Why we must guard Heaven’s tabernacle in our hearts (Exodus 25)

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Topic in the recorded discussion	Time in the recording
Is the description of the Tabernacle a non sequitur between Moses on the mountain and the golden calf?	0:01:46
Two names for the Tabernacle	0:04:55
Holy Place and Most Holy Place	0:13:55
Israel’s Tabernacle is quite unlike the temples of the pagans	0:17:23
Bread of the Face (Presence of Heaven)	0:22:45
God Who makes science possible	0:27:50
Fear of the LORD = Faith	0:30:12
Rev. 9:20-21: Turning away from the Unseen One toward idols	0:35:26
Q: Does “sorcery” in Rev. 9:20-21 refer to illicit drugs?	0:38:01
John 6:30: Respond to the LORD’s call better than the nations do	0:53:47
Matt. 5:14-16: Light up the world with the LORD’s change in us	0:55:29
Ark of the Testimony: Protect the precious Word of God	0:59:23
Psalm 119:10-12: Your Word I have treasured in my heart	1:05:59

The Tabernacle was not a very large building, but it was the focal point of the community from its inauguration to the time they entered the Promised Land.

According to Exodus 26:1–14, there were four different kinds of cloth coverings over the Tabernacle:

Fine needlework of blue, purple, scarlet (red), fine linen (white) with gold angels.
Goat hair (white).
Ram leather dyed red.
Badger (sea cow?) leather (brown).

“You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver. You shall make five pillars of acacia for the screen and overlay them with gold, their hooks also being of gold; and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.”
Exodus 26:36–37 NASB

The outer court made use of a lot of copper/bronze metals but inner courts were mostly silver or gold. Copper, bronze and silver can patina or tarnish, but gold never tarnishes, rusts or develops a patina. This is why gold was used for items in the Holy Place and Most Holy Place.

The Tabernacle was the most unique Temple on the Earth as it was the only worship center in the Ancient Near East that did not have a physical representation of the deity housed inside.

הַקֹּדֶשׁ haQodesh (Holy Place)

“You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies. You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.”
Exodus 26:33–35 NASB

Dimensions: 10 cubits wide by 20 cubits long (15 ft. x 30 ft., or 4.6 m x 9.2 m)
Described: Exodus 26:33, 35; Hebrews 9:2, 6
Every day, the priests entered into the haQodesh to serve the LORD.
Inside were:
- הַשֻּׁלְחָן לֶחֶם פָּנִים Ha-Shulkhan Lekhem Panim (Table of Bread of the Presence/Face)
- מְּנֹרָה Menorah (seven-branched golden lampstand)
- מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת Miqtar Q’toret (Altar of Incense; Exodus 30)
- פָּרֹכֶת Parokhet (veil) that separated the haQodesh from the קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים Qodesh haQadashim (Holy of Holies, Most Holy Place)

There’s a fun story in the Bible when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant and they stored it in the temple of Dagon (1Samuel 4–5). Every day the Ark was in the Dagon temple, the Dagon idol was knocked to the ground and laid low before the Ark. The Philistines quickly got the message and returned the Ark to the Israelites.

In John 1:1–14, we meet the Tabernacle of God in the flesh, Yeshua the Messiah. The physical Tabernacle and later the Temple were created to show us the Messiah.

Face to face with Heaven: YHWH Yireh (LORD Who sees)

“You shall set the bread of the Presence [Panim] on the table before Me [panim] at all times.”
Exodus 25:30 NASB

The table faces the Menorah, so maybe this is about Israel being face to face with God, like Moshe interacted with the LORD.
Faith in God and His Mashiakh equals trust in the One Who works l’olam v’ed (over the horizon and beyond = in the realm of forever = beyond where we can see) based on His works panim (in His face = before us).

We can look at what the LORD has done, what He is doing and use that to strengthen our faith in expectation of the great things that the LORD will do in the future.
The fear of the LORD is to act and to live as if God will see everything we do (because He does whether we believe it or not).

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”
Hebrews 11:1–2 NASB

This is why Abraham was called “The Friend of God” not only because Abraham followed God’s instruction to move his family into the Promised Land but because he also believed that God would make him a father and give him many descendants who would walk with God as he did and that there would always be descendants of Abraham on the earth all the way to the Day of the LORD.

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.
Revelation 9:20–21 NASB

You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
James 2:22-24 NASB

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS.”
Hebrews 3:7–9 NASB

The original Exodus generation were called to enter the Promised Land about two years after they left Egypt but because they received the evil report, they

There was judgement but also mercy in God’s decision to not allow that generation to enter the Promised Land. That generation lived those 40 years camped all around the Tabernacle with God literally in their midst. They had the privilege of seeing it every day.

The generation that entered the Promised Land spread out all over the land and for the majority of them, they did not interact with the Tabernacle on a daily basis. The “out of sight, out of mind” is real. The descendants of Israel struggled in their allegiance to HaShem after they entered the land. That is why God gave them the tzitzit, the tefillin, etc., so they would have daily physical reminders of God’s presence with them.

“So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?”
John 6:30 NASB

The “deplorables” of society followed Yeshua without prolific displays of miracles and power, yet the Jewish leaders rejected Him because He wouldn’t perform for them on command.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14–16 NASB

We don’t have to perform great miraculous feats for those around us to see Yeshua, we just have to show people to Him rather than to ourselves.

קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים Qodesh haQadashim (Holy of Holies, Most Holy Place)

The Ark of the Covenant is the focal point of the entire Tabernacle. That’s an inescapable fact. What is inside the ark? The 10 Commandments.

If the founding documents of the United States are so worthy of protecting that they “sleep” in a nuke-proof vault, how much more the founding document of the People of God? This is the kind of qal v’khomer (“light and heavy”) argument that is used often in Hebrews and Paul’s letters to help readers understand something more “weighty” after accepting as true something similar that’s “lighter” in significance.

The focus of the Mishkan is the אֲרֹן הָעֵדֻת Aron haEydoot (Ark of the Testimony), aka the אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָה Aron B’rit YHWH (Ark of the Covenant). The Ark of the Testimony protected the founding documents, the constitution of the People of God. This document binds all the people of God together, just as the people of the United States are bound by the U.S. Constitution and honor that document and work to put it into practice.

If the people of God don’t put the 10 Commandments into practice, we run a real risk of losing our first love and going astray from God. We can end up in a very bad place. When we realize we have gone astray, the first thing we do is to turn back to the foundation.

“With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes.”
Psalm 119:10–12 NASB

Summary: Tammy