Tabernacle Furnishings

Exodus 37-38

            Today’s reading details the actual construction of the ark of the covenant, the table of the bread, the lampstand, the incense altar, the altar of burnt offering, and the basin. They are arranged in that order from inside out, but let’s look at them from outside in. The significance of the altar of burnt offering is probably pretty obvious: no one comes into God’s presence without atonement, and atonement is made through blood sacrifice. We will read about the various sacrifices and offerings the people made beginning on Friday. In Christian terms, there is no access to God without the cross of Jesus on which the one sacrifice that counted once for all was made. The basin’s purpose is always obvious: a priest had to clean up somewhere after the messy work of sacrifice. For the Christian, two images come to mind. First, there’s the imagery of “having been washed in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). On the surface, what a ridiculous notion! Blood is red; washing in it would make you messier not cleaner! But the point is that only by the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice is sin taken away. Second, there’s the image of Baptism, which unites us with Jesus. In Romans 6, Paul says that in Baptism we are united with Jesus in His death and resurrection. The basin in the tabernacle, with its connection to the altar of burnt offering looks forward to that experience.

            Now we come into the Holy Place. The tabernacle was rectangular, three times as long as it was wide. The first two-thirds was called the Holy Place, and only priests were allowed there, typically only twice per day. The last third was called the Most Holy Place. It contained the ark of the covenant, and only the high priest entered there, usually only once per year on the Day of Atonement. In the Holy Place were three pieces of furniture: the table of the bread, the lampstand, the incense altar. On the table of the bread were kept 12 loaves, reminding people that the tribes of Israel were always in the Lord’s presence. Bread, of course, figures prominently in Christian worship through the Lord’s Supper. Now, we typically emphasize the presence of Jesus in the bread, but Paul makes a point about the bread and the church: “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:17). We also are a people who live in the presence of our God. Functionally, the lampstand provided light in the tabernacle, but light is a common image for God, “who lives in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16). Jesus famously declares Himself the light of the world (John 8:12). And God’s people are the ones who will be light for the nations (Acts 13:47). Finally, there is an altar for burning incense, the big takeaway of which is that the prayers of God’s people go up before Him like incense (Psalm 141:2, Revelation 5:8).

            Finally, we have the ark of the covenant, placed in the Most Holy Place. The ark was considered the Lord’s throne on earth. He sat between the cherubim. Again, we see the importance of atonement to be in the presence of God, since the lid of the ark was called the atonement cover (in other translations called the mercy seat). We see a similar thing in most churches (at least in liturgical, sacramental traditions) in which the altar is the visual focal point, the place where God still sits among His people.

            So, the tabernacle was arranged to emphasize the holy presence of God among His people. As we consider these arrangements we see that the tabernacle looked forward to the work of Jesus in many ways. This foreshadowing makes the tabernacle well worth our time to understand.