“WILL you not tell us now about the Tabernacle being set up, Aunt Edith,” said May. “You know we were not going to speak of the way in which it was made, nor of the beautiful golden things which were inside, because Charley and I have seen a model of the Tabernacle, with the Court all round, and the brazen Altar, and the Laver, and the Most Holy Place where the Ark was, so many times, and everything was easy to understand when we were allowed to come quite close and see where the sacrifices were offered, and even look at the tablets of stone which were inside the Ark, and feel the coverings of skin and goats’ hair and the beautiful embroidered veil. Do you think the Israelites understood the meaning of the Tabernacle, and the Altar, and the Ark, and the Candlestick?”
“We cannot tell how much they understood. Many things are plain to us, now that the clear light of the New Testament shines upon the Old, which must have been dark and mysterious to them. I think the sight of the Tabernacle, where the glory of Jehovah was seen to enter and abide, and where the cloud by day and the fire by night gave token of the presence of God ever with them—the God who guided them through the desert, the God who gave them bread from heaven, the God who ‘clave the rock and the waters gushed out,’ running in dry places like a river—must have spoken wonderful things, even to the heart of a child, concerning the loving kindness of Jehovah, and, doubtless, whispered to his conscience the solemn word of warning, ‘Be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long’ But no child of those days could understand that the skin-covered Tent over which the cloud brooded, the beautiful embroidered veil, the holy vessels, all spoke of the perfection and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as clearly as the never-ceasing sacrifices told of Him who was to offer Himself ‘without spot to God,’ and, having offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sit down at the right hand of God. It is well for us to read of these types and shadows, and to take heed to all which those who have been taught by God may have to say to us about them, but we must not be too ready to think we understand their meaning. In the epistle to the Hebrews the Tabernacle and all its ‘furniture’ is spoken of and we are told all those things were ‘patterns of things in the heavens.’ It has been well said that God, who gave the patterns, alone can teach any of us the deep meaning which lay hidden in them.”
“I suppose,” said Charley, “the Israelites must have quite understood all about the sacrifices, for they could remember how they were saved from the destroying angel which killed the first-born of the Egyptians, because they had the blood of the Passover lambs upon their doors.”
“But it is much better for us, isn’t it Auntie?” said May; “for we know that Jesus, the Lamb of God, has died, and that He has finished His work forever. Last night we heard a sermon on that text which says, ‘Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ;’ and the preacher said that, although so many goats, and lambs, and bulls had been sacrificed in old times, God never told us about ‘precious blood’ till His own Son had given Himself for our sins.”
“The tenth chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews shows in very clear contrast the great difference between those sacrifices in which there was ‘a remembrance again of sins every year,’ and the one offering by which Christ has ‘perfected forever them that are sanctified.’”
“I don’t wonder, since the Tabernacle and the holy vessels meant so much, that God not only gave Moses the patterns, but chose the workmen to make them,” said Charley, thoughtfully.
“No man, however gifted, could be a judge of what was fitting for the house of God. To Moses it was said of these sacred things (Ex. 25:4040And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount. (Exodus 25:40)), ‘Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was sheaved thee in the mount’; and though Bezaleel and Aholiab may have been cunning workmen, yet for this work it was necessary that they should be filled with wisdom and understanding, that they might know how to work all manner of work for the Sanctuary.”
“I suppose God taught the women too, who were wise hearted, to spin the beautiful colors for the curtains.”
“Yes, May, there was no part of the work left for anyone to do ‘out of his own head,’ as you say sometimes; all was under the direction and guidance of God, and so, when the work was finished and the tabernacle reared up, we read (Ex. 40:3434Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34)), ‘the glory of Jehovah filled the Tabernacle.’ God thus marked the Tent as His Habitation, and the pillar of cloud which rested there was, as you know, not only the token of His presence but the guide of the people during all their desert journeys. The moment the cloud was lifted up from the Tabernacle the silver trumpets sounded and the whole camp began to move, while Moses said, ‘Rise up, Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.’ Whenever the cloud rested the whole camp rested, and Moses prayed ‘Return, O Jehovah, unto the many thousands of Israel.’”
“I suppose there were a great many people?”
“We read of their being counted in the book of Numbers, Charley; it is believed there were more than two millions.”
“What a great army! It must almost have been like the army of Xerxes. Do you know, May, my history book says there were regular storehouses of food provided for those soldiers all along their march, and that when they came to a river they sometimes drank it dry.”
“And yet God fed His great army in the wilderness, day by day, giving them manna for their hunger and water for their thirst, in that dry and thirsty land where no water was to be found.”
“Of course the wilderness was a very dry place, nothing but sand everywhere.”
“I used to think, like you, May, of the wilderness where there was no way, as a sandy waste, but travelers describe it as very rocky. One traveler says ‘The rocks were the most diversified I ever saw. I noted them upon the spot as being black, green, crimson, lilac, maroon, yellow, golden, and white, and their form was that of a whole host of cones.’ Then, as he went on, up a steep narrow pathway among the rocks, he says he could not help thinking What a place this was for the Hebrew mothers and their babes! They who had lived on the banks of the never-failing Nile and drunk their fill of its sweet waters must have been aghast at the aspect of a scene like this, where the eye, wandering as it will, can see nothing but bright and solemn rocks.’”
“What a place to be in! They could never have found their way if God had not led them,” said May.
“I want to ask you one more question, Aunt Edith, can you tell how large the camp looked when the people were all resting in their tents, and whether they all kept close together or were just scattered about?”
“I am glad you thought of that, Charley; the circumference of the camp is believed to have been more than twelve miles; whether on the march or at rest all was arranged in the most perfect order. When at rest, the tabernacle was guarded by the twelve tribes, which were divided into four camps, each containing three tribes, and altogether forming a perfect square, each side showing its own standard. The families of the Levites were encamped directly around the Court. The Gershonites having the charge of the framework and curtains of the Tabernacle, the Kohathites having care of the Ark, the Table, the Candlestick, the Altars, ‘all the vessels of the sanctuary and all the service thereof,’ and the Merarites having charge of the boards, bars, sockets, and pillars of the Tabernacle and of the Court. The eastern side, the entrance whereby God was approached, was guarded by Moses and Aaron and the priests.”
“Then the tribe of Levi was not counted with the other tribes?”
“That tribe was numbered separately, being set apart for the service of God; but there were still twelve tribes, for the tribe of Joseph was divided, and formed the two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. The Tabernacle was the center around which all the tribes were ranged, for God, who had promised to dwell with His people, was pleased thus to gather them around Himself.” C.P.