The Tabernacle.

The Old Testament tabernacle has provided many of the truths of the New Testament and Jesus Christ, it has great emphasis on the only way of salvation, the shedding of blood, and the need for the worship and fellowship with God.

After God had released the Israelites from the power of the Egyptians through the sacrificial Lamb, they now journey for a few days through to Mount Sinai, where the leader, Moses was given the Ten Commandments, the Law, and the instructions on building the tabernacle by God.

The tabernacle was to allow God to dwell amongst the Israelites. The final constructed unit was placed in the middle of the camp with three tribes arrange upon each side.

God showed Moses all that was involved.
Exodus 25:8,9

"8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
9 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."

Notice that it was God who wanted to live in the midst of the Israelites, His love for the people was great, though the people were not that keen to have God that close. Even Jesus wanted to dwell with the people, John 1:6-14.

"6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made 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 structure and construction was to allow God to dwell in the middle of the tribes, in this we find a portrait of Jesus who came to the earth to fulfill the plans of God for Mankind, of meeting the needs of Mankind on the cross of Calvary
Philippians 2:5-11.

"5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The construction.

God instructed Moses on the Mount Sinai how the tabernacle should be built, God first asked of the people for voluntary gifts, from their hearts, of gold, various metals, jewels and anything used for the construction. The people gave much.
Exodus 25:1-9

"1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
5 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
9 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."

The construction was basically in three parts, the outer fence, which was approximately seven feet high (2 m), the two longest sides were 150 feet long, while the two short side will be 75 feet. Which enclosed the outer court. In the middle of one short side, opposite end to the Tabernacle building, there was a gap, approximately 30 feet wide, which created a gateway. A screen was across this gate so that you could not see in.

The outer wall

"9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:
10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.
17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass."

The outer wall is constructed of upright postes, with one length of fine twined linen hung upon each post, which are stood in brass sockets, each post is to be approximately 10 cubits or 15 feet apart. On one short side there is to be a gap which was also covered by a short wall. There was no way you could get to God except His way.

God’s way

However, God’s instructions approached the construction from God’s point of view, the Ark of the Covenant was the first set of instructions given. This was to be the place of His abode, He began with His place, and then worked down to the sinner, that is towards the outer court. Forgiveness and mercy were available at the Ark of the Covenant and therefore could be obtained by a seeking sinner, who would be coming to God.

The Ark of the Covenant, a wooden box made of "of shittim wood: two cubits and a half (approximately 3 3/4 feet), shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half (approximately 2 1/4 ft), the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height (approximately 2 1/4ft), thereof. This was all covered in gold, inside and out." Shittim wood is believed to be the modern acacia wood.
This was found in the Holy of Holies, the place where Justice and Judgement were established. Because God was sinless, He offers justice and absolutely just judgement against sin.

Because of the sinful life of any person they were unable to come straight to the Ark of the Covenant, Mankind had to first approach the Altar of Sacrifice in the outer court where he would offer a sacrifice, no sinner was able to come directly into the presence of the sinless God. There first had to be the sacrifice for the persons sin.

On the top of the Ark of the covenant was the lid or the mercy seat.
Exodus 25:17-21.

"17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half (approximately 3 3/4 feet), shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half (approximately 2 1/4ft), the breadth thereof.
18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee."

The Ark of the Covenant was to contain the following:-
1) The unbroken copies of the Ten Commandments, which God had remade, after Moses had destroyed the initial copies because of the sins of the people. The limits have been set.
2) Aaron’s rod which budded.
3) A golden pot of the manna, which God has kept fresh. Showing that God has provided all that was needed.

The blood of the sacrifice was offered by pouring it onto the Mercy Seat. This was only done once a year during the Day of Atonement by the High Priest, after he passed through a special personal cleaning. No one else was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, not even a peek. Any one who did not prepare correctly would die when they entered through the very thick curtain or vail which hung between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. It was this thick curtain which was torn by God on the death of Christ on the cross, torn from the top to the bottom, this is not normal, but shows that God did it, to open the access to Him for believers.

The Holy Place

This was the second part of the building and it contained three pieces of furniture. Priests were allowed into this area, subject to their personal cleaning.
This area was daily visited by the priests which were chosen for the job, to tend the oil in the Lamp stand, and replace the twelve loaves on the Bread Table.

There was no windows so the only light was given by the Lamp stand. We are not given the size of this Lamp stand but we are told the shape, it had a main shaft which branched into seven arms, three on each side. This was the only light inside the tabernacle. The Lamp stand was to be made out of one piece of God and hammered out to produce the arms.

Finally we find the Alter of Incense placed squarely in front of the curtain which divided the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. Incense was offered upon it 24 hours a day by the chosen priests. The incense represented the prayers of the people.

