time? But God is the one who thought it up, and God is the one who always takes the initiative. Now we see that Jesus indicated the same thing was true. He said in Luke chapter 19, The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.
Jesus had come, not that the lost could seek him, but that he could seek them.
That's Luke 19. In Luke chapter 15, we have three parables about how Jesus had come to seek lost people.
One of the parables has to do with the woman who lost a coin and she swept up the whole house and found the coin and she rejoiced when she found it. Another parable is of the prodigal son. Another is of the lost sheep.
How the man who had a hundred sheep, one of them would strip and he'd leave the ninety-nine and go and seek that lost one. Here we see the heart of God in the teaching of Jesus and also in the Old Testament where God is the one who is seeking after those who have strayed. The Jews didn't call upon God.
He called to them and said, you come out and be my people and I'll make a covenant with you.
He initiated it and he it is that will keep it going. Now this should encourage us because we are going to come in the next few days upon the word mercy seat.
There is one of the pieces of furniture in the tabernacle is the mercy seat. It was a lid that covered the Ark of the Covenant. The word mercy seat in the Hebrew and in the Greek is propitiation.
The Bible in the New Testament talks about propitiation and we'll talk about what that is probably tomorrow. I think we'll get to that subject. But just to say this shortly, the word propitiation means appeasement.
In Greek literature when it applied to the Greek gods, propitiation was based on the concept that the natural disposition of the gods was not toward man. That the natural disposition of the gods was indifferent or angry toward man and man had to bring all kinds of offerings to try to appease the wrath of the gods. This was reflected even before Greek times, even in the days of Jonah.
You remember how the people thought that the gods must be angry because of the storm that came up. Even in Roman times the Christians were persecuted whenever there were earthquakes or anything like that or disastrous, what we call acts of God. Storms and things that wiped out populations.
The Christians would be persecuted.
It would be felt like because they worshipped a different god than the gods that they had angered the gods. The gods had to be appeased by the sacrifice of the Christians.
The heathen thought was always this way, that the gods were naturally disposed unfavorably toward man. That there had to be appeasement made. The New Testament doesn't use the word propitiation in that same way exactly.
In fact, in some cases it seems as though God is trying to appease us. God is the one making the overtures to us. He is the one who seeks after us.
We are the ones who are ill disposed toward him. He is favorably disposed toward us, even as a shepherd who seeks after lost sheep or as the father of a prodigal son. As the son who didn't want fellowship, it was not the father.
When we realize this, it really flavors our Christian life very differently than if we see it otherwise. Because if we see that God is not at enmity with us, we were at enmity with him. God had not made himself our enemy.
We had done that.
He always desired our friendship. That should cause us to have more boldness.
That realization should give us more boldness in our approach to God. We should stop realizing that he is not going to throw us out and say, What have you done to deserve to stand before me? In fact, of course, we have done nothing to deserve to stand before him except to trust Christ who has made the way for us. But the reason that Christ did that is because God desired fellowship with us enough that he sent Jesus.
For God so loved the world that was in rebellion against him that he sent his only begotten son. And now we have a bunch of Jewish people just out of Egypt, culturally Egyptians really, because they spent four centuries in Egypt and their culture was Egyptian. Their genealogy was Jewish.
And they were inclined to worship other gods, as is very clear from the fact that they made a golden calf as soon as Moses disappeared for a little while. And they were not really people whose hearts were toward God. They were into getting out of slavery, that's for sure.
And if God offered them a way to do that, they were willing to say, Oh, we'll do whatever you say. But their hearts were not really with God. But his heart was already toward them.
He says, I want to dwell with him. Look at verse 8. Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. God wanted to dwell with his people.
Now the sanctuary that they made and the furniture of it is the major theme. At least one of the central issues of the Old Testament history. The tabernacle.
Later the tabernacle, because it was made of curtains and things, it did wear out and it had to be replaced by something more permanent. And Solomon built a temple out of stone, which was built, I think, after the same general pattern as the tabernacle. I mean, it looked totally different, but as far as the way that it was laid out, the furniture and everything was the same in the temple as in the tabernacle.
That temple was destroyed by the Babylonians about 450, about 510 or 20 years before Christ. The Babylonians destroyed that temple and 70 years later it was rebuilt by Zerubbabel. So there was a rebuilding of the temple in about 430 B.C. And that temple was not very glorious.
In fact, the Bible says that when the older Jews who had seen the earlier temple before it was destroyed, when they saw the foundation laid of the new temple, they could tell it wasn't going to be like the other one. It says they wept because they remembered the glory of the former temple. And then later on, Herod, wanting to get into political favor with the Jews, spent a lot of money to embellish that temple of Zerubbabel and made it really a fancy thing.
And that was the temple that was standing in the days of Jesus. And it was destroyed in 70 A.D. Since then there's been no temple in Jerusalem. And some people believe the Jews will rebuild the temple.
I'm not sure if they will. They are certainly planning to. That's clear enough.
Whether they will or not, I don't know.
Some people think prophetically they have to. I interpret those scriptures differently that talk about that.
