New Heaven and New Earth

KEY VERSE: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.” —Revelation 21:3

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Revelation 21:1-7, 22-27

THE original Tabernacle was the place where God dwelt with Israel. Moses was given very precise instructions concerning every detail of this ancient structure as well as the sacrificial ceremonies which were to be conducted therein. Any deviation from these instructions was punishable by death. The reason for this appears in the New Testament, where we are informed that the arrangements were intended by God to be “shadows of good things to come.” (Heb. 10:1) In other words, the Tabernacle and its services were designed to be patterns of the divine plan of atonement and reconciliation with God in which Christ, the antitypical high priest, is the central figure.

The high priest was typical of Jesus, and the bullock he offered instead of himself pointed to the fact that Jesus would offer his own flesh to make atonement for Israel, and for the world.

In that Tabernacle arrangement, there were also under-priests. In the antitype which began to be fulfilled with the first coming of Jesus, there is also an under-priesthood consisting of the truly consecrated followers of Jesus. The Apostle Peter speaks of these as a priesthood “to offer sacrifices.” (I Pet. 2:5) Like Jesus, these do not offer animals in sacrifice as did the typical priesthood, but they do offer themselves. Paul urges these to present their “bodies a living sacrifice.”—Rom. 12:1

This also explains why the kingdom of Christ was not established in power and great glory at his first advent, for it shows that there was a further sacrificial service to be performed, in which the church of Christ would have the privilege of sharing in his sufferings—dying with him that they might also live (in the resurrection) and reign with him. On Israel’s typical Day of Atonement there were two animals slain: a bullock and a goat. We understand that the bullock was a type of Jesus, and that the goat prefigured his faithful followers.

In Hebrews, chapter 6, Paul indicates that the Most Holy prefigured heaven, where Christ, our “forerunner is for us entered.” (vss. 18-20) The Holy, or first compartment of the Tabernacle, would represent the present state of Christians whose hopes are centered on heavenly things. Here they offer their sacrifices of praise to God, while their flesh is being sacrificed in his service, as pictured by the burning of the fat and life-producing organs of the animals on the brazen altar in the Court, the enclosure which surrounded the Tabernacle proper.

In Israel’s typical arrangement, after the Atonement Day was over, the Tabernacle and God’s presence there, was used for the specific benefit of the people.

In harmony with this, our text incorporates a promise assuring us that during the thousand-year reign of Christ, the “tabernacle of God” will be with men, and that he will dwell with them. This does not mean that another literal Tabernacle is to be built. But just as God’s presence with the Israelites was shown in the typical Tabernacle, so through Christ and his church he will be present with all nations. Because of this “there shall be no more death, … neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”—Rev. 21:4

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