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Exodus 25-27 & 35-40

As always, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Exodus 25. In his book Faith, Hope, and Hilarity, Dick Van Dyke talked about a Sunday school teacher who asked her class to tell her how they felt about church. There were the usual responses: some said silly things to get the rest of the class to laugh, and others tried to be more serious. One of the girls was new to the class, and she felt uncomfortable about sharing, so she never raised her hand or volunteered. However, that Sunday, she had an answer, and it was unforgettable. She said that going to church was “like walking into the heart of God.”

We’re about to walk into the heart of God by walking into a study of the tabernacle. I hadn’t originally planned on preaching through these chapters. In fact, as you can tell from the bulletin, I was going to skip over these seven chapters and jump straight to Exodus 32, which is the “golden calf” story. But there’s just too much here, and honestly; when 50 chapters of the Bible are devoted to a discussion of the tabernacle, it’s vital that we take a moment and gain a basic understanding of the place where God would dwell with His people. After all, according to the New Testament, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Thus, all the details that we’re getting ready to read about ultimately point us to Jesus.

But before we embark on this journey, let’s offer a word of prayer (shall we?):

“Father, we’re entirely dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit to speak, to listen, to understand, to believe, to trust, and to obey. So, in these moments, we seek to draw near to You, and we pray that we might not simply acquire information and knowledge, but that we might have an encounter with You, the living God, through the ministry of Your Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. For it’s in Christ’s name that we pray. Amen.”

As I did a few weeks ago, I’m going to be doing more teaching today than preaching. So, let me begin, if I may, by offering a little bit of an outline and some structural direction regarding these chapters. In chapters 25-31 God provided the instructions for building the tabernacle. In chapters 35-40 we see the actual construction of the project. So, it’s quite helpful to read these chapters together because so much of the content overlaps: (25-31) instruction, (35-40) construction.

There’s also a little change in the ordering of things when you get to 35-40, and the reason for this seems to be because the tabernacle was constructed in these chapters and thus the order was dictated by common sense and necessity. But in chapters 25-31, the objects seem to be arranged by the order of their importance and holiness, moving from the most sacred, which is the ark, to the least sacred or the courtyard perimeter.

We’re not going to be reading large sections of Scripture this morning, as we usually do, but you need to have your Bibles open so that you can follow along. Let’s look at the tabernacle and consider the awesome presence of God and how it points to Jesus,

Contributions for the Sanctuary

Worship always comes first. God didn’t wait until Israel was settled in the Promised Land to instruct them in proper worship. He saw it as a special priority, and He planned for it from the outset. This taught the Jews to always place God first in their lives and that no inconvenience should ever bar them from honoring Him. Thus, the instructions for the tabernacle began with a heart-check. He began by requesting a contribution from the people.

He didn’t demand compulsory giving. He wanted those who were “willing to give” (v. 2) to contribute. True to form, God doesn’t force our worship and giving, but He does call for it. Listen to what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” God requested specific contributions, so the people denied themselves and responded accordingly.

Now watch this. You might remember, when we were leaving Egypt with the Israelites many weeks ago, God had instructed Moses to tell them to ask for silver and gold jewelry and clothing from the Egyptians, “And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:36). That’s where the contributions for the tabernacle came from. God provided them. And now, the people would return a portion of what He had provided.

The same holds true of us. We give of our resources, but they’re ultimately from God. He owns it all. “For all the animals of the forest are Mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills,” declares the LORD (Psalm 50:10, NLT). He gives us the physical strength, the intellectual knowledge, the wisdom, the talent, the time, and the resources to make a living. He’s just entrusted them to us. We need to see ourselves as entrusted with blessings from our God. Then we would freely give as joyful worshipers of our Redeemer.

In verses 8-9 we find the purpose of the tabernacle, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.” God called it a “sanctuary,” and the word that’s used there is the same word as “holy.” So, it’s a holy place. Here’s a question for you: What made it holy? Was it how it was made? Was it the cost of the materials? Was it the aesthetic beauty? No; none of those things is what made it holy. What made it holy was God Himself, His presence. The tabernacle became holy when God’s presence filled it. And once He made it holy, it was only to be used as God intended.

There’s a chorus in our hymnal called Sanctuary. I think it’s on page 655. The words go like this:

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary,
pure and holy, tried and true;
with thanksgiving, I’ll be a living
sanctuary for You.

