Discover with us in this interesting article what it was the tabernacle of god in the biblical Old Testament. As well as knowing about the meaning of its parts and what it represents for the evangelical Christian church today.
the tabernacle of god
The tabernacle of God was a tent that was built by order of the Lord during the exodus of the people of Israel through the desert, book of Exodus from chapter 25 to 40. In this movable tent was the ark of the covenant that represented the presence of God.
So the tabernacle of God served as a temple or sanctuary of his presence. Sanctuary where the people of God offered prayers, sacrifices and praises to Jehovah God.
The presence of God in the sanctuary moved with his people through the desert and it was the Lord who showed them the way to follow.
Exodus 40:38 (ESV): Throughout the entire journey of the Israelites, and in view of all of them, the cloud of the Lord was over the sanctuary during the day, and during the night there was a fire over it.
The tabernacle was built with offerings made with the faith and will of the people, just as God demanded. All the people who wanted offered for the love of God.
Biblical Meanings of the Tabernacle of God
Starting from the fact that the tabernacle symbolizes or represents the presence of God with his people. In the Bible we can find several meanings or symbols of the tabernacle of God.
the tabernacle of god can symbolize or be represented in:
- Jesus, Isaiah 7:14 (NLT): Alright, the Lord himself will give them the sign. ¡Miren! The virgin will conceive child! She will give birth to a son and they will name him Immanuel (What does "God is with us" mean?).
- Praise can be a tabernacle, a sanctuary or a lit altar, Psalms 22:3 (RVR 1960): But You are holy, What about you you dwell among the praises of Israel.
- The body of every Christian believer, 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV): Your body is like a temple, and in that temple lives the Holy Spirit that God has given them. You are not your own owners.
- The church or body of Jesus Christ, John 14:23 (NASB): Jesus answered and said to him: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him..
The Tabernacle of God: The Meaning of Its Parts
Throughout the Old Testament, God's divine plan from Genesis pointed to the figure of Christ, the Messiah, his anointed envoy. In this sense, the tabernacle of God is not outside the divine prophetic message.
Even more, because the tabernacle of God that moved in the desert guiding the people of Israel, was only a shadow of what was to come, Jesus Christ, the Savior, would come. He who takes away the sin of the world, the new covenant of the alliance, and the tabernacle would not move, but Christ would dwell in the hearts of those who love and adore him in spirit and in truth.
Thus, the parts and utensils of the tabernacle of God contain a prophetic meaning that points to the Messiah, Jesus. In this sense we invite you to enter the article, messianic prophecies: Purpose, fulfillment and more.
The messianic prophecies that God announced throughout the Old Testament announced the fulfillment of his divine plan in the person of a Messiah. These referred to the hope of the arrival of an anointed by God, a descendant of the house of David who would come to free his people from foreign rule, establishing his kingdom for all eternity.
Meaning of the entrance of the tabernacle
The tabernacle of God had a single entrance, which was located in front of the altar where the sacrifices were made. Animals such as oxen, lambs, sheep and goats were sacrificed on that altar for atonement.
- In the new testament Jesus tells us that He is that door in the temple or tabernacle of God, John 10:9 (NIV): I am the door of the kingdom of God: anyone who enters through this door, will be saved; he will be able to go in and out, and he will always find food.
- John 10:10b-11: – I I have come so that all of you may have life, and so that you may live it fully. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd is willing to die for his sheep.
Meaning of the altar for sacrifices
The prophetic significance of the sacrificial altar is the perfect sacrifice in the person of Jesus Christ. When God's tabernacle impure people could not worship Jehovah.
To purify them it was necessary to sprinkle people with the blood of sacrificed animals. If this blood had that power, how much more that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect and spotless sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:13-14 (NLT): 13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse the body of people who were ceremonially unclean. 14 Imagine how much more the blood of Christ will purify us awareness of sinful actions so that we worship the living God. Well by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Meaning of lavacro
The laver in the tabernacle of God was used by the priests to purify their hands and feet. It was only after this purifying cleansing that the priests could enter the Holy Place of the Tabernacle of God.
The prophetic meaning of the lavacro is the source of living water that is Jesus Christ, who makes us be born again by receiving his Holy Spirit:
John 3:5 (NASB): Jesus answered: Truly, Truly I tell you that anyone who is not born of water and of the Spirit cannot enter the kingdom of God..
Meaning of the table of breads
The table of the showbread was located in the holy place of the tabernacle of God. These loaves received the denomination of proposition because they symbolized how the people were present before the presence of God.
The showbread was presented before God:
- Without yeast: Symbol that the people will appear before God, whole, pure and without the mixture of leavened in their lives.
- With incense on them: So that they gave off a pleasant smell, the incense represents the prayers, the praises and the adoration of the people towards God. This is how we should present ourselves to God with a fragrant aroma:
2 Corinthians 2:15 (ESV): Because we are like the smell of incense that Christ offers to God, and that it spreads both among those who are saved and among those who are lost.
- constantly and permanently: Thus we must seek God permanently and not occasionally.
- were renovated: Every Saturday new loaves were placed and the priests consumed those who retired with wine, this kind of libation meant the joy of being in the presence of God. In addition to signifying the constant renewal of the people of God.
- in quantity of twelve: Representing the 12 tribes of Israel, today it symbolizes the union of all the people of God as a single body, even with its diversities.
Christ is the bread of life
Seen all this, the prophetic meaning of the table of breads is the representation of Jesus Christ. Who fulfills perfectly and in its entirety all the symbology of the bread on the table.
