The Tabernacle

Dictionary of Biblical Words:

The first tabernacle was Moses’ own tent (Ex. 33:7), for the tabernacle proper was not yet made. The tabernacle itself was the one place of worship for the Jews, and was a pattern of things in the heavens (Heb. 9), every part of it spoke of Christ in His varied glories. Its foundations, boards, coverings, curtains, all tell us of Himself or His work. Its inner veil, between the Holy and most Holy, is Christ’s flesh (Heb. 10) The various contents are deeply instructive. The brazen altar where God and the sinner could meet in virtue of the atoning sacrifice, the laver where defilement was washed away, the Holy place, typical of heaven, containing the seven-branched candlestick—the church in testimony (Matt. 5 and Rev. 2. and 3.), the golden Cable bearing up the twelve loaves—Israel’s twelve tribes, and the golden altar of incense,—Christ through whom all our prayers and praises ascend, and lastly the most Holy now separated by no veil (it being rent from top to bottom when Christ’s flesh, which it typified, was also rent on the cross), typifying the very presence of God, containing the ark, Christ in all His perfection and the atoning blood, and into which all believers now have access (Heb. 10). The body is a tabernacle (2 Cor. 5).

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(little shed or tent). Tent of Jehovah, or movable sanctuary, which Moses was directed to erect in the wilderness (Ex. 25:8). Its plan, materials, and furnishings are described in Exodus 25:9-40; 26; 27. It could be readily taken down and set up and accompanied the Israelites during their wanderings (Ex. 40:38). During the conquest it was stationed at Gilgal (Josh. 4:19; 9:6; 10:15); and at Ebal (Josh. 8:30-35). After the conquest it was set up at Shiloh (Josh. 18:1), where it remained during the time of the Judges and where the ark was captured by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:17,22). Sometime after the return of the ark it was taken to Jerusalem and placed in a new tabernacle, and finally in the temple (2 Sam. 6:17; 1 Chron. 15:1), but the old structure was still venerated, as long as it remained at Shiloh. It was afterward removed to Nob (1 Sam. 21:1-9), and in the reign of David to Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:39; 21:29), where it was at the beginning of Solomon’s reign. Some suppose that the tabernacle and its furniture were moved into Solomon’s temple when it was completed.

Concise Bible Dictionary:

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Modern replica of the Tabernacle at Timna Park in the Arabah (Israel).

This is variously styled the “tabernacle of testimony, or of witness,” the “tabernacle of the congregation,” or “tent of meeting.” It was the place recognized by Jehovah, where, as dwelling among them, He met His people, and where in separation from the outer world His will was made known. It was to be made after the pattern shown to Moses in the mount, and when it was completed Moses bore witness that it had been constructed as the Lord had commanded. It is worthy of notice that none of its details were left to the ingenuity of Moses: he had simply to carry out his instructions. We read in the New Testament that the things made were patterns of things in the heavens, but not the very image of them; they were patterns of things that were before God, which were not to be materialized.

The tabernacle with its sacrifices was God’s way of displaying Himself, and His way for man’s approach to Himself. Any one drawing near to the tabernacle would see first its court, a space enclosed with curtains hanging from pillars. This was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits broad. On entering the court by its one gate the first thing approached was the brazen altar. This altar was the place of approach for the people. The burnt offering was the ground of acceptance for a people on earth. The place of approach for the priestly family was the golden altar in the holy (place); but the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest (Heb. 9:8).

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Between the brazen altar and the holy (place) stood the laver, at which the priests washed their hands and feet whenever they drew near to minister. The holy (place) contained the table of shewbread on the north, the golden candlestick on the south, and the altar of incense “before the vail” in the center. Here the priests ministered daily, burning sweet incense: type of Christ’s intercession, and of the perfections of His Person and work, not seen here as meeting man’s need, but as for the delight of God, His Father. The lamps were burning “continually,” but apparently only in the night (compare Ex. 30:7-8; Lev. 24:2-3; 2 Chron. 13:11). The light typified the manifestation of God by the Spirit, the seven lamps being figurative of heavenly completeness. Twelve loaves were constantly on the table, typical of Israel in association with Christ before God, and of God’s bounty which will be administered through Israel (twelve loaves) to the earth in the kingdom. The holy (place), or “first tabernacle” refers to the things of Israel. Inside the second veil was the holy of holies, in which was the ark with the cherubim, typical of the throne of God. It figured the approach which Christians now have to the presence of God, because Christ has made a new and living way for them by entering in Himself as their great Priest (Heb. 10:19).

