Camping With God Series

Ryan and Morgan adopted a child from an orphanage in another country. They'd passed through all the legal processes in that country. Charlie was their son. But right before the day when they were supposed to pick Charlie up from the orphanage, there were some political upheavals, and the country froze the process. No more children were going to be able to leave the country.

Charlie could not come to Ryan and Morgan. So, they decided to go to him. They flew over from the US and basically camped outside of the orphanage. They spent half their time with their son and the other half lobbying the courts and meeting with government officials, pleading with them to release their son.

After a few weeks, Morgan came home, but Ryan stayed. It was at Christmas time. This was not where he wanted to be at Christmas—away from home, far from family. But he was a father who loved his son. Since his son could not come to him, he was going to go to that son, and he was going to fight for that son. There would be more days and weeks of struggle, but, wonderfully, Ryan was eventually able to bring Charlie home (J. D. Greear, Searching For Christmas, The Good Book Company, 2020, p. 45-46; www.PreachingToday.com).

That’s a picture of what God did for us. He left the riches of heaven to come to a world of pain, all because He loves us, all because He wants to be with us.

Do you want to get to know your Heavenly Father a little better? Then, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 26, Exodus 26, where God gives instructions for His tent, so He can camp out with His people before He brings them home to glory.

Exodus 26:1-6 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole (ESV).

This is a magnificent tent with a beautiful inner curtain. It is white linen in which craftsmen will embroider heavenly beings (the cherubim) with blue, purple, and scarlet yarns.

Now, only the inhabitant of the tabernacle will see this curtain. That’s because God instructs Moses to lay three other curtains on top of this one in verses 7-14. God instructs Moses to put a white goat hair curtain on top of the inner curtain, a ram’s skin curtain dyed red on top of the goat hair curtain, and a goatskin curtain on top of it all.

From the outside, the tabernacle will look like a typical Bedouin tent. But from the inside, only God and the priests who minister in His presence will see the beautiful white, blue, purple, and scarlet curtain.

White reflects the purity of its Inhabitant. Blue reflects His divinity. Purple reflects His royalty. And scarlet looks to the sacrifice God will make to be with His people. The Pure, Divine King from heaven will forfeit everything to dwell with the likes of you and me. So, more than anything…

APPRECIATE HIS PRESENCE this morning.

Find comfort in His nearness to you today. Enjoy His company today and every day.

F. B. Meyer, 19th Century British evangelist, put it this way: “Little children, if they were startled at night by the howl or cry of the wild beasts of the wilderness, would take heart… when their parents reminded them that the light that shone softly over the sleeping-camp issued from Jehovah’s tent.”

Sleeping near the tabernacle, with the Shekinah glory shining overhead, would comfort not only the children, but their parents, as well.

Now, in a direct reference to this Old Testament tabernacle, the Apostle John uses the same language to describe Christ’s coming to this earth.

In John 1, He says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us [literally, He tabernacled among us; He pitched His tent among us] and we have seen his glory [the Shekinah glory], glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14).