It had been an interesting few days for the Israelites. Jehovah had just liberated them from Egypt’s fetters as His might and power were on display in the plagues and parting of the Red Sea. They traveled to Mount Sinai where Moses, who had led them out of Egypt, would meet with God face to face. The Lord of Hosts was going to give Moses and Israel a plan. Now that they were free from the chains of Egypt, they needed to be free from the bondage of sin. They were out of Egypt, but now they needed to get Egypt out of them. Liberation came with a price and a new lifestyle. Here at Mount Sinai, they would be given the Law. Besides the commandments written on tablets of stone, Jehovah gave Moses a divine plan. God was going to dwell among His chosen people.
“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” (Exodus 25:8–9).
The Tabernacle in the wilderness would serve as a type and shadow of heavenly realities.
“They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain'”(Hebrews 8:5).
If God was going dwell in the midst of His people, then there needed to be a blueprint. The world has never seen a more perfect structure than the Tabernacle, for God was the Divine architect. Every detail was given attention and was baptized with meaning. This was the blueprint, and it was to be followed correctly. This transportable sacred structure would only be stationary at particular points in the wilderness. When they would set up the Tabernacle it would dwell at the center-most part of the camp with each tribe strategically situated. The presence of God was to be the center of the Israelite’s life as they wandered the wilderness.
Much could be written about the Tabernacle in the wilderness for it is teeming with spiritual significance. It should be noted that we have only two chapters in Scripture concerning the creation, but we have close to fifty chapters concerning the tabernacle. God would rather us be more attentive to His dwelling among His people.
The Perfect Pattern
When the Lord began to give Moses the pattern for the Tabernacle He began with the interior and worked his way out. The blueprint started in the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant and worked inside to outside. So it is with the Christian. Salvation begins in the inner man at the heart, then sanctification works inside out. For our brief survey, we are going to work through the Tabernacle as it would be approached.
Located in the courtyard and within the Tabernacle structure would be objects and furnishings which would serve in the worship of the inhabiting presence of Jehovah. Each item would serve a particular function.
- The Brazen Altar
- The Laver
- The Table of Showbread
- The Golden Lamp Stand
- The Altar of Incense
- The Ark of the Covenant and Mercy Seat
The Altar
The Tabernacle was surrounded by linen curtains serving as a fence. The purpose of this fence was to keep man out. The curtains stood seven and a half feet tall, bystanders could not casually see what was happening in the courts of the Tabernacle, they would have to come in. Anyone could come, but you must enter by the one entrance. One could not jump over the fence, or slide under the fence. No, there was only one entrance. The one entrance was embroidered with blue, scarlet, and purple needlework (Ex. 38:18).
Once you entered the door and entered the court of the Tabernacle you were met by the Brazen Altar. The Altar for burnt offerings stood just inside the door. It was the shape of a square, measuring seven and a half feet long and wide and four and a half feet high. It was large and could support the sacrifice of lambs, bulls, and oxen. This was the largest piece of equipment. Built of wood and overlaid with brass, here the sacrifice was slain and burned. However, no man started the fire, the fire was kindled from heaven, and it was to never go out (Lev. 6:12-13; 9:24). Salvation is of the Lord, and His fire never goes out!
The Laver
The Laver was made of solid brass and was to be filled with pure water (Ex. 30:17-21; 38:8). The priests would wash their hands and feet after stopping at the Altar. The Laver is representative of our washing and cleansing. This can only come after the burnt offering. To be born again and to be washed in pure water for the remission of our sins can only come after spiritual death at repentance (John 3:3-9).
One should note that the size of the Laver is never mentioned, whereas all the other dimensions and details for all other furnishings are given. But the size of the Laver is not given perhaps because any and all can be washed. The Altar was large enough to kill the sacrifice, but the Laver was large enough to cleanse the vilest of sinners. It was limitless in its function. With no floor in the Tabernacle or in the court, the priest’s feet were in constant contact with the ground. Oh, for a washing and a cleansing! There must be a continual washing for the Christian. Sins could be forgiven, but the defilement of the world needs remission. To be made new, and washed clean!
The Table of Showbread
Once you are washed at the laver you entered the Holy Place. The sacrifice has been accepted, the water has washed away the defilements, and you can now enter fellowship.
