EXODUS 25-32 THE TABERNACLE2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Exodus 25-32 The Tabernacle

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

Well, this evening we're looking at Exodus chapters 25 through 32. We've been reading these chapters all week long. And we're looking at a portion of Scripture where Moses is on the mountain with God. But let me back up for just a second. The book of Exodus, the name Exodus means exit or departure because it records primarily the exodus or the departure of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Moses is the author of the book. He's recording these things for us, recording them while they are wandering around in the wilderness. He's putting these things on paper or on parchment or whatever he used in order for us to have a good understanding of what the Lord was doing out there in the wilderness.

On our timeline, we've covered a lot of territory already in the books of Moses, which of course only has been Genesis. We're in the book of Exodus, and we're looking at the whole book of Exodus is really focused on that wilderness portion. So that brown bar that is there on the right-hand side, that's what we're focused on. Just looking at this wilderness time period, it's not very large.

On the timeline there, but it's about 41 years that the children of Israel is headed out from Egypt and then is going to be heading into the promised land.

The geography that we've been looking at in the book of Exodus, we saw, of course, Egypt because that's where Israel was in bondage and in slavery, and God led them out into the wilderness. And they are camped and are portioned this evening at Mount Sinai, which is probably there towards the bottom. You see it says Sinai. We talked about last week, so there's some alternate possibilities there.

But we'll just go with the traditional location of Sinai. So it's right there at the bottom of the Sinai Peninsula. The children of Israel are camped there for about a year as God gives them the law. He gives them instructions for the tabernacle, which we'll be studying tonight, as they build the tabernacle, which we'll be studying this coming week.

And so they're camped out there with the Lord and he's establishing really the Jewish religion, the law of Moses, the tabernacle of Moses, all the things that we are familiar with in relationship to Judaism.

Here we have a time of their time while they're in the wilderness, just to kind of give you a little bit of reference. So they arrive at Sinai two months after leaving Egypt. So they leave Egypt on Passover. They head out there in the wilderness for some time. They get to Mount Sinai about two months from their departure there.

And they get the tabernacle set up about a year after they left Egypt. So we're looking at that portion, that last, you know, from the two months to that 12 months of them being at Sinai. And then from there, they're going to head out and they're going to be in the wilderness for another 40 years. So we'll be looking at that in the coming books. But that's where we are currently.

Well, here you have a basic layout of the tabernacle. And if you've been reading along, you're a little bit familiar with this. Maybe you've already been looking at some diagrams. Perhaps you've already been able to go through the tabernacle experience that's set up there at, I forgot the name of the church. Saddleback. There you go. Thank you. And so you're probably familiar with these things. And that's good. I want to encourage you that these things are very important.

What we are looking at in Exodus 25 through 32 is Moses on the mountain with God and God giving Moses the instructions for the tabernacle. And so all the things that we're looking at this week are not them actually making the elements, but it's just God giving Moses the instruction, the details for him to go down and tell the people and then they will begin to build it next week or this coming week. We'll be reading about them putting all these things together.

And so we're looking at the instructions for the tabernacle. Now this tabernacle was something that God established for his people so that he could dwell in the midst of them, that they could have a place to come and meet with him, to take care of their sins and offer sacrifices and offerings to the Lord.

It needed to be mobile though. It was not a permanent structure. It was a temporary structure because it was going to be carried with them wherever they went. Right now they're camped at Sinai. They're going to spend the next 40 years wandering the wilderness and everywhere they go they have to pack up the tabernacle and carry it to the next campsite and then set it up again. And so it was

designed by the Lord to be mobile, to be temporary, so that it could go with them from place to place until finally when they get in the promised land and they establish, you know, the permanent place of the Lord at Jerusalem. So it's designed by God to be temporary, to be mobile. And as we study these things, one of the questions that was asked this week is why do we care so much about all of these details and all these instructions? And I really want to encourage you.

I know sometimes it can be kind of dry and dreary, you know, to go and look at all these details and all these things and you're like, what in this world does this mean? And why do I care about these things? But you know, the tabernacle is so important for many, many reasons. And we won't be able to get into a lot of those reasons tonight. But just the primary thing I want to encourage you in is that

Christianity is the completion of God's work, right? The redemption through Christ is the completion. So this is the beginning of our faith, really. This is kind of the foundation of our faith. And it's important for us to understand these things so that we can understand the

Well, the background of our faith, the background of God's plan of redemption. It's a revelation of God. It's a revelation of God's dealings with humanity. And it's the beginnings, the foundation of our Christian faith.

And so these things will give us incredible insight into who God is and also into the things that are yet to come. And so there's some important things to consider as we look at the past. But also, as we look at these things, well, it really helps us to appreciate

The present. What we have in Christ in the new covenant is so incredible. And, you know, sometimes we can kind of be spoiled as Christians. And we really don't know how good we have it to be able to have relationship with God. And when you understand the way that it was before, it gives you a new appreciation for what Christ did for us.

It also helps us to understand the severity of sin, the gravity of these things that, again, because we live in the age of grace, we kind of just, you know, don't give much thought to. But it helps us to understand those things and we'll see that even in chapter 32 this evening.

