In 2010, Holly and I went on a tour of the Holy Land! Our tour guide would hold a large sign with our group number on it, and we would follow him from site to site. Some of our favorite places were, of course, Calvary and Gordon’s tomb. The Sea of Galilee was very neat, and Masada was spectacular. But one place, we were not able to see was Mt. Sinai. So, if you will, put on your hiking boots, grab a walking stick, and climb the steep and rugged terrain of Mt. Sinai with me and eavesdrop as the LORD commands Moses concerning the tabernacle.
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. (Read Exodus 25:8-9)
Now watch your step as we descend this holy mount; I would like to take you to the tabernacle as designed by God. There is so much precise detail concerning the Tabernacle in these chapters that it is the single-most described object and subject in the entire Bible! In relation to Creation, 2 chapters of the Bible were written to detail all of Creation including the earth, skies and seas with all of their inhabitants, but … 50 chapters of the Bible were devoted to the Tabernacle that we have just heard and now see! In God’s plan, it took 6 days to create the heaven and the earth, yet it took 40 days to instruct Moses concerning this tabernacle and all that should happen within it. We marvel at the wonder and beauty of Creation! Look to my left and see the Mediterranean! Look behind you and see the cliffs and mountains by the Arbel Pass! Look to my right! Behold, the well-watered plains of Jordan! How beautiful the world is! How many of you have seen the:
1. Grand Canyon – 277 miles long/ 18 miles wide/ 6,000 feet deep
2. Niagara Falls – Vertical drop of more than 165 feet/ 225,000 cubic feet per second
3. Yellowstone National Park – 3,468 square miles of volcanoes, geysers, lakes, canyons, rivers, valleys, and all kinds of wildlife
4. Colorado Rockies – Mountain Range with several mountains over 14,000 feet
5. Carlsbad Caverns – over 119 known caves beneath the earth’s surface
6. Northern Lights of Alaska
7. Smoky Mountains of Tennessee
8. Redwood Forests of California
Indeed, even our own country is breathtaking! We marvel at God’s creation! But now we stand before the tabernacle. There is no splendor on the outside! There is no beauty to behold. Those walls that you can see are 7 ½ feet high, and they are only made of white linen. The top of the inner tabernacle that you can see is made of that tough and ugly badger’s skin. It’s the same kind of skin that all the ordinary tents in the Israelite camp are made of. So then, why did God give so much attention to this? Why did God give so much detail concerning this rather unusual tent in the wilderness? Because this tabernacle that you see was a shadow of the Messiah that should come.
