Tabernacle

June 1, 2026

The Building of the Tabernacle

Exodus 35–40

The tabernacle is built with all its trappings, including the ark of the covenant (the lid of the ark is the mercy seat where the LORD will meet with Moses), the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, the bronze altar, the garments for the priests, the sacrifices, and the altar of incense according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, according to the pattern given to him on the mountain. A shadow of the heavenly tabernacle. And a foreshadowing of what’s to come when the Word becomes flesh and tabernacles among us. It’s no accident that John uses the same language in John 1.

But the tabernacle is not complete until the “glory of the LORD” fills the tabernacle. You see, that’s when the tabernacle becomes more than a bunch of stuff thrown together. It becomes the dwelling place for the LORD among His people.

The book of Exodus is driving toward this one goal: the LORD’s presence with His people, bringing them out of captivity and leading them to the land He promised. They will be His seghola, His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, representing Him to the world.

Sounds somewhat familiar, doesn’t it? For those of us who have trusted in Him, the LORD has brought us out of captivity to sin and is leading us to the kingdom, while His presence goes with us as we trek down Torah Road together. Just like with Israel, it’s not a me-thing, but a we-thing. The Church as the Body of Christ, the Tabernacle of His Spirit.

The Church isn’t one of us. It’s all of us. Generously bringing the full weight of the resources the LORD has entrusted to us to bear in serving the body, where the LORD dwells among us in a special way.

That’s, of course, if you are a part of the body, the Church. And that’s only true of you if you have trusted in Jesus. You can do that today. It starts with recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and believing that Jesus is the Savior whom God promised. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death. He was raised to life on the third day, proving that He had conquered both sin and death, so that by believing in Him, we can be saved—not because of anything that we have done, but because of what Jesus did. The Innocent who died for the guilty so that the guilty could be declared innocent.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Exodus series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

May 18, 2026

Instructions for the Tabernacle

Exodus 25–31

The LORD gives instructions for the building of the tabernacle and all its trappings, including the ark of the covenant (the lid of the ark is the mercy seat where the LORD will meet with Moses), the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, the bronze altar, the garments for the priests, the sacrifices, and the altar of incense. The LORD also prepares skilled craftsmen to carry out the designs, and the sabbath becomes the sign of the covenant.

A lot of reading today, but it shows that the LORD cares about the details. He is a God of detail.

As I was reading the description of the tabernacle, I couldn’t help but think of Paul’s language for the church in Ephesians. Each part has a role to play, and each must play its part if the whole is to function as it should. Every hook, clasp, curtain, stand, loop, and base, not to mention the ark, the table, the lampstand, the bronze altar, the priests, and the altar of incense, each had a part to play in the tabernacle. And each was important to fulfill what God had designed. It was something that worked together.

Just like us. We go together. The church isn’t one of us. It’s all of us. Generously bringing the full weight of the resources the LORD has entrusted to us in serving the body. The church is the place where the LORD dwells among us in a special way.

And just like the tabernacle, the LORD gives gifted men for the building up of the body, equipping the saints for the work of ministry. Another one of those Ephesian things from Paul.

That’s, of course, if you are a part of the body, the Church. And that’s only true of you if you have trusted in Jesus. You can do that today. It starts with recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and believing that Jesus is the Savior whom God promised. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death. He was raised to life on the third day, proving that He had conquered both sin and death, so that by believing in Him, we can be saved—not because of anything that we have done, but because of what Jesus did. The Innocent who died for the guilty so that the guilty could be declared innocent.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Exodus series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 8, 2024

The Old and the New

Hebrews 9.1-14

The old and the new. The copies and shadows vs. the Substance. Paul said it before, but may we never get tired of hearing it…we have such a High Priest.

All that the OT anticipated…all that the sacrifices looked forward to…the pictures and the symbols. All of it. Is now fulfilled in Jesus. What the blood of bulls and goats could never fully accomplish, Jesus did. They covered sin for a time. He took it away for all time. They worked for the cleansing of the flesh. He provided the way for the cleansing of the conscience. Theirs was external. His internal. There’s was a knockoff. He’s the real thing.

Jesus entered into the greater and more perfect tabernacle, the holy place, not of this creation, once for all, offering His own blood, obtaining eternal salvation, cleansing the conscience of those who believe from dead works to serve the living God. Jesus is greater…

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, please make today the day. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death on your behalf and was raised the third day conquering both sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you can have forgiveness of sins, eternal life and a clean conscience.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

February 26, 2014

Thoughts About What We’re Reading…

Is the Tabernacle Boring?

Here in our reading, in Exodus 25, God declares His desire to dwell in the midst of His people and gives them instructions on how to build His sanctuary – the Tabernacle.

The dwelling of God in the midst of His people is a significant biblical theme.

Way back in the garden of Eden, we are told God walked through the garden in the “cool of the day”. Creation was the sanctuary in which God dwelt with Adam and Eve.

The tabernacle, like the garden of Eden, here in Exodus is where God dwells, and various details of the tabernacle suggest it is a mini-Eden. These parallels include the east-facing entrance guarded by cherubim, the tree of life (lampstand), and the tree of knowledge (the law).

The tabernacle is a tented, mobile palace, so to speak, for Israel’s divine King.

Solomon in 1 Kings 6 builds the Temple as a more permanent structure for God’s dwelling.  But when the people forsake God He forsakes the Temple and it is destroyed by the Babylonians.

Although rebuilt by King Herod, the Temple system in the days of Jesus was far from glorifying God. We read about this in the Gospels as Jesus speaks out against the Temple system and its leaders.

All seems lost… until…

We read in John 1:14 that with the coming of Jesus, God had come to dwell – to “tabernacle” among us.

We learn later in John that Jesus’ own body was the temple that would be destroyed and raised.

Thus, Jesus is the resurrected temple, He is the foundation and cornerstone of a new temple – us, the New Testament people of God.  We serve as the dwelling place for God through the Holy Spirit.

This same biblical theme is carried even further in Revelation 21-22, the new earth, the new Jerusalem.  God will be the temple, and we, His people, will have our dwelling in Him.

Thus God’s dwelling in the tabernacle was a step toward the restoration of paradise, (think Eden but better) which is to be completed in the new heaven and earth.

How cool is that?  Maybe reading about the Tabernacle is not so boring after all!

Until next time…keep reading…
Jim