And then the final reason why this is so important is it also helps us to understand the future. So the past, the present, but also the future. Because the author of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 8 verse 5, tells us, he quotes from Exodus chapter 25, which we're starting out in, and he tells us that the tabernacle that Moses built is a shadow of what actually exists in heaven.

This is why it's so important. You know, God kept telling Moses, make sure you follow the pattern that I showed you on the mountain. Make sure you follow the pattern I showed you on the mountain. Hey Moses, make sure you keep all the details and follow the example, the pattern I showed you on the mountain. This was so important for Moses to get it right because it was a model or a shadow of

of what actually exists in heaven. And so we see that it also gives us insight into our future because this is the reality that exists around the throne of God. And so we'll be seeing that, of course, throughout our time together as well. Now, in addition to all of this, there's also an incredible amount of symbolism within the tabernacle.

This evening, I'm not really going to get into that. I really want to focus on just, you know, the actual things that we'll be looking at, the placements and that type of thing. Next week, because we'll be studying the tabernacle all this week as well. So next Wednesday, I'll entertain that a little bit more and talk about the symbolic elements and some of the pictures of Jesus that we see in the tabernacle.

But here's a quick overview of the tabernacle and then we'll get into some of the details. So what you have here is an overview of the whole layout. Now the border around the tabernacle here is 150 feet long by 75 feet wide. This is the linen, the fence essentially that is set up around the tabernacle that establishes the courtyard of the tabernacle. And so that's what you see here. Now

So inside the court, of course, you have the square on the far right is the bronze altar. Then you have the laver and then you have the actual tabernacle where you see the holy place and the holy of holies. Those are the two rooms of the tabernacle.

And so this is an outline of all the things that God is instructing Moses. It's basically captured here on this diagram to give you an idea and a sense of where things are at. And so you have the altar, you have the laver, the entrance is there on the right. And so you would enter in, the first thing you would see is that altar. Then the laver would be where the priest would wash. We'll talk about that. And then if you kept going, then you would see the entrance of the tabernacle.

Now what I've done this evening is I've laid out the sanctuary to follow this pattern of the tabernacle. Not the courtyard, but the tabernacle itself. Because what we found out is the sanctuary is actually the exact length of the tabernacle. So where I'm standing here would be the entrance of the tabernacle. It would be...

15 feet high, so that's kind of the only difference. So imagine it extends about five feet beyond our ceiling. But other than that, this is the same. It's a one-to-one ratio pattern of the tabernacle.

And so here would be the entrance and here the priest would come in into the holy place. And as he came into the holy place, here on the right hand side would be the table for the showbread. And then here on the left hand side would be the lampstand or the candlestick, however you want to call it. And so this would be where the light is. This is where the bread would be. And then if you continued forward, this would be the altar of incense.

Here you would have the veil that separates the two rooms. And then this section here would be what is called the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place. And the Ark of the Covenant would be in there. So that's a quick overview of the tabernacle. We'll go through it a little bit more slowly so you can follow along, I hope.

But that's a quick overview of the tabernacle, the way it was laid out. And now we'll take chapter by chapter the things that God instructed to Moses. As we enter into chapter by chapter, though, here's a quick definition of terms so that you get a good understanding of the elements that God is referring to.

We see acacia a lot throughout our time in these chapters. Acacia was a wood that was available to them. It would have been light, but also very hard. They say it's actually like stronger than oak. So it would be light and hard, but also it was insect resistant. So it would be durable. It would last a long time. So it was a real great particular wood for this kind of work. A cubit is the measurement that they would use.

And we estimate that that's about 18 inches. Now, there's some estimates that go higher than 18 inches. 18 inches is kind of the accepted common understanding though for a qubit. A talent is a weight measurement.

And again, there's some estimations. All this, you know, weights and these kinds of things, these are all approximations. But we estimate that a talent would be about 80 pounds, or what we would know as 80 pounds today. A shekel, on the other hand, was a much smaller weight measurement. It would be about 10 grams, or a third of an ounce. So a very small amount compared, of course, to the talent.

And ephah, that would be about 30 quarts. That was a dry measurement. And then you have a hin, which was a liquid measurement, and that would be equivalent of about six pints. So six little pints of ice cream, that's how I think about it. That would be the amount of a hin. So hopefully that helps you give a little bit of clarity to the tabernacle and some of the instructions that God gives to Moses.

Well, we pick it up in chapter 25, and the key verse for Exodus 25 is verse 9. It says, 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.

So here again we see God declaring to Moses, Moses, make sure you get it right. Just so, according to the pattern I give you, make sure you keep that, you copy that, you follow that to the letter. And the reason why we find out later on in Hebrews again is because it's a picture of, a shadow of what actually exists in heaven. You can check that out in Hebrews chapter 8, specifically verse 5. Well here in Exodus 25, it says,

We have, first of all, God giving instruction for the offerings for the sanctuary there in verses 1 through 9. So the offerings for the sanctuary, because in order to put all this together, it was going to take a substantial amount of material. And so God says, okay, so receive an offering. And here's the things that the people can give.

