The Tabernacle – Part 2

Jesus and His Church

-Introduction

-Last week, we addressed the topic of the tabernacle – the tent-like structure built at Mt.

 Sinai according to the pattern provided by God.

            -tabernacle – temporary/portable temple carried by Levites on the way & into

             Promised Land

-Interesting study:  various locations of the tabernacle once in the Promised Land

            -Gilgal – seems to be the first location – Josh. 4:19

            -Shiloh – Josh 18:1; Josh., 1 Sam. 1

                        -1 Sam. 4 – ark was taken out of tabernacle, taken to battle site – taken by

                                                        Philistines – later returned to Israelites – kept at Kiriath-jearim

                        -It seems that the tabernacle was taken back to Gilgal – 1 Sam. 10:8, 11:14-15

            -Nob – 1 Sam. 21 – David and the shewbread; 1 Sam. 22 – priests killed at Nob

            -Gibeon – It seems that Saul moved the tabernacle here to his ancestral city.

                        -1 Chron. 16 – David places ark in tent he built, tabernacle remained at Gibeon

            -Jerusalem – the tabernacle was placed in the temple – 1 Kings 8:4-6

-It was this tabernacle that served as a shadow of good things to come (Heb. 10:1).

            -As we saw last week, when making points about Jesus, the Hebrew writer appealed

             to the tabernacle – its design and the system of worship carried out within it.

            -So, approx. 1,500 years beforehand, the tabernacle pointed to Jesus.

-As we’ll see this morning, the tabernacle pointed to Jesus and His church.

-Tabernacle – Components and Service

-God specified what was to be placed within the tabernacle and where it was to be placed.

-courtyard surrounded it – Ex. 27:9-19 - 100 cubits long, 50 cubits wide – (see vs 18-19)

            -only opening at the East end

-bronze altar for sacrifices – Ex. 27:1-8 – This was placed inside the courtyard – outside

                                                                                        of the tabernacle itself

-bronze basin – Ex. 30:17-21 – placed between the altar and the tabernacle – where the

                                                 priests would wash with water – (see vs 18-21)

-the tabernacle itself – divided into 2 sections – Ex 26:33

            -The Holy Place

                        -North side – table of shewbread (bread of the Presence) – Ex. 25:23-30

                                    -Lev. 24:5-9

                        -South side – lampstand – Ex. 25:31-40

                                    -burned from evening til morning – Lev. 24:1-3

                        -Before the vail – altar of incense – Ex. 30:1-10 (see vs 7-8)

            -Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place)

                        -ark of the covenant – Ex. 25:10-22  (see vs 22)

-Ex. 40:16-33

-see diagrams of the tabernacle

-Tabernacle – A Shadow of Jesus and the Church

-As we noted in last week’s lesson, the Holy of Holies (Most Holy) portion of the

 tabernacle represents heaven – where Jesus entered following His sacrifice and now

 abides at the right hand of the Father - Hebrews 9:24

-So, let’s think about the Holy Place portion of the tabernacle and consider its

 representation – the church.

            -Priest entered into it – 1 Pet. 2:9

            -Prior to entering the priests had to wash with water – baptism

                        -Acts 2:38, 47; 8:36

                        -Just as those priests entered into the tabernacle in worship/service to God, we

                         are to enter into the church and worship and serve God.

                                    - Rom. 12:1 – We do so by presenting our bodies as living sacrifices – living

                                                                                    according to God’s word.

-Food For Thought – Warning:  Speculation Involved

-What about those items within the Holy Place?  Do they have special representation?

            -When dealing with the types/anti-types of God’s word, we need to use caution. 

             Some seemingly try to dismiss the concepts of types/anti-types while others try to

             find them in almost every detail of the O.T.  We should stay between these extremes.

-Different ideas can be found regarding the furniture within the Holy Place.  Unless I’m

 missing something, the scriptures does explicitly apply a specific representation.  But,

 I find these interesting.

             -Lampstand – provided light – Could this be an indication of our dependence upon

                                          the word of God? -  Ps 119:105.  By abiding within the light we are to

                                                            be children of light (Eph. 5:8).  As such, we are to be a light to the

                                                            world (Matt. 5:14).

              -Bread of the Presence – Could this be a representation of the Lord’s Supper? 

                                                       Priests were to eat of it.  The bread was changed on a weekly basis.

                                                             We are to partake of the Lord’s Supper upon the first day of each

                                                              week (Acts 20:7) as a continued memorial.

            -Altar of Incense – 2 Cor. 2:14-15, Phil. 4:18

                                                            -Rev. 5:8 – symbolic representation of prayers as incense

-Here’s an interesting thought – food for thought – Acts 2:42

            -apostles’ teaching & fellowship – the word – (lampstand?)

            -breaking of bread – Lord’s Supper/communion – (the bread of the presence?)

            -prayers – (incense?)

-Summary and Invitation

-Regardless of whether or not the articles within the Holy Place have special

 representation (and exactly what that representation might be), we can understand that

 the tabernacle is a shadow of the N.T. church which belongs to Christ.

            -We are to be washed with water and enter into it.  As priests, we are to offer our

             bodies as a living sacrifice before God.  And, we must remember that we have a

       High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God.

-Heb. 10:19-25