Tabernacle

Exodus 26: 33 "And thou shalt hang up the veil under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony: and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy."

The tabernacle was like a tent in a tent. There was a large door for the people to enter and another where the priest entered into the holiest of holies.

This seperation between the people and the Lord takes us back to the garden of Eden where man sinned and was therefore seperated from God by that sin. A verse in the New Testament should be noted here.

Matthew 27:51 "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; v52 And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose v53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

I mention this because as the veil represented the seperation between God and man, so the renting of the veil represented that by the death of Jesus the seperation has been removed through Him alone.

The tabernacle was 45 ft long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high. The outer curtains were 150 feet by 70 feet. The outer door was 30 feet wide. There was a thick covering which included goats hair and one source says badger skin.

One would enter the outer opening(sanctuary) with the candlestick on the left and the shewbread on the right. The altar is ahead and then beyond the veil the ark of the covenant. An urn is provided for the priest to wash his hands and feet before entering the holiest.

The tabernacle was about 9 months in the making. I am reminded that it was about 9 months to wait for the birth of the Savior. Of course, Israel waited hundreds of years.

The opening to enter was facing east which probably accounts for the reverence to the now walled up eastern gate in Jerusalem.

As with much in the Bible, a book could be written on the tabernacle and the meaning of all the articles in its making and those placed inside. As mentioned the veil has great significance, but then so does all of it. The mercy seat should be noted and thanks given for. It is good to have a mercy seat before the judge of the universe, for it was oft sprinkled with blood in times past for the sins of the people. We will find later that Christ offered his own blood on the mercy seat in heaven for our sins and was accepted for our atonement.

Psalm 71:17-18 "O God, thou hast taught me from my youth and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come."