After Moses’ encounter with the Lord and his glory in Exodus 34, we see that the book moves into a rather large final section in which the Lord gives Moses more commands about how Israel should live in their covenant with him. The majority of the remainder of the book focuses on instructions for building the tabernacle and all of its furniture and ornaments. The Tabernacle is the tent that would become the “home” of God’s presence among Israel, and so it needed to be beautifully crafted, and the instructions needed to be carefully followed.
The details are so important that we even see that the Lord sets aside two men, Bazalel and Oholiab, to be filled with God’s own Spirit so that they could craft every element of the tabernacle or teach others how to do so (Exodus 35:30–36:1). Perhaps the first time in Scripture we ever see the Spirit of God indwell someone is to craft beautiful works used in worshipping the Lord! That’s a pretty cool thought to me—the Lord has crafted the world to be beautiful, and here we see him empower people to do the same. (An interesting view on how this plays out in our lives as Christians can be found in John Mark Comer’s book Garden City.)
If we skip past all of the instructions, we see the actual construction of the Tabernacle take place in the final chapter of Exodus. As we read through Exodus 40, we see that the tent is set up, the ark is placed in the Holy of Holies, the lamps are brought in, altars placed, etc. As everything is brought in and set up, we also see that Moses consecrates the objects, and the priests (vv. 9–15). This means that he “sets them aside” and purifies them so that they can rightly serve in God’s dwelling place. Since God is perfectly holy, the things and people used to serve him must be pure and holy as well.
It’s easy to get lost in the details of this chapter, especially since we are so far removed from the way that the Israelites worshipped God in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple). We don’t have altars or lamp stands, wash basins don’t play into our worship of God, and we don’t view our doors and screens as significant. But as you read through this, you can’t help but notice a phrase repeated over and over again: “as the Lord had commanded Moses.” In just the last half of this chapter, we see this phrase or a variation of it almost ten times. We’ve seen Israel mess up pretty badly several times already since leaving Egypt, but here it is absolutely clear that Moses and the people of Israel are obeying God’s commands regarding the construction of the Tabernacle. If they can obey carefully in these little details, perhaps there is hope that they can obey God and walk in his covenant faithfully? The reader can only hope.
As the book of Exodus closes, we see that the Tabernacle is constructed exactly according to the Lord’s instructions, and he shows his approval by descending into the Tabernacle in the form of the pillar of cloud that had represented him this far. Earlier, we saw that Moses would go into the tent of meeting and the Lord’s presence would be outside. But here, the Lord fills the Tabernacle, and Moses must stand outside since he cannot enter into the Lord’s presence (vv. 34–38). This is a beautiful sight, because even though Israel had failed time and again, the Lord still chooses to dwell among them and give them a way to worship him and experience the life he created all people to live. The next book in Scripture, Leviticus, will dive into how the Israelites are able to approach God in worship at the Tabernacle.
For us today, we praise God that worship is not centered in a physical building. John 1 tells us that Jesus “tabernacled” among his people, becoming the center of God’s presence in the world rather than the Temple. After Jesus died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, the New Testament shows us that the Holy Spirit dwells in those who have trusted in Jesus for salvation, and the church then becomes the center of God’s presence. Rather than living in a tent or a temple, God’s presence fills the hearts of all who believes in Jesus, and the church itself becomes the temple where all can come and experience God’s goodness, grace, and love through the love of those who follow him! What a blessing, privilege, and even responsibility, for us to experience each day!