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The tabernacle was a rectangle, measuring ten cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in length, which was divided into ten cubits for the holy of holies and twenty for the holy (place). The sides were formed of boards of acacia wood, ten cubits in height, set by tenons into silver sockets, each board having two sockets. The boards were kept together by horizontal bars throughout, and were all covered with gold. If the whole tabernacle be taken as typical of Christ, then the gold and the wood may point to His divinity and His humanity, or the gold may be taken as typical of divine righteousness. Internally all was gold and embroidered work: the wood was not seen.

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The whole was covered with curtains, the innermost being of rich embroidered work of various colors; then curtains of woven goats’ hair; then coverings of rams’ skins and badgers’ skins—typical of entire preservation from outward evil. There were three distinct parts in the entire covering: the tabernacle, the tent, and the covering (Ex. 35:11). The inner curtains, which were of such widths that the junctions of each set did not fall in the same place as the one next to it, formed the tabernacle (mishkan); the set of curtains of goats’ hair were the tent (ohel) of the tabernacle (see TENT); and the rams’ skins and badgers’ skins formed the covering (mikseh). An embroidered hanging formed the door, or the first veil. Exodus 25-27 gives God’s approach to man; Exodus 28-30, man’s approach to God; and Exodus 35-40 the gifts for the tabernacle and its construction.

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The tabernacle as a whole may be said to typify—

1. God coming forth in a Man (His own Son) and on the basis of redemption, filling the universe with the light of His glory.

2. The provision made by God for approach to Himself by a redeemed people. Much light is thrown on the tabernacle in the Epistle to the Hebrews, but what is there taught presents often a contrast rather than a comparison to what pertained to the earthly tabernacle.

The tabernacle may also be considered as God’s house, and thus a type of the saints in their present place. The temple was for the ordered and established kingdom. In Revelation 21, after alluding to the kingdom and the eternal state, the Spirit goes back to the thought of the tabernacle.

The tabernacle was carried about during the forty years in the wilderness (see CAMP), and when the Israelites entered the land it was apparently placed first at Gilgal (Josh. 9:6). Afterward it was at Shiloh (Josh. 18:1). While here it was forsaken of God because of the idolatry and wickedness of the people (Psa. 78:60; Jer. 7:12,14; Jer. 26:6, 9). The ark was taken by the Philistines and was not returned to the tabernacle; nor, when David removed the ark, did he restore it to the tabernacle, but placed it on Mount Zion. We next read of the tabernacle as being at Nob (1 Sam. 21:1-6). Afterward it was at Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:39; 1 Chron. 21:29; 2 Chron. 1:3-6). When the temple was built, the tabernacle was brought up, with the ark and the holy vessels. The ark was placed in the most holy place, and the staves drawn out, for it had found its settled rest. The tabernacle gave place to the house, the latter glory of which will yet be greater than ever (2 Chron. 5:4-9; Hag. 2:9).

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Amid the coming judgments, we read of “the temple [or shrine, that is, the holy place] of the tabernacle of the testimony” being opened in heaven, and out of the temple proceed the seven angels having the seven vials (Rev. 15:5-6).

Bible Handbook:

The tabernacle was constructed by Divine command and according to Divine plan, and when set up in the wilderness became the center of the many thousands of Israel, and the meeting place between Jehovah and His people (Ex. 29:42-46). In it God dwelt, surrounded by His happy and redeemed people, and out of it He addressed them in strains of richest grace (Lev. 1:1). It is several times termed “the tabernacle of witness,” as eloquent in its teaching of heavenly and better things to come.

The tabernacle was set up in the wilderness on the first day of the first month of the second year of Israel’s departure from Egypt (Ex. 40:17); its flooring was the sand of the desert, unlike that of the temple, which was of pure gold, but the majesty of Jehovah abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled it (Ex. 40:34). The tabernacle and all that pertained to it, even to the cords, pins, and tacks, was intended to teach of Christ, to shadow His work and priesthood, and to illustrate various relationships between God and His heavenly and earthly peoples. In its general arrangement and structure, down to the minutest detail recorded, all was planned and constructed by the Spirit of God (Ex. 31), who, many centuries afterward comments upon His own workmanship (Heb. 9:8). The tabernacle was made according to a pattern shown to Moses (Heb. 8:5), and served as a shadow of good things to come (Heb. 9:11); the patterns, too, of things in the heavens (Heb. 9:23-24), but it figured also the whole scene of creation (Heb. 3).

