The tent itself was mainly a covering. A covering is a very important thing in the life of a believer. In one sense the priests were experiencing the covering of God by being in the tent in the wilderness. But the covering of the Lord was not experienced by them alone. For He manifested himself to all Israel in the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day. It was not just a pillar, but the Torah tells us that it shaded Israel from the sun and lit up the whole company at night. It covered them completely in the visible manifestation of His presence.
THE FOUNDATION
The foundation was the silver sockets made to hold up the support walls. They were like feet for the boards covered with gold. They were made out of silver from the money given in the offerings for atonement. ( Atonement is the process of payment for sin ) Rich and poor were required to give the same amount. Everyone was expected to give. The Messiah atoned for the sins of all people. He did it with the sheding of His perfect blood. The foundation of God's place of meeting with man is the blood of atonement. Everything rests on the blood. Everything in God's design was to point the way to the only way our needs could be met. The Bible calls this the foundation of repentance from the acts which lead to death, and faith in God..
THE FRAMEWORK
The inner wall. was made from acacia (shittim) wood, underneath. It was then all covered with beaten gold. It was the work of a carpenter. All the boards fit tightly together, held in place by five bars, (wood covered again with gold). The framework was made the same way as the alter, the inner substance, wood, pulp, the flesh represented here. It was all covered with gold, the representation of the spirit. Again we see the Spirit of God on the body of a man, the Messiah, Yeshua. But the altar had the glory on the outside, this framework focused it on the inside. A new and greater thing is going on here. Take a moment if you will and look at the pictures offered of the inside of this tabernacle, look and imagine the reflected glow and glory going from the lights to wall, to wall and back again. My, my, my.
THE COVERINGS
There were four coverings. These are not shown in any of my pictures except the first and last ones. But here they are for your edification.
The first one from the outside-in was a covering of badger skins. Unattractive but very functional. This is the one that is visible to all. It would keep out the elements in its resistance to weather. It was dull in comparison to the one inside. Like our outward appearances. And especially like the outward appearance of the Messiah. Isaiah 53:2 describes him in his hour of atonement: " He had no beauty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." His inner beauty is only revealed to those who would go through all the other provisons, the alter of sacrifice, (the cross) the laver, (repentance and the cleansing of forgiveness & death of self) and even the front curtain, named the door. Yeshua said ," I am the door."
The second covering inside was not seen except during the construction and removal of the tent. It was made of rams skins died red. Here again is the next step from the flesh, the sacrifice of atonement. The Hebrews would use two goats to show this fact. One was sacrificed for an offering, and another would be anointed to ceremonially carry the sins of the people out of the presence of the congregation, and it became the "scape-goat" This covering is the ram offered on the alter; the one slain. These were God's provision. Remember in Genesis, Abraham, when he went to sacrifice on the mountain. And his son Isaac, asked what they would use for the sacrifice, Abraham replied, "God himself will provide the ram." As he did for Adam and Eve, he did for Abraham, he has done for us. The Messiah (Savior) is the provision from God.
The third covering is the goat-hair covering. This is the second goat, the scape-goat. The one of humiliation and disgrace. Imagine what it must have been like for this one. The whole of Israel showing up to ceremonially cast their sins and jeers upon this animal and herd him to the outer encampment, outside the gates, to go into the wilderness and take their sins far away from them. In the same way, the Messiah was mocked and jeered, and taken out of the gates of the holy city Isaiah says of Him; "The Lord has laid on Him, the iniquity of us all." Who else could he have been talking about, but the one sent from above for just such a time as that, the chosen one, the Savior of the World, Yeshua Ha Mashiach. ( Jesus the Messiah )
The last and inner curtain was the one most beautiful! It was sown with four colored threads intertwined all through it. White for purity. Red for the blood of atonement, Blue for it's heavenly source, and purple for the royality it speaks. In Torah (Old Testament) Scriptures the Messiah is described in these four offices, He is the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, the Son of man and the Son of God.
Also in this was sown the heavenly messengers, the cherubim. Not fat babies floating on a cloud, but mighty angels, full wings, full of power and heralding a heavenly presence intertwined in all this, The cherubim always accompany the One True God.
There are some pieces of furniture in the tabernacle. Three of the last four are in this one entry room. The Lampstand, the Table, and the Altar of incense. Let's look at the lamp next because that would be the first thing to catch your attention.
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