The Plans For The Tabernacle

During the forty days Moses spent on the mountain talking with God and receiving the tables of stone god had prepared, God also gave him detailed instructions of building the Tabernacle, which would be their center of worship for about six hundred years.  The word tabernacle means literally “tent” and was a portable temple.  Solomon’s temple was designed using a similar pattern.

The tabernacle and sacrifices are a visible model to enable us to understand what Christ would do when he came, according to Hebrews 9:24. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”  The book of Hebrews was written to help Christians, not just Jews, understand what was involved in Christ’s sacrifices for us.  It requires an understanding of the tabernacle and the sacrifices to fully understand what he accomplished.  Just as Galatians 3:24 tells us the Old Testament Law was to bring us to Christ, the Tabernacle was to teach us about him.

While certain aspects are defined as models or portrayals in scripture, there are a lot of other useful parallels to help us better understand our Christian life.

Acquiring The Materials
Exodus 25:1-8

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.” (Exodus 25:1-2) 

The materials for the tabernacle were to be given freely and voluntarily by the people.  There were to be no fundraising programs or competitions, and no peer pressure or coercion.  In II Corinthians 9:7 Paul states the same principle for the church.  “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”  It is troubling how many religious organizations have departed from this basic principle.

Over the years, we’ve been told numerous times that it is unfair to ask the Navajos to pay for their own churches, because so many are poor, jobs are scarce, and they have been historically taken advantage of.  I believe such and approach deprives them of some of God’s blessings.  Malachi 3:10 recommends, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Many believe that this applies solely to the Old Testament but in II Corinthians 9:6 paul informs us, “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”  While they may enable the church to obtain a building or other project more quickly, the fundraising programs and practices of many modern churches deprive their people of the opportunity to exercise their faith and to see God fulfill his promises, hindering their spiritual growth.

Israel had been enslaved for four hundred years.  They had not been paid during that time. They were not rich people.  It would be a sacrifice to give up what they had acquired.

“And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.” (Exodus 25:3-7)

God was very specific what materials were to be given for construction of the tabernacle.  The only gold and silver and brass the former slaves had came from the Egyptians to encourage them to leave.  The badger skins are believed to have been from a type of antelope that they could obtain by hunting and donating the skins, sacrificing much of the value of the kill.  Ram’s skins could be saved from butchering their sheep and a dye made for local materials but preparing the skins took a great deal of effort.  Scarlet, blue and purple dyes, while made from natural materials were expensive to buy and time consuming to make.  Linen fibers had to be beaten from flax stems and spun into thread.

Shittim or acacia trees were plentiful, but they would have to be cut and hand sawn into lumber.  Olive oil would have to be pressed from wild olives, and spices picked from the native plants.  Onyx stones could be found by searching and some of the jewels may have come from the Egyptians.

Building the tabernacle would not be simply a matter of donating a few dollars, but of sacrifice of time and energy to obtain the materials.  Most of the materials were not things run away slaves would already have, and there was no place to buy them if they had the money.  At the same time, anyone who wanted to contribute could readily do so.  The tabernacle would have far greater meaning to them because they had a personal investment in it.

 “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.  According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” (Exodus 25:8-9)

With these materials, they were to make a sanctuary, a place sanctified or reserved for God.  Because it was a model for teaching of heavenly things, it was critical that the plan be followed exactly.  Just as modern architects supply immense specification books, with a great deal of information that cannot be shown on the blueprints, God provided Moses with detailed specifications.  Only the basic blueprint is given here.