OPENING PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for bringing us into Your presence today. Help us to seek You above everything else. As we study Your Word, open our eyes to see Jesus in the Tabernacle and understand that He is the only way to You.

Give us hearts that desire to know You, love You, and draw near to You each day.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen.

PSALM 27:4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.

David was a man after God’s own heart, but that does not mean he was perfect. He failed, sinned, and needed God’s forgiveness and help. What made David different was that he continually sought God. His greatest pursuit was not power, wealth, success, or even protection from his enemies. His greatest pursuit was the presence of God. He wanted to dwell with God, behold His beauty, and know Him more deeply. This teaches us that all other pursuits are ultimately empty if we do not pursue God Himself. We may pursue possessions, achievements, relationships, comfort, and happiness, but none of these can satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart. We were created to know God and to enjoy His presence.

PSALM 16:11 …In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

We often seek happiness in temporary things—material possessions, accomplishments, entertainment, relationships, recognition, and other pleasures. These things may give us happiness for a moment, but they cannot give us the fullness of joy that comes from God. The pursuit of God is not a pursuit of misery or deprivation. When we draw near to Him, we discover a joy that the world cannot provide and cannot take away. The more we pursue intimacy with God, the more we discover that He Himself is our greatest treasure.

This desire to approach God is beautifully illustrated by the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was God's dwelling place among His people, and its arrangement teaches us something about how sinful people can approach a holy God. The Tabernacle was surrounded by a fence, and there was only one entrance—the Gate. After entering the Gate, the first major piece of furniture encountered was the Altar of Burnt Offering, followed by the Laver. This gives us a picture of the way God provides for sinners to approach Him. We cannot simply come to God on our own terms. We must come through God's appointed way. We need the sacrifice for our sins, and we need cleansing and consecration. Ultimately, these things point us to Jesus Christ. There is one way to God, and that way is Jesus.

EXODUS 25

9 According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.

The Tabernacle was not man's idea. God Himself initiated it, designed it, and gave Moses the pattern. God specified the materials, measurements, furnishings, arrangement, and manner in which everything was to be constructed. This is important because intimacy with God must be pursued God's way, not our own way. We cannot invent our own way to God. We cannot approach a holy God according to our own standards. God Himself provided the pattern. And as we look at the New Testament, we discover why the Tabernacle was designed so carefully: everything was pointing beyond itself to Jesus Christ.

HEBREWS 8:5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”

The Tabernacle was a copy and shadow of heavenly realities. It was a preview of something greater that was to come. The furniture, sacrifices, priesthood, entrance, veil, and worship were teaching God's people about His plan of redemption. The Tabernacle was not the final destination. It was pointing forward to Christ. Therefore, when we study the Tabernacle, we should not merely study an ancient structure. We should ask, “How does this point me to Jesus?”

COLOSSIANS 2:17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

The shadow is not the reality itself. The reality is Christ. The Tabernacle is therefore a picture that helps us understand the person and work of Jesus. The Old Testament gives us the picture, while the New Testament reveals its fulfillment. When we see Christ in the Tabernacle, we begin to understand God's incredible plan to bring sinful people into His presence.

LUKE 24:25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

After His resurrection, Jesus explained to His disciples that the Scriptures had been pointing to Him all along. Beginning with Moses and the prophets, He showed them how the Scriptures concerned Christ. The story of Jesus was not an accident or an afterthought. God's plan of redemption had been unfolding throughout the Old Testament.

LUKE 24:44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms all point toward Christ. This means that when we study the Tabernacle, we are not moving away from Jesus—we are moving toward Jesus. Every element helps us understand something about God's holiness, our sinfulness, God's provision, and ultimately the person and work of Christ.

JOHN 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.

Jesus Himself said that Moses wrote about Him. Therefore, the plan of the coming Messiah was never an accident. Before Christ came into the world, God had already prepared the way. The Tabernacle was part of that revelation. As we enter the Holy Place, we see three important pieces of furniture: the Lampstand, the Table of Showbread, and the Altar of Incense. Each one teaches us something about pursuing intimacy with God, and each ultimately points us to Jesus.

