THE TABERNACLE OF MEETING The Book of Exodus tells us that God showed Moses a pattern of the tabernacle, to build one accordingly (Exod. 25.9). He showed him the actual one, in order to make a symbol of its model. The Book of Acts (7.44), and the Epistle to the Hebrews (8.5, 9.23) confirm that Moses saw an actual model, which indicates that God wanted the tabernacle with all its details and specifications to serve, not for the sake of adornment, but as a symbol proclaiming an actual fact, and a reference that prophesies a future spiritual one1. As the topic of the tabernacle occupies most of the remaining chapters of the Book, I find it convenient to present a simplified version, as to its names, measurements, sections, materials and furnishings, to help the reader understand the contents of these chapters. The Names of the tabernacle A- The Sanctuary: God commanded Moses to set it, “that He may dwell among them” (Exod. 25.8-9). B- The tabernacle of the testimony: (Exod. 38.21); or the tabernacle of witness (Acts 7.44); in it, the Ark of Covenant that contains the two tablets is kept, as if, in its essence, the tabernacle became a practical testimony to the covenant that God made with His people, (which He wrote with His finger on the two tablets). C- The tabernacle of meeting: It was so called, not because the people used to meet together, there, but because God Himself used to meet with His people in it (Exod. 33.7), to confirm His care for them and keeping of His covenant with them. D- The house of the Lord: It was not just a place of meeting, but a place offered by the people to God, to be accepted by Him who fills the heaven and earth, owning it as His private dwelling, even though He does not dwell in a house. It is to let His men and children enter into it, as though entering into heaven, the dwelling place of God (Josh. 6.24). Dimensions of the tabernacle The tabernacle took the shape of a rectangle, 30 cubits long, 10 cubits wide and 10 cubits high, with an entrance to the east. The two sides and the rear end are made of 48 boards: 20 boards on each side, and 8 boards for the rear end. Each board is 10 cubits long, and one and a half cubit wide, overlaid with gold. Each board has two silver tenons that fit into two silver sockets. The boards are connected with bars of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, and coupled together by golden rings (Exod. 26.15-30). The entrance to the east was open, but covered by a veil; woven of blue, purple, and scarlet yarns, and fine linen threads, and was hung upon 4 pillars of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, set on bases of brass. Sections of the tabernacle The tabernacle is divided into two sections, by means of 4 identical pillars, set upon silver bases, with a veil hung upon them by golden hooks (Exod. 26.31, 33, 37). It was woven of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen thread, with the design of cherubim made on them by a clever weaver. The veil divides between an eastern 1 Edershein. Bible History, Old Testament. 1977. Vol. 2 P.122-3 194 section, the holy place, and a western section, the Most Holy. The Most Holy place, on the western side, is like a cubicle, each side 10 cubits in length; and houses inside it the Ark of the Testimony. The holy place, on the eastern side, is 20 cubits long, 10 cubits wide, and 10 cubits high (Exod. 26.16, 18, 22-24). It houses the table of Showbread on the right side, facing the golden lampstand on the left, and between the two is the golden altar of incense, opposite to the Ark of the Testimony (in the Most Holy place). The material and covers of the tabernacle 1- In the tabernacle, the huge curtain that covers the roof, the two sides, and the rear end, does not reach down to the ground, but hangs over it by one cubit on each side. This curtain is formed of 10 pieces woven of fine linen thread, and of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with artistic designs of cherubim woven on them1. Each piece is 28 cubits long, and 4 cubits wide. Every 5 curtains are coupled to one another; one to represent the roof and three sides of the Most Holy Place, while the other to represent the roof and sides of the holy place. The two sections are bound together by means of fifty loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain, connected to one another by clasps of gold, so that the whole tabernacle appears as one piece. 2- The main covering of the tabernacle is made of goats’ hair, to be like a tent over the tabernacle. Its formed of 11 curtains, each 30 cubits long, and 4 cubits wide. Thus, the length of the cover is 2 cubits longer than the inner curtain, one cubit on each side to cover the tabernacle down to the ground. Five curtains are gathered alone, to cover the roof and the sides of the Most Holy place, and six curtains are coupled by themselves to cover the roof and the sides of the holy place, together with a portion of the entrance. 3- Two other coverings of rams’ skin were dyed red to protect the tabernacle against the sun and rain. The outer court of the tabernacle Surrounding the tabernacle is a rectangular court: 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide. The court is bound by 20 pillars on each side and 10 pillars between. Its height is 5 cubits, half that of the tabernacle. On the pillars, there are hangings woven of fine linen thread; the twenty pillars have their sockets made of bronze and their hooks and bands of silver. For the gate of the court to the east, which is 20 cubits wide, there is a screen 20 cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen thread, hung on 4 pillars (Exod. 27.9-18). In the court, outside the tabernacle, there is the laver and the altar of the burnt offering. Erecting the tabernacle and its location The tabernacle was erected on the first day of the second year of the exodus (Exod. 40.17). It took the builders nine months to finish it; then, it was dedicated by religious rituals. It was erected during the journey across the wilderness, in the middle of the camp, surrounded by tents of the priests and Levites, then the tents of the rest of the tribes, arranged in four sections (Num. 2.2-34). On the day the tabernacle was erected, God’s glory appeared as a cloud that filled and covered it. When the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, it 1 That length represents the width of the curtain as a whole. Thus, it covers the roof at ten cubits and nine cubits on each side [9+9]. Thus, on each side, there is one cubit not covered by the internal curtain. 