That’s our calling – to allow the Holy Spirit freedom to work in our hearts and minds in such a way that we become a living, breathing, walking sanctuary for the glory of God.

The Tabernacle

I’m going to try to move rather quickly through each of these pieces, but you can read more details about them in Exodus 25-27.

The Ark of the Covenant
The first item mentioned, and the most important, was the ark of the covenant (also known as the ark of testimony). It’s here where God would meet with Moses and speak to him. It was the only piece of furniture in the most holy place, which was the innermost part of the tabernacle. The presence of God would dwell particularly powerfully in this one spot.

It required two transport poles that would run through golden rings on either side, to prevent any man from directly touching the ark. If no man can see God and live (Exodus 33:20), then certainly no man could touch the physical representation of His majesty and live. In fact, we have a story about one such man – a guy named Uzzah. He was one of the sons of Abinadab and king David was bringing the ark back to Jerusalem. It was on a cart that was being pulled by some oxen, which is not the way it was supposed to be transported, and one of the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out to steady the ark and took hold of it and God killed him (2 Samuel 6:5ff). Stiff penalty for what amounts to a good deed, but God was justified in His response against Uzzah. We can talk about that later, but the point is this box represented the absolute, pure, and unvarnished, majesty and glory of God.

The lid to the ark was called the mercy seat or the atonement cover. This lid/cover was where God’s mercy would be revealed.
(annually) on the Day of Atonement when the high priest made reparation for the people by sprinkling blood on it. Scripture later revealed that Christ’s work and provision of salvation was described like what happened at the mercy seat (Hebrews 2:17; Romans 3:25; 1 John 4:10).

The mercy seat or atonement cover also had two golden angels, two cherubim that faced one another and were bowed down – a tremendous reminder of the great reverence we should have for our majestic God. Again, there’s a wonderful story in 1 Samuel 4 about the Philistine god Dagon falling over as if to bow down to God. The Philistines set him back up and the next day the idol had fallen over again, and this time had broken his head and his hands.

There’s oh, so much more that could be said about the ark and its contents, but we must move on.

The Table for Bread
It was to be placed outside the most holy place in the holy place. Like so many items of the tabernacle, it was made of acacia wood, covered in gold like the ark, and it would hold 12 loaves of bread, symbolizing God’s people Israel. There was one loaf for each of the 12 tribes. The bread served as a reminder that every tribe played a role in God’s family, and each tribe had a seat at the table.

It was also a reminder of God’s provision. This was the Lord’s table and His bread. He provided it for them. The priests were later told to eat it, reminding them that God provided their daily bread. God was their sustainer, just as He is for us. In John 6, Jesus told us that God is the One who gives bread from heaven, and the true bread is Jesus Himself. He’s the bread of life. Those who come to Him will never hunger or thirst again.

The Golden Lamp Stand
This was no Rooms To Go lamp stand. It was positioned in the holy place directly across from the table. It was handcrafted from 75 pounds of pure gold (v. 39). Today, this would be most similar to a menorah. According to verse 37, “the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it.” And what was in front of it? – the table of bread, representing the 12 tribes. Was this symbolic? You bet. We know, all throughout Scripture, that light symbolizes God’s presence and holiness. Israel was called to reflect God’s light to the nations. In fact, in Revelation 2:5, when Jesus is giving John the letter to the seven churches, He’s speaking to the church in Ephesus and He says this, “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

Likewise, we must fight to keep the light shining brightly. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” God’s light is intended to shine through us. The light from the lamp stand was to point us to God’s glory; today, it’s no longer light from a lamp stand, but the light of God’s people that should point others to Him.

The Tabernacle Structure
All of Exodus 26 is devoted to describing and laying out the specifications for the tabernacle (itself) and we can’t miss the parallels with the Garden of Eden. The whole point of God dwelling with them was this idea that they could return to Eden where they could commune with God as it was intended in the beginning. And there are six parallels that I want us to see:

1. There were 7 acts of speaking in the creation accounts. In Genesis it was “Then God said…” and in Exodus it’s “The LORD spoke/said to Moses…”

2. Both were places where God would dwell amid His people. God is present everywhere, of course, but He chooses to manifest His presence strongly in certain places.