A Three Part Building

The building was divided into three parts, first, the innermost recess, into which the high priest alone could enter once a year, and only with incense and blood — Christ’s person and work. Here stood the ark, covered by the pure gold mercy-seat and supported by the golden, overshadowing cherubim, between which, Jehovah sat enthroned in Divine majesty and glory. This apartment is called “the holiest of all,” and “most holy,” and figures the immediate presence of God — the heaven of heavens. Second, the holy place divided from the “holiest” by the beautiful veil, and from the “court” by the hanging. Here rested the incense or golden altar, the gold-covered table of shewbread, and seven-branched golden candlestick. It was in this holy apartment where the priests daily worshipped and served, which represents the heavenly places, the scene of the church’s blessing; there we burn the fragrant incense in the presence of our God — the merits of Christ’s person and accomplished sacrifice; there, too, does the Holy Spirit exhibit the varied glories of Christ as the lamps shone upon the beautifully carved shaft of the candlestick, displaying its beauties; and there, too, do we feed upon Christ, as the priests did upon the shewbread. Third, we are now in the “outer court” where stood the brazen altar and the brazen laver filled with water. The former told its own tale of judgment; surely the ever burning fire, fed by continual sacrifice, impressively pointed to the “Lamb of God,” bearing sin’s judgment on the cross, and the value of which is eternally ascending to God; the brazen laver, on the other hand, which stood between the entrance to the holy place and the altar of burnt-offering, pointed to the necessity of God’s priests having clean hands to hold up, and clean feet wherewith to tread the courts of the Lord’s house, for both hands and feet were to be constantly cleansed in the laver. The vessels then in the outer court would express the ground, place, and means by which God could righteously meet any sinner coming out of the world, yes, and meet him too in richest grace.

Design with Two Purposes

The main design of the tabernacle was two-fold. First, as the scene and manifestation of God to man; and, secondly, as revealing the holy means by which man could be righteously and in grace presented to God. If this two-fold design in the construction of the tabernacle and in the enumeration of its vessels be borne in mind, it will sufficiently account for the singular omission of the laver in the description of the outer court (Ex. 27), and of the incense altar in the account given of the holy place (Ex. 25); both those vessels will be found fully described after the consecration of the priesthood (Ex. 30). Here we are furnished with a fine example of the perfection of Holy Scripture. From Exodus 25 till Exodus 27, we have God manifesting Himself to man through those wondrous types and shadows, hence the marked omission of certain vessels; but from Exodus 28 till Exodus 30, we have the priests, their holy garments, and the vessels previously omitted, as all these refer to the means of man’s approach to God.

The studies of the Christian reader on the subject of the tabernacle generally, and of its spiritual teachings, will be considerably facilitated by carefully noting the force of three expressions in Hebrews 9: “The tabernacle,” the “first tabernacle,” the “second” tabernacle. The first expression refers to the whole structure, as in first clause of Hebrews 9:2: “for there was a tabernacle made”; the second expression refers to the holy place, and the third to the most holy. Now, the first tabernacle, or holy place, the scene of constant service and worship, figures the whole Jewish economy, characterized by continual doing, yet unfinished service, and which necessarily kept man at a distance from God (Heb. 9:8-10).

Materials Used in the Construction of the Tabernacle, the Vessels, the Priests’ Garments, etc.

Exodus 35

1. GOLD — Divine glory; Divine righteousness; Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. SILVER — Jesus in the value of His person and work for the sinners’ redemption.

3. BRASS — Christ sustaining the judgment of God against sin.

4. BLUE — Heavenly character of the blessed Lord.

5. PURPLE — Royalty of Christ.

6. SCARLET — Earthly glory of Christ.

7. FINE LINEN — Spotless purity of the blessed One in His person and ways.

8. GOATS’ HAIR — Christ’s absolute separation from all outward evil and sin.

9. RAMS’ SKINS DYED RED — Life-and-death devotedness of Christ to God.

10. BADGERS’ SKINS — Absolute holiness of Jesus, repelling every form of outward evil.

11. SHITTIM WOOD — The holy humanity of our Lord Jesus.

12. OIL FOR THE LIGHT — The Spirit of God the efficient power of all true testimony.

13. SPICES FOR ANOINTING OIL, AND FOR SWEET INCENSE — The moral graces and perfections of Christ expressed in the energy of the Holy Spirit (the oil), and also in Christ’s intercession for believers.

14. ONYX STONES — The variegated glories of Christ.

15. STONES FOR THE EPHOD AND BREASTPLATE — Moral glories and beauties of Christ.

The Prominent Vessels, etc. of the Tabernacle

1. ARK, made of shittim wood, and covered all over with gold inside and outside, surmounted with a golden crown, and with its rings and staves — Highest type of Christ in the two-fold glory of His person as man (shittim wood), as Divine (gold) and now crowned with glory and honour, and His perfect adaptation to all our wilderness circumstances (the rings and staves).