Three pieces of furniture were in the Holy Place:
- the table of showbread
- the golden lampstand
- the altar of incense
On the north side of the Holy Place was the table of showbread. The table was made of acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold. The table’s dimensions were three feet long and one and a half feet wide and two and a quarter feet high (Ex. 25:23-24). The table also had parts to which it could be easily transported, and it included its utensils (Ex. 25:24-29). Each week there would be twelve pieces of bread placed on the table. Two stacks of six loaves. The bread was not food for God, like some pagan god. Rather, this represented God’s people being physically sustained by Jehovah. This bread was to be eaten by the priests. The bread was representative of the Word of God to be eaten and digested.
The Golden Lamp Stand
Across from the table of showbread was the Golden Lamp Stand or Candlestick (Ex. 25:31-40). It was made of beaten pure gold. There were seven branches, three standing on each side and one in the middle. In the outer court of the Tabernacle, the light would be provided by the sun. However, in the Holy Place, the light illuminated from the golden candlestick. There were no windows, or electricity, only the candlestick. The oil provided the light, which was made of pure beaten olive oil. The fresh oil from the unripened olives would give a smokeless light. The people would provide the oil for the illumination in the Holy Place. The bread was eaten under the illumination of the oil sustained candlestick.
The Altar of Incense
Standing in front of the veil of the Holy of Holies was the Altar of Incense. The Golden Candlestick is glowing, the bread has been eaten and now the High Priest draws near to the Altar of Incense. Before he can go into the holiest place he must come to the place of prayer. It was made of wood and overlaid with pure gold. It stood three feet high and one half feet square. It sat at the central position in the Holy Place, between the Table of Showbread and the Golden Candlestick. Every morning Aaron the High Priest was to burn incense upon it.
Prayer is necessary for fellowship with God. We partake of His Word, our hearts and minds are illuminated by His guiding light, and we commune with Him in prayer. Here at the altar of incense, we send up our supplications and intercessions. It is a sweet smelling aroma unto the Lord.
The Holy of Holies
Now the priest enters the Holy of Holies through the veil which is directly behind the altar of incense. Here, in the most holy place, stood the Ark of the Covenant and Mercy Seat. This was the most important piece of the Tabernacle. The Holy of Holies was fifteen feet high, wide and long. It was separated from the Holy Place by a heavy curtain or veil.
The Ark of the Covenant was three and three-fourths feet long, two and one-fourth feet wide, and two and one-fourth feet high. It was made of wood, covered with gold. The Ark contained the written law, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. Sitting on top of the ark was the golden mercy seat which had two cherubim with their outstretched wings touching.
The Ark was a symbol of God’s throne. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter this last room and sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat from the slain sacrifice. The broken law, which was housed in the Ark, needed a mercy seat and shed blood to cover it. But it was here, at the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, that the Shekinah Glory of God would hover. The glory of God would dwell where the shed blood of redemption was applied. The broken law is covered by mercy and blood. The Spirit of God would not dwell where the blood wasn’t applied.
Once the Tabernacle was completed and erected the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35). Moses was unable to enter in the Tabernacle due to the Spirit of God richly dwelling there.
The Tabernacle of God in John’s Gospel
Now, we must understand the significance of the Tabernacle in the New Testament. The writer of Hebrews stated that the Tabernacle was a shadow and copy of heavenly realities. But the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was only temporary. It could not and would not last forever, and it would begin to deteriorate with time and the elements. The sacrifices proved to be insufficient for man’s sins. At the Tabernacle, God would only be at one location on earth, though His Spirit is omnipresent. If God was going to dwell among His people, then another tabernacle was needed.
John’s Gospel is significant, for he pens his opening declaring that Jesus Christ is the Word of God dwelling among us (Jn. 1:1-3, 14). He uses the phrase “dwelt among us” to describe the Living Word of God as coming to earth. The word dwelt in the original language means to “pitch a tent.”
The tabernacle was the dwelling-place of Jehovah; the meeting-place of God and Israel. So the Word came to men in the person of Jesus. As Jehovah adopted for His habitation a dwelling like that of the people in the wilderness, so the Word assumed a community of nature with mankind, an embodiment like that of humanity at large, and became flesh.
There is also a captivating parallel between the structure of John’s Gospel and the Tabernacle of the Old Testament.
The Tabernacle in the Wilderness was in three parts: The courtyard, the holy place, and the holy of holies. But it should be noted that it was only one Tabernacle. There may have been three different areas of that one Tabernacle, but it was still one Tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant which stood in the holy of holies was wood covered in gold on both the inside and outside. Three parts – gold (divine), wood (humanity), gold (divine). Again, only one Ark of the Covenant. The Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant are a shadow of heavenly things, but represent Jesus Christ in reality. Jesus was Tabernacled among us. Not many could understand that Jesus was the embodiment of God the Father. He was Father (divine), Son (humanity), and Spirit (divine).