Nonetheless, we find that God has always sought a dwelling place among his people. He never wanted to be like the heathen gods up on Mount Olympus, who were aloof and untouchable and unreachable, who would only come down occasionally to take a wife from the sons of men or something, but not really to ever have fellowship and communion or to really deign to associate with humankind on their level. And yet the God who created the universe, who is greater than all gods, who is the only true God, he loved his creation, he loved the world, enough that he wanted to come and have a lot to do with it.
He wanted to associate with it. He wanted to dwell among it. So he had the tabernacle made.
Now the tabernacle was made after a certain pattern. That pattern was something that Moses saw a vision of when he was on the mountain. Moses was up on Mount Sinai.
And he saw a vision, apparently, of this heavenly layout of the tabernacle. And God said, now you go down and take these materials, the chitim wood and the gold and the silver and the goat's skin dyed red or badger skin or whatever, and you take those things and you make a model of what you saw in the heavens, of what you saw in that vision. You saw this pattern.
And God warned him again and again, make sure you make it exactly according to the pattern. Why is that? Because most people don't have that vision of the spiritual. Most of us do not see the unseen world.
Most of us don't see what's in the heavens. Paul was caught up in the third heaven and saw things that amazed him and things that were unlawful of the utterity heard. John, apparently on the Isle of Patmos, seemed to have seen this same vision of the tabernacle, although he doesn't say so clearly, yet he mentions seeing the golden altar and the Ark of the Covenant and the table.
What did he see? He saw the altar of sacrifice in Revelation 6-9. He saw the golden candlesticks in Revelation 1-12. He saw the golden altar in Revelation 8-3.
He saw the hidden manna, or heard of it, in Revelation 2-17. The hidden manna refers to the manna that was put inside the Ark of the Covenant. And he saw the actual Ark of the Covenant, Revelation 11-19.
So in the book of Revelation, John refers to certain things. All of these things are pieces of furniture that were in the tabernacle. John, in his vision, when he was in the spirit, apparently saw the same pattern that Moses saw.
So Moses and Paul and John did have heavenly visions, but most people don't. Most of us have to relate right down here with what's tangible and visible. And an awful lot of what we learn about God and about spiritual things has to be given to us in natural terms.
That's why Jesus said to Nicodemus, if I've spoken to you in earthly terms and you haven't understood, how are you going to understand if I speak to you in heavenly terms? First, God has given us pictures and illustrations and parables and types in the natural to convey concepts to us that we wouldn't see with our natural eye otherwise. So God said to Moses, OK, you've seen the heavenly pattern. You know what it looks like, but most people don't see that.
Most people don't have their spiritual eyes open. All they can see is what has dimensions and solidness and tangibleness right in front of them. So you make a tangible, visible tabernacle like the one you saw on the mountain.
And make sure you don't change anything about it. Just do it exactly according to the pattern. The reason for that is because every detail of that thing has significance.
There was not one detail which could, without difficulty, be changed. It would cause problems. It would bring an inaccurate picture of what really was there in the heavens.
Now what is the whole idea of this tabernacle? The tabernacle was not only the dwelling place of God, or the meeting place of God, it showed us the way to approach God. When we get into it more particularly, we'll see that the tabernacle had basically three parts. One was the outer court.
This was an open air court surrounded simply by curtains. I think they were about 15 feet tall, if I'm not mistaken. I believe they were 10 cubits tall.
So no one could really see over them. It was a confined area. I believe it was about 150 feet long and 50 feet wide.
I haven't really done that research yet. We haven't gotten to that part of Exodus, but the last time I taught it, I think that's the dimensions we came up with. So it was about that size.
An open air court without a roof on it. And then there was a tent, three times as long as it was wide. It was 45 feet long and 15 feet wide, 15 feet tall.
A tent that had a roof over it. That was called the sanctuary. And in the sanctuary there were two compartments.
One was twice as big as the other. One was a cube, 15 by 15 by 15 feet, or 10 cubic cube, if we figure a cubic is a foot and a half. That was the Holy of Holies.
That was separated from the other part of the sanctuary, of the tent, by a thick veil. It's disputable how thick it was. I guess tradition says it was about the thickness of a handbreadth.
So about this, let's put that about four inches or so, is how thick it was, woven in a thick embroidery. Now that veil separated between the Holy of Holies, which was that cube of 15 feet by 15 feet by 15 feet, and the rest of the sanctuary. Now in these three compartments were three different things.
Out in the outer court there was, first of all, an altar made of brass, where animals were sacrificed. The burnt offerings were offered there. Then there was what they called the labor of cleansing, which was a basin of water, which was where the priests would wash their hands after they had gotten blood on their hands from doing the sacrifices.
Then they go into the tent. And in the tent there were three pieces of furniture. There was, right in the middle, near the opening of the Holy of Holies, there was the golden altar, where incense was offered up to God.
There was on one hand the table of showbread, which had 12 loaves of bread on it, a golden table, which we'll read the description of here. And on the other hand there was a golden candlestick of pure beaten gold with seven lampstands on it. And these all have symbolic value, which we will study.
And they all have something to do with spiritual things that have to do with the approach to God. If you were coming to God as a priest in those days, by the way, we are a kingdom of priests, so we all approach God as a priest used to approach God in the old days. We are now all priests.