195 became a pillar of cloud that went before the children of Israel in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day it was taken up. By night, the cloud was transformed into a pillar of fire that also went before them (Exod. 40.35-38; Num. 9.15-23). When they ended their journeys in the wilderness, the tabernacle settled down in ‘Gilgal’ on the east border of ‘Jericho’ (Josh. 4.19). Then, it was moved to ‘Shiloh’ (Josh. 18.1), to remain there between three and four centuries. Afterwards, it was moved to ‘Nob’ (1 Sam. 21.1-9), and then to ‘Gibeon’, in the days of King David (1 Chron. 21.29). It was there at the beginning of the reign of King Solomon (2 Chron. 3.13), until he finished building the temple, according to its pattern, yet with double its dimensions: length, width, and height. The tabernacle as a symbol of the Lord Christ [1] The materials of which the curtains are made, are the same as those of the veil which divides the holy place from the Most Holy, the curtain on the gate of the tabernacle, and as those from which the garments of Aaron, the High Priest, are made. They represent the Person of the Lord Christ in four aspects, as though the Lord Christ is the ultimate subject of all these symbols: A- The fine threads of linen refer to complete purity. B- The blue refers to the fact that He is from heaven (John 3.13). C- The purple is the royal color, a sign of His Kingdom (Ps. 2) D- The scarlet is a reference to His redeeming work through shedding His blood for our salvation. This is the foundation on which the tabernacle is set. It is the Lord Christ Himself, in Whom the Father encounters humanity, and through Him, our reconciliation with the Father is achieved. [2] Those marvelous and beautiful curtains were covered by three coverings: A- The first covering is made of goats’ hair (Exod. 26.7), of no beauty. For, despite the Divine beauty that the Lord Christ carried within Him, His outer appearance carried affliction and passion. The prophet Isaiah saw Him with no beauty; He appeared to him as though He was despised and rejected by God and men (Isa. 53). Yet He is the Lamb of God, on Whom the burdens of our sins and iniquities are given. What we say of the Person of the Lord Christ, we also say of His commandment and preaching; His commandment is difficult, its way is rough and its door is narrow. Yet, whoever meditates and practices the commandment, will find in it the Lord Christ, Who grants exaltation and exuberance to the soul. What we say of the Lord and His commandment would also apply to His followers. Whoever walks with Christ would not carry outer beauty, as “The royal daughter is all glorious within” (Ps. 45.13). Outwardly, the Christian looks as though he carries affliction and passion, while inside he carries glory and joy. B- Rams’ skin dyed red (Exod. 26.14), as a symbol of the obedience of the Lord Christ to the Father, even to death. C- Badger skin (Exod. 26.14), to cover all the coverings, symbolizing the predominant trait of the Lord Christ: His steadfastness in the testimony to the Truth even to death. The pillars and boards What are the pillars that carry the pieces of curtains, and what are the boards that bind the pillars together? The scholar Origen says that the tabernacle has to have pillars, namely, the teachers, who are its ambassadors, of whom the apostle says, “... 196 James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, ... gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship” (Gal. 2.9). In the tabernacle, the pillars are bound together by the boards (Exod. 26.19). Likewise, the teachers in the Church are united. The bases of the pillars are made of silver, two for each pillar. The silver refers to the word of God and gaining the gift of the Holy Spirit; as the words of God are as pure as silver in a crucible1. The foundation of the preaching of the apostles is the prophets; as “the Church is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2.20), and through their testimony, faith would be strengthened in Christ, the crown of the pillars, as expressed by the apostle Paul, “The head of every man is Christ” (1 Cor. 11.3). The boards that bind the pillars together, as we stated, are the hands bound together through the apostolic fellowship2. Therefore, the tabernacle is a symbol of the Lord Christ; and the Church as His body, set upon the apostles (the pillars), bounded and united by the Spirit of love and fellowship (the boards), who preach what has been prophesied by the prophets (the silver bases). It is an apostolic Church that walks by apostolic thought; yet, it does not ignore the Law and the prophets, but depends on them with a biblical spirit. The pillars of the veil and those of the gate The veil that separates the holy place from the Most Holy is set upon four pillars. If that veil represents the isolation of man, and his deprivation from enjoying and entering into God’s presence, it actually refers to our love of the world, to the lusts of the body, that was taken from dust (the world). Thus, the four pillars here refer to the world (the four corners of the universe), the carnal lusts, things that collapsed through the lifting up of the Lord Christ on the cross, when the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matt. 27.51). The screen for the door of the tabernacle is supported by five pillars. The figure five most probably refers to the five senses, as there would be no entering into the tabernacle without sanctifying them. That is why the Kingdom of heaven was likened to the five wise virgins, who had their illuminated lamps stocked with oil; they had the sanctified