35:4–29) We can give to God only that which He has first given to us, for all things come from Him. “Everything comes from you,” said David in his prayer, “and we have given you only what comes from your hand” (1 Chron. 29: niv).
Not only did God create the materials that the people brought to Him (Isa. 66:1–2), but He also worked in their hearts so that they were willing to give generously (see 2 Cor. 8:1–5, 12). In fact, the people brought so much that Moses had to tell them to stop (Ex. 36:6–7)!
Several different kinds of materials were needed: precious metals (gold, silver), bronze, fabrics (yarn, fine linen, and goat’s hair), wood, skins, olive oil, spices, and precious stones. It’s been estimated that a ton of gold was used in the tabernacle as well as over three tons of silver. Where did all this wealth come from? For one thing, the Jews had “spoiled” the Egyptians before leaving the land (12:35–36), and no doubt there were also spoils from the victory over Amalek (17:8–16). God saw to it that they had everything they needed to build the tabernacle just as He had designed it.
According to 30:11–16, Moses collected a half a shekel from each man of military age, and according to 38:21–31, all this silver amounted to 100 talents plus 1,775 shekels, a total of 301,775 shekels. (There are 3,000 shekels in a talent.) This came from 603,550 men who were twenty years of age and older. This silver was used to make both the sockets on which the posts stood and the hooks for the curtains.
God equips the workers (31:1–11; 35:30—36:7) Whether it’s for building the tabernacle in the Old Testament, building the church in the New Testament, or building our lives and ministries today, the Holy Spirit of God must equip us and enable us to do the job. God gave Bezalel and Oholiab the skill and wisdom they needed, but He also equipped the craftsmen who worked under them, and led by the Spirit, in obedience to the Word, they constructed the tabernacle and its furniture.
God appointed Bezalel and Oholiab to direct the work, for without leaders there would be chaos, but He called for craftsmen to volunteer to assist them (35:10). We are born with different abilities, and at conversion, we received different gifts from the Holy Spirit, to be used for the good of the church and the glory of God (1 Cor. 12:1–13; Eph. 4:1–16; Rom. 12). “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2: nkjv). The Jews built a tent that long ago turned to dust, but we’re helping to build “a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22) that will glorify God eternally.
God must be put first in everything (25:10–22; 37:1–9) There were six special pieces of furniture associated with the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant is mentioned first. A wooden chest forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high, it stood in the Holy of Holies where God’s “shekinah” presence rested. On it rested the golden mercy seat which was God’s throne (Ps. 80:1; 99:1; 2 Kings 19:15, all niv).
The ark had many names besides “the ark of the covenant” (Num. 10:33). It was called “the ark of God” (1 Sam. 3:3), “the ark of the Lord” (Josh. 3:15), “the ark of the Lord God” (1 Kings 2:26), “the ark of the testimony” (Ex. 25:22), because the tables of the law were in it, “the holy ark” (2 Chron. 35:3), and “the ark of [God’s] strength” (Ps. 132:8). The ark represented the power and authority of God in the camp of Israel, and this is why it’s named first. This is the Old Testament illustration of Matthew 6:33.
The ark also teaches us about Jesus Christ. It was made of wood, which speaks of His humanity, but was completely overlaid with gold, which speaks of His deity. According to Hebrews 9:4, within the ark were the tables of the law (Ex. 25:16), a pot of manna (16:32–34), and Aaron’s rod that budded (Num. 16— 17). These objects tell us that the law of God was in Christ’s heart and He perfectly obeyed and fulfilled it (Ps. 40:6–8; Heb. 10:5–9); He is the Bread of Life who gives eternal life to all who receive Him (John 6:32); and He lives by the power of an endless life so we can be fruitful for God (Heb. 7:16).
The golden mercy seat upon the ark had a cherub at each end and their wings overshadowed the ark. Once a year, on the day of Atonement, the high priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies, where he sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on the mercy seat (Lev. 16). This made atonement for Israel’s sins for another year (vv. 29–34). The fulfillment of this type was when Jesus Christ died once for all for the sins of the world and took away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:11—10:14).
Frequently in Scripture you find the image of finding safety “under His wings.” Sometimes this refers to the mother bird protecting her young (Ps. 57:1; 63:7; Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34), but it can also refer to being under the wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies (Ruth 2:12; Ps. 17:8; 36:7–8; 61:4; 91:1, 4).
Moses was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies where God spoke to him from the mercy seat and revealed His will for the people of Israel (Ex. 25:21–22; 29:42; 30:6, 36; Num. 7:89; see Ps. 91:1). God’s people today have access into God’s presence through the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:19–25), for He is our “mercy seat” (propitiation, Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2). Because of His blood shed for us, the throne of God is for us a throne of grace.
The ark of the Lord and the pillar of cloud led the way as the Jews marched from place to place (Num. 10:33–36). In their pilgrim journey, the people of God get their directions from the throne of God and follow the glory of God.
God is present to nourish His people (25:23–29; 37:10–16) As the priest walked into the holy place from the outer court, on the right he would see the table of “presence bread,” on the left the golden lampstand, and ahead of him the golden altar of incense standing before the beautiful veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies.
The table was three feet long, a foot and a half wide and twenty-seven inches high. Like the ark, it was made of acacia wood covered with gold, another reminder of our Savior’s humanity and deity. Jesus is the Bread of Life who took upon Himself a human body that He might come to this earth and die for our sins (John 6:26).