So a priest who would want to approach God would first walk into the gate of the outer court. The first thing he would encounter was the altar of blood sacrifice, where blood was offered. This, I believe, represents coming to the cross of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.
Then he would go to the labor of cleansing, where the water was, and he'd wash himself. I believe that corresponds to water baptism. He would still be in the outer court.
He would just have done the preliminaries for entering into the sanctuary to begin to worship God. He really had done nothing yet except to prepare himself to enter into the presence of God. His approach to God would then come to the place where he'd go into the sanctuary, into the first court, which was, or the first sanctuary, where those pieces of furniture were.
The table of showbread, representing Jesus, the bread of life. The lampstands, representing Christ and the church, the seven churches, the seven lampstands according to Revelation. And there was the golden altar where incense was offered, which the book of Revelation tells us is the prayers of the saints.
So there we find a level of worship taking place, an eating of the body of Christ. We find an illumination coming from Christ. We find an offering of praise and worship and prayers to Christ at that level of intimacy.
But those things still were not the maximum intimacy with God that was available. There was only one priest once a year who could go further, past that thick veil, into that smaller compartment, the Holy of Holies. One man, the high priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, could go in there.
And he'd have to be thoroughly sprinkled with blood. He had bells on the bottom of his garments and a rope tied around his leg, the end of which was outside the Holy of Holies. And the priest on the outside would listen as he moved about in there to hear if the bells were tinkling on his garments.
If they stopped tinkling, they pulled him out by the rope. Because they believed, and I don't know if this ever really occurred, there's no record in the Old Testament of it ever happening, but it was believed that if the man went in there and his sins were not adequately covered, if his confession before God had not been complete before going in there, that he would have dropped dead in there, and they couldn't go in after him, because no one else was allowed in there, so they'd have to pull him out with the rope. And they'd listen for the bells to see if he was still moving, if he was still alive.
And it was an awesome place. Now, in that little cubicle, the Holy of Holies, there was one piece of furniture only. Actually, there were three things of note, and they were all stacked on top of each other.
On the bottom was a chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which we'll study tomorrow, I believe. And in that Ark were three things. There was a pot of manna, which manna, of course, was the bread that God gave them in the wilderness.
There was Aaron's rod that budded, a story of which we haven't gotten to yet, which we will. And there was also the tables of the covenant, the stone tablets that God gave Moses. These three things were in the Ark.
It was a chest.
And this was covered by a slab of solid gold, which was called the Mercy Seed. It was just a golden lid on top of that Ark.
The Ark was sort of like a little end table. It wasn't very large. I guess it was perhaps about as large a dimension as this table.
The actual dimensions were 2'3", wide, 2'3", tall, and about 3'9", long. Probably a little smaller than this table, if I'm not mistaken. And I'm not sure.
It was certainly taller.
That was the size of the Ark. On top of that was this slab of gold, which some people estimated the worth of it at $25,000, just for this slab of gold that went over it.
And that was the Mercy Seed. And it had carved in it, or beaten in it, two images that were attached to the Mercy Seed. They were of solid gold also, and they were two cherubim.
Now, cherubim is a plural word. Our King James says cherubims, which is redundant. We put the S on the end of English words to make it plural, but the Hebrews put I-M, the two letters I and M, on the end of a word to make it plural.
So cherubim is plural, without an S. And it's plural of cherub. So there were two cherubs, as we would say, which are angelic beings described in Ezekiel as having six wings and four faces, and having strange characteristics. But these two beings had their wings stretched out over the Mercy Seed, and they were facing each other, one was at each end of it, facing each other and looking down at the Mercy Seed.
And there the high priest would go in once a year, and he would sprinkle blood on there, and he would commune with God. Now, what all went on in there is hard to say. Not very many people ever got in there to find out.
But we find that when Jesus died, that that veil which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the sanctuary was torn, as thick as it was, it was torn from top to bottom. And it was pretty tall, too. I mean, it was 15 feet tall, so it would be quite a task for any human being to get up there and tear a veil that thick and that high from top to bottom.
And this was showing that God was now opening the way for all who would come to God by faith to enter into that intimacy with God. So there is the inner court ministry and the outer court ministry. There is the Holy of Holies ministry.
And so, in our approach to God, we come first to the blood sacrifice at the cross, we come to water baptism, we come to the place of illumination and feeding on the bread of life, the table of showbread, and offering our prayers to God. But more than that, we can come into a deeper place in Christ and stand boldly before the throne of grace, before the Ark of the Covenant, which we will see the symbolic value of eventually here, and we can know God. In the Holy of Holies, there was no illumination except the light of the glory of God, the Shekinah glory of God, brilliantly shown in there.
Now, it was still veiled. The priest didn't see God in his unveiled glory, but God in the form of a cloud did appear there. And it was a brilliantly bright cloud that illuminated the place.
There is another interesting illustration that can be made about this, because if you were in the outer court, you were illuminated by the sun's light, because it was an open-air court. In other words, the light of nature. If you went into the sanctuary, first of all, the illumination of that area was from the candlesticks.