The Table of Shewbread

Exodus 25:23-30.

"23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.
25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.
28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.
30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway."

On the table God said that there would be Shewbread, The bread was to be un leaven. This bread had been harvested, then ground to powder / flour, and then baked in a hot oven. Jesus also went through similar experiences on His way to the cross.

The priests had to change this bread daily, the bread symbolized spiritual food.

The Outer Area.

Entrance into the building of the tabernacle was through curtains at the opposite end to the Holy of Holies. These were supported by five pillars of acacia wood covered in gold. The acacia wood speaks of the humanity of Jesus and the gold His deity, the God-Man.

The outer area contained only two objects, the Brazen Altar and the Laver.

The Brazen Altar

The Altar was to be made of Acacia wood and this was then overlaid with brass. This was probably Bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, widely used at the time. Brass being a more modern material of copper and zinc. the word "Brass" signify’s "Judgement" of Jesus Christ. It is a miracle that the wood did not deteriate and the Altar fall apart under the continual day and night fire. This shows that the sinless body of Christ, in contact with the sins of the world did not succumb to the sins.
Exodus 27:1-8.

"1 And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his flesh hooks, and his fire pans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.
4 And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof.
5 And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.
6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.
7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.
8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it."

Note that in the construction of all the objects used in the Tabernacle for the carrying, they all remained with each object, for purification.

The four horns were used to attach the offerings, but were also a place of protection, Adonijah fearing Solomon ran to the horns.
1 Kings 1:50.

"49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.
50 And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword."

1 Kings 2:28.

"28 Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar."

God supplied the fire for the altar.
Leviticus 9:24.

"23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.
24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces."

The fire on the altar must never go out,

Leviticus 6:12,13.

"12 And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.
13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out."

A warning, any one who puts a strange fire, not from God, will die.
Leviticus 10:1-3

"1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. "

The fire was from God, therefore He will not accept any mixture of human works in His plan of salvation. It was only Jesus who has paid the penalty, believe in Jesus as the substitute for sin.
Romans 8:1.

"1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

The Laver

Exodus 30:18-21.

"18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:
20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:
21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations."

Notice the reason for the Laver, as it now stood in the Outer Court of the Tabernacle. The priests, before they entered the tabernacle, or used any of the other objects, had to wash their hands and feet before proceeding. The scripture indicates that it was made with an upper and lower bowl.
No priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place without the washing of both the hands and the feet, if they tried then they would be struck dead.

To bring it up to today, we must always deal with any sin before we can go into the presence of the Lord, a life not spiritually clean accomplishes nothing, this means that you have passed the Brazen Altar and the Laver. A Believer is delivered from condemnation at the Alter and then daily defilement at the Laver, we should do this daily. We must remember that any sins of the believer must be dealt with before we can enter into fellowship with God.

The Laver was made from mirrors.

"8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."

The Laver was made of the brass mirrors of the women, the priests could therefore check their cleanliness by looking in the surface of the Laver.

The construction of the building

Everything about the Tabernacle was portable, it was designed to move. The walls were made of panels of Acacia wood, standing upright
Exodus 26:15-19.

"15 And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up. 16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.(approximately 27 inches wide and 15 feet long) 17 Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18 And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward. 19 And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. "

Each board was to be fitted into silver sockets. All the wood was covered in Gold.

The shittim wood or acacia wood came from a tree that grew in the dry desert, so was a perfect fitting symbol of the humanity of Christ. The gold covering was a symbol of His deity. The boards were held together by bars made of acacia wood, also covered in gold. One bar, the middle bar, reached from one end to the other of each wall. All boards were united as one.

The covering of the Tabernacle.

The badgers skin.

It was very essential that the tabernacle was weather proof, sandstorms and rain. The roof and sides were covered in three layers of skins and a fourth of linen. On the top we find badgers skins. This animal is not found in the Middle East, So rather it would probably be porpoise found plentifully in the river Nile region. This would be seen by the people but not very attractive, this reminds us of the human side of Christ.
Isaiah 53:2,3.

"2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

The Rams skin

"14 And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins."

The ram was the animal often used in the substitutionary sacrifices, it was always in place of a person "destined to die because of their sin." The red colour spoke of a sacrifice.

The goats hair

The third covering was made of Goats hair, This could not be seen from inside or outside and represented the sin offering, the ram was often used in the sacrifices, for example, the two goats on the day of Atonement.
Leviticus 16:15FF:.

"15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:"

Exodus 26:7.

"7 And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make."

The fine twined linen

The final or inner covering was made of "fine twined linen" The passage indicates that there were various colours woven into it, blue, purple and scarlet. This was the only covering seen from the inside. The linen was embroidered with figures of cherubims, these were the guardians of God and His holiness.