The tabernacle as a shadow
Let’s read Exodus 25:8 and 9: “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”
The question we need to ask ourselves, can a building be a sacred place? A building like the Tabernacle? It is the Lord’s presence that make it holy, not the building.
Let’s just remind ourselves again of what God said, a holy place must be made according to the pattern (the plan) of the tabernacle so that God can dwell amongst His people.
The Hebrew word used for sanctuary is Mikdash which refers to a holy place. This means that if we want to come into the presence of God, we must be separate/holy. The tabernacle and all the furniture thereof is a pattern or a way designed by God to enter into the His presence. The tabernacle is the example God has given us to help us to live a life separated unto Him and in relationship with Him.
The tabernacle as pattern that God gave us to come into a living relationship with Him, is a shadow of what is to come. In Hebrews 9 the tabernacle is again referred to as a shadow and a process to show us how to come into our Heavenly Father’s presence, which was represented by the Holy of Holies. Important to note, in Exodus is the incense altar was in the Holy place, which is before the Holy of Holies while Hebrew 9 the incense altar is in the Holy of Holies. Why is that? We need to realize that the writer of Hebrews is writing from a New Testament perspective, where Jesus has already opened the way for us to our Heavenly Father through the complete work on the Cross, now we come into the presence of God through what Jesus did for each of us as the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is taking us through the whole process so that we can live in the presence of God. As it is written in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 for although we live in the outer body, we do not make war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our war are not of the flesh, but from the power of God, and with it we subdue rebellious strongholds, we break arguments, and every high division that is set up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obedience to The Anointed One.
In Romans 12:1-2, Paul says that we, must be a living sacrifice.“My brethren, therefore I beseech you, by the favour of God, that you make your bodies available as living, separate, and acceptable sacrifices to God; it is your logical service work and do not imitate this world, but be changed by the renewal of your thinking and you will be able to discern what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Christ is the Word that became flesh, in the new dispensation we can always be in the presence of God, our Heavenly Father. The separation was brought about through sin, and Jesus came to destroy that separation, through His Blood sacrifice on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the law, but now even our thoughts must submit in obedience to the Word of God. We must take up your cross every day to sacrifice that what is not praiseworthy, even though we are tempted the Word of God instruct us to submit to God and to resist the enemy and he will flee, this is even in what we think. We must discipline ourselves to think that which is honourable and true… Philippians 4:8-9 Therefore, my brethren, feed yourselves with all that is true, all that is honorable, all that is innocent and upright, all that is clean, all that is beautiful, all that is praiseworthy, and those works of praise and honor that are praised. These things that you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me, do so and the God of peace, contentment, health, and prosperity will be with you. Also according to Colossians 3:1 “If, therefore, you have risen with the Anointed One, seek the things above where the Anointed One is and is seated at the right hand of God.”
As mentioned, the nature of the new covenant? According to Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Notice, the days are coming,” יהוה declares, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisraelel and the house of Y’hudah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers on that day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitzrayim; My covenant that broke them, though I was Master over them,” יהוה declared. However, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el after those days,” יהוה declares: “I will put My law within them and write it on their mind, will and emotion and I will be their God and they will be My people.
When God commissioned Moses to make the tabernacle, He said so I could be in your midst! The word used in the Hebrews is “abide” in English. It’s the same thing Jesus used in John 15 (John 15:3-5) You are already clean by the message I have brought you. Abide in me continually, as I do in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, if it does not remain in the vine, so can you, if you do not abide in Me continually. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me continually, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.
As mentioned Jesus came to restore the relationship with God through His Blood sacrificed on the cross. When the Pharisees asked Jesus by what authority did He clean the Temple and said that My Father’s House is called a House of Prayer. Jesus said “tear down this Temple and I will rebuild it in three days”. Jesus body became the new recreated Temple to fulfil the pattern of the tabernacle as a dwelling place for God in the Spirit as in Ephesians 2:19-22. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Fulfilling exactly what God said to Moses “make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them”.
