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I Will Dwell Among Them
I Will Dwell Among Them Exodus 25:1-40 Key Verse 25:8 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” The primary focus of attention in the closing chapters of Exodus is upon the design and construction of the central place of worship for the nation. In preparation for occupation of their land, they had been given a system of law to regulate individual and national life, to prevent exploitation of the poor and the stranger, and to safeguard against polytheism and idolatry. That these safeguards were needed was confirmed by the idolatrous golden calf incident. The very detailed and divinely given blueprint of the tabernacle removes all speculation about whether it has any comparison with, or was somehow derived from, the little portable sanctuaries belonging to various tribal deities. The origin of the tabernacle was found in God and delivered to Moses by special revelation. The Lord said of Israel, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (6:7), and the focus on the tabernacle is grounded in the fact that it is the means through which the Lord chose to dwell in the midst of his people (see 25:8; 29:45). The level of detail in the instructions emphasizes that Israel is to worship the Lord according to his word and that the materials, design, and layout of the tabernacle signify how Israel is to relate to the Lord, who is both holy and in their midst. For example, the objects inside the tabernacle where the Lord will meet with his people are made of or overlaid with pure gold (in contrast to the materials outside the tent, which are made of bronze and silver). The inclusion of the details of how the various things of the tabernacle were to be made may have been meant to ensure that any early Israelite hearing the instructions read aloud would recognize that the tabernacle in their midst was indeed the one revealed to Moses, for him to oversee in construction. At the same time, there are two important keys to understanding the symbolism of the tabernacle. First, the tabernacle is seen as a tented palace for Israel’s divine king. He is enthroned on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies (the Most Holy Place). His royalty is symbolized by the purple of the curtains and his divinity by the blue. The closer items are to the Holy of Holies, the more valuable are the metals (bronze→silver→gold) of which they are made. The other symbolic dimension is Eden. The tabernacle, like the garden of Eden, is where God dwells, and various details of the tabernacle suggest it is a mini-Eden. These parallels include the east-facing entrance guarded by cherubim, the gold, the tree of life (lampstand), and the tree of knowledge (the law). Thus God’s dwelling in the tabernacle was a step toward the restoration of paradise, which is to be completed in the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21–22). Look at verses 2-7. “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast piece. God asked for voluntarily offerings from the people. This way the people were given the opportunity to personally contribute to the nation’s worship It is interesting to note that God makes a detailed list of the contributions He wants - He gives a list of 14 components and materials needed to build the tabernacle. These contributions probably came from the Egyptians whom they plundered when they left Egypt. The people so responded with joy and enthusiasm that they finally had to be restrained from bringing any more gifts (35:21–29; 36:3–7). A similar response occurred centuries later, when King David requested gifts to build the temple (1 Chron. 29:1–9). Look at verse 8. “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. The word tabernacle is a noun derived from the verb “to dwell,” and this was an appropriate designation for the place of God’s presence with his people. His presence would be between the cherubim and from there he would meet with Moses. The fact that God was going to dwell “among them” is also demonstrated by the way God tells them to encamp around the tabernacle in Numbers 2. This was God’s great grace. He not only was going to be their God, He was going to be right there “among them.” God only had one requirement for them. Look at verse 9. “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” God didn’t want them to make His dwelling place anyway they liked as the other people did. Other people built dwelling places for their gods anyway they thought best, but the one true is Holy and His sanctuary must be made according to His specific plan. God’s promise us through Jesus is even greater than His promise to the Israelites. Through Jesus God doesn’t just promise to live among us Christians, He promises to live in each Christian. This means that we don’t have to go to a special place to meet with Him. We can meet Him wherever we are, but his requirement is still the same – we must live our lives exactly according to the pattern that He showed us in Jesus. What!? Nobody can live like Jesus! Right? That is true, we all fail from time to time, but that doesn’t mean that God’s pattern has changed. When we fail we need to come back to Jesus, ask