God gave Moses a divine plan in building the Tabernacle :

“According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so shall you make it.” Exodus 25:9

Moses was required to build the tabernacle exactly to the plan which God gave Him.

“They served in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”” Hebrews 8:5

It was divided into three different areas within it.

There was the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place and the Outer court.

Each area had its own pieces of furniture. The furniture was also to be made exactly to the pattern that God gave Moses.

 

The Purpose of the Tabernacle

When Moses was on the mountain with God, God said to him:

“…let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8

The purpose of the Tabernacle was for God to dwell among His people, in order to guide them and to bless and provide for them.

God has always desired fellowship with man. We see this with God’s dealings with Adam and Eve, with Israel and with the followers of Christ – His Church. In fact the Tabernacle of Moses points ultimately to Jesus Christ as it is a picture of God dwelling amongst man.

In John 1:14 we read:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The word “dwelt” here literally means to “pitch a tent”. It is from the Greek word skenoo

“…This word skene (tent) is the very word used in the New Testament to refer to the tabernacle of God used by Israel in their early worship of God. If you remember, the tabernacle was a wooden structure with a tent pitched over the top. In the Greek New Testament therefore, the word translated “tabernacle” is skene — “the tent” (Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:2, 5, and chapter 9). Hence, when the glory of God descended to the earth to take up residence in the midst of Israel as described in Exodus 40:34-38, it could be said that God “pitched His tent” among men. The writer of the book of Hebrews calls it “the true tent [skene] that the Lord set up” (Hebrews 8:2). The glory of God went camping with Israel as Israel wandered in the wilderness.” (source: http://www.awordfromtheword.org/dwelt)

When Jesus became a Man and dwelt among us, it was the ultimate fulfillment of the Tabernacle of Moses. Here was God not only dwelling amongst human beings, but God dwelling in human flesh Himself. How merciful that God would take on human flesh to bring about fellowship with man again!

And now, as believers in Christ, God Himself dwells (tabernacles) in us. By His Holy Spirit God now dwells not only with man, but inside of man. The incredible kindness and mercy of God!

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ” 1 Corinthians 6:19 

The Tabernacle of Moses shows us many things:

• That God desires fellowship with His people;

• That God always is the one to initiate fellowship between Him and man;

• That God has a plan to bring that fellowship about;

• That God clearly shows man how to have fellowship with Him

• That man must approach God in the way in which God appoints;

• That the tabernacle points to Christ dwelling with and in man and

• That Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the tabernacle

 

Blessings in Christ! 

 

Next…The Tabernacle of Moses and the Cross