I recently watched a humorous video of college students attempting to use an old rotary telephone. Have you ever picked up an old antique piece and wondered, “how did this old relic actually work?” Or,” I wonder if they ever imagined what this old device would evolve into today?” Similarly, most Christians today have little knowledge of the ancient Tabernacle of Moses. But the Tabernacle and its priestly functions point to salvation in Christ in every way. How?
On Mount Sinai, God instructed Moses to build a place of worship, or a Tabernacle, which was to be a visible emblem of God’s presence in the midst of Israel. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). It would become known as the Tabernacle of Moses, the Tent of Meeting, or the Sanctuary.
The Tabernacle is different, and not to be confused with the Temple. The first Temple was built by Solomon, the Tabernacle found in Exodus was the Tent in the Wilderness. Many verses in the Old Testament apply to the New Testament in type, that is it prefigures a template that shows us a type. Looking back through the lens of the New Testament we get an entirely different perspective of the Tabernacle in that it clearly points to Christ. What did it look like?
Surrounded by the 12 tribes encamped in ordered formation, the Tabernacle was set up in rectangular shape with entrance into the Courtyard going east to west and managed by the priests. The Tabernacle consisted of a tent that could be taken apart and moved from place to place. An artistically woven curtain or veil, which was held up by four wooden pillars overlaid with gold, separated the tent into two chambers: The front chamber was called the Holy Place, and the inner chamber was called the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed and where the glory of the Lord rested on the Mercy Seat above it. (Exodus 25-27.)
During the day, the Holy Tabernacle was always covered by a pillar of cloud, and in the night by a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:20-22). As long as the pillar of cloud rested over the Tabernacle, the children of Israel remained in the same place. When the cloud rose up, it was a sign for them to continue their journey. Thus, they camped and traveled according to the Lord’s command for 40 years. How did it function?
Copyright 2009 by Gabriel Fink
Entering from right to left, just outside the Courtyard you would see greeting priests at the entrance into the Courtyard. Just behind the entrance was the Brazen Altar so named because it was made of brass. According to God’s instruction, it was upon this altar that various sacrifices could be offered by any of the Hebrews. Generally, an animal sacrifice would be killed in front as the man slits its throat and the priest captures blood in a cup to be sprinkled on the Brazen Altar. Women and the poor could sacrifice pigeons or doves in lieu of more costly lambs or oxen.
Behind the Brazen Altar was the Laver, which means a bath or wash basin for the purpose of washing. It was here that the priests washed their hands and feet before entering and coming out of the Holy Place (Exodus 30:17-21). This beautiful laver was made from the bronze mirrors of the women and filled with water for the continual cleansing of the priests as they conducted ministry work of the Lord. However, only priests could use the Laver, no one else.
Entering the Tent of Meeting, we are reminded the Tabernacle’s design physically represented a gradual increase in gradations of holiness, from the outer courtyard (meant to create a barrier from the profane realm) to the Holy of Holies (only entered once a year by the High Priest). Only priests could enter the Holy Place.
Inside the Holy Place on the north side was the Table of Shewbread on which there were always two stacks of 6 loves of bake bread which represented the 12 tribes of Israel. On the south side was the Golden Candlestick, a menorah that was continuously lit by olive oil.
A little further in the center was the Altar of Incense standing before the vail of the Holy of Holies that the High Priest burned sweet incense every morning and evening. The ornate Vail was a system of 10 different curtains of fine twined linen. Inside was the golden Ark of the Covenant where God’s presence dwelt and that contained two Tablets of Testimony that Moses had received from God on Mount Sinai. Only the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) to offer a blood sacrifice for the sins of the nation sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in a most precise and reverent manner.
With the New Testament in mind, how does the Tabernacle and its priestly functions point to Christ?
The Brazen Altar was always burning and continuously reminds us of the Penalty of Sin. Jesus Himself bore the fire of God’s wrath on the altar of the Cross. Jesus said, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:18). He chose to go to the place of total abandonment and humiliation and become a sin offering, the very object of all of Gods wrath. On the altar of the Cross a great exchange took place, the innocent for the guilty.
The Laver was a place for the priest to wash. As the altar points to the death of Jesus, the Laver point to the life of Jesus. Blood speaks of a life taken and water speaks of life given. It was a place for Purification and reminds us of the rebirth and washing of the Holy Spirit, our Living Water.
Entering the Tent, the Table of Shewbread is on the right containing 12 loaves of bread in two stacks representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus referred to himself as the “Bread of life” and this bread was matzo, or unleavened bread, reminding us of the sinless life of Christ. It is also known as the table of the Presence. Gods light forever shines on His people. The 12 baked cakes of bread spoke of God’s people who were one with Him as the priests joined together for the fellowship of eating the bread as one. And just as Jesus said that “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”(Matthew 4:4) It is interesting to note that the two stacks of six loaves reminds us that there are 66 books in the Bible.
The Golden Candlestick was a Menorah with three branches on each side (Exodus 37:17-24) and the center candle that has always been known to be the “Servant Lamp of the Menorah.” This Menorah was intended to shed light on the Table of Shewbread continuously. Each morning, a priest would enter the Holy Place to service the lamps and would usually find six lamps gone out, but the Servant Lamp would continue to burn. This reminds us of Jesus prophesied as the “Suffering Servant” in Isaiah 53, a fulfilled Messianic prophecy. We also get of a view of Christ in Revelation, “in the midst” of seven golden lamps. “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man….his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace…his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” (Revelation 1:12-16)
The Altar of Incense. The golden altar was used for burning incense, which twice every day was offered by the priest after he had tended the wick and oil on the holy lamps. (Exodus 30:34-38) The psalmist writes, “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (Psalm 141:2). Prayer and praise are integral to the Christ follower, “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4)
The Vail represents that that separates us from God due to the Fall in the garden. It is a wall of Purity as we cannot approach the Lord in our flesh. In the time of Moses a person could only draw close to God through the priests. But because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross we can now have a full and uninhibited relationship with God. “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). Thus, today the Vail might also represent the sealing of the Holy Spirit in believers.
God’s divine presence dwelt among the Israelites in the Holy of Holies on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. The Mercy Seat protected man from the judgment of God. Because the blood that was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, man’s sin and guilt were washed away. The Mercy Seat foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ as He is our mercy seat and by His shed blood the curse of the Law has no effect on believers. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1st Corinthians 3:16)
In every way, the Tabernacle pointed to the incredible plan of redemption that God would implement through His Son. Hebrews 8:5 tells us this was a foreshadowing of what was to come:
“They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”