A Sanctuary for God

Exodus 25-31 gives the instructions for the tabernacle, and chapters 35-40 describe its building. This large section shows how important God's presence is to the story. The purpose is clear: Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (25:8). The materials came as a freewill offering from those whose hearts moved them. Exodus 12:35-36 tells how the Egyptians gave Israel silver and gold when they left.

The ark of the covenant was a chest of acacia wood covered with gold and carried with poles. Inside it Moses would place the testimony, the tablets of the covenant. Its lid, the mercy seat (or atonement cover), had two cherubim of hammered gold facing each other. Above it God promised, There I will meet with you. Once a year on the Day of Atonement, blood would be sprinkled there (Leviticus 16). In the New Testament, Paul uses the same word for Christ, whom God set forth as an atoning sacrifice (Romans 3:25).

The table held the bread of the presence, twelve loaves for the twelve tribes, a sign of fellowship and provision. The lampstand, hammered from one piece of pure gold, looked like a flowering almond tree and gave light in the holy place. In the New Testament, Hebrews 8:5 calls the tabernacle a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, which is why Moses had to follow the pattern exactly. Christians have read this as a picture of Christ, who John 1:14 says lived among us.