II. HOLY PLACE

The Tabernacle had three major areas: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. As we move through the Tabernacle, we see a picture of God's provision for sinners to approach Him. The movement is from the outside toward the presence of God.

a. The Lampstand - Pursue God in His Light.

JOHN 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

The first piece of furniture in the Holy Place is the Lampstand. Its purpose was to provide light. There was no natural sunlight inside the Holy Place. The lampstand illuminated the interior and enabled the priests to see the beauty and function of everything inside. In the same way, we cannot properly see spiritual reality apart from Christ. From the outside, the Christian life may appear boring, restrictive, or unattractive to someone who does not understand it. But when Christ opens our spiritual eyes, we begin to see reality differently. We discover the beauty of God, the beauty of His Word, and the beauty of a life lived in His presence. Jesus is our light.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Our greatest problem is not simply that we lack information. We are spiritually blind. Sin has affected our understanding and our ability to see the glory of Christ clearly. A person may have knowledge about Christianity, attend church, or even be zealous about religion, yet still fail to see Christ. We need Jesus to open our eyes.

ROMANS 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

The Jewish countrymen of Paul had zeal for God, but their zeal was not according to the truth. This teaches us that sincerity alone is not enough. We can sincerely pursue God and still pursue Him wrongly. We need God's revelation. We need our eyes opened to the truth. We need to enter through the Gate, Jesus Christ; we need to trust His sacrifice; we need to be cleansed and consecrated; and we need Christ to illuminate our understanding.

PSALM 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Jesus opens our eyes through His Spirit and through His Word. God's Word gives us light for the path before us. Therefore, if we want intimacy with God, we must become people who love His Word. We cannot claim that we want to know God while continually neglecting the means through which He has revealed Himself to us. To pursue God is to pursue His truth.

b. The Table of Show Bread. Pursue God daily.

The second piece of furniture in the Holy Place is the Table of Showbread. Twelve loaves of bread were placed on the table and regularly replaced. The bread was associated with the presence of God. This points us to our daily dependence upon God and ultimately to Jesus, who provides spiritual life and satisfaction.

JOHN 6:33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger…

Jesus identifies Himself as the Bread of Life. Just as physical bread sustains physical life, Christ sustains our spiritual life. We are constantly hungry for something. We hunger for relationships, possessions, success, recognition, comfort, security, and pleasure. But these things can never completely satisfy the human heart. We may obtain what we thought would make us happy, only to discover that we are still hungry for something more. Jesus offers something deeper. He does not merely give us something that satisfies; He Himself is our satisfaction.

The bread also reminds us that we must come to Christ daily. We need physical food every day, and in the same way, we need continual dependence upon Christ. Intimacy with God is not something we experience once and then forget. It is a daily relationship. We come to Him, depend upon Him, listen to Him, worship Him, and delight in Him.

MATTHEW 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

Jesus connects physical bread with the Word of God. Our bodies need food, but our souls need God's Word. The pursuit of God therefore requires a hunger for Scripture. If we are always feeding our minds and hearts with everything the world offers but rarely feeding upon God's Word, our spiritual hunger will remain unsatisfied.

1 PETER 2:2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

Peter tells believers to long for God's Word. A newborn baby naturally longs for milk. In the same way, a growing Christian should develop an increasing desire for God's truth. Sometimes our lives become so busy—even busy with good things—that the good things begin to rob us of the most important thing. We can become so occupied with work, family, responsibilities, ministry, and activities that we neglect time with God. The Table of Showbread reminds us: if we want intimacy with God, we must continually come to Christ and feed upon His Word.

c. The Altar of Incense. Pursue God through prayer.

The third piece of furniture is the Altar of Incense. It stood closest to the Holy of Holies, nearest to the manifest presence of God. Incense was burned upon it, and Scripture connects incense with prayer. This teaches us that pursuing intimacy with God means developing a life of prayer.

REVELATION 5:8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

The incense represents the prayers of God's people. Prayer is not simply presenting a list of requests to God. Prayer is communion with God. It is how we draw near, speak with Him, listen to Him, surrender to Him, confess our sins, give thanks, and worship Him. If we desire intimacy with God, we must become people who pray.

