EXPLORE THE TEXT
Believers can enjoy God’s presence when we gather to worship.
8 “They are to make a sanctuary for me
so that I may dwell among them.
9 You must make it according to all that I show you ?- ?
the pattern of the tabernacle as well as the pattern of all its furnishings.”
God with us
In Eden, God had provided close companionship with Adam and Eve.
While He did not necessarily dwell with them, His presence with them was unmistakable.
Sin shattered that connection;
and while God appeared to His followers after Eden, He did not discuss dwelling with His people again
until the tabernacle and, later, the temple.
Yet, even this was a shadow of His larger plan.
Through Jesus the Messiah, God came to dwell (tabernacle) with humanity as a human being (John 1:14).
The Word became flesh, and His presence continues to be experienced through the work of the Holy Spirit (16:7-11).
One day, Eden will be completely reversed as Jesus brings His people back into uninterrupted fellowship with the Father (Rev. 21:3-4).
The three tabernacles
The Old Testament mentions three tabernacles.
The first was the “provisional” tabernacle that was established after the sin of the golden calf.
It was located outside the camp and called the “tent of meeting” (Ex. 33:7).
The second was the “Sinaitic” tabernacle that was built according to the directions given to Moses by God.
It stood in the center of the camp (Ex. 35-40).
Finally, Scripture refers to the “Davidic” tabernacle, which he erected in Jerusalem for the reception of the ark of the covenant (2 Sam. 6:17).
verses 8-9 on page 86 of the PSG definition of “sanctuary” and “tabernacle”
(miqdash) comes from the root meaning to “be holy.”
It is where God’s people could encounter His holy presence.
The point of placing the tabernacle in the center of Israel’s camp was that everything in their lives could revolve around His presence.
They were to be God-centered.
All biblical references to God’s house refer to His earthly sanctuary (for examples, see Ex. 23:19; Judg. 18:31; Pss. 42:4; 65:4; 118:26; 122:1; Matt. 12:4; John 2:16).
But Jesus’s death and resurrection made all earthly sanctuaries obsolete.
He is now God’s tabernacle (John 1:14; also 2:19-21; 4:21)
and the primary revelation of God’s presence among His people.
Challenge the group to think about how the terms are similar and different.
Jesus is the ultimate example of God coming to humanity.
Note that God was specific about the pattern of each part of the tabernacle because every item pointed people to Jesus.
The Israelites had never undertaken such a building project,
but God had already empowered some master craftsmen to take on the challenge.