And so they're able to give gold, silver, and bronze. These are metals that are going to be used in the tabernacle. Blue, purple, and scarlet thread, as well as fine linen. So these are the cloth materials that are going to be used. Then also goat hair, ram, and badger skins. These are part of the coverings, as we'll see. Acacia wood, we'll see that all throughout the tabernacle.

oil and spices. These are for the anointing oil, for the incense that is going to be burned, and then also some different stones, some precious gemstones to be used for the priest's garment. So he opens it up. He gives Moses the instruction, let the people know these are the things that are needed, and then whoever wants to give is able to give. And that was something that God said specifically. He says, from everyone who gives willingly.

God always wants to make sure that whatever is given to him is given willingly. He doesn't want any gift that's given, you know, grudgingly like, oh man, I don't want to give. Why do I have to give? God doesn't want those gifts. Anything that's given willingly, he'll take, he'll use for his glory. But if it's not given willingly, then he tells Moses, you don't even need to take it. So if it's given willingly, they have an opportunity to participate in the work of God, then they can bring any of these elements before the Lord.

Well, here in chapter 25, we also see three of the furnishings that are in the tabernacle. We have the Ark of the Covenant, the table, and the lamb stand. And so we're going to take these one at a time and consider them together. So here you have the Ark of the Covenant. And again, looking at our model of the tabernacle here, this would be located in the Holy of Holies, or also known as the Most Holy Place.

Now, this is not an exact, you know, dimensions. It's just a table I had lying around. I really wanted to get the real Ark of the Covenant for you this evening, but George wouldn't let me. So I couldn't do that. But here you have the Ark of the Covenant, okay? It was made out of acacia wood. Again, that wood that we talked about. And then it was overlaid with gold. So they would put, you know, gold all around the wood so that it would be not solid gold, but wood-covered gold.

It would be about 3.75 feet long or three and three quarters feet long. This is converting the cubits to feet for you. Two and a quarter feet wide and two and a quarter feet high. So this would be just basically a square box, not too big. And on top of it, the lid would be what is known as the mercy seat.

And the mercy seat was a lid that went on top of the box. And as God describes it there, has two angels, two cherubim on top of it with their wings spread out. Now, there's...

not an actual document recording the, you know, how this looked. And so as you look at the Ark of the Covenant, for example, at the tabernacle experience versus this picture here that I have or that picture there that I have, you'll see that there's different artistic expression in how the angels looked. But the main points are that the wings are spread out, the angels are looking down.

And this is considered the most important piece of the tabernacle furnishings because this was where God said his presence would dwell. And he would meet with God

the children of Israel, from between the wings of the cherubim. You might have heard that expression. It's in a couple songs, you know, between the wings of the cherubim. Because right here, between the wings of the cherubim, is where the presence of God would dwell. And so this is, you know, a holy place. That's why it's called the Holy of Holies. It was a place that

Only one person could go. Only one person could enter into this Holy of Holies. That was the high priest. And he could not just come in anytime he wanted to.

Because it was where God dwelt. It was where his presence was. So it was serious stuff. And so the high priest could only enter in one day a year. It was called the Day of Atonement. And we'll see that as we continue on in our readings into the book of Leviticus. So it was sacred. It was rarely entered into. And it was the Ark of the Covenant where God dwelt. So here was where God met with his people.

Now inside the Ark of the Covenant, Moses is told to put the testimony God says that he will give to him. And so you know the tablets that Moses is going to be bringing down the mountain, he's going to place into the Ark of the Covenant.

Later on, God also instructs them to put the manna that he provides for them in the Ark of the Covenant. And then also later on, we'll see Aaron's rod, which budded overnight in the temple or in the tabernacle, is going to also be placed within the Ark of the Covenant. So it's going to hold these important details, important things from Israel's history and from God's relationship with Israel here in the Ark of the Covenant.

All right, next we have the table. This is continuing on in chapter 25. And so here you have where the table would be. It's the table of showbread. And it's called that because they would put 12 loaves of bread on the table every week. Every week they put fresh, you know, 12 new loaves of bread and they would always be there before the Lord.

The table, very similarly, would be made of acacia wood, and then it would be overlaid with gold. So it wouldn't be solid gold, but it would have the wood with the gold over it. It would be two cubits long, or three feet long. It would be a foot and a half wide, and two and a quarter feet high. So it would be a similar size to the Ark of the Covenant, but not quite as big, a little bit smaller. Okay.

And then also there would be gold dishes. God gives instruction for different kinds of plates and things that would go along with it that were to be part of the table for showbread. Now the table for showbread is

The word showbread literally means bread of faces. And bread, the idea of like breaking bread together is fellowship, right? And so that's really what this was about. It was about this fellowship, this bread of faces where God is dealing with his people. He's with his people. It's this fellowship between God and the nation of Israel.

And so it's part of, again, God's revealing himself to his people and his desire to have fellowship, you know, to be face to face with them. And so here we have the table for showbread. Well, next up we have the lampstand. The lampstand would be right around here in the holy place. It would be in the sanctuary across from the table.

And the lampstand, as opposed to the other two pieces we've seen, was not wood covered in gold, but it was to be solid gold. In fact, it was to be a talent of solid gold. Now remember, a talent is about 80 pounds. So it would be 80 pounds of solid gold.

Now, if you go online and you look up today's gold price and you do the math, you'll find it's about $1.5 million worth of gold today. I mean, it's a massive amount of gold. It's not, you know, just a little bit. It's pretty large. Now, it's also not just solid gold, but it was to be made out of one piece of hammered gold.

