Christian reflection looks at the furnishings of the tabernacle, and can’t help but see Jesus. We’ll find out in the book of Leviticus that the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat is recognized as the throne of God and that it is spattered with blood on the day of atonement. In the New Testament, when Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper, He declares that His blood, about to be shed on the cross, is the blood of the new covenant. We enter the presence of God through the covenant established by the shedding of Jesus’ blood.
The Holy Place in the tabernacle contains the table of the presence, that is, a table on which is placed twelve loaves of bread and flagons for drink offerings. The imagery speaks of God the Provider, who sent manna in the wilderness, but for the Christian, we can’t help but go to the feeding of the 5,000 and the leftovers of twelve baskets of bread, and we can’t help but see this as looking forward to Jesus’ own declaration about Himself, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). And perhaps we’ll notice how consistent it is that in the Holy Supper that Jesus gave us, we eat the bread of life and drink the cup of His blood, the ultimate ‘drink offering’ poured out for our salvation.
In that same space stood the golden lampstand with its 7 lamps. Again it’s a reminder of the God who led Israel out of Egypt in a pillar of flame. But Christians will hear the words of Christ, “I am the light of the world” (John 1:9, 3:19, 8:12), and they’ll be reminded of 2 Timothy 1:10, that Jesus has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. And perhaps we’ll tune our ears to the language of the early church, which referred to Baptism as Enlightenment—the time when the light of Christ shines in a sinner’s darkened life.
The third piece of furniture in the Holy Place is the incense altar. I think I mentioned a few days ago about the image of prayer as the cloud of incense rising up to heaven. So, Christian reflection leads us forward to Jesus’ unique anointing with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16) and His unique dedication to His communion with the Father (Luke 3:21, 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 9:28, well, you get the idea). And that leads us forward to still another aspect of His work as our high priest, namely, that even now, He constantly intercedes for us before the Father (Rom. 8:34).
The furnishings in the tabernacle, then, are one extended prophecy (technically, one extended type) that lead us forward to God’s decisive act of salvation in Jesus. How blessed we are to see clearly where God was going with all of this!
I was interested in knowing why God seemed so, shall I say, overly detailed with the things such as the building of the tabernacle and how to sacrifice an animal.
ReplyDeleteI think at least part of the reason the Lord was so concerned with the details was to send the message that the worship of the Lord is no small thing to be approached casually or carelessly. I try to send the same message when I celebrate the liturgy. I may joke during my announcements; I may try to be more conversational than lecture-ish in my sermon. But when I come to the Lord's Supper, I have a very precise habit. This Supper is, after all, the Body and Blood of the Lord. Care seems called for if for no other reason to say, "This matters!"
ReplyDeleteThanks Pastor for taking the time to do this. I use it sometimes for a devotion with my sister in Canada, she loves it also. Nice to be able to do that with the bible verses.
ReplyDeleteMaggie