PSALM 141:2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.

David understood prayer as something precious before God. The altar of incense therefore reminds us that our pursuit of God must include a life of prayer. But there is something even more beautiful: the Altar of Incense ultimately points to Jesus, who continually intercedes for us.

HEBREWS 7:25 …He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Jesus is not only the One through whom we come to God; He is also our living High Priest who intercedes for us. He died for our sins, rose again, and lives forever. Our salvation does not rest upon our ability to hold on to God perfectly. Our salvation rests upon Christ, who continually represents us before the Father. This gives us tremendous assurance.

HEBREWS 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

The earthly Tabernacle was only a copy. Christ entered the true heavenly presence of God for us. Jesus is our Mediator and our Intercessor.

1 TIMOTHY 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all…

There is one God and one Mediator between God and humanity: Jesus Christ. We do not need another mediator because Jesus is sufficient. When we pray, we approach the Father through Christ. We have access because of what Christ has done.

d. The Veil. Jesus opens the way into God's presence.

Between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was the veil. It represented separation. The Holy of Holies represented the special presence of God, and sinful people could not simply enter.

EXODUS 26:33 You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.

The veil communicated a serious truth: a holy God cannot be approached casually by sinful humanity.

LEVITICUS 16:2 The Lord said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

The Holy of Holies represented the holiness and presence of God. The restricted access was a reminder that sin creates a barrier between God and humanity.

ISAIAH 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Our fundamental problem is sin. Sin separates us from God. We cannot solve this problem through our own goodness, religion, morality, or effort. We need God's provision.

HEBREWS 9:6 Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, 7 but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

Under the Old Covenant, access to the Holy of Holies was severely restricted. The high priest entered only once a year, and he could not enter without blood. This demonstrated that sin required sacrifice and that access to God's presence was not something humanity could take for granted. But then everything changes with Jesus.

HEBREWS 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Jesus is the greater High Priest. He did not enter an earthly tabernacle with the blood of animals. He offered His own blood. The sacrifices of the Old Testament could only point forward to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Jesus entered once for all and accomplished eternal redemption.

MARK 15:37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

This is one of the most powerful moments in the entire Gospel. At the moment Jesus died, the veil was torn from top to bottom. God Himself opened the way. The barrier was removed through the death of Christ.

JOHN 19:30 …when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Jesus did not say, “I have started it.” He said, “It is finished.” The payment for sin was completed. The sacrifice was complete. The work necessary to provide salvation was accomplished.

HEBREWS 10:19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,

What was once inaccessible has now been opened through Christ. We can approach the presence of God with confidence—not because we are worthy, but because Jesus is worthy. Our confidence does not come from our performance. It comes from His finished work.

HEBREWS 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

This is the invitation: Draw near. The purpose of all this is not merely to understand the Tabernacle. The purpose is to bring us into intimacy with God. Because of Jesus, we can draw near with confidence, sincerity, and full assurance of faith.

HEBREWS 10:12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

The priests serving in the Tabernacle continually performed sacrifices. Their work was never finally finished. But Jesus offered one perfect sacrifice and then sat down at the right hand of God. His work was complete. There was nothing more that needed to be added to His sacrifice.

HEBREWS 10:17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

This is the good news of the Gospel. Through Christ, our sins can be forgiven. The barrier has been removed. The sacrifice has been made. The debt has been paid. The way into God's presence has been opened.

CLOSING PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for showing us that we can draw near to You through Jesus Christ. Thank You for His sacrifice, His finished work on the cross, and the access we now have into Your presence.

Help us to pursue You above everything else, delight in Your Word, seek You in prayer, and walk with You every day.

May our lives glorify You and point others to Jesus.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen.

The content of this article is adapted from the source below:

Pursue Intimacy with The Holy God Part 2

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By God’s grace, this website, The Message of God, was created to share His Word, encourage others in their faith, and lead people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God has uniquely designed and equipped every believer to take part in His work, and this website is one small expression of that calling.

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