So it's not to be molded. You know, sometimes you could design a mold and then heat up the gold and pour it into it. It was to be hammered. So it was to be shaped with the hammer into the form of a lampstand the way that God instructs.

Now the general thought regarding the lampstand is that it was about five feet high and three and a half feet wide. That's not specific instruction that God gave to Moses, but that's traditionally what is expected of the lampstand.

Well, the lampstand would be upright and there would be, you know, the center post where the lamp would be, but then it also would have three branches on each side, as you see up there. So a total of seven bowls or seven lamps that would be on the lampstand that would be lighting up the sanctuary.

And so they were to have seven lamps for it. There would be wick trimmers and trays of pure gold as well that went along with the maintenance of the lampstand. It was to be kept going continually, never to go out, that it would always be lit inside of the tabernacle.

And so that's essentially what its purpose was, to give light to the tabernacle. As we'll see in a few moments, the coverings of the tabernacle blocked out the sunlight, so there wasn't natural light really coming in the tabernacle, so this would be the light source for the tabernacle. Well, that brings us now to Exodus chapter 26.

And here in Exodus chapter 26, we have the key verses, verse 1. It says,

So here in chapter 26, we have more of the structure. We've been looking at some of the furnishings of the tabernacle. Now we're looking at the structure of the tabernacle. And so we have the coverings or the ceiling of the tabernacle. We have the walls there in verses 15 through 30. So we'll be looking at that. We have the veil, which is this curtain right here. And then you also have the door where it's also referred to as the screen, which would be the entrance of the tabernacle over there.

And so again, let's take a look at one of these. So the covering of the tabernacle would have four different layers.

The first layer was the layer of fine linen. And that was the layer that would be visible inside the tabernacle. So if you're inside the tabernacle and you look up, you would see that covering of fine linen with the cherubim in it. The red, purple, and scarlet thread would be all woven into this linen. And so that would be the covering that you would see from within the tabernacle. So that would go over the tabernacle first. Now it was...

Not one big piece, but as you saw, it was ten curtains that were all bound together and laid over the tabernacle as a covering. Well then, the next layer would be a layer of goat's hair.

This has been described maybe like what we might consider as felt today. It's kind of like a thick, a little bit rougher, coarser, not like linen, but a little bit rougher and thicker. And so this goat's hair would be the second layer. And so it would provide, again, another layer of protection. It would keep out the sunlight. On top of that, there would be a ram skin covering. This would be what we would maybe consider leather.

And so there would be this like leather skin that was also used to cover. It was all put together. The ram skin doesn't have particular dimensions that God gives to it, but it would cover over the tabernacle and protect it in that way. And then the final covering would be the badger skin. And so the badger skin would go over across the top. This layer, actually, we don't know much about. It's probably not...

badgers, literally. This word is not really certain what animal it's referring to actually. It could be a sea animal like a seal or a porpoise and it could be, you know, that it was that kind of covering. The idea, the thought behind it is that would be the waterproof covering so it would, you know, protect the sanctuary from any water, any rain that would happen as they're out in the wilderness.

But again, that word for that animal is not exactly known. So there's some discussion about what kind of covering that would be. But these different layers of covering would protect the sanctuary. It would protect it from the sunlight, from the elements as they're out in the wilderness, the dust and so on and so forth to keep it protected.

Keep it free from the sunlight and the things going on outside. And it would preserve the sanctuary. So that was the covering. That was the ceiling for the tabernacle. Then you have the walls.

Now the walls were made out of boards that were assembled together. They were boards of acacia wood and they would kind of, you know, go all along side by side all the way across. But then, of course, they would be overlaid with gold. And so there would be gold covered boards all the way across. It would be 15 feet tall.

Which of course is the height of the tabernacle. And two and a quarter feet wide. So each of the boards would be two and a quarter feet wide. I should have measured that out for you guys, but I didn't. I apologize. So you have the different boards and those would work basically as panels that would bind together with these bars. There would be gold covered bars and you can see on the picture there are two of them. One on the top and one on the bottom. But there would actually be several that go across the length of

of the tabernacle to hold all the boards together. In addition, you can see on the bottom there, there would be silver sockets. And so the bottom of the panels that would make the wall would have these like kind of hands or tenons that would go down and they would

Fall into the silver sockets. And that's what would hold them upright. And then hold them together. And so doing this. There would be 20 boards on the south side. 20 boards on the north side. 8 boards on the west side. And then the east side would be open. Because that was the entrance. So these three sides would all be solid. Board to board. Held together by these bars. And that would form the walls of the tabernacle.

I think I covered everything there. So, moving right along to the veil. The veil was important because it was what separated, again, where I'm at right here would be the holy place or the sanctuary. This would be the most holy place where the presence of God dwelt. Now, if anyone would enter into the presence of God, into the Holy of Holies...

When they're not authorized, when it's not the proper time to do so, they would immediately die. And we see this happen later on. We'll deal with as we go on in the Bible in three years. Remember when Uzzah, he holds out his hand to touch the tabernacle to keep, not the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant to keep it from falling. And he's instantly struck dead. I mean, this was serious business. And so the veil was what separated the presence of God from the sanctuary.

