Having given directions clarifying Israel's obedience in the Book of the Covenant (20:22-23:33) God now summoned Moses up into the mountain again to receive His directions regarding Israel's worship. The Book of the Covenant specified how the Israelites were to live with one another, but the tabernacle showed them how God wanted them to worship Him.427
"The establishment of a covenant relationship necessitated a means whereby the vassal party could regularly appear before the Great King to render his accountability. In normal historical relationships of this kind between mere men, some sort of intercession was frequently mandatory and, in any case, a strict protocol had to be adhered to.428How much more must this be required in the case of a sinful people such as Israel, who must, notwithstanding, communicate with and give account to an infinitely transcendent and holy God."429
Why did Moses record God's instructions for the tabernacle before the people sinned by making the golden calf? It was, after all, the golden calf incident that led to the giving of the priestly laws.
". . . according to the logic of the narrative, it was Israel's fear that had created the need for a safe approach to God, that is, one in which the people as such were kept at a distance and a mediator was allowed to represent them. It was precisely for this reason that the tabernacle was given to Israel."430
Moses stayed in the heights of the mountain 40 days and nights while God gave him the stone tablets of the law and all the details of the tabernacle and its worship. Thus Moses was completely dependent on God. Now that Israel had entered into a blood covenant with God, God purposed to dwell among His people (cf. John 1:14). Similarly God now dwells among Christians by His Holy Spirit since Jesus Christ has ratified the New Covenant by shedding His blood.
The spectacular vision of the glory of God on the mountain "like a consuming fire"(v. 17) should have given the Israelites greater respect for God's revelation than they demonstrated later (cf. 32:1-8). There were three symbols of God's glory: the cloud, the fire, and the voice.
"Only voluntary gifts were acceptable as materials for the Lord's house (25:2; 35:3, 21-22, 29), since love rather than compulsion is the basis of all truly biblical giving (2 Cor. 9:7)."431
Moses employed four different terms to describe the tabernacle each of which emphasizes one of its purposes.
1. Sanctuary (25:8) means "place of holiness"and stresses the transcendence of Israel's God as an exalted being different from His people. However this verse also states that such a God would "dwell among"His people.432
2. Tabernacle (25:9) means "dwelling place"and emphasizes God's purpose of abiding near His people.
"Just as they lived in tents, so God would condescend to dwell' in a tent."433
3. Tent of Meeting (26:36; 29:42-43; 35:21) also stresses the imminence of God. God met with Moses and the Israelites in this tent. The verb translated "meeting"means a deliberate prearranged rendezvous rather than a casual accidental meeting.434
4. Tabernacle (or Tent) of Testimony (38:21; Num. 9:15; 17:7, 23) indicates that the structure was the repository of the Law. Moses sometimes referred to the ark of the covenant as the "ark of the testimony"(25:22) that contained the "two tablets of the testimony"(31:18) on which were the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the "testimony."They were the essential stipulations of the Mosaic Covenant, the heart of the relationship between God and His people.
God designed the tabernacle structure and all its furnishings to teach the Israelites about Himself and how they as sinners could have a relationship with Him.
"The thoughts of God concerning salvation and His kingdom, which the earthly building was to embody and display, were visibly set forth in the pattern shown [to Moses]."435
"The tabernacle also provided a prophetic prefigurement of the redemptive program of God as focused in Jesus Christ. . . . [It] was a remarkable picture of the high priestly work of Christ both here on earth and His eternal work in the heavens."436
"Probably the conception of the tabhnith, the model' (Exodus 25:9), also goes back ultimately to the idea that the earthly sanctuary is the counterpart of the heavenly dwelling of a deity."437
One writer identified three major problems the interpreter faces as he or she seeks to understand God's revelation concerning the tabernacle.438
1. What was the length of the cubit, the standard measure of length? This is a problem because various nations had different lengths for their cubits. A cubit was the distance between the elbow and the middle fingertip. The length ranged from about 17 inches to 21 inches, but there is good reason to believe the Hebrew cubit at this time was 17.5 inches or about one and a half feet.
2. What about the information omitted in the text? Anyone who has tried to make a model or detailed drawing of the tabernacle and its furnishings has experienced frustration. The data given in the text is incomplete. Undoubtedly God revealed all the details to Moses. However, He has preserved only those details necessary for our understanding of the fundamental significance and functioning of the tabernacle in Scripture.