The Tabernacle in the Wilderness was furnished with seven significant pieces, all of which pointed to Jesus Christ. When we come to John’s Gospel we find those same seven furnishings in the exact same order. Whether or not John purposed this or not, or whether He was divinely inspired to categorize these things in this way is not certain. However, we should note that everything was done according to patter (Heb. 8:5).
The Altar
John begins by saying that Jesus Christ was “tabernacled” among us (Jn. 1:14). But it is John the Baptist who points to the Brazen Altar and declares Jesus to be the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29). It will be Jesus’ death at Calvary that will bring atonement for the sins of the world. Jesus as the Lamb of God will once and for all end the necessity for sacrifice (Heb 8:13).
The Laver
Next, in the third chapter of John’s Gospel, we find Jesus taking us to the Laver. When Nicodemus, a learned Jewish rabbi, comes at night to speak with the Lord, Jesus tells him that you must be born again of the water and the Spirit or you cannot see or enter the Kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3-6). You must be washed and sanctified by the water. It is not enough to simply have the Lamb of God on the altar, you must be washed.
The Table of Showbread
Following the Laver, we find in John chapter four, five, and six that John takes us to the table of showbread. Jesus tells the woman at the well that He is the Living water, of which if a man drinks, he shall never thirst again (Jn. 4:10; 13-14). He speaks to His disciples that His food is to do the will of Him who sent Him (Jn. 5:34). In John five Jesus tells his audience that the Scriptures which give eternal sustenance speak of Him (Jn. 5:39). Then Jesus explains that He is the bread of life, that if a man comes to Him, he will never hunger again (Jn. 6:25). Jesus was the bread come down from heaven, and whoever eats on this bread will live forever (Jn. 6:57-58). Many turned from following Him at this saying, but Peter knew that Jesus was the word of eternal life.
The Golden Lamp Stand
Next, in John chapter eight John walks us to the Golden Lamp Stand. Jesus plainly declares that He is the Light of the World and that whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. In Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness and darkness will not overcome it (Jn. 1:4-5). Jesus’ light brings sight to the blind, but those who do not believe remain in blind in their darkness (Jn. 9:39-41).
The Altar of Incense
Then in John chapters fourteen through seventeen, we see Jesus with the eleven disciples teaching them to pray at the Altar of Incense. He teaches them to pray at the golden altar in a way and through a Name unknown before. Before the priest stood at the Altar of Incense offering prayers for Israel. Now, Jesus is showing that prayer in His Name is the way of intercession and supplication. If they would abide in Jesus and in His words, they could ask whatever they desired and it would be done for them (Jn. 15:7). However, now His Name had been manifested and faith in that name brought power to prayers. But in that High Priestly prayer in John seventeen we see Jesus, our High Priest, offering supplications and intercession for His disciples at the Golden Altar of Incense.
The Ark of the Covenant and Shekinah Glory
Finally, in the climax of Calvary in John eighteen and nineteen, we see the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat. Jesus is the very Ark of the Covenant and its Mercy Seat sprinkled with His own blood. The sins of the world had been atoned for, and the broken Law was now covered with the blood of Jesus Christ. Instead of a broken covenant with God the Father, we have a new covenant through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in which He says, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God, and your God” (Jn. 20:17).
However, once the blood had sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant and everything was finished, the glory of God would fill the Tabernacle with the Shekinah Glory. And here, John shows us that it is the gift of the Holy Spirit, that now fills our earthen vessel, “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost’” (Jn. 20:22). This is the new Shekinah glory!
Brothers and sisters, the Tabernacle in the Old Testament was only a type and shadow of a heavenly reality. It pointed to a better tabernacle and a better dwelling. God did not want to dwell in a tent made of hands. He was the Word of God tabernacled in flesh. He was the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world. He was the bread of life and the living water. He was the light shining in the darkness of sin. He has given us a Name that can be used in prayer and supplication. He was the Ark of the Covenant housing the Word of God, the bread of God, and the power of God. And He was the Mercy Seat which brought grace upon grace. However, what could be better than Christ being tabernacled among us? It was expedient that He (which dwelt among us) go away, so He can be in us (Jn. 14:-16-17).
Behold, the Tabernacle of God!