Here inside the sanctuary, inside the holy place, all the priests would come. They would come in here and serve, but only the high priest could enter in to the holiest of all. So the veil was that division. It divided the holiest of all from the holy place to keep the presence of God separate, holy, set apart for what God had declared.

And so this veil was made out of blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Again, it was this fine linen that would form this veil that would go all the way across and make this division. There would be artistic cherubim that were embroidered into the veil. And so we don't know exactly what that looked like, but

However they designed it, they designed it. And then to hold up this veil, there would be four pillars of acacia wood that were overlaid with gold. So spread out, there would be four pillars standing upright and the veil would be hanging from those four pillars to again separate these two rooms.

So this was the holy of holies that the veil kept from the holy place. In Exodus 26, verse 33...

It says, So again, that was its purpose. It kept the Ark of the Covenant, the presence of God, separate from the holy place where the priests were serving.

Well, then finally here in chapter 26, we have the door, also referred to as the screen. And so this would keep the people outside from entering into the holy place. It was the entrance to the tabernacle. So the screen or the door would be over here.

And it would be very similar to the veil up there. It was going to be made out of blue, purple, and scarlet thread. And it was set up on five pillars. So instead of four pillars over there, it was set up on five pillars. That would hold up the screen. That would keep the door there so that it would not be open to the outside.

The five pillars were going to be acacia wood overlaid with gold once again, but set in bronze sockets. So there would be bronze footings across the bottom for those pillars to be standing in. And it would have the gold hooks with the bronze sockets above to hang the curtain on. So the purpose of the door again was to keep the outside from entering into the holy place. It was the entrance to the tabernacle.

And that brings us to Exodus chapter 27. The key verse here in 27 is verse 1. It says, So here in chapter 27, we have a couple more things being described to Moses, instruction being given. The first is the bronze altar.

Then he also gives him the court of the tabernacle, which we'll talk about, and then the instructions for tending the lampstand.

Now the lampstand, we'll deal with that first and then we'll cover the other furnishings. The lampstand again was here. It was to be maintained with pure olive oil so that it would continue to burn. And so they would need to continue to replenish the olive oil so that the lamps would continue to burn. And God said that Aaron, the high priest and his sons were to maintain it all day long. So part of the responsibility of the priest was to come into the holy place

maintain the lamp to make sure that it continued to burn and that it never went out. It was always to be burning there in the tabernacle. I'm going to scoot back here because you guys are kind of scary.

So the next thing we have here in chapter 27 is the altar. Now the altar was outside of the tabernacle. So from our perspective here, it would be out the front and it would be probably kind of out in the middle of the street somewhere would be the altar that would be used for all of the sacrifices.

It would be similar to some of the other furnishings in that it would be made out of acacia wood, but instead of being overlaid with gold, like the elements inside the tabernacle, it would be overlaid with bronze. And so it would be bronze-covered acacia wood. God gave the instructions to have the horns on each corner, as you can see there in the picture.

And it would be a pretty good size, seven and a half feet square. So seven and a half feet wide, seven and a half feet long, and about four and a half feet high. So it would be a pretty good size for the offerings because of course many of the offerings that they are offering are not tiny animals. They're good size animals. And so there would be plenty of room to offer those upon the altar. The altar, much like the other elements,

would have the rings on each side with the poles that would go through. And they would carry these elements not by, you know, grabbing hold of the table, but by grasping hold of the poles that extended from the table. And so that's how they would carry these from place to place, from campsite to campsite. And so this would have poles of acacia wood overlaid with bronze. And then along with the altar, of course, would be the altar utensils. There was pans, shovels, basins, forks.

those types of things that were used to maintain the altar, to put the sacrifices on there and things like that. And so all of those would have been made as bronze as well. And so this is where the children of Israel would come to offer their sacrifices, their offerings to the Lord. And we'll get to see that in two weeks as we head into the book of Leviticus. Well, the other instruction that God gives here in chapter 27 is for the courtyard or the court. This was the

or the walls that would surround the tabernacle. Again, it would be 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. And this would set up the courtyard for the tabernacle. It was to be made of linen hangings that would go all along, all the way around the perimeter. And it would be about seven and a half feet high. So half the height of the tabernacle, seven and a half feet high. So I don't know, I'm bad at,

But what do you think? About like that? Seven and a half feet high? So it'd be a little bit tall. You know, you wouldn't be able to kind of peek over. You'd have to, you know, enter in through the entrance. And the entrance would be on the east side. You can see there it's a little bit darker area. Right in the middle on the east side would be the way that you would enter into the courtyard. And there would be, actually the linens there would be a different color than the rest of the linen so that you could identify the entrance and enter in through that.

So the court here would be a place for the people to gather. Again, you can see the altar there is the first thing that you would see as you enter into the tabernacle area. And so that's where you would go. If you were bringing a lamb to be offered, then you would enter into the tabernacle. You'd go to the altar and you would offer it there.

There's also other, you know, room around the tabernacle. And so, you know, people would be there to bring their offerings, to be waiting for their turn, to be fellowshipping or worshiping together. That would be happening there in the tabernacle courtyard. So the courtyard was accessible to the people. The holy place, which is this area here, was only accessible to the priests.