John, referring to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, looked at it this way in 1 John 1:1-3 We preached to you the good news of Him who was from the beginning, He whom we heard, whom we saw and experienced with our eyes, and touched with our hands; He who is the Message of Life. Life is revealed and we have seen, we bear witness to and proclaim to you the Eternal Life that was with the Father and is revealed to us. He Whom we have seen and heard, we also reveal to you so that you too can have fellowship with us and our fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Yeshua, the Anointed One.
John, in preaching the gospel, was focused on the purpose, that is to be in fellowship with God and with His Son Jesus Christ. Our Father’s House is a place of fellowship where He and His Son are in our midst. There is however a warning, during the Exodus of Israel, some of the Israelites asked Moses, who appointed him to tell them what to do, is he the only one who speaks to God. God said to Moses, remove yourself from their camp, and they were swallowed up by the earth. The point is, we must live sincerely before God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s not about competition, it’s not about who is the best, it’s not about who preaches or prays the best or who performs the most miracles. It is about whether you are obedient in your fellowship with God. The Tabernacle was a place separated from the world and surrounded by a boundary, there was only one entrance, and only one way. Jesus became the entrance and the way as He said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Based on the mentioned and the fact that we as the body of Christ became the tabernacle or the third temple, we must ensure that our boundaries are secure and that everyone who enter into a relationship with us enter through the one and only way Jesus Christ. If you allow people to cross over the boundaries you opened a way for the enemy to defile what God separated for Himself. Remember, not every person you meet is from the Lord, the enemy also brings people across your path. If people are lost, pray for their salvation, but don’t bring them into God’s sanctuary.
We must be separate, because our Father’s House is a separate place for Him, that’s why Jesus says we are in the world but not part of the world. In the world we have a responsibility to be light bearers for Christ, as Jesus said, don’t hide your light under a measuring bucket. Being isolated does not mean being hidden, but it means living in such a way that everyone sees our light.
To be separated means that I am God’s instrument, to share His light and love, for this reason we need to remove ourself from a situation that does not bring glory to God. In Moses’ film one can clearly see how God the Father says to Moses: remove yourself immediately from the murmurers and the ground gave way, it happened immediately, it was not a long story. God is a loving, gracious God, but is also impartially sincere.
God loves us, as written in John 3:16 because in this way God loved the world: so that He gave up His only only-begotten Son, so that whoever trusts in Him will not be lost, but have eternal life. Our responsibility in this is to choose, choose life. It is a total surrender, where you must die to yourself so that you can become a dwelling place for God and His Son Jesus Christ as in John 17.
The shoes of the Gospel are actually the shoes of the Kingdom of light and you cannot be in the Kingdom of light and darkness at the same time! You must enter into the fullness of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Father God is like a house that you move into and inhabit, you can’t just stand at the front door and live in the house at the same time, reckon you are saved now and that’s not enough. It is necessary for you to come out of the darkness into the fullness of the Light of the Kingdom. Then comes the Kingdom where you set your feet as in Joshua 1:3, because you are the temple.
As our Heavenly Father walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. This relationship is restored in Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. The difference is that each one of us must make the decision to come into this relationship through Jesus in faith, not by sight but by faith, trusting in God. Then our life must be a prayer to the glory of God, everything you do, what I say and what I think, I do in the presence of the Father. Let us remind ourselves of what Paul said in Romans 12:1-2 My brethren, therefore I beseech you, by the favor of God, that you make your bodies available as living, separate, and acceptable sacrifices to God; this is your logical work of service, and do not imitate this world, but be changed by the renewing of your mind, and you will be able to discern what is good, acceptable and perfect will of God.
Then there is also 2 Chronicles 16:9 for the eyes of יהוה run to and fro over all the earth: therefore, be unchangeably strong, and let your mind, will, and emotion be perfect for His worship, and understand all His wonders, for יהוה your God will fight for you.”