The word "Tabernacle" simply means "tent." The Tabernacle was a portable meeting place - a place where God would meet with His people. It was first established while the Israelites were in the Sinai wilderness. As such, it had to be portable because the Israelites were constantly on the move.

Do you remember what happened when the Tabernacle was completed? The presence of God came and moved into the Tabernacle.

Many years later, the Tabernacle was replaced by a more permanent structure. Although build to the same general specifications, the Temple was made instead of wood and stone. When it was completed, the same thing happened as had happened in the wilderness. The presence of God came.

The thing that made the Tabernacle and the Temple so special was the presence of God. Without that, they were just another building.

The prophet Ezekiel records a number of visions which he had concerning the glory of the Lord. At the beginning of these visions, the glory of the Lord is seen residing within the Temple and specifically between the cherubim (Ezekiel 9:3). As Ezekiel watches, the glory of the Lord moves to the threshold of the Temple (Ezekiel 9:3; 10:3). From there it moves to the east gate (Ezekiel 10:19) and finally out to the mountain which is to the east of the city (Ezekiel 11:23). This was a sign of God’s judgment. The glory of the Lord departed and it was not long after this that the Temple was destroyed.

Here is the point. Do you remember how Jesus came to Jerusalem on the week in which He was crucified? The Biblical account is very specific. He came by way of the Mount of Olives - the mountain directly east of the city; the mountain over which the glory of the Lord had last been seen in Ezekiel’s vision.

The coming of Jesus to the Temple was the return of the King to His sanctuary. He came cleansing the Temple. But more importantly, He came to provide a cleansing for all men. In this sense, He not only cleansed the Temple, He IS the temple. It is in Him that men are able to approach God.

The Sanctuary proper was divided into two parts. There was an inner part and an outer part. They were separated by a thick inner veil. The outer Tabernacle was the scene of daily activity. Into this section would come a priest each morning and each evening.

When we think of the Lampstand, we normally think in terms of a menorah. The Lampstand within the later Temple almost certainly had this appearance. It is shown in such a manner on Titus’ Arch of Triumph in Rome which pictures Jewish captives being forced to carry the golden lampstand as a part of the Roman spoils of war.

But the original lampstand in the Tabernacle may have looked quite different. It was formed in the shape of a tree.

Notice the reference to bulbs and flowers and almond blossoms. The lampstand represented a living thing. And even the stylized lampstand of later years had the same representation. What did the lampstand represent?

The lampstand brought light to the Temple. But the lampstand itself was not the source of the light. The source of the light was the oil which was retained in the various bulbs and cups and flowers on the lampstand. These were oil lamps. The Jews had an annual celebration called Hanukkah - the Feast of Lights. It was a time of commemoration of the cleansing of the Temple in the days of the Maccabees. The story was told of how there had been only enough oil to last for a single day, but how it had miraculously lasted for an entire week until more could be brought.

The lampstand did not provide the light. It only held the oil that provided the light. And in the same way, the church does not in itself provide the light. It is only as the church is filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit that light is provided.

The table of shewbread was a wooden table overlaid with gold. Onto this table, the priests would lay out 12 loaves of bread. Why twelve? I believe that it was because these also served a double representation.

The reason that this is called the second veil is because there was a first veil. The first veil was located at the door of the Tabernacle. It separated the outside from the inside. Beyond this veil and past the golden lampstand and the table of shewbread was the second veil. It served to separate the Holy Place from the innermost sanctum - the Holy of Holies.

Embroidered on the veil were the images of cherubim. They served as guardians of the veil, keeping even the priests from entering in. They are reminiscent of the cherubim stationed at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. They were stationed with a flaming sword in order to keep out all who might enter.

Do you remember what happened to the veil when Jesus died? It was torn from top to bottom (Luke 23:45). The Scriptures do not say who did the tearing, but the fact that it was from top to bottom tells us that it was no human hand that did this. It was the hand of God who was letting us know by this outward sign that the way into the presence of God had been opened.

When you want to emphasis something in Hebrew, you do it by means of repetition. You can find a number of examples of this:

This was a designation for the most holy place of all. It was the holiest of holies. It was the innermost sanctum of the Tabernacle. It’s dimensions were in the form of a perfect cube measuring 10 cubits by 10 cubits by 10 cubits.

The altar of incense was a cubit wide and a cubit long and two cubits in height. It was overlaid in gold. Although technically it was located outside the veil which separated the holy place from the holy of holies, it was associated with the veil and the ark.

Incense was offered upon this altar every morning and every evening. This incense created a sweet-smelling aroma. It would sweeten the entire Temple. The smoke of this incense represented the sweet prayers of God’s people ascending to heaven.

The Ark was the most holy part of the Temple. It was called the ark of the covenant because it held the covenental tablets within. It also held the rod of Aaron which had budded and thereby given evidence that it was Aaron’s household who were to serve and the priests of Israel. And it held a golden jar of manna, the food with which God had preserved His people in the wilderness.