And then the most holy place, where the Ark of the Covenant was, was only accessible to the high priest. And so you see the different levels that people were able to enter in depending on where they were in their relationship. Well, not really in their relationship, but in the position that God had given to them. So the people could go in the courtyard, the priests in the holy place, and then the high priest in the most holy place. And that brings us to chapter 28, key verse. That's verse 2.

It says, So they're to make these beautiful coverings or garments for the high priest. And so what we have in chapter 28 is some description and some instruction for those garments.

The garments for the priests, the ephod, the breastplate, and then also the rest of the garments for the high priest and for the other priests. The instruction is given here. So we'll kind of take a look at these real briefly. Here's the garments for the high priest. Here's the garments for the high priest.

So the high priest was kind of the chief priest. He was the one in charge. He was the one that had special privilege of entering into the holiest of all. He had responsibility as well of some of the particular sacrifices and things. And we will continue to see that as we head forward into the book of Leviticus. So he would have several different garments that would be part of his high priesthood. He would have a breastplate, an ephod,

I don't know if you know what a nephod is, but we'll talk about it. A robe, a skillfully woven tunic, as well as a turban. And so these would be the different elements that he would wear as high priest in order to serve the Lord in that capacity.

And so the first thing that God gives instruction on in verses 5 through 14 here is the ephod. Now you can see it on here. It's kind of like a long vest that would go over his robe and his tunic. And it would be attached to it would be the breastplate, which we'll talk about in just a moment. And so this ephod would be made of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, much like the materials we've already seen throughout the tabernacle.

It would have two shoulder straps, so it would be held on or going over his shoulders. It would have two onyx stones, one on each shoulder, with the names of the children of Israel. So he would always have on his shoulders the nation of Israel. And then it would also have two chains of gold that would be used to, well, it would be fastened to the settings of the onyx stones, and it would be used to attach the breastplate.

So the breastplate is recorded for us. The instructions are in verses 15 through 30. The breastplate was basically a piece of his garment that held 12 stones, each one representing one of the tribes of the nation of Israel.

Now you might remember Jacob had 12 sons, right? And each of those sons becomes a tribe, becomes a main division of the children of Israel. And so here we see that represented in the 12 stones that would be on the high priest's breastplate.

And so he would be carrying around the children of Israel on his shoulders, but also on his chest. And each of their names would be on the stone that represented them. And so it would be bound to the ephod, connected to the ephod. And it would also hold the Urim and the Thummim.

Now, we don't really know what the Urim and the Thummim was. That's always a question that comes up. Sorry, we don't know. It was a way, though, that God would communicate his will with the people. So you would go to the high priest and say, what does God want me to do? And the common thought is that it was...

like a white stone and a black stone. And so the high priest would ask something of the Lord and reach in. And, you know, a white stone would be something like yes, and a black stone would be something like no. But that's, it doesn't tell us that. That's just kind of our best guess of what it might be. It literally means lights and perfection. So if that helps you understand it, then there you go. So it was a way though that God would communicate his will to the people and he would lead them in that way.

Well, the other garments that the high priest would have, he would have a robe that would be solid blue. There'd be an opening for the head so it would cover him completely. And on this robe would be across the bottom would be pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet.

And they would be alternating with bells. And so there would be a pomegranate, a bell, pomegranate, bell, pomegranate, bell, all the way around the robe that he would wear. So he would always be ringing. You know, you could never sneak or he could never sneak up on you because you'd always hear the ringing of the bells. And God says specifically that it's so that when he enters into the holy place, he doesn't die. So he's got the ringing bells.

to kind of warn the presence of the Lord that he's coming in. Of course, God already knows, but it's what he said. So we'll just take it at that. He would also have a gold plate on his turban. There would be this gold plate that said, Holiness to the Lord. And so he would always have this reminder. He stood for holiness. He stood as a representative of God to the people and the people to God.

And then he would also have linen trousers. Essentially, he would have boxers that he would have to wear to make sure that his nakedness was ever shown. And that's chapter 28. So moving on to chapter 29. The key verse here in chapter 29 is verse 35. It says,

So here in chapter 29, we have the instructions for consecrating, setting apart, that is, Aaron and his sons for the priesthood. And so we see that in verses 1 through 37. And so the priests would be consecrated according to their role. So the high priest would be consecrated by, first of all, putting him in the high priest's garments that we were just looking at and pouring anointing oil upon his head.

The rest of the priests would also be consecrated by putting on their garments. Now they would not have the high priest garments. They would wear a very basic or simple tunic that they would have on them, a linen tunic. And so that would be their garment. They would dress in it and then they would pour anointing oil upon them. And there would be this ceremony that would last seven days to...

Set them apart as priests. And there would be seven days of killing a bull at the entrance of the tabernacle.

