Before part 2, here is a brief summary of the Tabernacle, included for the benefit of any readers who may not have seen previous posts…
Exodus 25 through 40.
The Tabernacle was the Place
Ha Makem’- ‘The Place’-המקום
where God would meet with His people, Israel.
However, before the Tabernacle was constructed God met with Moses in a temporary tent of meeting:
Moses would pitch a tent outside and some distance away from the camp of Israel.
Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting – OUTSIDE the camp.
As Moses went into the tent of meeting,
the pillar of cloud would come down
and stay at the entrance,
while the Lord spoke with Moses face-to-face.
The face to face meeting; פָנִים
Strongs 6440: panim or paneh
Phonetic Spelling: (paw-neem’)
(Moses met with Him in the Mishkan),
in the Throne of His Presence –
the Womb of Grace and Mercies – rachamIM.
for more on Rechem and IM click links below:
https://www.minimannamoments.com/mystery-of-rechem-the-secret-of-living-like-royalty/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/the-mysteries-of-im/
This is recorded in Exodus 33:7, 9.
Moses set up the tent of meeting as instructed by the LORD OUTSIDE of the camp of Israel..
because the Israelites had betrayed, and broken fellowship with Him at Mt. Sinai with the making and worship of the golden calf.
This was disobedience and faithlessness that God could not ignore. Understanding the rift between God and Israel is the shadow arch-type of God’s rift with all mankind.
This separation between God and Man if left un-mended will result in a permanent separation from our Creator called the eternal, (spiritual) death.
It is worse than physical death because it is a conscious death with no remedy, it’s permanent and unalterable.
This was why Jesus/Yeshua came –
He was and is the repairer of the breach.
God provided Moses with specific instructions to build a Tabernacle, a place of sacrifice and worship.
The tent of meeting was transformed into the Tabernacle according to the precise plans given to Moses by God. This is recorded in Exodus 25-27.
This new tent of meeting came to be called the
Mishkan or Tabernacle.
It could be taken up and moved each time the children of Israel changed locations as they wandered through the wilderness.
A literal meaning of the word
tabernacle or mishkan, is:
dwelling place.
God Himself designed all the furnishing and items that He instructed Moses to build.
The pattern or plans given to Moses were to be followed to the letter. There was nothing haphazard about the Mishkan/Tabernacle that God Himself designed.
It was so important that God specifically chose 2 men Bezalel and Oholiab and filled them with His own Spirit in order for them to be able to do the precise workmanship that He required.
For more on Bezalel click link below
But more important than all the furnishings was the fact that the Tabernacle was the place where God came down to dwell among His people.
The Glory of the Tabernacle was not found in the architecture or ornate furnishings of the Tabernacle
but in the Glory of the LORD who made
His temporary dwelling place
in the Tabernacle among His people.
The Tabernacle was to be the center of Israel’s life.
Just as Jesus/Yeshua is to be the center of our lives today.
What makes the Tabernacle itself so very important and of great interest is the fact that the precise instructions that God gave Moses to build the Tabernacle were based on the pattern of a Heavenly Tabernacle.
Exodus 25:9
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Who serve unto the example and shadow of
HEAVENLY THINGS
as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the TABERNACLE:
for, See, saith he, that thou
make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Hebrews 8:5
The Outer Courtyard of the tent of meeting
was 150 feet long and 75 feet wide
and included the Tabernacle within it.
The centerpiece of this area was an
Brazen/Copper Altar for Burnt Offerings
and a
large Bronze/Copper Wash Basin/Laver
for the priests.
The Bronze/Copper items were made from the womens’ melted down mirrors that were made of burnished bronze/copper that were so shiny they could see their reflection in them, not mirrors of glass that we know today. This is why it was referred to as sea of glass and is a type of the
in Revelation 4:6 says, “Before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.”
Revelation 15:2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
The actual Tabernacle itself was 45 feet long and 15 feet wide.
It was divided into two sections.
The first section or Most Holy Place contained the Altar of Incense
a Golden Lampstand/Menorah,
and a Table with 12 loaves of bread/Shewbread.
The second section was called the Holy of Holies
it was home for the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant, among other consecrated items, contained the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written.
For 40 years the Israelites relocated the Tabernacle, moving it with them as they travelled through the wilderness from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land.
After the children of Israel entered and conquered the land of Israel, Solomon, the son of King David, built the first permanent Temple in Jerusalem.
This magnificent Temple was also patterned after the Tabernacle.
In other words, the Temple replaced the Tabernacle, but the purpose of the Tabernacle and the precise way it was to be built did not change.
The Temple became a permanent structure built in Jerusalem as God had instructed; and it was the center of worship for the Children of Israel.
The Tabernacle is full of mysteries, some of which have yet to be solved; and its probably not an understatement that we could spend many years discovering the secrets hidden in just one of the items God designed to be inside His Tabernacle.
