Paul Calvert unpacks some of the meaning behind the tabernacle

Viki Taylor

The story of the tabernacle begins in Exodus chapter 25 when Moses left Egypt with the children of Israel. They arrived at Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments and instructions to build the tabernacle. God said to the people, take donations of gold, bronze, silver, acacia wood, material and let them build a centre for me so that I will dwell among them. Gods' desire is to dwell with his people!

God gave Moses the exact measurement in cubits, today 1 cubit is about 18-20 inches.

There was one entrance facing east on the tabernacle. The reason for this was that the sun rises in the east; with pagan worship many people worshipped the sun, so when you were going into the tabernacle you were facing the west and your back would be against the east. Israel was making a declaration that it was turning its back on all other Gods and worshipping the one true God.

When the tabernacle was complete the Spirit of God came to dwell and a pillar of fire directed Israel during the night and a cloud during the day. The pillar of cloud was a guide for Israel in the desert; when it was time to move, the pillar of cloud moved, the Levities would take down the tabernacle and the Israelites would dismantle the camp. When it was time to stop the pillar stopped and the Levities rebuilt the tabernacle again and Israel built the camp around it. That's the way they travelled for 40 years. In 40 years they moved the camp 42 times.

The work in the tabernacle was related to sacrifices. It says in the Torah that the reason sacrifice is needed is because there is atonement through blood, without blood there is no atonement for sin. The first person to make the first sacrifice was God in the Garden of Eden; when Adam and Eve sinned he covered them with animal skin. An animal had to die for the sin; God sacrificed to atone for man's sin and from that day forward the way to God was through blood sacrifices. With this in mind the reason there was only one door in the tabernacle was because there is only one way to God and it is through the blood of Jesus or Yeshua (in Hebrew), the perfect sacrifice. Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me." When we go to God we go thought the blood of his precious son Jesus.

The tabernacle had three parts; the Outer Courts which the Levities and Priests could go into, the Holy Place which the Priests could go into and the Holy of Holies which was for the High Priest only.

The first thing you would see when you went into the tabernacle was the altar where the Priests would bring their sacrifices. There were sacrifices every morning and evening, on Shabbat and on holidays and on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur was the only day where the blood from the altar was taken into the Holy of Holies by the High Priest. This was the day when God forgave the people their sins. On Yom Kippur there were 4 offerings; 1 bull to atone for Aaron and his sons, one ram for the sins of Israel and 2 goats. Aaron had to be forgiven first because he was bringing the sacrifice for all of Israel.

A lottery was had for the two goats; one was chosen to burn on the altar and the other was taken into the holy of holies where he would place his hand on the goats head and confess the sins of the nation. The goat would then be taken out into the wilderness and released, taking the sins of Israel with it.

The altar was made of acacia wood and covered with copper. It had 4 horns on it and 4 bars so that it could be carried; a ramp led up to the altar to protect the modesty of the Priest. If there had been steps and the Priest took big steps, he would have shown bare legs. The priests wore long robes and were not supposed to show their legs.

Inside was also a copper leaver where the Priest would wash himself before presenting a sacrifice.

The tabernacle

The tabernacle was made from acacia wood covered with wool which all slotted together so it would be easy to set up and take down.

The tabernacle had 4 coverings; the first was linen, the second was goats' hair, the third was rams skin coloured red and the fourth was badger's skin. The first cloth covering had 4 colours, white, red, blue and purple. White represents purity, red represents blood, blue represents heaven and the purple represents kingship. Each one points to Jesus the Jewish Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who was pure. He came from heaven to give his blood and now he is reigning.

Only the Priest was allowed in the Holy Place, anyone else would perish.

On a table in the Holy Place were 12 pieces of bread; 1 for every tribe of Israel. This bread was replaced every Shabbat. On Shabbat Priests and their families were allowed to eat from it. Priests and families only, others would perish. However King David who was not a Priest or the son of a Priest came and ate some of the bread but he wasn't killed; he was anointed as a King but not a Priest. He ate it because he was hungry; he was running for his life from Saul. Here you see grace superseding the law. We have the law but we also have grace. The law is the Old Testament and the grace is the New Testament. The bread also represents the body of Jesus.