God's Tent

For 480 years, from the time of Moses to King Solomon GOD lived in a tent as did his people. The word “tabernacle” means “tent”, “dwelling” or “sancuary”. The Tabernacle was the nomadic dwelling place of God during the time when the nation of Israel was nomadic. Instead of a God who required his people to meet him in a temple the God of Israel travelled with his people. They didn't come to him. He came with them. The place where they offered worship and sacrifices was as mobile as their own tents. As the people travelled so did the tabernacle, and with it the presence of God. The furniture in the tabernacle, the altar, the altar of incence, the table of showbread, and the ark of the covenant all had poles on the sides because they were designed to be moved each time the people moved. The presence of God was seen as a cloud by day and a fire by night. And it was this presence of God that determined the movements of his nomadic nation. They didn't carry him. He carried them. Sometimes they stayed one night only before moving on, sometimes a few days, a month, or even a year before God moved them again.

The gods of the nations around them were known as the gods of locations, named for what they did for the people, or known by the animals they represented. The god of war, the god of this mountain or that river, goddess of fertility, the wolf god. In contrast the God of Israel went everywhere his people went and was known by the names of those who followed him. The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. He led them and was faithful and loving to his people unlike the fickle and selfish gods of the other nations.

When we think about the Old Covenant system and how God represented himself to the world before the time of Christ we usually invision Solomon’s temple. But, the priesthood, the sacrifices and the law all predate the temple. They begin with the tabernacle. In fact the tabernacle was used for longer than the temple was. We might think of the tabernacle as a “first draft” of the ornate temple that followed it, but it is arguably more accurate to see the temple as a replica of the original tabernacle. And both of them, ultimately are about Jesus!

Revelation 21:3

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

The word “tabernacle” appears again at the beginning of the story of the New Covenant. In John 1:14 John says that Jesus became a man and was “tabernacled” (dwelled) amongst us. Jesus is “Emmanuel” “God with us”. In his incarnation God came and lived with his people in a way that fulfills what the tabernacle began. Jesus fulfills every aspect of the tabernacle system; he is the priest, he is the lamb, and he is the tent itself as well; the presence of God with us. God’s desire has always been to live in and among his people. God has never been far away, and now in Christ he is with us closer than ever.

In which parts of the journey of your life have you known God’s presence with you most?

God’s desire has always been to live in and among his people. God has never been far away, and now in Christ he is with us closer than ever.