Amazingly, the overall purpose and the entire reason for the Tabernacle, can be seen by looking at the pictographic and numeric meaning of the four letters in the Hebrew word
Mishkan,
the word we translate into English as
Tabernacle.
Noon Kaf Sheen Mem
is spelled
Alef
The first, the leader, the strength to carry out to completion. The Infinite Eternal Supreme Authority. The commander Represented in His Instruction. His Governing Spoken Established, Written, Certain, Established, Surety, Guarantor.
Tav TUh
The promise of DaBaR YaHUaH/ the word of ALaHYM. To be joined together with His restored creation forever and ever.
Consummated, achieved, completeness, restored.
HA Hey Hei
To reveal make evident
HA HEI. He reveals, makes known or evident, His identity His power.
Overt, undisguised, understandable.
Mem,
Hidden and concealed in the reign of darkness where the seed is planted gestation until the time of birthing The due date or Appointed Time
Brooding over Nurturing the comforter
Sheen, Shin ShYN
His Ruach His essence His being The fervent Ardency The intense fiery consuming passionate POWER of His Being evident in the work of His hand like a blazing fire a consuming passion Ruach HaQodesh or Kodesh.
Kaf, KaPh
Step by step. Pattern, Order, Method.
His lines to follow. His flawless pattern communicated; given in a diagram or panorama/picture/plan and made manifest.
Flourish, Thrive, Increasing.
A guide a map a diagram.
and
Noon. NUN
Birthing, birthed one, new.
The Brought Forth One
The Achiever and Finisher
The Begotten
So it could read…
To reveal, manifest what was unseen, the place of brooding over, (like in Genesis); nurturing by His Ruach, His Presence, to lead step by step in His pattern, a guide to follow a diagram given.
More Meaning of the
מִשְׁכָּן
found in the pictographs.
Mem is the picture of Water
Sheen is the Picture of Teeth
Kaf is the Picture of an open Palm
Noon is a Picture of a Fish/Seed.
The first letter in any Hebrew word is usually the most important, since it gives us the first clue as to what the word is all about.
Is there a connection between the Tabernacle and the waters of the pictograph for the letter MEM?
God is revealing something with the Picture of Water.
Recall that the LORD uses MEM to depict waters, like those that fill up seas and oceans, those that flow down streams and also that which falls as rain from the heavens.
We simply need to understand the context in which the picture is being used.
Understanding that the revelation regarding the Tabernacle/Mishkan is not only about what it is…as an object but
It’s about where it came from and its the key to unlocking this mystery because the precise plans for building this dwelling place with earthly Outer and Inner Courts came from above, the pattern came from His presence in the Heavenly court room.
Hebrews 8:5
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the TABERNACLE: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
The LORD of Heaven is going to come down from heavens courts and inhabit the Mishkan, or Tabernacle court and He wants us to keep in our minds focused on that fact.
When we see how water is connected, then the picture of Mem as Rain is fitting, as the rain comes down from above.
Although the letter Mem in the word Mishkan is not about actual rainwater, it’s about something that come down from above just like the rain/water comes down from above the precise plans for building the Tabernacle come from Heaven above.
and the ONE who is going to make the Tabernacle His DWELLING PLACE comes down from Heaven above. And will abide with His people inside the Tabernacle within the Holy of Holies.
The piece of furniture in the Holy of Holies was constructed of 2 parts:
The 1st part was called the Ark of the Covenant. It was a wooden chest/box made of Acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold.
The 2nd part was an ornate lid with 2 golden cherubim with their wings outstretched.
This ornate lid (pictured below), was placed on top of the Ark of the Covenant.
It was called the Mercy Seat.
The Kapporet.
God commanded Moses to put 3 things inside the Ark of the Covenant.
These were
a golden pot of Manna,
Aaron’s staff that had budded,
and the
2 stone tablets on which the 10 Commandments were written.
These 3 items were symbolic of the complaints that God had against His people.
The Manna was a reminder of how the Israelites complained about and were dismissive of God’s amazing provision
The budding rod of Aaron was a reminder of how the Israelites rejected God’s leadership.
The stone tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments was a reminder of how the Israelites had broken all of God’s laws.
Any one of these complaints would have been legal grounds for banishment and punishment.
However we must pay attention and look where these 3 illustrations of Israels’ sins of unworthiness and unfaithfulness are kept.
They are hidden inside the Ark of the Covenant, secreted away, kept out of mans view and
covered
by the
Mercy Seat.
God uses objects and pictures to make His lessons clear to man.
Yeshua/Jesus is our Ark
and our
sins are not only
covered
by His Blood which is now on the
Mercy Seat/Kapporet
but wiped away for ever…
and our lives are now
hidden
with Christ in God.
Col. 3:3
Conclusion coming in in Part 3 …meanwhile there is
more on the tabernacle at link below