When the tabernacle was built in the wilderness, it was a place where the presence of God would reside with his people. There was a beautiful screen at the entrance to the tabernacle. It was there to keep out all people except priests. Moses was also instructed to make a veil, a beautiful one that matched the color and the design of the innermost curtains. Royal colors for the King of kings and skillfully embroidered images of cherubim on this veil which hung from golden pillars that stood on silver bases. God said to Moses, “And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.” The veil around the Ark of the Covenant kept out all people and all priests except the high priest, who could only enter one day of the year. It was called the Holy of holies. Think of this. The tabernacle was the only place in the world where you could enter God’s presence then. But there was no way for the common people to get in. The Holy place was only for the priests. The Holy of holies was only for the high priest. The people could see the outside but they never got even a tour of the inside of the tabernacle. They saw the curtains and the furniture being moved from place to place in the wilderness wandering. But they were never invited in, and this was not to keep them from God’s presence but to protect them from it! This separation behind the veil pointed to the holiness of God. It reminded the people that God punishes sin but that he also provides mercy and grace through the sacrifice made by a mediator: Moses, the priests, and the high priest. Though the people could not get into the tabernacle, a mediator could go in and make sacrifices for them. For all the people of God.

Do you see the beauty of what God was doing? There was a door that no one could enter except those set apart and chosen by God. There was also a veil that kept even priests, almost all of them, from the presence of God. The rest of the people could not go in or go out because of the veil. 

Then, Jesus left heaven and came down to be with us. And he said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” And he did. And at the moment Jesus died, Matthew, the gospel writer who wrote for the Jews, the people still behind the veil, tells us, “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” The Holy of holies was open to all because the greatest High Priest, the only one who offered himself as the sacrifice, had torn down the wall of separation by his blood. 

The separation has been removed and God is with us. In us. You may not be feeling that right now. You may believe God is unhappy with you because of your sin or you may believe that God loves you because he has to (He’s God!)…but that he doesn’t really like you. You might find it hard to concentrate while reading the Bible. You might find it hard to be excited about coming to church or you might struggle to feel warm towards God while others sing praise to him. You might struggle to know how to pray. Can I be honest with you? We all feel those same things at times. What do we do about it? We don’t try to think of how we can work our way back into his favor or into his presence. We have his favor in Christ and we have his presence. 

What do we do? Turn to him. If you need forgiveness, turn to Christ. He is with you. If you need comfort, turn to Christ. He is there for you. Jesus is the door. If you need strength or healing or hope for the future, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Turn to him. He is all you need. 

Cindy and I enjoy John Piper’s “Solid Joys”, and in a recent devotion he said that even Satan believes in the resurrection; he saw it happen. So, part of what it means for us to believe Romans 10:9, to confess with our mouths that God raised Jesus from the dead is much more than accepting a fact. Piper wrote, “It means being confident that God is for you, that he has closed ranks with you, that he is transforming your life, and that he will save you for eternal joy.” I love that phrase, “he has closed ranks with you.” It means that he is with us. God said in Leviticus 26, “I will make my dwelling place with you.” He will not leave us. Jesus repeated that promise to his followers: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” and we see the foreshadowing of that all through the Old Testament. God is with his people. The tabernacle was a physical reminder of that promise in the wilderness. So though you may read the seven chapters in Exodus that describe in detail how it was built and think, “this is tedious,” I encourage you to read it under the banner “God is with us.” And with this truth underscoring every word: “The tabernacle and everything in it points to and is fulfilled in Jesus.” The one who was called “Immanuel.” God with us. 

Why was the bread placed on the table of the Presence in the tabernacle every Sabbath? We are told it is a food offering to the Lord, but did God eat the bread? I mean, is God hungry? Does God need anything? No, God said, “If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.” Paul adds, “nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” The bread on the table in the holy place where all the Jews could see it was a reminder that God is our provider. It was called the bread of the Presence because it was literally, “before God’s face.” And it was always there, just as God is always with us. Just as God always provides for us. How does this also point to Jesus? Bread was always on the table. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” and only Jesus who can satisfy our hunger. Wine was also on the table, and it was with bread and wine that Jesus illustrated the sacrifice he was about to make for his disciples and for us. He broke the bread and poured out the wine in the upper room. Then he did the same with his body and his blood on the cross. Broken and poured out by God who is for us.

We also see the provision of God on display in the lampstand. First, the lampstand brought light in a dark place, enabling the priests to do their work. The tabernacle had walls and a covering or roof that were several layers thick, made of linen and yarn and goatskins and rams’ skins. Second, the lampstand was shaped like a tree and though the Bible doesn’t fully explain its symbolism, some believe it was a look back to Eden and the tree of life. Our first parents lost that light as Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, but God had a plan for giving his people new light and life. The lampstand also looks back to creation and God’s first spoken words that started his eternal plan: “Let there be light.” Finally, the lampstand looks forward to the One who would say, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 

God closes these instructions about the table and the lampstand with this: “And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.” Why? Because the tabernacle and ark of the covenant and the table and the lampstand are, as Hebrews tells us, “a copy and shadow of heavenly things…Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” 

Tim Keller was 22 years old when he heard Edmund Clowney, his professor at Gordon-Conwell, say  that the Bible is either about what we’re supposed to do or it’s about what Jesus has done. More than 30 years later, Tim Keller taught the same truth as he gave his first public address for The Gospel Coalition to five hundred church leaders. He asked them, “Do you believe the Bible is basically about you or about him? Is David and Goliath about you and how you can be like David? Or is the story basically about Jesus, the one who really took on the only giants that can really kill us and whose victory is imputed to us? Who’s it really about? That’s the fundamental question. And when you answer that, then you start to read the Bible anew.” 