for His forgiveness and sincerely repent. We need to ask Jesus for His strength to live according to His pattern and we need to do this every day, all day long. We cannot live according to Jesus pattern on our own because we are all sin-sick people, but that is the beauty of God’s perfect pattern in Jesus. We don’t do it alone. When we hear Jesus knocking on the door of our heart, we need to open up our heart and welcome Him, His Father and the Holy Spirit in. His promise is that He will come in and live with us. He will wash away our sins, guide us into all truth and help us to live according to the pattern He has given us. What a great honor and privilege it is to have our Lord and Savior Jesus living with us, not just among us. By doing this, Jesus, himself, can enable us to live according to the pattern the Father has given us. Look at verses 10-16. The first thing that God gives them a detailed pattern for is the Ark, which will later be known as the Ark of the Covenant. This ark was to be God’s throne, from where he will meet and speak with Moses. This Ark was the only thing that was to be in the “Holy of Holies,” the innermost room of the tabernacle. Hence it was to be made of acacia wood and completely overlaid with the most precious of all metals, gold. The only thing that was to be placed in it according to this passage was “tablets of the covenant law,” which God was going to make and give to Moses. The author of Hebrews adds that it also contained “a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded” (Heb. 9:4). This designation for the two tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments, which were placed inside the ark, explains why it was also called “the ark of the testimony” (v. 22), and shows why it was appropriate to call the whole structure “the tabernacle” or “the tent of the testimony. The next item that God commands Moses to make is the cover for this ark which is often referred to as the “Mercy Seat.” The mercy seat and the two cherubim were to be made of gold and fashioned as one piece, which will act as the cover for the ark. The noun translated “mercy seat” in the ESV (Hb. kapporet) may be related to the verb that typically has the sense “to make atonement” (Hb.kipper) and is thus sometimes translated as “atonement cover.” The instructions here focus on the fact that it is from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that the Lord will speak to Moses (see also Num. 7:89). For this reason, the Lord is sometimes referred to in the OT as being “enthroned” upon the cherubim (Ps. 80:1; 1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; Isa. 37:16). The Cherubim have a very special significance. Cherubim are the traditional guardians of holy places. They were to be forged as one with the golden cover of the ark. They were angelic beings rising up on each end of the cover and facing one another, their wings stretching up and over, forming an arch. Cherubim, associated with the majestic glory and presence of God (Ezek. 10:1–22), were also to be woven into the tabernacle curtains and the veil for the Most Holy Place (26:1, 31), for this place was where God was present with his people. Scripture reveals them as the bearers of God’s throne (1 Sam. 4:4; Isa. 37:16) and the guardians of the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:24). Look at verses 23-30. The next thing they were to make was the table for the bread of the presence. This was the first item to go into the Holy Place just outside of the Holy of Holies. Each week a new batch of 12 loaves of bread was laid on a table on the north side of the Holy Place. The utensils for this table were also made of refined gold. This “bread of his Presence” was not set out in order to feed Israel’s God, unlike food placed in pagan shrines and temples, but to acknowledge that the 12 tribes were sustained constantly under the watchful eye and care of their Lord. The bread was eaten in the Holy Place each Sabbath by the priests on duty (Lev. 24:5–9). The bread of the Presence is understood to typify the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bread that came from heaven. The second item to go into the Holy Place was the golden lampstand. Like the other pieces in the tabernacle, it is made of pure gold. The lamp provides light within the tabernacle, and the priests will be instructed to keep it burning regularly (see 27:20–21; Lev. 24:1–4). Its description in terms of cups, calyxes, and flowers shows that it was a symbolic tree, recalling the tree of life in Eden. The lampstand is seen as typifying the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the true light that came into the world. As we can see, God’s plan for the tabernacle was very detailed and the Israelites were to follow this pattern exactly. If they did so, God would dwell ‘among them.’ This was God’s promise to the Israelites, but his promise to us has only gotten greater. Through Jesus he has promised not just to dwell among us, but to dwell in us, but His words about following the pattern exactly are still valid. The only way that we can do this is if we let Jesus come and live with us every day. |
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