What was the tabernacle for?
Fresh from Sinai's thunder, God asked for an offering and built a home: a sanctuary so He could dwell among the people He had rescued. Every board and curtain taught that access to Him is real but mediated, and the mercy seat sat above the tablets of the law. When the glory filled the finished tent, God moved in; and John says the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.
This question arose from studying Why did God give Israel the law at Sinai?.
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What the Scripture says
The goal of the covenant was life together with God
Sinai gave commandments, but God's first request after them was a home: 'Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.' He later names this as the very reason for the Exodus, saying He brought Israel out of Egypt 'that I might dwell among them.' Rescue was never just out of slavery; it was into residence with God. The tabernacle exists because the covenant aims at fellowship.
Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.
Access is real, but mediated
God says of the mercy seat, 'There I will meet with you,' yet He also warns Aaron not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place, lest he die. Curtains, courts, washings, and a priesthood all preach the same sermon: nearness to God is genuinely offered, but only on His terms and through His appointed way. Hebrews confirms the design, calling those holy places 'representations of the true'.
There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
and Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;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:
The mercy seat sat above the law
Inside the ark lay the testimony, the tablets of the covenant law; on top of it was the mercy seat, and there, above the law, God said He would meet with His people. The furniture arrangement preaches before any prophet does: atonement covers commandment-breaking. Paul reaches for the same word when he says God sent Jesus as 'an atoning sacrifice', received through faith in his blood.
You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance;Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
The glory filling the tent was God moving in
When the work was finished exactly as commanded, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, 'and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle.' So heavy was the presence that Moses himself could not get inside. From then on the cloud by day and the fire by night directed every march and every camp. The tabernacle was never mainly architecture; it was Presence, God traveling with His people.
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle. Moses wasn’t able to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud stayed on it, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle.Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
For the cloud of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
Jesus tabernacled among us
John's claim about the incarnation borrows this chapter's vocabulary: 'The Word became flesh, and lived among us,' literally, pitched His tent in our midst, and 'we saw his glory.' He frames it against Sinai: 'The law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.' No one has seen God, John says, but the Son has declared Him. This is Immanuel, 'God with us.'
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel”; which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
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What did the sacrificial system teach Israel?→“For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”Why did Israel wander for forty years?→“Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”Why did God let Israel go hungry in the wilderness?→“You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. He humbled you, and allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know; that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth.And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”What did Moses set before Israel at the end?→“Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.”Must Christians keep the Sabbath?→“He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”Explore further
Do I need a priest to reach God?→Jesus Christ trail“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”Who can forgive sins?→Our Walk with Him trail“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)”What did the temple add that the tent lacked?→The Land & the Throne trail“He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle.Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
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