Exodus 26,27 - Not So Boring Afterall!
I found myself rushing through these passages. It is laborious to read the details of how the tabernacle was constructed. I’m not a builder and this is not exactly a riveting story. It’s like trying to read a description of grass growing, blade by blade. Why does God want all these details included? This is part of the Word of God and therefore it has something to say to me, but what? How does this relate to me today?
Exodus 26 speaks about the materials God wants Moses to use for the Tabernacle. It speaks very specifically about the curtains, boards, bars, veil and screen for the Holy of Holies. It speaks about the exact measurements of the Tabernacle, building a bronze altar and court, and about lamp which was to be kept burning just outside the veil of the inner sanctuary.
What amazes me about the building of the Tabernacle - the place where God would reveal Himself, was how portable it was. When they packed up and moved in the desert, the Tabernacle would go too. This was God’s mobile home made like no other mobile home you have ever seen, and each part had to be crafted precisely.
Still, it’s the most unlikely place for worship you have ever seen. It’s like a walled off tent with the Ark of the Covenant in one section divided off by a veil. Incense was burned in the other section. There was a table of showbread and a golden lampstand. Outside the tent was a bronze water bowl and an altar for burnt offerings. The whole thing had a rectangular wall around it of curtains.
When you think about it the whole thing leads you into the presence of God. There’s only one door that you can enter through the outer wall. We come to God through Christ who spoke of Himself as the door.
We arrive at the altar to sacrifice an animal because our sin requires something to pay the price for our sin. Christ died on the Cross once and for all for our sin.
You have to wash at the bronze altar before entering into the first section of the tent called the Holy Place. We have to be clean and forgiven before entering in and being able to have a relationship with God. Christ has washed us clean by forgiving us of our sin.
We walk by the golden lampstand which provides light in the Holy Place section of the tent. Christ is the light of the world. We can walk in His light day by day.
We pass by the table of showbread. Christ is the bread of life. When we believe in Christ we have eternal life.
We go further and pass the altar of incense. Incense is always related to prayer in the Bible.
And then we enter into the Holy of Holies through the veil. The veil was torn in the temple when Christ died opening the way for us to enter into God’s presence. There we see the Ark of the Covenant. In Christ there is a new Covenant and we experience the presence of God because He has taken up residence, not in a tent but in us. We are His mobile home!
God knows what He was doing when He gives us specific instructions to make our body, His Church, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Not so boring after all! Thanks for the reminder, Lord. I want to honour You today. Thankyou for taking up residence in me and for forgiving me and enabling me to have a personal relationship with You through Christ.
God bless you Church as God builds your life in such a way as to take up residence with you and in you and through you. May we represent Him today in our lives.