The tabernacle points us to Jesus, who is the light and the life! Believe it. Live it. Tell it. 

He is with us.

The ark of the covenant was a box of acacia wood, covered with pure gold, which God instructed his people to build in the wilderness. It was the place (and of course God is not contained in a box) where God was, to be with his people. The lid of the ark was called the mercy seat, and it was crafted from pure gold, and on it were images of golden cherubim. These were not chubby little cherubs playing harps as they are sometimes painted, but fearsome creatures of God who served him as guardians. The golden images of cherubim faced each other on the mercy seat with wings outspread. They were called the “cherubim of glory” in the book of Hebrews and perhaps their eyes were downcast because above them is the holy presence of God. The psalmist wrote, “The Lord reigns; let the people tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!” If God is enthroned upon the cherubim, then the ark of God is his footstool. The same psalm cries, “Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!” Think of this: the mercy seat was on top of the ark. The law would be placed inside the ark. Even before God gave his people the engraved tablets of the law that would reside in the ark, he made provision for their failure to keep it at the mercy seat. In human terms with an image we can understand, God is enthroned on the mercy seat and his feet are resting upon the law. In that way, the ark of the covenant demonstrates God’s truth that mercy triumphs over judgment.

The Holy of holies in the tabernacle and later in the temple was no longer needed when Jesus Christ came to save. As our high priest, Christ entered the Holy of holies bringing his own blood as a sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews says, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption…Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.” 

Oh, how we need the mercy of God which is only found in Jesus. The Lord told a parable to illustrate what it looks like when a man finds mercy. This man was a tax collector, a sinner who used his position to cheat and steal and line his own pockets at the expense of his fellow man. But he found himself in the temple one day, maybe thinking he had no chance at being forgiven for all he had done. But he was there, searching for forgiveness, desperate for mercy, and he didn’t know what to say. He did not dare look up but with head hung down and standing far off in the shadows, he prayed, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.” The literal translation is, “God be merciful to me, the sinner.” As though he were the only one. This is a picture of true brokenness and repentance. There he stands in the temple, not that far from the ark of the covenant. His prayer starts with God, who sits enthroned above the ark of the covenant. He asks for mercy from the one who was his only hope, the one who is in the seat of mercy, the one in whom mercy dwells. And he only mentions himself last.

“God, be merciful to me, the sinner.”

Jesus heard that man’s cry as he does all who come to him and to him alone. That man received mercy from the throne of God. You and I can, too.

At the end of the Book of the Covenant in Exodus, God is giving his people two things. First, a promise that he would be with them and lead them to the promised land. They would need only to trust him to remove their enemies when they arrived. God said he would be an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries. It is a whisper of Genesis 12, isn’t it? Where God promised Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse.” There is security in Christ, even though there are dangers in being his. We will have enemies, we will be dishonored, we will be opposed. But our trust is in God, not in a life of ease or a life without opposition or challenges or enemies. That is why God tells his people to carefully obey his voice and he would blot out all the “ites.” Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and the rest. Their enemies would be no match for God. 

But along with a promise, God also gave a warning: “You shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them.” Do not serve their gods! Think about it. The gods of the “ites” were the very reason they were driven out, the very reason God would blot them out.

It is a picture of the Gospel. God was taking his people to the promised land. Unmerited favor! He would wipe out their enemies and make a place for them to live and serve him. Matchless grace! But then he says to them, “Make sure you follow these simple rules.” God was not saying, “If you follow these rules, I will love you.” No, God was saying, “I love you. Period. And if you obey me and listen to me, it will go well with you.” 

I remember when I was a teenager and the youth of my church drove down to Six Flags Over Georgia. Incredible grace! The church paid for it and we had a whole day to spend at this exciting amusement park. Unmerited favor! But, before we got off the bus the youth leader said, “Hey guys, have fun. We will meet back here at the bus at 6pm. But listen to me. Remember that you represent Christ and your family and your church. Be a good example to others today and let them see Christ in you. Ok?” We all screamed, “OK!” 

It was 10am. We got to the gates right when the park opened and we had 8 whole hours to ride all the rides and eat all the food and have all the fun. The first thing I did was ride the cable car with a few of my buddies. We thought it would be cool to see the whole park first from the air and make a plan for the day. As the cable car was traversing the park and I was chomping happily on a big wad of gum, I decided it would be fun to see if I could land my gum in someone’s hair down below. Perfect way to start the day at the park, right? I took aim, adjusted for windshear and the rotation of the earth, and let it fly. Boom! Bullseye. The girl I blessed with my shot looked up, not happy, and saw me grinning at her in my bright orange t-shirt. I high fived my buddies and we were still laughing when the cable car reached its destination and I saw two men in Six Flags uniforms waiting…for me. 

These nice men escorted me to the gate I had just come through 15 minutes earlier and said, “Have a good day! Somewhere else.” It was 10:15am. I spent the next 7 hours and 45 minutes on the church bus. 

Unmerited favor squandered. Amazing grace lost. I learned that day that if you follow your own rules, it will not go well with you.