The candlesticks were glowing and illuminating that sanctuary. But if you went deeper into the Holy of Holies, you didn't have even the candlesticks to light it, you had only the glory of God itself to light it. So also, as we come to know God, we increase in the light that we experience, spiritual light.
Often when we come to God, we come only illuminated by natural light, just by the things that Heaven's declared, the glory of God, and a person knowing no more than that can come to God. Just seeing the things that a natural man can see can conclude that there is a God, and can conclude His eternal power and Godhead. So the natural light of the sun in the outer court may represent this.
But as you go into the place of worship of God, you are illuminated by Christ and the church. The candlesticks, the seven candlesticks, and the seven churches. So there is a special kind of light, a greater light, also which the Word of God provides, as you're in there, which is bread, because the eating of the bread is similar to eating of the Word.
Jesus being the Word. But if you really press in, you can come to the place where God alone is your light. As in the New Jerusalem, the Bible says the city had no sun or moon to light it, but the glory of God itself did lighten it.
And so we come to more and more of an illumination, more and more of a supernatural experience with God as we press in deeper in our approach to God. Now Adam, as far as we know, experienced this inner court walk with God all the time before he fell. And it's a tremendous thing.
But after the fall, the fall was so damaging to the race and to our condition before God that it came to a place where only one man could even go in there once a year and experience that kind of intimacy with God. And only then under very strict conditions, and he might even be struck dead trying. So you can see that it's an awesome thing to come before the living God.
And yet God has desired for all men to come, and that is why he sent Jesus. That Jesus is our forerunner. It says in the book of Hebrews, Jesus was our forerunner who entered in beyond the veil, into the Holy of Holies.
And the fact that the word forerunner is used to speak of him indicates that he's running in front of others who are coming after him. That's what a forerunner is. That means that we enter in behind the veil too, and we can come into that spiritual communion with God too, in that deep place.
Now, in describing the whole creation of the world and the universe, the Bible only speaks of two chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 in Genesis. The only two chapters that really describe in detail the creation of the world, which we would consider a major thing.
But there are over 50 chapters of the Old Testament given to the description of creating the tabernacle, building the tabernacle, and the furniture. You find quite a few in Exodus. You find them in Leviticus.
You find them in Numbers and Deuteronomy. And you find them in the book of Hebrews also. And if you total up the number of chapters, there's 13 in Exodus, 13 in Deuteronomy or Leviticus.
I forget exactly how they divvy up, but it comes out to more than 50. Now, if all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for reproof, for doctrine, for instruction and correction, then we could consider that those things to which Scripture gives the larger place are the things that are most profitable for instruction and righteousness, for correction, for reproof, and for doctrine. So, the fact that so much weight is given to the tabernacle should make us sit up and take notice.
Though at first we might think, well, what the heck? How could it be interesting to study some old moth-eaten goat-skin tent? You know, what's so fascinating about that? And yet, when you realize that this tent was made in the different colors of the material, the different kinds of metals that were used, the different kinds of fabrics, the different kinds of skins, the different kinds of gold in the wood and the different things, all these things were chosen to fit a certain pattern. They all have specific significance, and we're going to study in the next few days what that significance is. But, we need to see that this is all a picture, a spiritual type, of how God wants people to approach Him.
And it's something that is the whole essence of Christianity, is to approach God. We can only do so because He has initiated a way for us. I'd like you to look at Hebrews chapter 9 for a moment here.
Hebrews 9, verses 23 and 24. Well, let's look at earlier in chapter 9 too. I want to just look at the opening verses.
Hebrews 9, verse 1. Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. This is talking about the tabernacle. For there was a tabernacle made, the first, that means the first part of the sanctuary, where the three items were, the table, showbread, the candlestick, and the golden altar.
The first one was the candlestick, the table, the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, or the holy of holies, which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant, overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna and Aaron's rod that budded in the tables of the covenant. And over it, the cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot now speak particularly, and I sure wish he had, because if an inspired writer of the New Testament would have just spoken particularly about all these details, it would have made our job a lot easier.
What we have to do in understanding what the particulars are, the meaning of all this, is to cross-reference Scripture with Scripture throughout the whole Bible and try to come to a conclusion of what the whole counsel of God is on the matter. But if only this writer had said, let's take a little time and discuss these things in particular. But he says, but now we don't have time to talk about these things particularly.
Rats.
But it does say in verse 22, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, that is, with blood sacrifices of animals, but the heavenly things themselves with a better sacrifices than the animal sacrifices.
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Now what this says is that the old covenant had this worldly sanctuary, and they were purified and purged by sprinkling blood on them, animal-sacrificed blood. That was all a figure and a type of the true.
Christ didn't enter into the worldly tabernacle. In fact, it was long gone before he ever came to earth. But he entered into the true tabernacle, which is in heaven.
Now what that means is that the tabernacle we're seeing described in Exodus is made after the pattern of a corresponding tabernacle in heaven. Now I am not positive, by the way, that this means that if you really went, when we go to heaven, if you died today and went to heaven, that you'd really see all the tabernacle in the way that we would expect to see them. I think that they may represent some spiritual realities that are understood in figurative form and would be illustrated in these kinds of furniture.