3. When all was completed, there was a verbal observation made about the quality of the Garden and the tabernacle. For the tabernacle, Moses would say that the tabernacle was a blessed place (Exodus 39:43), and in Genesis God would say it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31)

4. Both narratives end with a focus on the Sabbath. On the seventh day, God instituted the Sabbath. At the end of Exodus 31, God once again drew Moses’ attention to the Sabbath rest.

5. A “fall” follows both narratives. Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, and the Jews built a golden calf. Man’s heart is always prone to substitute himself and his desires above God.

6. Both narratives have cherubim guarding the presence to God at the east entrance. Here, in Exodus, the cherubim are welcoming people back into Eden through blood at the atonement seat. Some even suggest that the lamp stand was a type of tree of life.

All of this is showing us the gospel. None of us can come into the presence of God on our own. We cannot make it back to Eden on our own. But God provided a way to have access back to Him by blood, through a sacrifice offered by a high priest.

The Bronze Altar
It stood in the outer courtyard and was the first thing people saw when they entered the courtyard. It stood 7 ½ feet long, 7 ½ feet wide, and 4 ½ feet high. It was made of wood and covered in bronze, as were its utensils. Gold was only used on the inside of the tabernacle.

Again, notice the emphasis on sacrifice. The massive size of the altar was also symbolic of the massive gap between the people and God. There had to be a sacrifice – always a sacrifice. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” The people were reminded of that as they entered the courtyard. And we know that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice. He’s the only One to bridge the gap between man and God. The gospel reminds us of these truths, and the Lord’s Supper gives us a holy ordinance to remember them. We approach God only because of blood. Christ’s blood is that of the new covenant. His body was torn for us; His blood was poured out for us. It’s only through Him that we have access to God.

The Court of the Tabernacle
Although God would dwell in the middle of the Israelite encampment, it was clear that He was still separate from them. So, walls and curtains would guard and separate His presence from them.

Big picture: you had the tent that housed the holy place with its table of bread and lamp stand and altar of incense, and you also had the most holy place where the ark of the covenant was located. Outside this tent was a large courtyard that housed the bronze altar and various other items, and this large courtyard and the tent that housed the holy of holies was surrounded by a fence. There was one entrance to the entire facility, and it was on the east, just like in the Garden of Eden.

From all this, we see that there are limitations on interacting with God. For the people, they needed the high priest. For us, we have Jesus – the great high priest who works on our behalf and enables us to approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16).

The Oil for the Lamp
The priests were responsible for collecting “pure oil from crushed olives” (Exodus 27:20) from the people for the lamps. The lamp stand burned continuously, even in the night, reminding people that God’s presence was among them. For those of us that trusted in Christ Jesus, it’s the Holy Spirit that is God’s light within us, reminding us of His presence.

He Dwelt Among Us

All of this, ultimately, drives us back to Jesus. He’s the greater and truer tabernacle. John’s gospel begins with these words, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). That phrase, “dwelt among us” is the Greek word skénoó. It means “to dwell as in a tent,” “to encamp,” or “tabernacle.” Jesus “tabernacled,” as it were, with us.

The English theologian of the 1600’s, John Owen said, “Everything Moses did in erecting the tabernacle and instituting all its services was intended to testify to the person and glory of Christ which would later be revealed” (Hebrews 3:5). And that’s precisely what we’ve seen this morning.

Jesus is the true light of the world – taking the place of the lamp stand that burned continuously. God’s presence, like the tabernacle, is portable in the person and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus is the mediator who shed His own blood to redeem us. Jesus is the better ark of the covenant. Like the ark in the story in 1 Samuel 4, He was taken captive by a foreign army and took the punishment that we deserved. Then, what seemed like defeat, ended with His triumphant victory. Like the showbread, He’s the “bread of life.” All who come to Him by faith will never perish. He’s the better altar, because His sacrifice is the source of our salvation and the source of grace by which our hearts are strengthened. We now enter through the torn veil, and the cherubim that once guarded the holy of holies now welcome us back into God’s presence. For us, God is building a new dwelling place.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’

And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new… Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true… It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son’” (Revelation 21:3-7).

Do you want to be a part of His people? Do you want to dwell in God’s presence? Do you want to return to Eden? There is one way: His name is Jesus!