It would be a sin offering. They'd burn it outside the camp. Then they would also kill a ram and burn that on the altar. They would kill another ram and put the blood on the right ear, the right thumb, and the big toe, the right big toe of the priest. And then they would also wave that before the Lord, the elements of that lamb, and burn it on the offering, but also consume. It would be also a meal that they would have. And they would repeat that for seven days. So it was a seven-day-long process.

process to consecrate these guys to set them apart as priests and so it started with Aaron and his sons now his descendants are going to be the priesthood ongoing so the eldest son of Aaron is going to be the next high priest and his eldest son will be the next high priest and so on and so forth but the rest of the sons will be the priests and so they'll be the priests and the high priests all descendants of Aaron

Well, also here in chapter 29, we have the instructions for the daily offerings. And so every day there was to be a morning offering and an evening offering. And there's some specific instructions on how those are to be offered. But every day they were to offer these offerings to the Lord in the morning and then at twilight or in the evening.

And God says in Exodus 29, 45, he says, I will dwell among the children of Israel and be their God. So this was part of God dwelling with his people. And so there's these sacrifices, there's this priesthood, there's this tabernacle that is all parts of God saying, I want to be with the people and I want them to have opportunity to be with me. And that's what this is all about. So again, it's all about God and his relationship with his people, the nation of Israel.

Well, now we go on to Exodus chapter 30. Key verses, verse 1. It says, So here in chapter 30, we're going back to an extra furnishing now within the tabernacle, the altar of incense. We'll talk about that. But then also God gives instruction for whenever there's a census, that there's a ransom that needs to be paid as well. That's in verses 11 through 16.

And so whenever there was a census to be done, God said that they should also give a ransom and the ransom would be half a shekel each.

which would equate to roughly about five dollars at today's rates so it would be this kind of tax that they would give as part of the census and the money would be used to you know for the service of the tabernacle and so god commands a couple senses senses since i i don't know um

In the book of Numbers, we'll see that. And we'll see the first census and the second census. That's the way to approach it. And so we'll see that and the ransom needs to be paid. And then from then on, if God commands the census, then this is the instruction for it.

We also have here the instruction for the holy anointing oil. So there was specific recipe for the oil that was to be used to anoint the priests and to anoint the different elements that we'll see later on in the book of Exodus. And so it was to be this combination of myrrh, cinnamon, sweet-smelling cane, cassia, olive oil. It was to be combined in certain sizes and measurements, and that would be the special recipe for the holy anointing oil.

And God gives specific instruction that it's not to be used for anything else. So it was dedicated, set apart. That recipe was only for the holy anointing oil associated with the tabernacle.

And then also he gives instruction for the incense. So same type of thing. He gives a specific recipe. Equal amounts of stacte, onica, and pure frankincense. I'm not sure what those are. They would beat it very fine. They would combine it together and produce this incense that they would then burn before the Lord. Now God says again, it's not to be used for anything else. This particular recipe...

This particular aroma is reserved for the tabernacle, the worship of God, and it would only be used for that. If it was used for anything else, then it was very severe consequences. If they tried to bring a different kind of incense into the tabernacle, it would be very serious consequences, and we'll see that in the book of Numbers.

All right, but to burn that incense, they would have the incense altar and that would be here. It was placed right in front of the veil of the Holy of Holies. And so it would be continually burning incense before the Lord. Now this was much like some of the other elements. It was made out of acacia wood and then overlaid with gold. It would be about three feet tall and one and a half feet square. So one and a half feet long, one and a half feet wide, three feet high.

And it would also have the gold-covered bars that would go through it, and that's how they would carry it from place to place as they moved around the wilderness.

This also is interesting because on the Day of Atonement, once a year, they would put the sacrifice or the blood of the sacrifice and make atonement for this altar once a year on the Day of Atonement. So they would, you know, put blood on the horns of this altar. I'm pointing at it here on the picture like you can see what I'm looking at. But on the horns of the altar, they would put the blood of the sacrifice to anoint it and make atonement for it once a year.

The high priest was to burn incense on this altar every morning and every evening. And so when he would come in to tend the lamps, he would also come and burn incense on this altar before the Lord. Well, then we also have the instruction for the laver. Now for the laver, we're moving outside of the tabernacle. So again, it would be out this way, kind of out in our entryway out there. That would be where the laver would be.

And this laver, we don't have much detail about it. God doesn't give dimensions or size, but it just had to be big enough for the priest to be able to wash his hands and to wash his feet. And so that's the purpose of it. So they're doing these sacrifices, you know, they're out, they're getting dirty, that kind of thing. And so it was for ceremonial cleansing of the priest before he would be able to enter in to the tabernacle. So that's what the laver was for.

Alright, so that brings us to Exodus chapter 31, verse 3 is the key verse. Verse 3 says, And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.

So looking at all these details, I don't know if you're like me, but I think, man, that just seems like an impossible task to follow all these things, to put it all together. We kind of talked about it Sunday evening, like kind of a grudging, like, oh my goodness, all these details. How are we going to do this? Well, the way that God enabled them to accomplish the building of the tabernacle is he poured out his spirit on a few specific people and gifted them and anointed them to do the work.

And so we have the gifted artisans talked about in verses 1 through 11. Bezalel was kind of the primary one. He was the foreman of the job. And he was an expert and anointed by the Lord to work with gold, silver, bronze, with jewels, as well as with wood. So he could do it all. And he, you know, he was anointed by God to do so. And

And then you had Aholiab, who is kind of his assistant, who would also be doing the work. And then it also makes reference of God giving wisdom to many others. And so he had the laborers there that would work with him to build all of these things. And they were anointed by God to be able to design them the way that God had requested. We also have here the instruction in verse 12 through 18 to keep the Sabbath.

