The ultimate bliss for man is to be in the presence of the One who created him. The story begins in the Garden of Eden when man was created in the very image of God.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:8
‘Breath’ is synonymous with ‘spirit.’
In the garden Adam and Eve lived in the very presence of God.
There were two significant trees in the garden: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
While Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life, they were denied access to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Thus the devil tempted Eve to partake of the tree of which they were denied.
Eve did in fact succumb to the devil’s cunning deception. Having partaken of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, their eyes were opened and Eve and her husband became aware of their sin of disobedience.
“And they heard the sound (voice) of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God…” Genesis 3:8
Their guilt caused them to attempt to hide from the presence of their Creator. This is a major point; man attempted to hide from God. However, God in His mercy would be proactive in bringing man back into His presence.
Furthermore, God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden so they could not partake of the tree of life in their sinful position.
Recall, however, that God had clothed them in the skins of animals to replace their covering of fig leaves.
From that point forward, all mankind was born without the spirit of God.
To focus on the point of man being in the presence of God, we’ll fast forward to the time shortly after God delivered the fledgling nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage. God’s servant during that time was Moses who was appointed to be God’s spokesman both to the Israelites and Pharaoh.
After the successful Exodus, God gave Moses instructions for building a place where God could be present with His people. The place would be called a ‘sanctuary’ which would be patterned after the heavenly.
“Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai…Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering…and let them build Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.’” Exodus 24:16, 25:1-2, 8
God told Moses that He wanted to dwell among His people. The sanctuary would also include specific furnishings to represent the way to approach the Holy God.
“According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.” Exodus 25:9
The ‘tabernacle’ has a more specific meaning than ‘sanctuary.’ Tabernacle means ‘residence,’ ‘dwelling place,’ and ‘presence of God.’ The tabernacle would be within the sanctuary.
God stressed to Moses that the sanctuary and tabernacle must be built exactly to God’s instructions per the master pattern.
And so it was; the components were completed and the tabernacle was erected on the first day, of the first month, of the second year after the Exodus which would place the timing fifteen days less than a year after the initial Passover, or 1444 BC.
The outer court of the sanctuary measured 150’ x 75’ while the tabernacle itself measured 45’ x 15’ x 15’.
The tabernacle was further divided into the holy place and the most holy place. The holy place where the lampstand, table of showbread, and incense altar were located, measured 30’ x 15’ while the most holy place where the ark and mercy seat were located was a cube measuring 15’ x 15’ x 15’.
“Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34
God would reside within the tabernacle throughout the wilderness journey years.
For more, see my latest book “Looking Backward from the Future: …Until Messiah the Prince”
