Three months after God freed the Israelites from their bondage to Egypt, they arrived at Mount Sinai. There on top of the mountain, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and instructions for building a tabernacle, a dwelling place for His presence. God had set the Israelites apart as His holy nation, but the Israelites were far from holy. The Ten Commandments and God’s instructions for the Tabernacle were to teach the Israelites holiness and how to receive His presence.

Most of us are familiar with the term “tabernacle” but have no idea what the Old Testament tabernacle is and its importance to God. Tabernacle in Hebrew is “Mishkan,” which means dwelling place. The Tabernacle was a portable sanctuary, sometimes called the Tent of Meeting, which could be moved from place to place. The Israelites used the Tabernacle for 500 years until Solomon built the Temple, an immovable, permanent place of worship.

Designed and Planned By God

Every detail of the Tabernacle was designed and planned by God (Exodus 25:9). The Tabernacle was not an afterthought to God. More than fifty chapters in the Bible are devoted to detailing its careful construction and sacred use. God envisioned the building of the Tabernacle even before the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. In fact, He planned for it by instructing the Israelites to take silver, gold, and clothing from the Egyptians (Exodus 25:1-9), the very things they would need to build and furnish the Tabernacle. (Exodus 12:35-36).

Not only did God design and plan the Tabernacle, but it was also essential to His plan for humanity. From the beginning, God desired to dwell with His people and have a relationship with them. However, because of Adam’s one act of disobedience that brought death, guilt, and condemnation to the entire human race, sin divided humanity from a holy God: God could not dwell with His people because His holy presence would destroy humanity.

Dwelling Place for God

Nevertheless, God found a way around humanity’s sin problem, a Tabernacle where He would dwell with His people (Exodus 25:8). Through the Tabernacle, God could relate, meet, and commune with the Israelites (Exodus 25:22). The Tabernacle was sacred. It was the only place the Israelites could make sacrifices. However, because God’s presence was so holy, and man was sinful, God could be accessed only once per year and only by the High Priest.

By studying the Tabernacle, its design, and its use, we discover that Jesus fulfilled its purpose perfectly. Like the Tabernacle, Jesus came so God could be with us. “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). God designed the Tabernacle in all its glory as a dwelling place for Him and as a shadow of the Savior to come. Be sure and visit The Tabernacle as A Type of Christ, Part 1, where we will talk about the parts of the Tabernacle, its implements, and how Jesus perfectly fulfilled each.