Meaning of TABERNACLE

(a) Temporary portable temple, where the Lord met His people (Ex. 33:7-10).

(b) Portable sanctuary, whose construction God ordered Moses at Sinai, and which accompanied the Israelites on their pilgrimage through the desert, and then remained standing in the Promised Land until the establishment of the kingdom in peace under Solomon.

The importance of the Tabernacle is marked by the number of chapters dedicated to it in the book of Exodus: 25 to 31, constituting a third of the book.

Its object was to allow the Lord to dwell among his people (Ex. 25:8) and to provide sinful men with a means of constant communion with the holy God (Ex. 25:22; 29:42-46). .

Indeed, there is an immense difference between the descent of the Lord, surrounded by devouring fire, with all the threats of Sinai (Ex. 19: 10-22) and on the other hand his permanent dwelling in the middle of the camp (Ex. 40: 34-38).

This change was made possible by the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system and priesthood that it entailed.

In the Tabernacle the image and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary were reproduced. Moses built it after the pattern that God had given him on the mountain (Ex. 25:9, 40; 26:30; 27:8).

His execution was in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded (this is stated 18 times; cf. Ex. 39:32, 42:43, etc.). Nothing at all was left to human inventiveness or initiative. Each of the details had its importance and spiritual meaning.

The Epistle to the Hebrews confirms that the sanctuary made with human hands was “an imitation of the true one,” established by the Lord in heaven (Heb. 8:2, 4-5; 9:11, 23-24).

The ritual, worship, sacrifices, priesthood of Aaron, are all types and prophecies of the person, sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, our high priest.

By definition, these types and ordinances were temporary: the vestments, utensils, divisions of the sanctuary, veil, sacrifices, ablutions, etc., have all given way to worship rendered in spirit and in truth, all of which have been fulfilled by the coming of Christ (Heb. 8:5; 9:1-10; Jn. 4:23-24).

To introduce these things into Christian worship, as the Church of Rome and its imitators do, is to confuse the covenants, and return to the Old Covenant, which has already been abrogated in favor of the New.