Exodus 24:7-8 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
“All that the Lord hath said we will do!” Israel promised God regarding the law, but God’s people fell short even with the best intentions. People sin. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Rom. 3:23). Holy law demands a perfect sacrifice. While the nation was declaring its allegiance to God, Moses sprinkled both the law and the people with blood. “…sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you” (Heb. 9:19). Holy law would demand a sacrifice that grace would provide.
At Mount Sinai, God gave the law and the plans for the tabernacle. The Ten Commandments would reveal God’s holiness, expose man’s sinfulness, and reveal man’s need for a Savior. The tabernacle made a provision for people under the old covenant (those who lived before Jesus). The tabernacle illustrates salvation and how our spiritual walk with God works. God provided a way for sinners to approach him by priest and sacrifice. The sacrificial system would point to the perfect sacrifice for sin, the Lord Jesus, and His High Priestly work for us in heaven at “the true tabernacle.” What law demanded grace provided. Grace provided the tabernacle.
Hebrews 8:1-2 “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”
Hebrews 9:11-14 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:”
Jesus’ blood fulfils the prophetic forecast of the old covenant (Old Testament) and seals the new covenant (New Testament) for us. People under the old covenant could approach God only through a priest and a sacrifice. Now all people can come directly to God in faith because Jesus’ death has made us acceptable in God’s eyes. We are “… justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:21-24).
The old covenant was just a shadow of the new (Jer. 31:31), pointing forward to the day when Jesus himself would be the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin. Rather than a lamb without blemish, the perfect Lamb of God was slain on the cross as a sinless sacrifice so that our sins could be forgiven once and for all. All those who believe in him receive that forgiveness.
God Desires To Dwell With His People.
Exodus 25:8-9 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
God created man for fellowship with him. God desires to dwell with His people both now and in eternity. When man fell into sin in the garden. God immediately made provision by a blood sacrifice (Gen. 3). Adam and Eve were spiritually and physically covered with the sacrifice demonstrating redemption. The Heavenly Father could see Adam and Eve through the future sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and could have fellowship with them through His Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
“And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat…” (Ex. 25:22). The tabernacle was God’s sanctioned meeting place for over five hundred years. Under the direction of God, Solomon built a permanent structure in the promised land upon Mount Moriah in the city of Jerusalem. The temple became the place of sacrifice until Jesus came.
The tabernacle was central to the life of Israel. Everything the children of Israel did was centered around the tabernacle. They sacrificially gave the materials for it. They camped in physical relation to it. Each Israelite was personally responsible for bringing his own sacrifices to it. It was the central place of worship in the promised land—each tribe making its pilgrimages there. Saints in captivity prayed toward it. Ancient Israel had a saying, “if God had an eye, Israel would be the whole eye, Jerusalem the pupil, and the temple the pupil’s focus.”
Then God came in the flesh. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14) “…a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). Immanuel means, “God with us.” God “came unto his own” (John 1:12). When Jesus cried on the cross, “It is finished!” He completed His work for the salvation of sinners. When Christ cried and gave up the ghost, the veil in the temple was rent in twain, signifying that all the types, shadows, and forecasts of the ceremonial laws were complete on Calvary (John 19:30; Mark 15:38).
Jesus, our High Priest, ascended to the Heavenly tabernacle with His own blood to purchase the pardon of our sins. Our sin debt was paid in full!
Hebrews 9:11-13 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
The Father sent His Holy Spirit to inhabit his people upon Christ’s completed work. Christ dwells in His church. We are His bride, His body, and His temple!
II Corinthians 6:16 “…for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk-in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
God’s desire from eternity passed will be ultimately fulfilled one day by God. God will eternally dwell with all the saints from all ages.
Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”
The Picture of the Tabernacle
Hebrews 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Hebrews 9:23-24 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
The Tabernacle was the only perfect building ever made. God was its Architect and Builder. God established this sacrificial worship system between Moses and the cross. The tabernacle pointed with precision to the person and work of Jesus Christ. God gave a graphic portrayal of His redemption plan with every “example,” “shadow,” and “figure.” Therefore, the prescription and pattern were never to be varied. God constructed the tabernacle by filling men and women craftsmen with His Holy Spirit for the work. (Exodus 31:2-3; 35:25).
Some of the pictures found in the tabernacle furniture:
1.) The one door leads to the Brazen Altar, pointing to the sacrifice of the cross.
2.) The Laver speaks of daily cleansing and fellowship.
3.) The Table of Showbread points to the daily bread of God’s Word.
4.) The Candlestick represents “walking in the light” of the Holy Spirit.
5.) The Table of Incense shows us the power and privilege of prayer.
6.) The Ark of the Covenant pictures mercy, rest, and peace in God’s presence.
God has always been jealous of His pictures.
God’s pictures demonstrate His glory and our salvation. When a man varies from God’s ordered precepts, he deifies himself, attempts to dethrone God, and robs Him of His glory. When a man corrupts the picture, he confuses the way of salvation. God killed Nadab and Abihu for offering “strange fire” in the temple. He killed Uzzah for touching the ark. Even Moses was shut out of the promised land for smiting the Rock (The Picture of Christ) when he was to speak to the already smitten Rock. Jesus, twice in anger, cleansed the temple and drove out the money changers. “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (John 2:17).
The ceremonial law was fulfilled on Calvary, but God is still serious about His pictures. The old covenant saints had a tabernacle, but we have our temple, our body, which is in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. Israel had a heavenly pattern given to them on Mount Sinai and so have a heavenly design for us in the Word of God. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Ghost in church, the Lord killed them. Some believers in the church at Corinth were sick, and others dead from taking the Lord’s Supper “unworthily.” The same seriousness and gravity of mind that the Old Testament saint had toward the tabernacle we should have toward our personal Savior Jesus Christ. Remember, God is zealous for His glory and our salvation. God is jealous of His pictures. “Be ye holy for I am holy”(Lev. 11:44; I Pet. 1:16).