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 Hebrew word for pattern is tavnit תַּבְנִית (H8403), which can mean pattern, form, image, or likeness. It’s derived from bānâ בָּנָה (H1129), which means to build, rebuild (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament).
Examples of the usage of this word can be found in 1Chr. 28:11–19 and Deut. 4:15–18:
“Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan [תְּמוּנָה] of the porch of the temple, its buildings, its storehouses, its upper rooms, its inner rooms and the room for the mercy seat; and the plan [תְּמוּנָה] of all that he had in mind, for the courts of the house of the LORD, and for all the surrounding rooms, for the storehouses of the house of God and for the storehouses of the dedicated things; also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD and for all the utensils of service in the house of the LORD; …for the golden utensils, the weight of gold for all utensils for every kind of service; for the silver utensils, the weight of silver for all utensils for every kind of service; and the weight of gold for the golden lampstands and their golden lamps, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for the silver lampstands, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand; and the gold by weight for the tables of showbread, for each table; …and silver for the silver tables; and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold; and for the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the silver bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the model of the chariot, even the cherubim that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
“All this,” said David, “the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern.”
1 Chronicles 28:11–19 NASB
“‘So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form [תְּמוּנָה temunah, from מִין min, “from,” “kind,” “resemblance”] on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image [from פָּסַל pasal, “to hew, hew into shape”] for yourselves in the form [תְּמוּנָה] of any figure [סֶמֶל semel, “statue”], the likeness [תַּבְנִית] of male or female, the likenessof any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth.’”
Deuteronomy 4:15–18 NASB
What are these instructions telling us? Do they forbid us from making our own jewelery in the shape of flowers, animals, etc.? Does this text forbid us form having photos of our family and families on our fireplace mantles or in our wallets? No. Don’t take these verses out of context. These verses are instructions regarding the design of God’s house, the Tabernacle.
If you are concerned about the appearnace of idolatry, ask yourself “What is this photo meant to do?” If it’s meant for decoration of our homes or a memorial of someone we love, this is not a problem. If we set up photos of our family or ancestors for a worship shrine, that is a problem.
The reason for all these instructions is so God will have a place to dwell with His people.
“ ‘I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.’ ”
Exodus 29:45–46 NASB
King David elaborated, that the Tabernacle was not built simply to be built. It had a function and a purpose. The priest, the furniture, the tabernacle were all a blueprint of how God can dwell with His people.
“There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, And to You the vow will be performed. O You who hear prayer, to You all men come. Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, You forgive them. How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.”
Psalm 65:1–4 NASB
The High Priest was meant to wear his crown only when he was in service in the tabernacle. While he was at work, he was to remember Who he was working for and why. The High Priest was there to remove the sins, transgressions and iniquities of the people so God could dwell with them.
The priests had to wear the right clothes, at the right time and in the right place. They could not just waltz into God’s house anytime they wanted for any reason they wanted to do so.
“ ‘The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; Who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’ ”
Exodus 34:6–7 NASB
The template for the original Tabernacle was not a large footprint. It was about 150-200 feet long, 100 feet wide. God commissioned a home, not a grandiose mansion.
The priests garments were made “for beauty and for glory.” The weightiest parts of his garments were the crown, the ephod and the breastplace. These were made so the High Priest would feel the “weight” of his position (representative of the people) when he was at work in the Tabernacle.
Israel had three main offices:
- Prophet
- Purpose: Communicate God’s words
- Types: Enoch, Noach, Abraham, Lot, Moshe, Bilam (hostile), Shmuel, Eliyahu, Elisha, Yonah, Yermiyahu, Yeshiyahu, Hoshea, Yokhanan
- Realization: Yeshua the Messiah (Deut. 18:15; John 14:10, 23–24; Acts 3:18–26)
- Priest
- Purpose: Connect people to God
- Type: Melchizedek, Moshe, Aharon
- Realization: Yeshua the Messiah (Hebrews 3–9)
- King
- Purpose: Establish shalom
- Types: Moshe, Yehoshua, David, Shlomo
- Realization: Yeshua the Messiah (Rev. 17:14; 19:13–16)
In the Torah, only the Hight Priest wore a crown with the title “Holy to the Lord”, but there will come a time when all of God’s people will have God’s name on them.
“In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD’S house will be like the bowls before the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.”
Zechariah 14:20–21 NASB
“The expression holy to the LORD was inscribed on the gold plate on the high priest’s turban. This inscription expressed the special state of holiness that marked the priestly office. When God establishes his eternal kingdom, no semblance of evil will exist. So pervasive will be the rule of righteousness in the new order that even the most common objects will be holy to God. Nothing will belong to the sphere of the common or profane (see the Exegesis of [Zech.] 8:3). Even the trappings on the horses will be holy to God.”
Thomas Edward McComiskey, Zechariah, The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), paragraph 11664.
God is long-suffering but we read throughout the entire Bible, is that how the world is right now will not continue forever. It will be transformed, as we read in Hebrews 4.
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:14–16 NASB
All of the High Priest’s finery (breastplate, crown and urim/thummim) were worn to remind the High Priest that he carried all the children of Israel with him when he met with God to cover the sins, transgressions and iniquities of the people of God. The roller-coaster of sin and atonement is not going to continue forever.
The future and present promise of the New Covenant is that there will come a day when all the people will know God, and He will not remember their sins, transgression and iniquities anymore (Jer. 31:31–34; John 14:8–10). There will be no condemnation for those who trusted God (Rom. 8:1).
Just as the children of Israel could ignore the tabernacle and what happened there. That is free will. But there are consequences for ignoring God.
The Torah could have been a lot shorter if Moses had left out the rich details of the Tabernacle and how it was put together, but we would have missed out on what it looked like, to experience the pattern sent down from Heaven. Rather than thinking of these details as boring, we can consider them a valuable insight into God’s character.
Summary: Tammy