3. What was the exact shape of the tabernacle? The text does not enable us to know for certain if it had a flat roof or a gabled roof formed by a ridge pole. Both possibilities have problems connected with them, but the flat roof design seems more probable all things considered. A gabled roof would increase the measurement of the roof beyond the width of 15 feet so the curtains over the roof and sides would not fully cover the sides.
Another problem is the extent of typological teaching that God intended. A "type"is a divinely intended illustration. Thus all types are illustrations, but not all illustrations are types. How much detail did God intend to illustrate His character and relationship with His people?
We know the major aspects of the tabernacle and its furnishings are types because the New Testament writers identified them as such (Heb. 5:4-5; 8:5; 9:23-24; 9:8-9; 10:20). However the amount of detail Moses preserved and the obvious correspondence of certain details not identified as types have led many commentators to conclude that God intended these details to be instructive too. Some commentators have taken this teaching to extend to the numbers and colors used that, in some cases in scriptural usage, do have symbolic significance. Some commentators have taken this too far in the judgment of other students of Exodus.
I prefer a cautious approach myself. It seems to me that there are many illustrations of New Testament truth in the Old Testament. This seems clear in view of the amount of detail God preserved here. It also seems clear since the illustrative significance of some features of the tabernacle is so obvious even though the New Testament does not identify them as types. An extremely conservative approach would be to identify as types only those things that the New Testament calls types (Gr. typos, cf. antitypos). These would include Adam (Rom. 5:14), the wilderness wanderings of Israel (1 Cor. 10:6, 11), the holy place in the tabernacle and temple (Heb. 9:24), and the flood in Noah's day (1 Pet. 3:21). We could refer to other foreshadowings simply as illustrations.439
Josephus, following Philo, interpreted the tabernacle, its furniture, and the priests' garments allegorically. He wrote that the seven branches of the lampstand represent the courses of the planets. The colors of the curtains and clothing represent the four elements (earth, water, air, and fire). The two shoulder stones stand for the sun and moon. The 12 breastplate stones represent the 12 months or the 12 signs of the Greek zodiac.440His suggestions do not seem to be the best interpretations of the significance of these things.
Note that the order in which Moses described the things associated with the tabernacle in the text is not what one would normally expect. For example, we would expect that after the description of the altar of burnt offerings we would have a description of the laver. The altar of burnt offerings was the major piece of furniture in the courtyard and the first one the Israelite would meet as he entered the courtyard. The laver was the second most prominent item. It would catch the Israelite's eye next. It was also the object between the altar and the tabernacle. However instead we read about the altar of burnt offerings, then the priestly vestments, then the consecration of Aaron, and then the laver. This order is due to the two emphases in the revelation. First, Moses described things that primarily manifest God, and second, things dealing with His people's fellowship with God. The author described first things in the holy of holies where God dwelt, then things in the holy place, then things in the courtyard. This order focuses attention on the presence of Yahweh among His people, which was the most important feature of Israel's life. The tabernacle itself also reflects the importance of Yahweh's presence at the center of His people.
"The tabernacle was built on a ratio of 2:1 and on a radiating decrease value of metal: gold, silver, bronze, from the center [where God dwelt] to the outer edges."441
The materials that the Israelites were to use in the construction of the tabernacle and its worship were the finest and rarest available. This reflected the fact that nothing but the best was appropriate for response to Yahweh. What was at the center of priestly concern was not a building or a ritual but the Lord Himself, present as a gift to His people.442
The tabernacle walls consisted of rigid supports with curtains hung over the boards. These draperies also evidently formed its ceiling. Most commentators believe that the tabernacle was a single structure, but a few believe it consisted of three separate structures one on top of the other. These structures were the tabernacle proper, a tent over it made of goat hair, and another tent of skins that covered both of these structures.456
The tabernacle as a whole illustrates four different things according to Scripture. It represents the heavens where God dwells and from which He manifests Himself (Heb. 4:14; 9:23-24), the work of Christ (John 2:19-21; Heb. 3:3-4; 8:2; 9:11-12), the individual believer (1 Cor. 6:19), and the church (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6; 10:21).
In this section Moses described the altar of burnt offerings, the courtyard itself, and the oil for the lamps on the lampstand that the priests evidently prepared in the courtyard.
Here begins the revelation of those things that related to the Israelites' relationship with God (27:20-30:38). The preceding section (25:10-27:19) emphasized the revelation of the things that revealed God's character. The priesthood is the primary revelation in this new section.
"The approach to the Holy One, both within the biblical tradition and outside it, has always included some kind of mediatorial ministry, for it is inherent in any kind of high religion' that an otherwise unbridgeable chasm exist between ineffable deity and finite mankind.