For instance, the altar of sacrifice, I'm convinced, represents the cross of Christ. In fact, the spiritual reality, the heavenly truth of the cross of Christ may be the thing which was envisioned, which was shown to Moses in the form of an altar. It may be that there's not really a brazen altar in heaven, but that the principle that is a mystery confined in the heavens was illustrated through an altar and the pattern was given to Moses to illustrate these truths.
Now, Paul, when he was taken into the third heaven, said he saw marvelous things and he heard things that were unlawful to be uttered. Again, that's another thing that I wish there had been more liberty given to him to explain the things that he'd seen and heard that were unlawful to be uttered, because he might have been able to give us some more light on exactly what form these things take in the heavens. But all we know at this point is that the tabernacle was made after a specific pattern based on heavenly realities, heavenly truths, whether they're heavenly principles or actual furniture that's up there in heaven.
I think it's more likely to be principles that are illustrated by this furniture. We'll see when we get there, I guess. Now, the things that they took collection of were all kinds of expensive things, gold and silver, precious stones that would later be inserted in the priest's garments, all the fabrics and things for the tabernacle.
And then he indicated that this would be used for the tabernacle and for the furniture of it and that Moses should make it after the pattern. Now, I want to tell you something that the tabernacle seems to be the type and shadow of before we go into any of the actual furniture of it, which we'll probably do tomorrow and not today. Tomorrow I expect to go in and discuss the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat, which are probably the most fascinating parts of the tabernacle equipment.
But the tabernacle basically is a type... The word tabernacle means a temporary dwelling place, a tent. Now, our human bodies are described as tents also, as temporary dwelling places in the Scripture in a number of places. In 2 Peter 1, verse 14, Peter says that he knows that he will be leaving this body, this tabernacle, soon as the Lord had shown him that.
Peter said that his death was near and he spoke of his body that he'd be departing from as his tabernacle or his temporary dwelling place. The Apostle Paul used the term tabernacle to describe our bodies also in 2 Corinthians 5. In the first four verses where he there talks about death also, it seems that when death comes to be discussed, that the term tabernacle comes into play because the temporariness of our stay in this body is brought forcibly upon us, upon our minds when we think of death. And so that this body is only a temporary place, a tabernacle.
Chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians we read, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, and a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, right now it's in the heavens until Jesus comes back, for in this body we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. In other words, our craving is not to go to heaven, but to be clothed upon with our house which will come down from heaven, as the heavenly Jerusalem is seen coming down from heaven in Revelation 21. So we are desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked, for we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed or disembodied spirits, in other words, but clothed upon or fully clothed, that mortality might be swallowed up in life. Now in contrasting this physical body with our resurrection bodies, which are permanent dwelling places in the future, Paul uses the word tabernacle and house. The tabernacle being like this body, it's temporary, but the house, like our resurrection body, the temple, is more of a permanent, durable arrangement.
So we see then that the tabernacle, first of all, represents the human body. Now the tabernacle is the place where God desired to dwell, and we know that Christ dwells in us. It says that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
Scripture says, in Ephesians, chapter 3, So Christ dwells in us, our bodies become a tabernacle. And the scripture says, Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, so that you are not your own, but God's? You have been bought with a price, so glorify God in your body. Your body is the dwelling place of God.
But, in a much greater sense, in a more significant sense, there was one particular body in which the fullness of the God had dwelt bodily, and that was the man Jesus Christ. His body. He said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
And he spoke of the temple of his body. His physical body was a temple. It was a place where, like in the tabernacle, the glory of God resided.
We read yesterday, briefly, in verse 14 of John chapter 1. John 1, 14. The first part of which we're very familiar with. The word was made flesh.
The next phrase in our King James says, And dwelt among us. So God wanted to dwell among his people. The Bible says, the word which was God was made flesh and dwelt among us.
And the word dwelt in the Greek there is tabernacled. You can look it up if you'd like. It is the word which was made flesh and tabernacled among us.
Drawing attention to the fact that the presence of the man Jesus on earth was the fulfillment of the type found in the tabernacle. The body of Jesus is what the tabernacle was all about. We come to God in Christ, as the people in the Old Testament came to God in the tabernacle.
They met with God in the tabernacle. We are found in him. Not having a righteousness which is our own, but which is of faith.
Christ tabernacled with us. This gives us some idea of how we mix the two natures of Christ. Some people have great confusion about this.
How is it that Jesus was called the Son of God and he was also called God? How can he be with God and be God? The word was with God and the word was God. This confuses people. And the way I generally explain it is with reference to the tabernacle.
In the tabernacle of the Old Testament, God in the Shekinah glory, in the presence of the cloud, would visit man in the tabernacle. Now, this was a local manifestation of God's glory and of God's presence. And God was certainly there.
And that's where man would have to go if he wanted to meet with God. He couldn't just meet with God anywhere he wanted to. He had to go where God was.
And that was the locality where God manifested himself in somewhat of a visible way. In the tangible tabernacle. Nonetheless, God was at the same time elsewhere in the universe.
