The last 16 chapters of Exodus focus on how to worship God. The large amount of text about worship shows how important it is.
The instructions that God gives for worship begin with an offering.
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me” (Exodus 25.1-2).
When the Israelites left Egypt, they asked their neighbors to give them silver, gold, and precious items. Verses 3 through 7 describe the offering of giving back to God those items to make a sanctuary that we’ll read about in the next chapters.
God’s Blueprint
God gave Moses instructions on how to construct the Tabernacle.
“And they shall make me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among them.
“In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it” (Exodus 25.8-9).
The Tabernacle was a definite external form of the covenant that God made with His people.
It was a visible bond of fellowship where He might manifest Himself to the people, and they might draw near to Him as their God.
The word “tabernacle” appears for the first time here, of its 139 Old Testament occurrences. It means “to dwell,” and it is the place where God dwells among His people.
The Tabernacle signifies that God has come to dwell or to the Tabernacle amid Israel.
The Gospel of John shows that God will Tabernacle with his people through his Son.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
The thoughts of God concerning His kingdom, which the earthly building was to embody and display, were visibly outlined in the pattern shown.
The Ark and Mercy Seat
Verses 10-22 take us immediately to the heart of the theology of the Tabernacle and its purpose in Israel. What takes place in the Tabernacle forms the foundation for God’s activity through Jesus.
The focal point of the Tabernacle is the ark and mercy seat. God’s instructions begin at the heart of things, rather than working from the outside in.
“They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high” (Exodus 25.10).
The Ark is mentioned 195 times in the Old Testament, therefore stressing its importance. It is the throne of God.
A living reminder of God’s guidance for His people is to be placed in the Ark.
“You shall put the covenant that I am giving you into the ark” (Exodus 25.16).
“Then you shall make a cover of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width” (Exodus 25.17).
The covering over the Ark was more than just a lid on top of a box; rather, it was what we now have come to know as the Mercy Seat.
Once a year, the high priest would bring blood to cover the sins of the Israelites.
We turn to Jesus and we find that he is our Mercy Seat.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,
And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2.1-2).
The fact that this word, atoning sacrifice or mercy seat, means to deliver or to ransom by a substitute is what begins one of the greatest doctrines in the Bible.
The Cherubim
Part of the construction of the Ark included two cherubim who were to face each other on top of the covering or the Mercy Seat.
“You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work at the two ends of the cover.
“Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other; of one piece with the cover you shall make the cherubim at its two ends” (Exodus 25.18-19).
“There I will meet with you, and from above the cover, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will tell you all that I am commanding you for the Israelites” (Exodus 25.22).
The picture of God being the King over all of the Israelites, and then the Ark being the throne for God where He meets with the people, providing guidance, fellowship, and forgiveness, is central to their ability to worship Him.
The key insight from the construction of the ark is that God is continually present in His tabernacle and walks among His people there.
One of the primary intentions of worship is to meet with the living God.
Jesus’ Message About Abiding
One of the features of Jesus’s message in the Gospel of John concerns abiding in Christ.
The gift that God has given us, pictured in the Tabernacle with His presence among people and Jesus’s message about abiding, tells us that we should accept His invitation to commune with Him.
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15.9-11).
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross, Whispering Danny, and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
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