Jesus Christ is the pure, true, permanent bread that constantly renews us, that unites us in Him and whose sacrifice gave off the greatest and best pleasant aroma for God.
Jesus Christ is the true bread that we must eat constantly, to present ourselves Holy and without blemish before the presence of God. Feeding on this bread of life represents the joy of never feeling hungry or thirsty again:
John 6:35 (NIV): Jesus told them: -I am the bread that gives life. He who trusts in me will never be hungry again; Whoever believes in me will never thirst again.
Meaning of the candlestick
The candlestick of the tabernacle of God, menorah in the Hebrew language or lamp has the meaning of representing the illumination of the world. This lamp has seven arms or rods, all united by a central trunk, whose flame symbolically represents the guidance of God.
The seven lamps of the candelabra can mean:
- The branches of human knowledge guided by the wisdom and knowledge of God in the central light or flame.
- The 7 days of the creation of the world illuminated by the central light, the true word of God.
- The burning bush that appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb.
- The 7 churches of the apocalypse.
The tree of life, the word of God says that from an ancient trunk a stem will sprout. That offspring will be a new king to whom God will give power, wisdom and He will know and obey God. This king is Jesus Christ:
Isaiah 11:1-2 (NKJV): 11 A rod will come out of the trunk of Jesse; a shoot will sprout from its roots. 2 Upon him shall rest the spirit of the Lord; the spirit of wisdom and intelligence; the spirit advice and power, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
The rod that sprouts from its roots is the central lamp of the candelabrum, and symbolizes Jesus Christ. The new king who reconciles the world with God, but can also symbolize Jesus as the light of the world:
Revelation 21:23 (NIV): The city does not need the sun or the moon to illuminate it, because the brightness of God illuminates her, and the Lamb is her lamp.
John 8:12: Jesus spoke to the people again: -I am the light that illuminates all who live in this world. follow me and They won't walk in the dark they will have the light that gives them life-.
Meaning of the golden altar for incense
At the golden incense altar in the holy of holies of God's tabernacle, the high priest presented the prayers of his people to the Lord. So this altar was a kind of altar of intercession.
In this sense, the prophetic meaning of the golden altar for incense is Jesus Christ as our only true intercessor:
1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV): Because there is only one God, and only one mediator between God and men, Which is Christ man,
And it is that only Jesus Christ can intercede for us, there is no one else with that authority. The Bible gives us the following testimony:
John 17:9 (NIV): –I beg you for them. I do not ask for people who do not accept me and who only think about the things of this world. Rather, I ask for the followers that you gave me and that are yours-.
John 14:16: And I will ask God the Father to send you the Holy Spirit, so that he always helps you and is always with you.
Revelation 8:3-4 (NIV): 3 He drew near another angel and stood before the altar. He had a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all God's people, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 4 and together With these prayers, the smoke of the incense rose from the hand of the angel to the presence of God..
Meaning of the veil
The veil of the tabernacle of God fulfilled the function of separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest had the God-given authority to enter the holy of holies, and this only once a year.
The veil thus represented the separation of man's sin from God's holiness. This veil was torn when Jesus Christ consummated the perfect sacrifice, nailing sin to the cross of Calvary for the salvation of the world:
Matthew 27:50-51 (NIV): 50 then jesus yelled loudly again, gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.. The earth shook and the rocks split.
Thanks to this perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God, those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, the children of God, become his holy people and we are all priests. Therefore, there is no longer a veil of separation, being able to be in the presence of God at any time or place through prayer, praise or adoration:
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV): But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, so that you may proclaim the wonderful works of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The perfect sacrifice is finished, why is it said that the crucifixion of Jesus is the perfect sacrifice? To answer this question, we invite you to enter the article, It is finished: What is its true meaning? These were the last words exclaimed by Jesus in agony just before giving up his spirit.
Meaning of the ark of the testimony
The ark of the testimony in the tabernacle of God contained his presence, it represented the covenant of the Lord's alliance with his people. During the sacrifices the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrificed animals on the ark of the testimony, for the expiation of sins.
The prophetic symbolism is then the precious blood of Jesus that cleansed all our sins. Whenever we present ourselves to God in an attitude of true repentance and humiliation in his presence, the Bible tells us:
1 John 1:7 (NIV): But if we live in the light, as God lives in the light, we will stick together as brothers and God will forgive our sins through the blood of his Son Jesus.
John 1:29 (NIV): The next day, John saw Jesus approaching. Then he said to all the people: -Here comes the Lamb of God who takes away sin from the people in the World! Through him, God will forgive you all your sins.-.
Tabernacle of God: Ordination and construction
The tabernacle of God was constituted or ordered by three areas of construction: The outer structure of the court, Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
- Exterior structure of the atrium: This was an area of the tabernacle that formed a large rectangle bounded by curtains of fine linen, supported by bronze brackets. The atrium area could be accessed by the entire town.
- the holy place: This was one of the two areas of the tabernacle tent, only the priests could access it through a curtain or first veil. In it were: The altar of incense, the table of the showbread and the candelabrum or menorah.
- the holy of holies: The second and last area of the store, the most sacred area of the sanctuary. Only the high priest could access the Holy of Holies and only once each year, on the day of atonement, in this area was the ark of the covenant.
We invite you to be with your life, act, praise, worship a tabernacle for God. Because the time has come when the true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in Truth. Follow us by reading about: the second coming of christ.
