What is the meaning of tabernacle
The desert tabernacle was a portable place of worship that God commanded the Israelites to build after saving them from slavery in Egypt. It was used for a year after crossing the Red Sea until King Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem, a 400-year period.
References to the Tabernacle in the Bible
Exodus 25-27, 35-40; Leviticus 8:10, 17: 4; Numbers 1, 3-7, 9-10, 16: 9, 19:13, 31:30, 31:47; Joshua 22; 1 Chronicles 6:32, 6:48, 16:39, 21:29, 23:36; 2 Chronicles 1: 5; Psalms 27: 5-6; 78:60; Acts 7: 44-45; Hebrews 8: 2, 8: 5, 9: 2, 9: 8, 9:11, 9:21, 13:10; Revelation 15: 5.
The tent of the meeting
Tabernacle means "meeting place" or "meeting tent", since it was the place where God lived among his people on earth. Other names in the Bible for the meeting tent are the congregational tabernacle, the desert tabernacle, the testimony tabernacle, the testimony tent, the Moses tabernacle.
While on Mount Sinai, Moses received detailed instructions from God on how the tabernacle and all its elements were to be built. The people gladly donated the various materials from the spoils received by the Egyptians.
The compound of the tabernacle
The entire complex of the 75 feet by 150 feet tabernacle was closed by a fence of linen curtains attached to the poles and fixed to the ground with ropes and stakes. At the front was a 30-foot wide gate of the courtyard, made of purple and scarlet yarn woven into twisted linen.
The courtyard
Once inside the courtyard, a worshiper would have seen a bronze altar, or holocaust altar, where offerings of animal sacrifices were presented. Not far away was a bronze basin or basin, where priests performed ceremonial washing of purification of the hands and feet.
Towards the rear of the complex there was the tent of the tabernacle itself, a structure of 15 by 45 feet made of a skeleton of acacia wood covered with gold, then covered with layers of goat hair, red dyed sheepskin and goatskins. Translators disagree on top cover: badger skins (KJV), sea cow skins (NIV), dolphin or porpoise skins (AMP). The entrance to the tent was made through a screen of blue, purple and scarlet yarn woven in fine twisted linen. The door was always facing east.
The holy place
The front 15 by 30-foot chamber, or sacred site, contained a table with showbread, also called sheep's bread or presence bread. Opposite there was a candelabrum or menorah, modeled on an almond tree. Its seven arms were hammered by a solid piece of gold. At the end of that room there was an altar of incense.
The 15 by 15 feet rear chamber was the most holy place, or saint of saints, where only the high priest could go, once a year on the day of atonement. Separating the two chambers was a veil made of blue, purple and scarlet yarns and fine linen. Images of cherubs or angels were embroidered on that tent. In that sacred chamber there was only one object, the ark of the covenant.
The ark was a wooden box covered with gold, with statues of two cherubs on top facing each other, with the wings touching each other. The lid, or seat of mercy, was where God met his people. Inside the ark were the Ten Commandments tablets, a manna pot and Aaron's almond tree stick.
The whole tabernacle took seven months to complete, and when it was finished, the cloud and pillar of fire - the presence of God - descended upon it.
A portable tabernacle
When the Israelites camped in the desert, the tabernacle was located right in the center of the camp, with the 12 tribes camped around it. During its use, the tabernacle was moved several times. Everything could be packed in oxen when the people left, but the ark of the covenant was carried by hand by Leviti.
The journey of the tabernacle began in Sinai, then remained in Kadesh for 35 years. After Joshua and the Jews crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the tabernacle remained in Gilgal for seven years. His next home was Shiloh, where he remained until the time of the judges. It was later established in Nob and Gibeon. King David had the tabernacle erected in Jerusalem and had Perez-uzza carry the ark and settled there.
The meaning of the tabernacle
The tabernacle and all its components had symbolic meanings. Overall, the tabernacle was a prefiguration of the perfect tabernacle, Jesus Christ, who is Emmanuel, "God with us". The Bible constantly indicates the next Messiah, who fulfilled God's loving plan for the salvation of the world:
We have a High Priest who sat in the place of honor next to the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministered in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship which was built by the Lord and not by human hands.
And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices ... They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven ...
But now Jesus, our High Priest, has received a ministry far superior to the old priesthood, since it is he who mediates for us a much better covenant with God, based on better promises. (Hebrews 8: 1-6, NLT)
Today God continues to live among his people but in an even more intimate way. After the ascension of Jesus into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to live within every Christian.