The Purpose of the Wilderness Tabernacle: The Ark of the Covenant
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| The Tent of Meeting Timnah Model in Israel |
What Was the Tabernacle?
Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.— Exodus 25:8
From the fall of Genesis until the construction of the Tabernacle, the Bible records people occasionally walking and talking with God but not dwelling with Him. As we shall see, it is within the framework of this Old Testament sanctuary that God draws His people closer to Himself through an intricate sacrificial system. This arrangement can speak volumes to us today about the specifics of such a great salvation and indescribable gift.
... how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation ...?
— Hebrews 2:3
Every detail Christ accomplished to restore our relationship is resident within the particulars of the wilderness tabernacle. This teaching concerns the Tabernacle's three spaces and furnishings, their order and significance, and their role in Christ's fulfillment of God's salvation plan.
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| Blueprint for the Tent of Meeting |
The Three Spaces and Their Furnishings
The diagram above shows these spaces.
From man's side of the journey, moving near God began at the court's gate with the Sacrificial altar. (See the arrow on the right in the diagram above.)
On behalf of the people, the priest progressively moved toward the Holy Place. Next, he moved to the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God was said to dwell between the two cherubim. Only the High Priest was allowed into this most sacred space, and He could do so only once a year. As they went, the forward progression of spaces grew more protected and more holy.
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| The Priesthood moving through the Tabernacle Protocols and Spaces Timnah Tabernacle Replica |
The Order of Presentation
In the beginning God ...— Genesis 1:1
All the other furnishings of creation followed this statement.
This study will use the order given in Exodus chapter 36. Exodus 36 contains the actual construction that took place after the golden calf incident, covenant renewal, and the giving of the second set of tablets.
Exodus 25-30, before the golden calf, gives a slightly different order, placing the Altar of Incense and the Copper Laver at the end of the furnishings list. This addition may have had something to do with the preparations for the Priesthood and the calf incident. We will save that consideration for another time.
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| The Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies by James Tissot |
The Holy of Holies and The Ark
And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy (Holy of Holies)— Exodus 26:33
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.— Exodus 25:8-9
And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.— Exodus 25:22
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| The Ark of the Covenant consisted of two materials that symbolized the connection between heaven and earth. |
Elements of the Ark: Shittim/Acacia Wood and Gold
He who God raised up saw no corruption.— Acts 13:37
Gold represents the incorruptible heavenly origin of Christ.
He who comes from above is above all.
— John 3:31
And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.— Revelation 21:21
Christ was both God and man, connecting heaven and earth once again.
God sent forth his Son (from heaven), born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (parentheses mine)
— Galatians 4
These two materials, combined, will be used for two other furnishings—the Altar of Incense and the Table of Bread. The incense altar connected "God and man" and "heaven and earth" through prayer. The Table of bread, a type of communion table, served as a connecting element between God and man.
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| The length of the Ark is five half cubits. Five is the number of God's grace. |
The Measurements of the Ark
... two and a half cubits (or five total half cubits) shall be its length, a cubit and a half (or three total half cubits) its width, and a cubit and a half (or three total half cubits) its height.— Exodus 25:10
Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
— Hebrews 4:16
The width and height were three half cubits. The number three in Scripture is the number of dimensions of solid, real, and substantial things. It is also the number that categorizes themes of resurrection and the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who fills all the sacred space dimensions. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explains these dimensions concerning God's grace ministered by His Holy Spirit.
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ... For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
— Ephesians 3
The vertical girth totals six cubits, the number of humankind.
“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
— I Corinthians 15:21
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new...— Revelation 21:5
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| The mercy seat, therefore, comes with the idea of covering. |
The Mercy Seat
You shall make a mercy seat (cover-kapporeth" רתֶפֹּכַּ) of pure gold ...— Exodus 25:17
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the Ark, and shalt pitch ("kaphar" כפר) it within and without with pitch ("kaphar" כפר).— Genesis 6:14
The second occurrence took place when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt and began to increase in number. Pharaoh sought to kill the Hebrew baby boys in Egypt. To save her son's life, Moses' mother, Jochebed, made an ark of bulrushes. In Hebrew, this is the same word used for Noah's ark. This ark, too, was "covered" in pitch like Noah's ark ("kaphar" כפר) both within and without.
In Noah's case, the pitch covered the sacred space within the vessel, preserving the lives in it, as was the case with the vessel in which Moses was placed. These connect us with the purpose of the ark-cover of the tabernacle structure, which is to protect its living contents.
