Sacred Dwelling: God’s Temple in the Wilderness

Sacred Dwelling: God’s Temple in the Wilderness

MONDAY

Last week we started a new campaign called The Temple: Sacred Space between the Garden and the City. We are tracing the theme of sacred space through the biblical story. Last week we saw that Eden is portrayed as a temple. This week, let’s look at the tabernacle. Technically, Mt. Sinai is portrayed as a temple in the biblical story as well, but we just covered that in our Presence of God campaign earlier this year. So let’s go right on to the tabernacle. Remember, sacred space is essentially space that God has chosen to represent his presence. His presence fills all of creation, in a sense, but throughout the biblical story, God has chosen certain spaces to represent his presence more intensely. Celtic Christians in the past referred to these spaces as “thin spaces” to describe how the boundaries between the physical world and the spiritual world seem especially thin.

After the people of Israel are delivered by Yahweh from bondage in Egypt, they enter into a covenant relationship with Yahweh at Mt. Sinai. It’s there that God gives Moses the instructions to build him a dwelling place (tabernacle). This tabernacle is the precursor to the temple. This is the mobile temple. Remember, the people of Israel are still wandering in the desert of Sinai, yet to reach the promised land.

For the rest of today, let’s read a portion of the tabernacle description. It’s quite detailed so we won’t be reading all of it. If you’d like to read all of it you can find it in Exodus 25-31; 35-40.

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Exodus 25:1–8 (NIV) Offerings for the Tabernacle 25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 8 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.

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Exodus 40:1–17 (NIV) Setting Up the Tabernacle 1 Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. 3 Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. 4 Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 6 “Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; 7 place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. 9 “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them. 12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” 16 Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him. 17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year.

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Exodus 40:34–38 (NIV) The Glory of the Lord 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

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They say “A picture is worth a thousand words.” In this case this statement is quite literally true.

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