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The Tabernacle in The Wilderness

Before in the “Mystery of the Trinity”, I showed just a few of the Old Testament inferences of the “Trinity”. Probably the most beautiful and detailed explanations of not just the Trinity but the Deity of Christ .. and every other doctrines of the scriptures…is found in the study of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle, also called “Gods Dwelling Place” and the “Tent of Meeting”, was built to exact specifications given by Moses, under Gods command. It was an exact duplicate of what God had shown Moses on the mount. It is interesting that there are only 2 chapters in the Bible on creation…but 50 chapters on the Tabernacle. Another interesting point is that the symbolism used in the Tabernacle…the numbers of items, the materials, the precious gems and metals, the dimensions, the pieces of furniture, the attire of the priests, the sacrifices…all remain the same throughout the entire holy writ. The physical elements of the Tabernacle only have their meanings in the light of Christ and refer to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the history of the church, the redemption of the believer, the body of Christ and the Kingdom of God. The tabernacle also paints a beautiful picture of the Godhead.

Without going into a lot of detail, the Tabernacle, or the “Tent of Meeting” was made to be able to be taken apart and transported from place to place, as the Hebrew children followed the pillar of fire by night or the cloud by day. The “outer court” was 150 feet long by 75 feet wide and consisted of a linen barrier 7.5 feet high supported by 60 gold covered pillars with brass sockets and silver caps….10 on each width and 20 on each length. The tabernacle was laid out with the length going east to west…and had an opening on the east side, with a white linen material covered entrance, with colors of scarlet, purple and blue in designs of cherubim.

If you were to walk in through the first veil entering the outer court…. in front of you would be seen the “brazen altar”. The bronze square altar with horns on the corners was the place of sacrifice. After the “brazen altar” you would come to the laver. The laver was made of shiny brass, filled with water and was used by the priest for ceremonial washing. West of the laver was a structure, 45 feet long by 15 feet wide and 15 feet high.

The Tabernacle building was made of gold plated wooden walls on both sides and on the rear (western end) of the structure. There was an entrance on the east side made of material hung on five gold plated pillars. The three walls were constructed of wide, thick boards standing on end, having two tenons inserted into heavy silver sockets. The sockets were placed on the ground. The boards were 15 feet long, twenty-seven inches wide and 4.5 inches thick. The inside of the tabernacle building was dived into two areas: the front (eastern room) was the Holy Place and was 15 feet by 30 feet, taking up 2/3 of the structure. Another material curtain separated that area from the Holy of Holies, which was a perfect cube 15 feet in height, length and width.

The tabernacle structure was covered with 4 layers of material: a white linen with hues of scarlet, purple and blue in the designs of Cherubim; next was a tent of black goats hair; next red dyed Rams skins and lastly badger skin.

Back to your journey, you have passed the Laver and now enter through the second curtain into the Holy Place. Thirty feet in front of you is the Golden Altar of Incense (actually directly in front of the last curtain entering into the Holy of Holies). On your right is the Table of the Shewbread and on your left the Lampstand. The Lampstand is the only light in Tabernacle. Behind the last curtain, which is about 6 inches thick, is the Holy of Holies. In the center of the square room is the Ark of the Covenant. The top of the Ark is a removable lid which has two gold cherubim on it, facing each other, kneeling in prayer, which is called the Mercy Seat.

As I said, this is an incredible study, that I truly encourage you to explore. There are a number of good books on the Tabernacle by Henry Soltau, David Levy James Strong and William Brown. If you can find Alexander Ness, Patterns for Living, which has been out of print for many years…you will be blessed.

So here is some facets of this incredible teaching.

There are three courts. The outer court, which is open to the elements of this world. The light, the rain, the heat, the stars, sun and moon. To get in this outer court you must come in through the first entrance. Jesus said “ I am the door”. This is the only way. This court represents God the Son. Jesus laid aside His robe of majesty and girded Himself with the towel of humanity. God became man. The two pieces of furniture are the Brazen Altar..the place of sacrifice (the cross) and the Laver…the place of washing. (Baptism…and being washed by the water of the Word. Jesus is the Word. “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

The three courts represent, God the Son…God the Spirit…and God the Father. The entrances… the Way, the Truth and the Life. Only ONE Tabernacle …containing three specific partitions.

You enter through the second veil (the truth) into the Holy Place (God the Spirit). The only light is the Lampstand. Remember at Pentecost how the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples as a baptism of fire. The Holy Spirit illuminates us and shows us truth. On the right is the Table of the Shewbread. The 12 loaves of unleavened bread representing not only the 12 tribes of Israel but the 12 disciples. It represents Gods work on each of us to knead us, mold us and bake us in the fire of trials and testing. The Table of Shewbread represents “Santification” which is a work of the Holy Spirit within us. In front of us the “Golden Altar of Incense”. The place of prayer, supplication, praise and worship, which is our way of entering into the presence of the Father.

The last curtain (veil) representing the life.. enters us into the Holy of Holies (The Father). The only light here is the presence of God Himself. In Revelations 21:23 John describes New Jerusalem (also a perfect cube like the Holy of Holies) saying, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Jesus came before the Father with His own blood, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat of heaven, as a propitiation for the sins of the race of Adam. God said He would meet with Moses between the wings of the Cherubim. And Moses was a type of Christ in the Old Testament. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”