The Tabernacle of the Israelites (Part I)
By Liaf
I want to do another series, this time about the tabernacle of the Israelites according to the plans that God gave to Moses. I am assuming that if you are a regular reader, that you understand at least a little something about the Ark of the Covenant. Many people unfortunately are not well versed in Scripture and when I say "Ark of the Covenant" they probably think about that big boat built by Noah. But I want to get past the basic Sunday school stories and teach you about something deeper--- this time about a central place of worship for the Israelites abounding with symbolism and prophecy.
We already had messages about the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We understand that through them God selected a special people from whom Messiah would come to save the world. But do we understand that the many laws, rituals and manner of worship that they experienced have significance? God did not put all these stories in the Bible to put us to sleep. When Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai, he also received plans for a tabernacle--- a tent structure with religious furniture inside and a place for sacrifices and offerings. The tribe of Levi (the same tribe that Moses and his brother Aaron were from) was the priestly tribe responsible for carrying out all the religious and sacrificial functions. This tabernacle was a tent that could be packed up and transported place-to-place as the Israelites made their way to the Promised Land. The Levites were divided into various groups each responsible for certain items of the tabernacle for taking it down, transporting it, and setting it up again. The Ark of the Covenant, the most holy object within the tabernacle, had to be carried by the priests using staves when they traveled (staves were used on the other furniture too).
What was the tabernacle? How was it constructed? Basically, the tabernacle was a tent (boards were also used in its structure) that contained two Holy rooms. The tabernacle was 30 cubits long by 10 cubits wide. The holiest room (i.e. the Holy of Holies) was ten by ten cubits and the Holy Place preceding the holiest room was ten by twenty cubits. The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies by itself. However, in the large ‘Holy Place’ there was the table of shewbread (for placing twelve loaves of unleavened bread thereon), an altar of incense and a seven-branched lamp stand for light powered by olive oil. Today, we call such a lamp stand a "menorah" although this one had seven lamps ---not nine as the Hanukkah menorah. In this Holy Place the priests would eat the offerings but only the High Priest dared to enter the Holy of Holies and even then only once per year on the Day of Atonement. He would not dare to enter without blood of the sacrifice and incense. You may be asking, "What if somebody stole the ark on the day after the Atonement and the priests would not know about it for awhile?" I’ll tell you my friend. This could not happen. God would strike anybody dead who illegally touched the ark--- indeed if they even came into its presence. I already said in other messages (about the pyramid and sacred measure) that the ark was basically a wooden chest 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 cubits overlaid inside and outside with pure gold. The unbroken tablets of the Law were kept therein and according to the book of Hebrews it also contained Aaron’s budding rod and a pot of manna (the bread from heaven that came down and fed the Israelites while they were in the wilderness). I will state more on that later.
But the tabernacle was not only this tent. There was also a large court around it made of linen curtains. The court measured 100 cubits long by 50 cubits wide and five cubits high. There was only one entrance to get into this court on the East side (which means that the person who entered was going west toward the tabernacle with its holy rooms). In this court was a large altar for burnt offerings that measured 5 x 5 x 3 cubits. It also had a laver for priests to wash in before doing their service. Obviously the court was meant to keep people out unless they entered by the entrance. Likewise, it served the purpose of keeping people from seeing in, at least at ground level. This is why I embrace the idea that the sacred cubit of 25.0265 inches was used as explained in the pyramid and sacred measure messages. If the curtains were five cubits high, but the cubit was only 18 inches as commonly taught, then the total height would be about 7 ½ feet. A tall Israelite, say 6’ 6", would only have to stand on their tippy toes, or at most jump up a little to see over it. In addition, silver hooks suspended the tops of the curtains. The hooks would be only slightly higher than eye level to see them. Later on, I will state why it was important to look up at those silver hooks as that action has prophetic significance. I find it impossible so see how one could look up at something nearly at eye level. However, five sacred cubits would work out to be nearly 10 ½ feet--- a height that even a very tall person must still look up to.
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This is a typical artist's conception of the Tabernacle found in many Bible dictionaries or encyclopedias. The tent itself shown in the center had two holy rooms containing the Ark, tables and lamp stand. The 50 x 100 cubit outer court had the altar of burnt offering and the laver. Obviously this artist based the drawing on an 18 inch cubit since the court's partitioning curtains appear only slightly higher than the people standing nearby. |
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This is the actual plan of
the Tabernacle. The inner rectangle of course is the plan
for the tent. It had two rooms. The inner "Holy of
Holies" was a perfect cube 10x10x10 cubits where the
Ark was placed. A vail separated the two rooms (the same
kind of vail that was rent when Christ died). The larger
room (Holy Place) had the altar of incense before the
vail, the lamp on the South side, and the table of
shewbread on the North side. The larger outer rectangle is the court area with its 20 cubit wide entrance. In the court was the altar of burnt offering and the laver for washing. |
Other reasons why I embrace the sacred cubit as the measurement standard of the tabernacle are because the furniture inside the tent was 1 ½ or 2 cubits high. An 18-inch cubit would make these objects between 2 to 3 feet high. Unless the priests were very short or stooped down, the surfaces would be too low to do the administration of rituals standing up without almost "tripping over" them. I have a desk at my work that is 29 inches high. The level is great for sitting, but not standing. By contrast, a typical workbench is 3 or more feet higher --- a perfect height for standing. I realize that God specified the measurements and you may be thinking that this would not be an issue --- if they needed to stoop then so be it. Perhaps so, but I could hardly imagine God’s pleasure in a priest tripping over something too short to see! And I could hardly imagine God subjecting the priests to that condition either. This is especially true since the priests had to watch their every move under the threat of divine punishment or death--- I would imagine God would not deliberately add another obstacle to watch out for. But that is merely my opinion albeit a very logical one. Yet another reason is that if the Ark were about 45 inches long using the 18-inch cubit, there would not be room inside to place Aaron’s large staff even if placed diagonally. A larger 25+-inch cubit would allow a staff comparable to a man’s height to be placed inside. I realize that we are not certain what length Aaron’s staff was. But to assume a smaller chest automatically restricts the use of his staff to the size maybe only a little longer than a cane. However, I personally believe the staffs were longer. You may or may not agree with me here. These last two reasons of mine may not be as convincing as the "court height" argument, but the positive side of the argument is the "acreage" theory. If we Use 25.0265 inches and convert 50 x 100 of these to acreage, we find that it comes out to .4992 acres--- virtually a half an acre. Because of the pyramid, we saw the relationship between the measures used by Egypt, Israel and Britain. I find this to be an interesting "coincidence".
This first part message gave you an overview of the tabernacle’s construction. In the next message, we will start with Exodus 25 and look at the details involving each item of furniture, the tent and the court. Due to the excessive depth of this subject, I will basically copy my Bible notes on each chapter and pass them on to you. This way the subject will not excessively draw on in length but by the same token the critical facts will be stated. This (I hope) will give you a deep and profound appreciation of the symbolism contained in the tabernacle. As Paul said, these were but a shadow of things to come.