senses, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, the kingdom of the devil, at the same time, is like the five foolish virgins with their lamps going out; their darkened senses made them unworthy of entering into the heavenly wedding (Matt. 25). The curtains The tabernacle, in its essence, is a huge curtain, formed of two connected pieces. Each is formed of five curtains: measured 28 cubits long, and four cubits wide, woven of fine linen thread, and blue, purple, and scarlet yarns. The collective curtain, that represents the catholic or global Church, being the tabernacle and garment of Christ, is 28 cubits long and 40 cubits wide (10 curtains, each 4 cubits wide). These dimensions are not insignificant: the figure 28 refers to the Church of the New Testament, where the figure 7 represents perfection, as we have seen before3. If the gospel is preached in the 4 corners of the universe, the Church of the New Testament would be symbolized by the figure 28. As to the figure 40, it refers to the era of the Law (The 10 commandments times 4 corners of the Universe). The Lord Christ, as well as the prophets Moses and Elijah, fasted 40 days, a sign of the necessity of 1 It seems that each pillar is set upon two silver bases, which are God’s Word: The Old and the New Testaments. They may refer to the Law and prophecy as the bases of the apostolic work in the church. 2 Origen. In Exode. Hom. 9:3. 3 Fr. Tadros Y. Malaty. The Revelation of St. John the Theologian. 1979. 197 worship all the days of our life. Therefore, the curtain refers to the perfection of the Church, united through the two Testaments, the Old and the New. Note that the collective curtain, forming the tabernacle, is actually formed of two united pieces, each of five curtains, as though the tabernacle is actually the fruit of union of two peoples that sanctified their 5 senses, to resemble the 5 wise virgins: the Jewish people and the Gentiles. The two peoples represent one tabernacle, which is the holy body of the Lord Christ. The two curtains are united by 50 loops, on each side (Exod. 26.4-5), all clasped together by 50 golden clasps. Therefore, the secret of the union between the two peoples is the figure 50, namely, the coming down of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost, that united the Jewish people to the Gentiles, granting the disciples the gift of talking with the tongues of all the peoples at that time, having all of them gathered together with the tongue of union, love, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. As to the clasps, being of gold, it is because the secret of the union, granted by the Holy Spirit, is achieved through our enjoyment of the heavenly thought. In heaven, there is no dissension, nor schism, but union and love. Being woven of fine threads of linen, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarns refers to the fact that the Church is compared to its Head, the Lord Christ, symbolized by the 4 materials. The golden loops that bind the curtains together, that attaches tightly to the pillars and boards, refer to the faith that supports the Church1. The coverings The tabernacle is formed of 10 curtains, a reference to the Ten Commandments of the Law, as though in order that God may dwell in our midst, we are committed to keep His Law and commandments. By obeying Him, we enter into His paradise and live with Him as His children. The covering, made of goats’ hair, is formed of 11 curtains and not of 10 (Exod. 26.7). According to St. Augustine, if the figure 10 refers to the Law, there is an eleventh commandment, which is known inclusively, which is “keeping the Law itself”. The figure 11 refers then to not keeping the Law or breaking it. Thus, if we, by this commandment, confess that we are breakers of the Law, we shall, in the merit of the blood, gain the forgiveness of sins. In other words, outwardly, the 11 curtains appear to proclaim the necessity of confessing our sins, as a condition to enter into that divine dwelling place. St. Augustine sees in the answer of the Lord Christ to the question of the apostle, concerning the number of times one should forgive his brother, which is 77, a reference to the perfection of forgiveness. The sins (breaking the Law) are referred to by the figure 11, and the figure of perfection is 7. Therefore, we cannot enjoy the perfection of the limitless mercies of God, unless we forgive our brothers their sins. Note that the covering is, likewise, formed of two sections: one of which is formed of 5 curtains, and the other of 6 curtains; each with 50 loops and the two sections are bound together by 50 clasps of bronze. The two coverings may refer to the superficial worship of both the Jewish and the Gentile peoples: the Jewish people have the 5 sacrifices, the center of their worship; and the worship of the Gentile people are symbolized by the figure 6, being a fallible human earthly worship. In our interpretation of the beast and the figure 666 in the Book of Revelation, we said that the figure 7 refers to perfection; and the figure 8 refers to the second or heavenly life, having exceeded the 7 days of the week and entered into the new week or the new second life. The figure 6 refers to imperfection; thus, referring to the beast by the 1 We shall deal with it, God willing, when we deal with the golden altar (Chap.27). 198 figure 666 means that it is all imperfection and no good. The Gentile worship embraced devilish fantasies and imperfect practices. Nevertheless, through the 50 loops, through the work of the Holy Spirit that descended upon the Church on the day of the Pentecost, the five old Mosaic sacrifices came to an end, and so also did the imperfect pagan worships. Moreover, the Holy Spirit gave a fellowship of union in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here, the clasps on the cover are of bronze and not of gold, as they are on the curtains of the tabernacle itself. The gold refers to the heavenly glory that is inwardly, deep in the soul; while the bronze refers to the strife.
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