Twelve loaves of bread were baked each week, following the recipe given in Leviticus 24:5–9. The text doesn’t explain how big these loaves were, but from the amount of flour required, they must have been quite large. It’s likely that the flour was provided by the people as a gift to the Lord. Each Sabbath, the old loaves were removed and eaten by the priests in the holy place, and the new loaves were put in their place.
When the bread was placed on the table, it was always accompanied by incense, which was probably burned in one of the special utensils (Ex. 25:29). The use of incense suggests that the bread was actually a “meal offering” to the Lord (Lev. 2:1–11) in thanksgiving to Him for “daily bread.” If the flour was a gift from the people, it was their sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for His provision for their needs.
The loaves are called “showbread” (Ex. 25:30) or “presence bread,” literally “bread of faces.” The presence of twelve loaves of bread in the holy place couldn’t help but remind the priests that they were serving the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people. Through these loaves, the twelve tribes were presented before God and God was present with them in their camp, beholding their worship and their daily walk. The tribes were also represented by the jewels on the breastplate and the shoulders of the high priest (28:6–21). When you combine the images of the jewels and the loaves, you learn that the Lord feeds His people, bears them on His shoulders, and carries them over His heart.
But there’s also a sense in which the loaves remind us that Israel was called to feed a hungry world the spiritual bread the Lord had given them. They gave the world the Word of God, which is bread (Matt. 4:4), and Jesus who is the Bread of Life (John 6). Unfortunately, they turned from the Lord and ate at heathen altars, and God had to discipline them.
Paul compared the church to a loaf of unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:1–8; see 10:16–17), and our task is to preach the Word and tell sinners about Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. Since the twelve loaves were considered a meal offering, there would have been no leaven in the dough (Lev. 2:1–11), and God’s people must keep themselves from all impurity. We aren’t here to feed ourselves; we’re here to feed a hungry world.
The loaves of bread were very special and were not to be eaten carelessly, even by the priests. Any priest who was defiled and ate the bread or any of the sacrificial meat that belonged to the priests, was in danger of death (Lev. 22:3–9).
God enlightens our worship and service (25:31–40; 27:20–21; 37:17–24; Lev. 24:1–3) The candlestick was hammered out of about seventyfive pounds of gold, but we aren’t told its dimensions. It was undoubtedly a beautiful work of art with its six branches decorated with almond flowers, buds, and blossoms. The six branches and the central shaft provided seven lamps which were fed by oil and kept burning constantly (Ex. 27:20–21; Lev. 24:1–4).
Since there was no way to let in natural light from the outside, the golden lampstand was the only source of light available in the holy place. Without it, the priests couldn’t have carried on their various ministries. God wants us to offer Him intelligent worship, not ignorant worship (John 4:19–24; Acts 17:22–31; Rom. 1:18–25), and to do that, we need the light of the Word of God to guide us (Ps. 119:105, 130; Prov. 6:23).
Aaron and his sons were to trim the lamps each time they offered the incense on the golden altar (Ex. 30:7–8). We shall see later that the fragrant burning incense represents prayer ascending to God, and the Word of God and prayer must go together (Acts 6:4): Prayer is enlightened by the Word (John 15:7), and the Word is opened up to us as we pray (Ps. 119:18; Eph. 1:15–23). Both the study of the Word and the exercise of prayer must be energized by the Holy Spirit, who is symbolized by oil (the lampstand, Zech. 4:1–7) and fire (the altar, Acts 2:3–4).
But the candlestick also reminds us of the people of Israel, chosen by God to be “a light to the Gentiles” (Isa. 42:6; 49:6). However, the lampstand wasn’t in the outer court of the tabernacle where everybody could see it, but in the holy place where only God and the priests could see it. How, then, does it symbolize Israel’s witness to the Gentiles? Israel’s relationship to God in sacrifice and worship determined the strength and extent of their witness. It was when they turned from the worship of the true and living God and began to worship idols that they lost their witness to the Gentile nations.
Jesus Christ also came to be a “light to the Gentiles” (Luke 1:79; John 8:12), and that light is spread through the witness of the church (Acts 13:47–48; Phil. 2:14–16; Matt. 5:14–16). In Revelation 1:9–20, our Lord stands in the midst of seven lampstands which represent the seven churches of Asia Minor in John’s day. In the tabernacle, there was one lampstand, beaten out of one talent of gold, representing the one nation of Israel and its witness. Though the church is one people, it spreads the light through many individual assemblies in many places in the world.
The lights in the seven lamps on the lampstand were fed by oil that was especially prepared for that purpose (Ex. 27:20–21). Just as the people brought the fine flour for the baking of the loaves, so they brought clear oil for the maintaining of the lights on the lampstand (Ex. 25:27–28; 35:10, 14). Zechariah 4:1–4 informs us that this oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit of God, without whose power we can’t glorify Christ (John 16:14) or effectively witness of Him (Acts 1:8). “Without Me,” said Jesus, “you can do nothing” (John 15: nkjv).
What was done by the priests in the sanctuary was done for the Lord (Ex. 28:1, 3–4, 41; 29:1) and before the Lord (27:21; 40:25; Lev. 24:4). It mattered not that the people in the camp were ignorant of what the priests were doing, because God saw it all, and their task was to please Him. The most important part of a Christian’s life is the part that only God sees. If God is pleased by what He sees, and our conscience is clean before Him, then we don’t have to worry about what people think or say about us (1 Cor. 4:1–5). He will accept our ministry and bless it.