2. ALTAR OF INCENSE, made of shittim wood, and overlaid with pure gold, with its rings and staves, and surrounded with a golden crown — Christ the holy meeting-place between God and the saint in respect to worship. By Him we offer the sacrifice of praise to God (Heb. 13:15). Crowned on high (Heb. 2:9) and seated in the highest place (Heb. 8:1), He presents the merits of His own glorious person and the infinite perfection of His own accomplished sacrifice before the face of God, and that too for us, who there act as kings and priests to God (Rev. 1:6). In yonder Man, “Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,” my heart doth rest, in Him my affections delight; on Him I feed, and find present, full, and eternal satisfaction. As we gaze on Him, the heart is filled with worship, and we fill the holy place with songs of praise to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.

3. ALTAR OF JUDGMENT, made of shittim wood and overlaid with brass (copper) with its rings and staves, grating, etc. — Christ the righteous meeting-place between God and the sinner in respect to sin. Christ on the cross measuring the distance and the responsibility of sinner to God. There my need as a sinner is fully met, and my guilty conscience perfectly satisfied. The golden altar in the holy place is the expression of my nearness to God as a happy saint; the brazen altar in the court is the expression of distance from God and of the judgment due to the sinner.

4. BREASTPLATE of judgment, made of gold (divine), blue (heavenly), purple (royalty), scarlet (earthly glory), and of fine-twined linen (spotless humanity), with stones engraved (reflections of the glories of Christ) and set in the breastplate in gold enclosing (Divine securities) — Believers ever borne on the heart of Jesus before God in divine love and righteousness, and according to all that Christ is personally and officially.

5. CHERUBIM (plural) made out of the same piece of gold as the mercy-seat or lid of the ark, one on either side covering it with outstretched wings — Divine attributes judicially displayed, or the moral supports of Jehovah’s throne, as “justice and judgment” (Psa. 89:14).

6. CANDLESTICK, of pure gold, with beautifully carved shaft, and with its branches, bowls, knops, and flowers — The Holy Spirit’s perfect display of Christ in the exquisite and variegated glories of His person as the wondrous Light of a heavenly people.

7. GOLDEN BELLS AND POMEGRANATES, of blue, purple, and scarlet, hung alternately round the hem of the blue robe of the ephod worn by the High Priest in the presence of God — The “golden bells” set forth the testimony of the Holy Spirit to us as to the acceptance of Christ in all that He is, as now within the veil. The “golden pomegranates” sets forth the fruit Christ has gathered out of this scene, and which He now presents to God in all the glorious efficacy of His person. The “bells” are testimony to us; the “pomegranates” are fruit to God.

8. LAVER, of brass, with its foot also of brass and filled with water — The ability of Christ in meeting His people’s defilement, so as to keep them practically clean for priestly service and priestly worship. The water figures the Word of God (Eph. 5:26) as constantly applied to our walk, ways, words, thoughts, and actions.

9. MERCY SEAT, of pure gold; the golden cover of the ark — On this, and between the cherubim, rested the cloud — symbol of Jehovah’s presence. It was on the mercy seat, and thus before the eye of God, that the high priest sprinkled the blood once on the yearly atonement day, and before it seven times, as giving us a standing in the Divine presence. The mercy seat was also the trysting-place between God enthroned in Divine majesty and the people represented by the high priest, who entered with incense and blood. Christ is our mercy seat (Rom. 3:25).

10. TABLE OF SHEW-BREAD, made of shittim wood, overlaid with pure gold, surrounded with a golden crown, and shew-bread set before the Lord alway — Christ, now crowned with glory and honour in the double glory of His person as God and man, is the table; and Christ too the food set thereon, and all this He ever is before our God. He is our light — the candlestick; our food — the bread; and our object in worship — the golden altar: all these standing in the holy place. Is not Christ everything in these shadows?

11. VEIL of blue, purple, scarlet and fine-twined linen: with cherubim — We know from Hebrews 10:20, that the veil represents “His flesh.” His varied glories and judicial and governmental attributes all center in Him, Who is the man Christ Jesus.

The glory of Jehovah filled the Tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-38).

The glory of Jehovah filled the Temple (1 Kings 8:10-11).

The glory of Jehovah will occupy the Millennial Temple (Ezek. 43:1-5).