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| The Cherubim Above the Mercy Seat |
The Cherubim
We see the seed for this pattern of "covering," in the sense of guarding a sacred space that contained life, developed in the very first chapters of Genesis with the incident of the first sin committed in the garden.... the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.— Genesis 3:23-24
As cherubim guarded the way to the Tree of Life after the fall, they were also displayed as the guardians of God's lifegiving holiness in the Tabernacle. The Cherubim were part of the ark's cover, which contained all representations of God's living Word.
Make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At its two ends, make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat. The cherubim are to have wings spread out above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and are to face one another. The faces of the cherubim should be toward the mercy seat.
— Exodus 25:18-20
In the garden scene, humans had been driven away from God's presence. In the Tabernacle, humans are brought near.
... there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel
— Exodus 25:22
Henry Soltau, a mid-1800s Bible scholar, in his book The Holy Vessels and Furniture of the Tabernacle, sums up the entire revelation of the cover along with the Cherubim's purpose as it concerns the garden event and salvation through the Lord Jesus.
"This significant place of the Cherubim of itself manifested the hopelessness of any attempt on the part of man to regain life by his own efforts; and that unless the glory of God could be met, and the flaming sword of vengeance and the holiness satisfied, it were in vain for man to hope for any way of return to life; but death and curse were his final portion...They (the cherubim) no longer stand to debar man's approach to life, but they brood with outstretched wings over the place of mercy, whence life and blessings flow. No longer are they connected with the flaming sword; but their faces now intently turn towards the place of grace (the blood on the mercy seat)...mercy which desired to pardon, and truth which must condemn—meet together in Christ, for in Him the sinner receives pardon by the very means whereby the truth and holiness of God have been vindicated...God never proves Himself more holy than when He pardons sin; for that mercy and pardon are ever grounded upon His righteous judgments having been poured out on the head of Christ, on behalf of, and as the substitute for the sinner."
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| The Ark of the Covenant and its Contents |
The Golden Pot of Manna
Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations."— Exodus 16:33
... the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which was a gold jar containing the manna ...
— Hebrews 9:4
The heavenly manna illustrates how life connects to faithful obedience to God's Commands, Word, and Truth.
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
— Deuteronomy 8:3
No man but Christ was able to fulfill this perfect obedience. Noah "walked" with God (code for obeying God's commands) but failed after leaving the ark in the drunk vineyard incident, which resembles the garden account in Genesis chapter three. Moses got right up next to the promised land and failed just before entering it. The manna pointed to the perfectly obedient One sent from heaven who could secure for us eternal life.
Most assuredly, I say to you, in Me has everlasting life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.
— John 6:47-51
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| Almond Blossoms |
The second noted item in the ark was Aaron's rod, which budded. Aaron's rod shows a type of resurrection life. In this case, a dead rod sprouts new life, unlike the others presented during a challenge over who had rightful authority in the priesthood. (See Numbers chapter 17) The budding rod authenticated and pointed to the only one qualified to offer His life in death and be resurrected so that we might walk in the newness of life.
Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
— Romans 6:4
This same connection was made with Aaron's rod in a previous account when Pharaoh's magicians challenged Moses and Aaron's authority by trying to duplicate the sign.
For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
— Exodus 7:12
Again, we see only one rod that qualified above all the others. A New Testament passage gives us the application of this particular scene as it pertains to a new life in connection with resurrection.
For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality (death) may be swallowed up by life
— II Corinthians 5:4
As the manna connects with God's living Word, Aaron's rod made of almond wood connects with His Word's fulfillment or accomplishment. Almond trees are known for their early, pure white blossoms. The Hebrew word for "almond" is the same word for "watchfulness" or "wakefulness." This word is used in connection with the performance of God's Word by the prophet Jeremiah.
Then the word of the Lord came to me, asking, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I replied, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I watch over my word to accomplish it.”
— Jeremiah 1:11-12
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| The Commandment Tablets Placed in the Ark |
Testimony Tablets: Commandments
You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you.— Exodus 25:21
The purpose of the cover was to protect the tablets of the testimony of God's covenant terms and life requirements. In Revelation, John connects obedience to God's commands with the tree of life.
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life ...
— Revelation 22:14
God's purpose is to preserve life, which cannot be accomplished apart from obedience to His commands and the one who perfectly fulfilled them.
“Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.
— Matthew 5:17-18
All three ark contents, the heavenly manna, Aaron's almond rod that budded, and the covenant tablets spoke of both God's Word and eternal life.
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| The High Priest |
Concluding Fulfillment
Christ came as High Priest to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.— Hebrews 9:11-15
© 2018 Tamarajo
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