He was still making sure all the planets were in their courses and making sure people on the other side of the world were having the sun rise upon them and the rain coming down upon them, on the just and on the unjust. God was active in the whole universe, but he was locally manifested in one place. In the tabernacle.
His glory resided there in that opaque dwelling place. And so you could stand outside the tabernacle and you could know that God was in there, though you couldn't really see him. You could only see the tabernacle itself.
So the body of Jesus was the same thing. God locally manifesting himself, taking on himself a tabernacle, a body. He became flesh and tabernacled among us.
And the glory of God, the Shekinah glory, took on a human form in a much different way than it does when we become Christians. Certainly God comes to live in us by his Holy Spirit, but it's not the same as when Jesus was incarnate. When the body was taken as a tabernacle for the dwelling place of God.
And Jesus then we see as the fulfillment of the tabernacle. Therefore, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, as 2 Corinthians 5 tells us. And in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, as Colossians 2, 9 tells us.
In Christ, all of the glory of God is to be seen. And John says, And we beheld his glory as of the glory of the only begotten of the Father. As he tabernacled among us.
God was not only in Christ, but God was elsewhere too. And this is why Jesus could say, I and the Father are one. If you've seen me, you have seen the Father.
The Father was truly fulfilling him. He was the Father in the flesh, but the Father was elsewhere too. Just like when God manifested himself in the tabernacle, he was elsewhere at the same time.
People say, Well, if God was Jesus, if Jesus was God, then who ran the world while Jesus was in the grave three days? There's no problem there, because God was in Christ, but God was everywhere else too. But he was manifested locally to man in Christ. And if people wanted to come to God at that time, they had to come to Christ.
And the case is no different today, except Christ has a different kind of body now. And that is his church, which is also called a tabernacle. The church is the house of God and is the tabernacle where God meets with man.
Just a minute, Eli, we'll get to you in a minute. Let's look at Ephesians 2 here. I want to cover these scriptures before we run out of time.
And then we can handle questions. Ephesians 2, 19 through 21. Now, therefore, you, plural, Christians, are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom, that is, in Christ, all the building fitly rose into a holy temple in the Lord.
So the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus himself being the cornerstone. And we are growing in him, in Christ, but we, the church, the whole building, is growing into a habitation in the Lord.
We are a tabernacle or temple under construction, you see. And if people want to come to God in this age, they must come to the church. They cannot come to God apart from his ordained plan.
Just like no one could say in the days of Moses, well, the tabernacle is nice, but I can be a Christian and not go to the tabernacle. I can be a Christian, I can be a follower of God and do my own thing and live in another part of the world and just kind of offer sacrifices wherever I want to, but that wasn't the case, because only the place that God designed that he would meet with man would be appropriate. And he wouldn't be anywhere else to meet with them.
He'd be there, but he wouldn't be meeting with people there. The only place God would meet with man in the days of Moses was in the tabernacle. The only place God would meet with man in the days of Jesus' flesh was with man Jesus.
People had to come to him. Even Cornelius, who was a worshipper of God, did not have any communion with God until he was introduced to Christ. And so also now people must come to the body of Christ, because the Shekinah glory is housed in the people of God.
God dwells among his people, as the scripture says. I want you to look at 1 Corinthians 3 here on this concept also, starting with verse 9. It says, For we are laborers together with God, you the church are God's field, or husbandry, you the church are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereupon.
But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, as the tabernacle was built of, wood, hay, and stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall have a reward.
If any man's work be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so is by fire. Know ye not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you, just like the cloud dwelt in the holy of holies of the tabernacle, so the Spirit of God dwells in the people of God, in the church. If any man defile the temple of God, or afflict the church, as Paul used to do, him shall God destroy.
As Paul would have been destroyed if he hadn't converted. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you, plural, are. Let no man deceive himself.
If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become as a fool that he may become wise.
But it says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit being built. He said that there are different master builders that God sends to work on the project, teachers, prophets, evangelists, who come to build the church.
It's built upon the apostles and prophets. Paul said, I, like a wise master builder, have laid the foundation. Other men are coming along to build on that church.
And in Corinth there have been others. There have been Apollos, for one, and others who had come and ministered there and were building the church. He said they ought to be careful what they're building it with.
If they're not using precious stones and gold and silver, like the tabernacle was built up, then their works won't stand the test. But if they're using fleshly, human, corruptible means to build the church, human programs and doctrines of men and such, the day will declare it and will try their works and destroy them. They may be saved, the ministers themselves may be saved if they're true Christians, but their works, everything they accomplished in their ministry will be burned up.
So let every man be careful how he builds on it. Now Paul said that he built the church, or he laid the foundation of the church, according to the grace that was given to him as a wise master builder. And so in the tabernacle there were certain men, one in particular, who the Spirit of God came upon him and gave him the skill to build the things and to carve the things for the tabernacle.
So it was by inspiration of God, by the skill that God gave, that the tabernacle was built. So also the church of God, as the church is built today by the labors of various ministries. If it is not a ministry that God has breathed upon and put his Spirit upon, it will not be able to do the job correctly.
