God’s Presence with His People

MEMORY VERSE: “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.” —Leviticus 26:12

EXODUS 25:2,8,9; 29:43-46; 40:34,35; LEVITICUS 16:29,30; 19:1-4

THE tabernacle which Moses built in the wilderness was a symbol of God’s presence with his people. This same symbolism is used in one of God’s promises of blessings which will come to the world of mankind during the thousand years of Christ’s kingdom. We read, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God.”—Rev. 21:3

The tabernacle which Moses constructed in the wilderness was typical. Briefly stated, it was a house constructed of boards made of acacia wood plated with gold, set on end in sockets of silver, and fastened together by bars of the same wood, also covered with gold.

This structure was 15 feet wide, 15 feet high, and 45 feet long, and open at the front, or east end. It was covered by a white linen cloth, interwoven with figures of cherubim, in blue, purple, and scarlet. The open end of the structure was closed by a curtain of similar material, and called the “door,” or first veil. Another cloth of the same material, called the second veil, was hung so that it divided the tabernacle into two compartments. The first was 15 feet wide and 30 feet long, and was called the “holy.” The second, or rear apartment, 15 feet wide and 15 feet long, was called the “most holy.” These two compartments constituted the tabernacle proper, and over it was a covering.

The tabernacle was surrounded by a yard, or “court,” toward the rear of which it stood. This court was 75 feet wide, and 150 feet long, being formed by a fence of linen curtains suspended by silver hooks set in the tops of wooden posts 71 feet high, which were set in sockets of copper. This court of the tabernacle was called “the holy place.”

The furniture of the court consisted of but two main pieces—the “brazen altar” and the “laver”—with their respective instruments. Sacrifices were offered on the altar, and the laver served as a washbasin for cleansing.

The furniture of the tabernacle proper consisted of a table, a candlestick, a golden altar in the holy; and the “ark of the testimony,” the only piece of furniture in the most holy.

The Apostle Paul speaks of the Christian’s hope “as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever.” (Heb. 6:19,20) Since Jesus entered into a heavenly reward when resurrected from the dead, it is evident that the most holy of the tabernacle was designed to symbolize this heavenly condition.

A careful study of the New Testament, particularly the Book of Hebrews, reveals the symbolic meaning of much in connection with the tabernacle and its services. An altar, for example, is a symbol of sacrifice, and in the conduct of the services of the tabernacle the priests offered many sacrifices. These in a general way pointed forward to the “better sacrifices” of the present age in which Jesus and his followers have participated. Paul wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”—Rom. 12:1

The sacrifices offered in the services of the typical tabernacle were animals of various kinds—goats, bullocks, etc.—but in the present age Jesus and his followers offer themselves, their own bodies. Peter wrote, “Ye … are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up … sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (I Pet. 2:5) We could not offer ourselves as acceptable sacrifices to God except through the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice.

During the present age God dwells with his sacrificing people, even as our memory verse indicates. His presence sustains us in trial, and guides us in the way of devotion to him. God, as represented in the Christ, Head and body, will also dwell with his “restitution” people during the Millennial Age, not to direct them in the way of sacrifice, but to restore them to health and everlasting life.

QUESTIONS

What is the general symbolism of Gods tabernacle?

Describe the typical tabernacle and its measurements.

What were the furnishings of the tabernacle?

What is the symbolic meaning of an altar?

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