“To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Exodus 40:2. On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

This was thirty cubits long by ten wide, and was ten cubits in height (Ex. 36:20-30). It was made of boards of shittim or acacia wood, every board being ten cubits long, and one cubit and a half wide (Ex. 36:21). The thickness is not mentioned in the Bible, but Josephus says that each of these boards was four fingers thick, excepting the two corners of the west end, which were each a cubit in thickness. (Ant. of the Jews, Book 3, chap. 6, § 3). Each board had two tenons at the base (Ex. 36:22), which fitted into silver mortises (Ex. 36:24). These mortises in turn were fastened to the ground by means of brass pins (Ex. 38:20), which, according to Josephus, were each a cubit in length. The boards were held together by means of wooden bars covered with gold (Ex. 36:31-34).

Several kinds of curtains and coverings were made for the Tabernacle. One was of fine linen, the threads being “blue, purple. and scarlet,” and on the curtains were figures of cherubim, either woven or embroidered (Ex. 36:8-13). Another was of goats’ hair, spun and woven into cloth (Ex. 35:26; 36:14). Another was of “rams’ skins dyed red,” and a fourth was of the skins of the tachash or “badger” (Ex. 36:19), though precisely what animal is meant by that name is not known.

The design and arrangement of these different curtains and coverings are a subject of dispute among restorers of the Tabernacle. Some regard them as coverings thrown over the tabernacle, the figured curtain being the first, and making a beautiful ceiling, the goats’ hair next, the dyed rams’ skins next, and over all the tachash skins. Others think that the figured curtains not only made a ceiling, but also were suspended on the inside, either partially or entirely covering the gilded boards.

Connected with this question is that of the shape of the Tabernacle roof, whether flat, like Oriental houses, or peaked and slanting, like Oriental tents. Great names might be mentioned on both sides. Fergusson, the celebrated English architect, presents a very strong plea in favor of the tent theory in Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, art. “Temple.” Some very strong arguments against his plan of restoration may be found in a recent work by a learned Scotch layman (The Tabernacle and its Priests and Services, by Willam Brown, Edinburgh, 1871). One of the most original treatises on the subject is to be found in Solomon’s Temple, etc., by the Rev. T. O. Paine, Boston, 1861. Mr. Paine adopts the tent-theory, but, as we shall presently see, has a method of restoration entirely his own.

Fergusson supposes that the Tabernacle of gilded boards was entirely uncovered within and without, and that above this, and stretching beyond it on either side, so as completely to cover and protect it, were the curtains and coverings, in the form of a tent. The beautiful figured curtain was first thrown over the ridge pole, and was thus visible from the inside of the Tabernacle. Over this was the cloth of goats’ hair, and over this the “rams’ skins dyed red.” The tachtash skins he places along the ridge polo as a protection to the joint of the ram-skin covering.

Mr. Paine supposes that the linen curtains were hung in festoons on the inside of the gilded boards, four cubits from the bottom, thus leaving six cubits of gilded boards uncovered. Stretched over the Tabernacle, in tent form, was a double covering, made of goats’ hair, spun and woven into cloth of a dark brown color. This made the roof of the tent, and it came down close to the boarded sides of the Tabernacle. Fergusson’s tent, it will be remembered, stretches some distance beyond. Next to the gilded planks, on the outside, Paine puts the tachash skins, and over these the skins of the rams, with the wool on and dyed red. Thus “the Tabernacle had red sides and end, and a brown roof and gable, nearly black” (Solomon’s Temple, p. 16). He makes the front entirely open above the low entrance veil, and also has a small. opening in the rear, or west end, between the top of the gable and the peak of the roof. (See engraving on p. 77).

Nothing is said of the floor of the Tabernacle; whether of earth or boards is not known. In front were five pillars, over which was hung an embroidered curtain for a door (Ex. 36:37-38). There was also a veil dividing the interior into two rooms. This veil was of embroidery and hung on four pillars (Ex. 36:35-36). The precise length of each of these two rooms is not given, though, from the analogy between the Tabernacle and the Temple, two thirds of the space are supposed to have been given to the first room and the remaining third to the second. See 1 Kings 6:17-20.

The first room, which was called the Holy Place (Ex. 28:29) contained on one side the table of show-bread, on the other the golden candlestick (Ex. 26:35) and in front of the veil the golden altar of incense (Ex. 30:6). Behind the veil was the second room, supposed to have been in the form of a perfect cube. It contained the ark, and was called the Most Holy Place (Ex. 26:33-34).

In this Tabernacle of the Israelites there was a general resemblance to the temples of other ancient nations. This resemblance is to be seen, among other things, in the secret place where no one was permitted to enter, the special shrine of the Deity.

The wandering tribes of Asia have tents for their temples. They are larger than their dwelling-tents, and of better material and workmanship.