In the book of Genesis we read that in the Garden of Eden God looks to walk in the cool of the day with the man and woman, to dwell them, to share his life with them.
In the Book of Revelation we hear of a new Heaven and a new Earth, and that “the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them”.
Back in Genesis 12, we read that God promises to Abraham three things: that he will have descendants or “seed”, that he will give them a land to live in, and that he will share with them a relationship of blessing.
By the time we get to the book of Exodus, we find the Hebrews as slaves in Egypt. Their survival is under threat, they are far from the land promised to them, and they are definitely not experiencing blessings.
The first third of the book tells of the struggle to be free. The plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea, the walk out into the wilderness. The middle third tells of arrival at Sinai and the giving of the Law: God has rescued them when they are far from perfect, and the work begins to transform them into a people who are capable of having a relationship with God; however, this culminates in the disastrous episode of the Golden Calf.
One of the reasons that the people sin by asking for the Golden Calf is that they are fed up because Moses has been up on the mountain with God for so long – forty days. He has been receiving the Law (the Ten Commandments plus associated regulations). He has also been receiving detailed instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. This is a glorified tent – a worship complex where offerings could be made to wash away sin and to express thanksgiving and praise. The offerings were to be made by the Levites and priests on behalf of the people.
After walking past the Altar of Burnt Offering and the Laver (where priests could ritually wash), you entered the Holy Place. Here were a lampstand which was always lit, a table with special bread to be offered before God, and an Incense Altar, and curtain, leading to the Most Holy Place – the Holy of Holies. This inner sanctum could only be entered by the High Priest, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement, when he offered the blood of a solemn sacrifice for the sins of the people. In the Most Holy Place was a special box, the Ark of the Covenant, covered in gold on the inside and the outside. It contained the stone tablets of the Law, a sample of the special bread that God had provided miraculously for the people, and Aaron’s Rod that had budded. The lid was a solid piece of gold, with two cherubim or angels moulded onto it – the Mercy Seat, where God himself would allow his glory, his Shekina, to be seen.
And the point of all this?
First, Moses is told that what he is to construct is a copy, a blueprint, of what is in heaven. So when we offer up prayer and praise to God, it is as if we were throwing incense on an altar, offering bread, lighting lamps. The difference is that instead of earthly priests, Jesus is now our great High Priest, and the one great sacrifice on the cross has replaced all the others, and we are forgiven.
Second, the Tabernacle was portable. When the presence of God moved on, the priests would pack up the Tabernacle and carry it, moving in obedience to the way that God led them. Then the people would pack up their camp and the whole nation would move through the wilderness, on their way to the land promised to them. Although the Tabernacle was a blueprint of heaven, and the pattern was later reproduced in the groundplan and furnishing of the temples in Jerusalem, the people were never to forget that they were the pilgrim people of God. We should never be wedded too firmly to any particular way of being or doing church, God may want to move us on. And we should have confidence that where he leads us, he will be with us.
Third, God wanted to ensure his people were blessed by making his dwelling among them. People say that the God the Old Testament is fierce, remote, judgmental, and hard to know. But this was never his intention. Rather, God has always described himself as Father. He looks for a relationship of love and trust. The problem was the people, who were determined to go their own way. The Tabernacle was the way that a holy God could live in the midst of a sinful people.
After the incident of the golden calf, there is judgment and restitution and the last part of the book describes how the Tabernacle is constructed, how the priests are ordained and the worship begun. And God turns up. His presence in the Most Holy Place is so great, so bright, that neither Moses nor any of the people can enter the tent. God is truly living among his people.
Of course, there are many more stories to be told of the waywardness of God’s people, as they eventually enter the land, establish a kingdom, and after many years are conquered and taken into captivity. Throughout these centuries there is the refrain: “Is God among us?” “Are we his people?”
The answer comes in the Word made flesh, Jesus. He came to his own, and his own would not receive him, but to as many as received him, he gave the right to become children of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Literally, he set up his tent among us, he tabernacled himself among us. We are meant to understand that all that was promised and foretold in the Old Testament stories has now been fulfilled in Jesus. “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Instead of the Shekina, hidden behind a curtain in the opulent but mysterious Most Holy Place, Jesus has come to each one of us, to bring blessing and the light of his presence in our hearts.
This is the message for one who is to be baptised. We are pilgrim people, travelling with God, and he delights to make his home not just among us but actually within us as we believe in him. Our whole lives are centred on him. We use the pictorial language of sacrifice and priesthood to describe how we need to be forgiven and how God in Jesus has given us forgiveness and a new life in him. The challenge is to join the ranks of those who are seeking to allow this reality to break into their lives today, and every day.
Questions for Discussion
1. Why was it a problem for God to be in close contact with the people, and what did he do about it?
2. What relevance does all this have for the life of Christians and the church today?
3. “We have seen his glory – full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Some have spoken of God’s grace as his kindness and mercy, and his truth as his judgment on sin; what does this mean to you?
4. What one thing will you take from this topic to help you live in the next week?
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