In Genesis 3:15 we see that, shortly after Man’s disobedience, God makes a promise, the promise of salvation. God has a plan, for each and every one of us individually, and more often than not you can find the type (or the foreshadowing) in the Old Testament, and the final, full-fledged result, the fulfillment, in the New Testament.
After their Exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel found themselves safe at Mount Sinai. Here Moses had given them the laws and regulations of God, but that would not be the end of their journey with God.
An interesting aside is that God threatened to leave them, to abandon them – instructing Moses to lead the people, but saying “ Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” (Ex. 33), Moses acted as intercessor, just as Jesus was an intercessor for our sins, and reminded God of His promise. This would not be the last time Moses would intercede for the unbelief and obstinate of his people (Numbers 14).
Shortly after this the construction of the Tabernacle started.
God knew the plan He had for the Israelites, He knew what lay ahead (Jer 29:11). He also knew that their hearts would be hard and unrepentant, and that they would remain a stiff-necked people throughout. He knew what the consequences of their stubbornness would be…
Because of this unique knowledge, knowledge that only our God possesses, He designed the Sanctuary so that it could be a portable temple; a portable structure that could travel with them on their wanderings, so that they could have a physical emblem of God’s presence on their journey. It is important to note that when He instructs them to make for Him a sanctuary, the emphasis is not so much on God dwelling in it, but rather that He may dwell in their midst, among His people.
Even in the desert God would be with them. Even in their stubbornness. Even in their stiff-neckedness. Even in their sin. Even in their deafness.
God loves His people, loves His creation and wants to see it glorifying Him, He wants to see His children prosper and live in abundance and so, after the fall of Man, he made a new and living way for us, so that we could break the shackles of sin, and lay all our burdens down and truly be free through Him. Therefore, as you go through the Old Testament, you find people and events that foreshadow the coming of a Savior, the coming of Salvation.
It has been stated in various books and studies that the Tabernacle can be looked at as a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus also paints a beautiful picture of God’s love for us, as well as some of the characteristics He expects believers to adopt. God wants to dwell, or tabernacle, in the midst of His children, and just as He revealed Himself to the Israelites,
He revealed Himself to man through Jesus, coming in the flesh through the indwelling of His Spirit, the same Spirit that lives in our hearts, seeing as we’ve accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and have, through Jesus, received all the promises of the Father, that is to say, the Holy Spirit which guides, teaches and edifies, building up the body of Christ into which we were baptized. (Eph 2:22).
His plan, displayed to us a single scarlet thread throughout the Old Testament, was fulfilled in Christ Jesus, and because of the fulfillment the old should be traded for the new. We should cling to Jesus, and not the type, but rather the fulfillment of it, for He now dwells in our hearts, God tabernacles among us, in Spirit.
In the Old Testament God lived in the Tabernacle, he dwelt among His people through the Tabernacle, but today, in this day and age, He revealed Himself to us in Jesus, and now reveals Himself through the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of His Son), in us.
Where once God dwelt in a temple, He now truly lives among His people, He now truly tabernacles amongst His people, He now lives within us. Just as through the Tabernacle the priests had access to God, so to, through faith in Jesus we have boldness and access to God, through Christ we are a royal priesthood! (1 Pet 2:9)
He made a way for us, a new and living way, and we are free…
Reflect:
1. What are some ways in which we can see Jesus typified in the life of Moses and the event of the Exodus?
2. Reflecting on the purpose of the Tabernacle, what does it typify in terms of the modern day believer? What does the word ‘tabernacle’ mean to you?
3. The Tabernacle was in a lot of ways the ‘portable Presence’ of God in the desert. What does this imply in terms of our Christian walk?
Prayer:
Lord, I thank You for the depth of Your Word. That there is always more under the surface. As I continue to think along these lines, broaden my understanding. Come tabernacle in me Lord. Let me be full of You. Full of Your Presence and Power – a portable temple of sorts in the desert of this current culture. Help me carry Christ to dead and dry places, and let me see revival and restoration break out wherever I go. In Jesus name. Amen.