Christ-centered daily scripture readings for the month of December designed to prepare your heart for Christmas! We will look at Christ in scripture: preincarnate in the Old Testament, prophecies, miracles and key moments in his life, and finally h...
Hebrews 9:1-5 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
The earthly place of holiness described above is the tabernacle. The Hebrew word used in the Bible for tabernacle literally means dwelling place. It represented God dwelling with His people on earth. Remember that we learned Immanuel, a name given for Jesus to both Isaiah in the Old Testament then Joseph in the New, means God with us (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23).
The Bible tells us God gifted certain men with artistic abilities and skills to design all of the parts and pieces of the tabernacle with beauty fit for royalty. When He first called Abraham to Himself, God was like a king to Abraham and later all of the Israelites in the way He led them, protected and provided for them, and demanded their loyalty. The tabernacle was like His royal abode, though God was much more powerful and deserving than any earthly king. Sadly long after they entered the promised land they rejected God as their king and demanded to have a king like the other nations surrounding them. 1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them." Yet many of His people still honored God as king, including the second king of Israel and forefather of Jesus, King David. Psalm 24:10 is part of a song King David wrote to glorify God and honor Him as the true King: "Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah". As king, and more importantly creator and Savior Lord over all, God deserves the worship of His people. His request for worship through the sacrifices at the tabernacle were but a small request for our God who is so magnificent.
1 Timothy 1:17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
See the floor plan I drew below for the layout of the tabernacle (it is not to scale). It was the place where the priests performed their duties with sacrifices and offerings, and inside the Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies) God's glory resided. The tabernacle was constructed much like a tent so it could be taken down and set back up when the Israelites moved around in the wilderness. It had four layers of various fabrics and animal coverings over the top that pulled out to the sides to attach to the ground. The furnishings were designed to hold poles for transporting them without having to touch the holy items. Whenever the people stopped and set up camp, the tabernacle was placed in the center of the camp and three tribes camped on each side of it according to God's plan. Remember that Joseph's tribe was split into two, and this kept the number to 12 after the Levites were separated out. Their place, as priests, was in the center with the tabernacle.
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