EXODUS 26-27 lesson # 23
SACRED SPACE: THE TABERNACLE
I. Greetings:
II. Introduction: Looking the Tent Allegorically. Exodus 26.
Note: Our study today is focused on some of the details of how to make the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a rectangular tent with two compartments called the “holy place” and “the holy of hollies”.
Q Why does God call His dwelling place holy? Why pick this name?
An = The obvious answer is that where God is, is holy! His very majesty demands it. Where His Glory is there is Holiness!
Q What possible relevance could this tent made in the desert, (which was destroyed long before the time of Christ) have for us today?
An = Have someone read I Corinthians 3:16.
Q So what does that have to do with the Tabernacle? How does our bodies being the Temple of God and the Temple of God being holy have to do with life in the 1990’s?
An = The most important thing about the body of a Christian is that in our imperfect bodies dwells the presence of our Lord. We are His holy Tabernacle. It does not matter how well I we look or how physically talented we are, but how well I realize that my body has within it the presence of Almighty God. His Holy Spirit dwells within me.
Sure, look as good as you can! But how well I perform or look or whether we are a heart throb to the opposite sex seems so important, but is really not! The real issue is that I am the dwelling place of God. Where I go I represent Him! I am His new tent, His new dwelling place among men.
No matter what my ability is in comparison to others, no matter what my sexual attractiveness is to others, it is still true that I am His temple!
Q Was every tent in the ancient world a holy tabernacle?
An = No, and not every body here today is the Lord’s temple, but if the Spirit of God resides in you then, you are His temple!
Now with this in mind let me show you some of the richness, just a touch of it, of what we could learn from these verses….
A. The Construction of the Tent Itself: Exodus 26:1-30.
>>>> Have someone read Exodus 26:1-4, 7-9.
Q What specifics are given in the making of these curtains?
An = Size and type of material. If I read on, other specifics are given on construction.
Q We no longer have the tent, so what do these instructions mean today?
An = It was each of these details that was so carefully symbolically interpreted. Let me give you a few examples from an early 18 th century commentator, Matthew Henry (p. 101). 1 The Lord was to be worshipped in a tent, not a building because the Israelites were on the move just like our lives never stay the same way. We go through different stages in our lives: childhood, the turbulent teens, the courting stage, the early marriage stage, raising young children, raising teenage children, middle age, older age, being very old. Our lives are never still and the fact that God dwells in a tent that moves, as we move, lets us know that He is with us through out all stages of our lives.
2 The curtains must be constructed according to a divine pattern, not a pattern of our choosing. God’s patterns are best! The curtains were to be embroidered with cherubim, or figures of angels to symbolize that the angels of God surround God’s Church. Where God is worshipped by His people is a Holy and protected place:
>>>> Have someone read Psalm 34:7
3 The curtains that made up the actual tent were of many pieces that had to be clasped together because the churches of Christ and saints, though they are numerous, are yet one. So often we want folks just exactly like us, and yet we are separate. To function though as the church we need all the pieces if we are to have a tent. What unifies us is our love and worship of God:
>>>> Have someone read Ephesians 2:21-22.
4 The Tabernacle had several types of curtains or layers. The inner curtains on the inside were of fine linen, the outer ones of coarse goats hair. In the same manner the church should be better the closer ones gets inside of it. The believers of Christ, who are the new tabernacles within which God dwells should be better inside than they appear to be on the outside. A minister went to visit a parishioner at the Rest Home in his area and spoke with the women. He told her he had found her former house on a certain road because it is so close to where he lived. She responded: “It looks run down now, doesn’t it? “I can assure you”, she said, “it looks much better on the inside”. This was godly women, a very godly women and she in her own life is an example of that fact. Her body is old and makes life hard for her, but inside, is great beauty.
>>>> Have someone read I Peter 3:3-4.
Q Do Christians go in for more “spiritual show” than “spiritual reality”?
Q How is this done today?
RQ Are we better on in the inside than what folks see on the outside?
An = Watchman Nee was once viciously attacked by some in his church. His wife was understandably upset, but responded with: “If they lift Watchman up to the heavens, he is still Watchman, and if they consign him to hell, God will judge me fairly.”
My hope is that I grow better inside until the closer one gets to me the better I really am inside. I would like to be like the Tabernacle. I have a long way to go, but that is my goal. My body is the temple of His Holy Spirit, and I need to constantly remind myself of this.
B. The Protection of the Tabernacle: Exodus 26:36, 27:9-19.
>>>> Have someone read Exodus 26:36-37 and 27:9-11.
Q Did the Tabernacle had lock-able doors?
An = No, it was protected only by a curtain. Inside were silver and golden artifacts but the Tabernacle had no security. It did have a fence around the courtyard but it was made of cloth; hardly the stuff to keep robbers out.
Q Are buildings and equipment important?
An = They are, we do use them, for God’s service. I believe though that God is much more concerned with its real wealth. People in a congregation are eternal, they are its real wealth. Even if we totally, completely protected our buildings and equipment they would eventually crumble with time. People though, sitting in the pews, will live forever. They are much more valuable, much more vulnerable, much more the concern of God and true leaders.
V. Conclusion: The Design of the Tent: The Holy of Hollies. Exodus 26:31-33.
>>>> Have someone read Exodus 26:31-33.
Q How many compartments were inside the tent?
An = There was to be two compartments inside the tent: the larger Holy Place which contained the light stand, table of the shew bread, but inside the Holy of Hollies, was placed the symbol of God’s Holy Presence: The Ark of the Covenant.
>>>> Have someone read Hebrews 9:1-5.
Q Why was there two compartments? Why was one more special?
An = Only the Priests could enter it on special occasions. God’s dwelling was veiled: God’s holy presence is found only in Christ. When you truly find Christ then the veil is taken away. When Jesus died on the cross this “veil” was rent:
>>>> Have someone read Exodus 27:30.
Q Have we heard this before? What is being emphasized by being repeated?
An = If we do not listen to the His pattern we can miss how to really live before God. Moses obeyed the Lord. He did not build a stone dome, he followed the details and God has been blessing us ever since with such symbolism: Let me close with one more example
>>>> Read Matthew 27:50-51.
Q Were the early Christians aware of the importance of the tabernacle’s symbolism?
Q What did the action recorded in these verses symbolize?
An = Many say, well all religions are the same. This special attention given to Jesus as the Son of God is really not necessary, it is divisive. No, it is necessary, it God’s revealed pattern. Religion does not get us true forgiveness. Religion does not get us access to the God’s true presence. The blood of Jesus Christ does. The death of Jesus rents the veil. I would rather stay seemingly parochial, but not forfeit the access to God’s Almighty power and grace.