"In earliest times, of course, Yahweh met directly with His creation, which in turn communicated with Him in word and act. With the passing of time and the rise of patriarchal familial and clan structures, the father of the household functioned also as its priest, the minister who stood between the family and its God. Finally--and even before the covenant at Sinai--there had developed some kind of order of priests, as Exodus 19:22 expressly declares."469
The responsibilities of the priests in Israel fell into four categories.
1. They were responsible to maintain the holy place of the tabernacle. This included burning incense each morning and evening, trimming and refilling the lamps each evening, and replacing the showbread each Sabbath.
2. They also maintained the tabernacle courtyard. This involved offering sacrifices each morning and evening and blessing the congregation after the daily sacrifice. It also meant keeping the fire on the brazen altar burning always, and periodically removing its ashes.
3. They were responsible to inspect and appraise people and sacrifices. These included lepers, wives accused of adultery, and things dedicated to the sanctuary.
4. Finally, they were to teach and counsel the people. They were to communicate the Mosaic Law to the congregation and decide difficult cases of law.
The Israelites carried out the instructions given here later. The record of this seven-day ritual appears in Leviticus 8. I shall defer comment since Moses explained the offerings and procedures specified in this chapter more fully in Leviticus.
The facts that God specified this ceremony in such detail and Moses recorded it at such length point to its importance for Israel.
"To Israel had been granted the privilege of being a special people; to Aaron and his sons was granted now the privilege of being a special mediating instrument between that people and Yahweh, their Lord. A covenant meal was always part of such an arrangement (cf. 24:11; 32:6), and that is precisely what is implied in the sharing of the ram of consecration by Yahweh and the priests."484
All the priests bathed representing the necessity of cleanliness before God. The priests had sacrificial blood applied to their ears, thumbs, and big toes (v. 20). This symbolized their complete consecration: to hear the word of God, to serve as mediators, and to walk as an example to others. They experienced sprinkling with blood signifying their complete sanctification. Their anointing with oil (v. 21) represented their endowment with power by God's Spirit for divine service.
"The investiture of the high priest consisted of nine acts (Lev. 8:7-9), whereas that of the ordinary priests involved but three."485
Chapter 31 summarizes what God required for His people to approach Him. God appointed the men who would be responsible for interpreting Moses' instructions about the tabernacle and constructing it. He filled them with His Spirit so they would make choices consistent with His will (v. 3).
Bezalel ("In the shadow of God") was evidently Miriam's grandson.497Oholiab ("The Father is my tent") was his assistant. God endowed both men with natural ability as well as with the Holy Spirit to do the work He had appointed for them.
"Though they were skilled, the narrative emphasizes clearly that they were to do the work of building the tabernacle by means of the skills that the Spirit of God would give them. There is an important parallel here with God's work of Creation in Genesis 1. Just as God did his work of Creation by means of his Spirit (Ge 1:2-2:3), so also Israel was to do their work of building the tabernacle by God's Spirit.
"The parallels between God's work in Creation and Israel's work on the tabernacle are part of the Pentateuch's larger emphasis on the importance of the work of God's Spirit among his people. . . . It is of interest here to note that the two key characters in the Pentateuch who provide a clear picture of genuine obedience to God's will, Joseph and Joshua, are specifically portrayed in the narrative as those who are filled with the Spirit of God (Ge 41:38; Dt 34:9)."498
"As a sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow (Gen. 9:13), and as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Gen. 17:11), the sign of the Mosaic covenant is the observance and celebration of the Sabbath day (Exod. 31:13, 17)."499
God intended this sign to teach Israel and the other nations that as redeemed people the Israelites had already entered into a measure of rest. They were partakers of God's rest.
Observance of the Sabbath was unique to Israel. It distinguished Israel from all other nations. So important was its observance that the Israelite who failed to observe it died (v. 15). This sign was to continue throughout all succeeding generations (v. 13) as long as God continued to work through Israel as His primary instrument (cf. Rom. 10:4; Heb. 9:10).
"The analogy between God's work of Creation and Israel's construction of the tabernacle is made explicit by the reference to the Sabbath at the close of the narrative."500
Whereas God did not command Christians to observe the Sabbath, the Scriptures do teach the importance of periodic physical rest regardless of the dispensation in which we may live.
"We don't have to be servants twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."501
This section concludes the record of what Moses received from God during the 40 days and nights he was in the mountain that began in 25:1.
Moses wrote the instructions concerning the tabernacle so they parallel what he wrote about the Creation. Note some of the similarities in the narratives.502
