In Exodus 30-31, we find instructions for making an incense altar, a bronze water basin, incense, anointing oil, and many other items for God’s Tabernacle. When I first read about the Tabernacle design, my head started spinning. So many strange objects with so much detail!
Recently I spent some time studying about the Tabernacle. I learned that the Tabernacle was designed to point back to the Garden of Eden. Eden was a place full of God’s life, wisdom, and love, symbolized by the Tree of Life. But within Eden, there was also the possibility of human greed, foolishness, and death, symbolized by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
When our first parents chose that second tree, they walked away from God’s wisdom and life and found themselves outside the garden, in a wasteland of their own greed and fear. But God wouldn’t allow their rebellion to have the last word. Instead, he promised them one day he would restore everything and dwell with humanity again.
So, when God freed Israel from slavery to Egypt, he had them build a Tabernacle, a place where he could dwell with his people. God also wanted his dwelling to remind his people of his promise to restore all things. And that’s why he had the Tabernacle designed in such a way that it would remind his people of Eden—the way it had been before, and the way it would one day be again.
In the New Testament Jesus tells his followers that he now dwells in them, just as he had dwelt in the Tabernacle. Think of that! God has moved in and taken up residence in you! Ponder that for a second.
Questions for reflection:
- When have you experienced God’s presence in your life? What was that like?
- What does it mean for you to know that you are the place where God has decided to dwell?
- How could you focus on this reality throughout your daily routine? What are some things you might do to remind yourself that God dwells in you?