What does the word tabernacle bring to your mind? Most would say a certain building. Some would mention the Mormon Tabernacle in San Diego, which is so beautiful you can see it glisten for miles. Upon further research, I found that these buildings cost anywhere from 7 to 70 million. Yet, for the most part, they are not open even to members. They are used for special ceremonies such as proxy baptisms and celestial marriages. Many Catholic temples and non-denominational cathedrals cost enough to feed a small country for a long time, but they are all just buildings. In the Old Testament, God gave Moses a detailed blueprint for the Tabernacle. He wanted to dwell among His people in the wilderness. They had been in captivity for 400 years, and now God would lead them to the Promised Land. They were free to worship the one true God the way He desired them to.
God was very specific about every detail of this traveling Tabernacle. From the woven curtains of the courtyard to the golden Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place, God had specific instructions. Yet the New Testament reveals that this earthly sanctuary was never meant to be the final destination. It was an earthly shadow pointing forward to a far greater spiritual reality. Almost fifteen hundred years passed between the building of this traveling tabernacle and the believer becoming the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds us that all true believers are the temple now.
I Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
The tabernacle under the Old Covenant had an earthly High Priest. He was the only one who could enter into the Most Holy Place. He had specific instructions on what he could do and how he was to present himself. If he did not do it as God had commanded, he would die in the presence of God. The Priest would go into the Most Holy area with the blood of sacrificed animals. In contrast, the New Covenant presents Jesus as our ultimate High Priest. He is the only one qualified to redeem us and present us to God the Father.
Hebrews 9:11-12 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Another difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant was how we can come into God’s presence. In the man made temple or tabernacle a thick curtain separated ordinary people like me and you from the holy presence of God. While Jesus was on the cross as He said his final words, “It is finished,” the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. The veil was approximately 60 feet tall, 30 feet wide, and roughly 4 inches thick. The reason I point out its dimensions is to show there was no way a man could have rent this material. This was torn to show that all believers now had access to the Most High God through Jesus Christ, His Son.
One thing that did not change when the New Covenant came was that God’s holiness requires a mediator. The Old Testament people had a high priest. The New Testament people have Jesus. Both covenants show that God deeply desires to draw near to His people. He is not a God that cannot be touched by our needs. When Jesus went back to heaven, He now intercedes for us. He sits at the right hand of the Father and hears our pleas. He knows what it is like to live in a sinful world. He never sinned, but he was tempted in every way. His perfect life and His becoming our High Priest make it possible for us to come boldly to the throne of grace so we can experience mercy and grace.
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
What Israel could only view from a distance through animal sacrifices and physical curtains, we now experience fully through Jesus Christ. We no longer look to an earthly tent; we look to Christ, who brought God’s presence directly into our lives and opened the way for us to walk with Him daily. We are His workmanship created in God’s image from the beginning. Mankind sinned and changed everything about our relationship with God. But because God created us in His image and for Himself, he did not leave us alone with no hope after we sinned. He made a plan both for those in the Old and New Testament. His love made a way through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Now, take the temple in which He dwells and use it for His glory.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