It will not be a work of God after all. It will be wood, hay and stubble. The final thing I want to observe before we close this study out is in Revelation 21, the first three verses.
Revelation 21, verse 1, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. If you're not familiar, you can do a concordance study on this.
The New Jerusalem refers to the church.
The New Jerusalem is the church. Hebrews chapter 12 brings that out.
Galatians chapter 4 brings that out.
The Sermon on the Mount brings that out. A city set on a hill.
We are the city of God. We are the community of Christ.
We are his people.
And it says that John saw the city of God emanating from heaven as a bride prepared for her husband.
So the church is the bride of Christ also. All these things point to the fact that we're seeing here a vision in types and shadows or in symbols of the church in the form of a city.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. And God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying.
Neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write for these words are true and faithful.
Now, this picture of what John saw has a dual application as an application to the future.
At the return of Christ, when the new heavens and new earth are established, it says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. It also has a present application because the things that will be brought to pass fully when Christ returns are now established and take apart in part.
Remember how Paul said we prophesy in part and we know in part, but when that which is perfect has come, then we'll know as we also know and we'll see face to face instead of through a glass dark. We see a little bit now, but we'll see more clearly then. We know a little bit now, we'll know more then.
When Jesus comes, things will be fulfilled that are only initiated now. God, the tabernacle of God is with men now, but not in the same way that it will be when Jesus returns. When Jesus returns in his glorious power and dwells among his people, that will be really the maximum fulfillment of this prophecy.
But it happens already that God has taken up residence with his people. The tabernacle of God is with men. He is there to wipe the tears from their eyes.
He is there to heal their diseases. He is there to eradicate death. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor suffering.
Now there are these things in our experience, but not in the same sense that they existed before we were Christians. In Christ, these things have been tempered, these things have been reduced, and when he returns, they will be eliminated altogether. So we have at this point a foretaste of the fulfillment.
There's a song, an old hymn called Blessed Assurance that says, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Just having Jesus now is a foretaste of the glory that shall be revealed. And so the tabernacle, which was built by Moses, demonstrated the God-ordained means of man approaching God.
Certain steps had to be made, certain conditions had to be met. We will see what those conditions are as we proceed in our study. But that was a picture of what God was doing in Christ, allowing man to approach him in Christ, in the church, in the body of Christ.
God has taken up residence with man. Here we are, the city of God. Here we are, a city set on a hill that cannot be hid.
Here we are, the bride of Christ. Here we are, the tabernacle of God, where the tabernacle of God is with men, and he dwells with them, and we are now his people. God himself dwells with us, and he is our God, and he has made all things new.
For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, and all things have become new. So this scripture has a partial fulfillment now, and an ultimate fulfillment when the Lord returns.
And this is interesting that the very closing section of the book of Revelation would make reference again to the tabernacle. That it's introduced early in Jewish history, and it's re-emphasized in the last book of the Bible as having its fulfillment there. So we see the tabernacle as a prophecy of sorts.
It was a prophecy of something God would do in Christ.
But it was also a teaching tool, which demonstrates the spiritual realities and spiritual principles by which we can come to God. Jesus said, no man comes to the Father but by me.
In the Old Testament, no man came to the Father but by the tabernacle.
And so Christ and the tabernacle correspond to each other, and we will see many things, we'll learn many things about God and about Christ, and about our approach to God as we study the tabernacle. Our approach to God should be our consuming desire.
Our coming to God. Our continual coming after Him. Following hard after Him.
This is our privilege in this world, is to follow hard after God as a heart pans for the water brooks, so my soul pans for thee, O God. And so we're running hard after Him, we're trying to pursue Him, we're trying to approach Him. When shall I come before Him? David said, one thing have I desired of the Lord, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord forever, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.
So this is our privilege as Christians in Christ. It was not the privilege of every Jew. Only one Jew per year could go in, a high priest, and only for one day.
And it's a glorious privilege that is fulfilled in Christ, which we have not yet fully understood, but we will understand more fully when we have covered this material about the tabernacle, I trust.

Series by Steve Gregg

Content of the Gospel
Content of the Gospel
"Content of the Gospel" by Steve Gregg is a comprehensive exploration of the transformative nature of the Gospel, emphasizing the importance of repent
Message For The Young
Message For The Young
In this 6-part series, Steve Gregg emphasizes the importance of pursuing godliness and avoiding sinful behavior as a Christian, encouraging listeners
Micah
Micah
Steve Gregg provides a verse-by-verse analysis and teaching on the book of Micah, exploring the prophet's prophecies of God's judgment, the birthplace
Colossians
Colossians
In this 8-part series from Steve Gregg, listeners are taken on an insightful journey through the book of Colossians, exploring themes of transformatio
1 John
1 John
Steve Gregg teaches verse by verse through the book of 1 John, providing commentary and insights on topics such as walking in the light and love of Go
2 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
A thought-provoking biblical analysis by Steve Gregg on 2 Thessalonians, exploring topics such as the concept of rapture, martyrdom in church history,
Genuinely Following Jesus
Genuinely Following Jesus
Steve Gregg's lecture series on discipleship emphasizes the importance of following Jesus and becoming more like Him in character and values. He highl
1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians
In this three-part series from Steve Gregg, he provides an in-depth analysis of 1 Thessalonians, touching on topics such as sexual purity, eschatology
What Are We to Make of Israel
What Are We to Make of Israel
Steve Gregg explores the intricate implications of certain biblical passages in relation to the future of Israel, highlighting the historical context,
Nehemiah
Nehemiah
A comprehensive analysis by Steve Gregg on the book of Nehemiah, exploring the story of an ordinary man's determination and resilience in rebuilding t
More Series by Steve Gregg

More on OpenTheo

Licona vs. Fales: A Debate in 4 Parts – Part Two: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?
