This week was all about the tabernacle and its construction. If you have never read about it, I encourage you to go to Exodus and read it. It is pretty amazing when you break everything down and what it means and how it relates to Christ and our relationship with him.
That's mainly what I will be talking about because I LOVE reading the Old Testament and how it sets us up for the coming of Christ in the New Testament.
So on to the tabernacle...
God had very specific plans for the tabernacle; there was not a detail left out. He told how wide, long, and how high the walls need to be. What they were to be made out of and gave specific instructions on how the alter would be built. It wasn't really those details that got to me. What got to me was the way it was laid out with all the people camped out outside of it. What you've got when everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be is a big rectangular shape in the center, 4 different tribes at the north, south, east, and west sides, with the number of people being about even on the north and south sides. The west camp being smaller than the east camp, which is the largest group. So if you draw a rectangle and then draw lines out from that rectangle that represents each tribe; 2 lines being about equal, a short one and then a longer line than the rest, what do you get? A cross! It gets even better. At the front gate of the tabernacle sits the tribe of Judah. If you wanted to go the the alter to make a sacrifice for you sins, you had to pass thru the tribe of Judah. The significance...another name for Jesus is The Lion of the tribe of Judah!
Ok, I hope I haven't lost any of you. I'm a little excited about this exercise and the realization of what God was constructing. It was a very early example of what was yet to come. God was in the center of this tabernacle. The only way for them to get to Him was to walk through Judah's camp (i.e. Jesus) and they all made up the lines of the cross. Is that not the craziest thing? The symbolism just knocked my socks off. I wish I could say I was so smart that I figured this out of my own, but sadly I didn't. Beth drew the mental picture for us on the video and I of course had to physically draw it. I'm a visual person and the the moment I did the light bulb went off. It is the neatest thing I have ever seen and had to think about! Every time God looked down on His people he saw a cross walking through the desert!
Obviously, they had no idea what it looked like from the sky nor would they ever understand what was really going on but are you not just fascinated with the Old Testament and its build up to Christ's life? I used to think the Old Testament was boring and always preferred the New Testament but now I see it with a new light.
I'm sorry this week isn't really a deep heart wrenching blog but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share what I learned. Each week always adds to the week before so hopefully by the end of this you will see the significance of this.
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Beth does have a knack for making the Old Testament come alive. I've done this study before but didn't remember the visual you just gave--maybe because I got so bogged down in trying to do the drawings. We do that though, we get so caught up in the details that we can't see what God needs us or wants us to see. You've brought the picture to life for me, thanks!
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