And I think the placement is strategic, that God puts it in here to remind the people, to remind the gifted artisans, to remind Moses, hey, I've given you a big job to do. There's a lot of work to do.

But at the same time, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. And so they were to work six days, but the seventh day they were to rest. Even if they hadn't finished the tabernacle yet, they had to rest the seventh day. That's the point that God is making here. And if they were to profane the Sabbath, it was the death penalty. So if you think, ah, it's the Sabbath day, but I feel pretty good. I might just, you know, do a couple things today.

You were to be put to death. I mean, it was a serious thing. God said, I want you to rest. You have to rest and honor me on that day. If you were to work on the Sabbath, then you would be cut off. And he says the Sabbath was to be a sign, a perpetual covenant with the people and God. So between the children of Israel and God was this perpetual, ongoing covenant that this would be a day of rest between them and the Lord.

And that brings us to Exodus 32, our final chapter for the evening. Verse 8 is the key verse. It says,

So Moses is on the mountain, chapters 25 through 31. God's giving him all this instruction that we've just been going through. And now God tells Moses, hey Moses, something bad is happening down the mountain. The children of Israel are now worshiping this golden calf. And so Moses now is going to be dealing with this situation. Verses 1 through 10 describes for us how this happens, how they begin to worship the golden calf.

Moses has been up on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights at this point. And so they're thinking, we don't know what happened to this guy. I mean, he just disappeared. We don't know if he's ever coming back. He's been gone over a month. How long do we continue to wait? And so they come to Aaron and say,

Well, what do we want to do? I mean, we want to worship the Lord, but Moses disappeared. So Aaron comes up with a bright idea. Well, hey, let's make an altar. Let's make a graven image. Let's make a, you know, idol to worship. And so they break off their earrings. It says very specifically Aaron molds it. He crafts it with a tool, even though he doesn't, he says something different later on. And so he designs, he fashions this calf, and then they begin to worship it. Now,

What you need to understand about this worship, the way that it's worded here, the expression that's given, is that it's not just, you know, an image that they had, but they were worshipping it, they were fellowshipping with it, and then they were also practicing sexual immorality in the worship of this idol.

idol this false god and so this was a very serious turning away from god and from the things that he had commanded and so that's why god deals with it so severely

Well, Moses intercedes for Israel there on the mountain. But even before he goes down, he says, God, forgive them. You know, as God is giving Moses the details of what's happening. And so he intercedes for Israel. He goes down the mountain. He sees what's going on. Even though he knows about it, he's still pretty upset. And so he throws down the tablets of stone that God gave to him with all the things recorded that God had just shared with him.

And then he also destroys the calf. I love the way he destroys the calf because he just grinds it to dust, puts it in the water and then makes him drink all the water. It's like there's no coming back from this. I mean, we're not going to do this again. And so he gets rid of and destroys the calf.

And then in verses 25 through 35, we have the judgment for their sin. And so it ends up, he calls the Levites, you know, who's for the Lord? They come to him. God says, okay, take your sword and go. Everyone kill their neighbor, kill their relative, whoever is involved in this, you know, put them to death. And so 3,000 people die that day as a result of this rebellion against the Lord. So kind of a dark story.

note to leave it on but uh this is what he comes down to and then he'll go back up the mountain and then the next few chapters we finish off the book of exodus this week now they'll be taking all the instruction that god gave and putting it into you know practice and putting together the tabernacle and setting it up so it'll be somewhat repetitive and

And so again, next week as we look at these things again, that's when we'll get into some of the symbolic elements. And if you want to dig into that this week, that would be a great opportunity to see some of the amazing things that God has built into the tabernacle. Here's a quick, just to finally close, layout of the tabernacle. So you have the courtyard, the entrance on the right-hand side. When you entered into the court, you would see the bronze altar. There you would offer your sacrifices.

There would be the laver where the priest would wash. Then the entrance to the holy place. Only the priest could go in there. There would be the lampstand, the table, and the incense altar. Then would be the veil separating the holy place from the holy of holies. Only the high priest could go in there. He would go in there one time a year to atone and put the blood of the sacrifice on the Ark of the Covenant, which would be placed in the holy of holies.

And so that was the tabernacle of Moses that was set up there in the wilderness. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Lord, there is a lot of details here, but Lord, you put them there for a reason, God. And you put them there, not only that they could complete and perform the work that you had called them to, but God, also that we could know and understand more about you. And so God, I pray that you would help us to see, Lord, that you dwelt with your people here in the tabernacle and yet you

In the new covenant, Lord, you've changed things around and you've made us the tabernacle. And Lord, just as you really did dwell with your people here in the midst of the tabernacle there in the Old Testament, Lord, you dwell within us as believers in you. And you, Lord, are here with us this evening. And so God, thank you for your presence. Thank you for the opportunity to know you.

Thank you, God, that we have the opportunity to enter into the holiest of all because of what Christ did for us. When that veil was rent from top to bottom, there as Jesus was crucified, Lord, you gave the sign. You indicated the way has been opened that we can enter in. We can really know you and have relationship with you. And so, God, I pray that you would help us to not take that for granted, but Lord, that we would walk in relationship with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.