The Tent of Meeting

Exodus 26

Yesterday we saw that God had given Moses the details to some of the important things that will go inside the tabernacle. Today we read about the details to how the tabernacle should be made. There was precise detail that God gave Moses for the building of this tent. The tabernacle itself is described in verses 1-6; the roof and covering in verses 7-14; the walls in verses 15-30; and the arrangement of the furnishings mentioned in chapter 25 in verses 31-37.  The linen was about 42 feet long and six feet wide, there were two sets of five put together for the covering of the tabernacle. It is interesting that the covering is mentioned before the frame of the tabernacle. This shows that God cared more about the aspect of what the tent meant. It was his dwelling place. The covering was to give not only covering but decoration to his place. The only thing was the decorated part was only seen by the priests who served in the presence of God. The inside was to have a curtain that was decorated with cherubim’s sewn on a curtain to separate the Holy place from the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was where the Ark of the Covenant would be placed.   God desired for the inside to be decorated more than the outside. People would look at this tent and see it covered with goat’s hair. You would have to go inside to see the purple linens. I remember my first car was a 1972 Buick Skylark, I called it “Bertha.”  When I first got it, it required not much work, but needed some attention to the engine and the physical appearance of the body. I wanted so bad to paint the outside and put all my money in the looks of the car, but my dad said, “What good is that going to do for you if it is not running?” As I thought about it, my dad was right. The car needed to run more than look pretty. The same thing can be said about our spiritual life. If we put the attention on how we appear to others, such as “looking like a Christian, wearing Christian clothes,” but our heart is not following after Christ than it is pointless. Just like the tent, God wanted the inside to be pure and pretty, our hearts need to be pure and righteous, God can work on the outside for you. How is your heart?