Licona vs. Fales: A Debate in 4 Parts – Part Two: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?
Risen Jesus
June 4, 2025
The following episode is part two of the debate between atheist philosopher Dr. Evan Fales and Dr. Mike Licona in 2014 at the University of St. Thoman
If Sin Is a Disease We’re Born with, How Can We Be Guilty When We Sin?
If Sin Is a Disease We’re Born with, How Can We Be Guilty When We Sin?
#STRask
June 19, 2025
Questions about how we can be guilty when we sin if sin is a disease we’re born with, how it can be that we’ll have free will in Heaven but not have t
Bible Study: Choices and Character in James, Part 1
Bible Study: Choices and Character in James, Part 1
Knight & Rose Show
June 21, 2025
Wintery Knight and Desert Rose explore chapters 1 and 2 of the Book of James. They discuss the book's author, James, the brother of Jesus, and his mar
Are Works the Evidence or the Energizer of Faith?
Are Works the Evidence or the Energizer of Faith?
#STRask
June 30, 2025
Questions about whether faith is the evidence or the energizer of faith, and biblical support for the idea that good works are inevitable and always d
Michael Egnor and Denyse O'Leary: The Immortal Mind
Michael Egnor and Denyse O'Leary: The Immortal Mind
Knight & Rose Show
May 31, 2025
Wintery Knight and Desert Rose interview Dr. Michael Egnor and Denyse O'Leary about their new book "The Immortal Mind". They discuss how scientific ev
What Should I Say to Someone Who Believes Zodiac Signs Determine Personality?
What Should I Say to Someone Who Believes Zodiac Signs Determine Personality?
#STRask
June 5, 2025
Questions about how to respond to a family member who believes Zodiac signs determine personality and what to say to a co-worker who believes aliens c
What Would Be the Point of Getting Baptized After All This Time?
What Would Be the Point of Getting Baptized After All This Time?
#STRask
May 22, 2025
Questions about the point of getting baptized after being a Christian for over 60 years, the difference between a short prayer and an eloquent one, an
What Should I Teach My Students About Worldviews?
What Should I Teach My Students About Worldviews?
#STRask
June 2, 2025
Question about how to go about teaching students about worldviews, what a worldview is, how to identify one, how to show that the Christian worldview
Fighting on Different Hills: Licona and Ally on the Resurrection of Jesus - Part 2
Fighting on Different Hills: Licona and Ally on the Resurrection of Jesus - Part 2
Risen Jesus
August 20, 2025
In 2004, Islamic scholar Dr. Shabir Ally and Dr. Mike Licona met at Regent University to debate the physical resurrection of Jesus. Both cases, a live
What Would You Say to an Atheist Who Claims to Lack a Worldview?
What Would You Say to an Atheist Who Claims to Lack a Worldview?
#STRask
July 17, 2025
Questions about how to handle a conversation with an atheist who claims to lack a worldview, and how to respond to someone who accuses you of being “s
Is Morality Determined by Society?
Is Morality Determined by Society?
#STRask
June 26, 2025
Questions about how to respond to someone who says morality is determined by society, whether our evolutionary biology causes us to think it’s objecti
What Should I Say to My Single, Christian Friend Who Is Planning to Use IVF to Have a Baby?
What Should I Say to My Single, Christian Friend Who Is Planning to Use IVF to Have a Baby?
#STRask
August 11, 2025
Questions about giving a biblical perspective to a single friend who is a relatively new Christian and is planning to use IVF to have a baby, and whet
Bodily Resurrection vs Consensual Realities: A Licona Craffert Debate
Bodily Resurrection vs Consensual Realities: A Licona Craffert Debate
Risen Jesus
June 25, 2025
In today’s episode, Dr. Mike Licona debates Dr. Pieter Craffert at the University of Johannesburg. While Dr. Licona provides a positive case for the b
Did Jesus Lie in Mark 5:39?
Did Jesus Lie in Mark 5:39?
#STRask
August 18, 2025
Questions about whether Jesus lied in Mark 5:39, proving that lying can’t be a sin, when he said, “The child has not died, but is asleep,” and what Je
Fighting on Different Hills: Licona and Ally on the Resurrection of Jesus - Part 1
Fighting on Different Hills: Licona and Ally on the Resurrection of Jesus - Part 1
Risen Jesus
August 13, 2025
In 2004, Islamic scholar Dr. Shabir Ally and Dr. Mike Licona met at Regent University to debate the physical resurrection of Jesus. Both cases, a live