The more I study the Tabernacle, the more intrigued I become. I find it fascinating that the entire creation of the universe is described in two chapters, but it took nearly all of 15 chapters in the book of Exodus to describe with great detail the making of the Tabernacle and its furnishings. This alone should let us know just how important the tabernacle is in the greater scheme of the Scriptures. We read the following verse in Exodus, which provides the purpose of the Tabernacle.
Exodus 25:8 “Have them make a Sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. 9 You are to make it all precisely according to everything that I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all the furnishings within—just so you must make it.
Let’s consider the first part of verse 8 above. The word among you is from the Hebrew word תָּוֶךְ (tavek), which means in the middle of or the midst of. When we think about this verse in its plain meaning, our first thought should be, “Doesn’t G-D dwell everywhere?” After all, G-D is a Spirit and fills all space. In Isaiah 66:1, G-D says:
Isaiah 66:1 Thus says Adonai: “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is the House you would build for Me? Where is the place of My rest?
So, the question we have to ask ourselves is did the Creator of the universe who spoke all things into existence really need a tent so He’d have somewhere to sleep at night, especially considering the Scripture says in Psalm 121 that He does not slumber or sleep?
Psalm 121:4 Behold, the Keeper of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
So, if the purpose of the Tabernacle was not to give God a home, what was it? I believe we cannot fully understand the real purpose of the Tabernacle until we read and understand 1 Corinthians 3:16, which says:
1 Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that the Ruach Elohim dwells among you?
The Greek word translated temple in this verse is ναός (naos), which means: divine dwelling-place, which is exactly what we become when we are born again. This understanding is further established when we read the end of Isaiah 66:1 not as G-D asking for a place where He can rest, but rather asking, “Where is the place of My rest?”
In order to understand the true purpose of the Tabernacle, we have to remember the prophetic nature of God‘s Word and the things we call types and shadows. Types and shadows are people or events in the Old Testament that correspond or connect with people or events in the New Testament. When you see these, you understand that the whole purpose of the Old Testament was to lead us and guide us to Messiah Yeshua. For instance, the creative events of Genesis chapter 1 cannot be fully understood until we read the last chapter of the book of Revelation. Likewise, we can’t understand the fullness of the Exodus, until we understand the death, burial and resurrection of Messiah in the Gospels. In the same way, we can’t understand the purpose of the Tabernacle until we understand that its purpose rests in us, literally and figuratively.
Think about it for a minute. The Tabernacle was simple and plain on the outside and beautiful on the inside. This shows us that God is much more concerned that our inside is beautiful than our outside. The description of the Tabernacle takes so much space describing its creation to demonstrate just how fearfully and wonderfully we were made. The Tabernacle was designed after the image of something in heaven, just as we were designed in the image of God.
The true purpose of the Tabernacle was so that the people of God would have something visible and tangible they could see to make it known to them that God’s Spirit was residing with them. The Tabernacle was built in the wilderness so that we would have a pattern for our role and purpose. We are called to be the Tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, with the same purpose as the one in the wilderness. Our purpose, our life, everything we say or do, should be said or done so that those around us have a reminder that God’s Spirit is present.
It is completely absurd for us to think that the Creator of the universe who dwells in all places at all times needs a tent to sleep in. That the One who is the Bread of Life needed a table of bread. That the One who is the Light of the World and spoke light into existence needed some candlesticks. The truth is the Tabernacle wasn’t built for G-D. It was built as a pattern for us, for you and me, so that we could become a Tabernacle for those around us, so that they would become Tabernacles for those around them.