What does is mean that Yeshua (Jesus) is our “high priest” (Hebrews 4:14)? We can learn a lot about that role from the inauguration of the first high priest of the people of God, described in detail in this week’s Torah reading, תְּצַוֶּה Tetzaveh (“you shall command”), covering Exodus 27:20-30:10.
The Tabernacle, God’s mobile embassy on Earth, was not merely a magic charm to give you the desires of your heart. That is how the surrounding nations engaged with their deities.
Rather, the Torah reading תצוה Tetzaveh (“you shall command,” Exodus 27:20–30:10) teaches that the Tent of the Testimony guides us toward how our hearts are tuned to the harmony of Heaven. How much more, then, would the Tabernacle made man — Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) — reveal the Father to us.
If you look at a map of where the tribes were settled in relation to the Tabernacle, you might ask “Where am I?” Where do you fit into the Kingdom of God?
In the Torah readings תצוה Tetzaveh (“you shall command,” Exodus 27:2–30:10) and תרומה Terumah (“heave offering,” Exodus 25:1–27:19), Moses frequently referred to the “pattern” that God showed him to recreate in the form of the Tabernacle. And Heaven brought this pattern to reality in Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).
The garments of Israel’s High Priest, detailed in Torah reading תצוה Tetzaveh (“you shall command,” Exodus 27:20-30:10), mark him as the highest representative of the people before God. Messiah Yeshua, equally God and equally man, is uniquely qualified to fill that role completely.
The connection between the menorah, the altar of incense and the people of Israel is equally profound as the work of their hands and their prayers are lifted to God symbolically by Aharon the High Priest and literally in Heaven by Messiah Yeshua, our eternal High Priest.
Some think the sacrifices detailed in the Torah reading תצוה Tetzevah (“you shall command,” Exodus 27:20–30:10) are simply to appease an angry God. But when you read about the Tabernacle and the sacrifices in the Prophets section of the Bible, you see there’s a lot more here than just butchery and blood.
These were not the sacrifices surrounding pagan nations of the time performed. The purpose of these sacrifices do not mirror the sacrifices of the pagan nations. The foundation of the Torah points to the Messiah. We have the benefit of hindsight to see that.