This climax to the book of Exodus recounts the dedication of the
special place God created for Israel to signify his presence in their
midst and his power at work within them. The Tabernacle would be
portable and mobile for the forty years that the Israelites wandered
in the desert until they entered the Promised Land. Moving through
the history of Israel, a few hundred years later, a permanent temple
would be built in Jerusalem. There would be an invasion. It would be
destroyed, and there would be a replacement, until finally around the
time of Jesus' birth-give or take a few years-Herod, over a period of
several decades, builds the majestic temple that Jesus entered on
Palm Sunday.
The day of Christ's entry into Jerusalem and into that temple was the
fulfillment of God's promise to be present in all his glory among his
people. It may seem a stretch to you today that these two passages,
Exodus 40 and Luke 19, would come together, but that temple history
is their link. The glory of the Lord filled the temple.
In Exodus 25 through 30, and again in 35 through 39, we have the
specifications for the Tabernacle and all its furnishings. I hope
maybe this afternoon you could take just a few moments and go through
the description yourself, to see the rich detail, the care, and the
people God put in place to construct what was needed to worship God
according to God's command. What we have here in chapter 40 is a very
brief summary of that construction.
We have the account of Moses himself, the leader of the people,
carefully putting all the pieces together just as God commanded. That
is the recurring phrase: "just as the Lord commanded." By
now, the Israelites are very keen on doing exactly what God tells
them to do. If they deviate from God's command, they recognize there
are consequences. So with renewed hearts and God's renewed covenant
with them, they want to do everything just right, and Moses
ultimately is responsible for that happening. This holy place is
sanctified and consecrated for a very special use.
There are three aspects to this solemn dedication that I would like
to highlight today: the set-apart place, the set-apart objects, and
the set-apart acts which are consecrated to the Lord.
The Set-Apart Place. First of all, the Tabernacle itself
was the set-apart place, symbolizing both God's near presence and
God's holiness, or in this chapter, his "glory." God's
presence is signified by this tent of appointed meeting. At the very
heart of this walled-off area is the place where God wanted to focus
the people's attention. God would say, "I am present in this
place, in a visible place, with power and with majesty, but I am
here. I am with you at the tent of appointed meeting." This
would be a place not far outside the camp, but right in the middle of
the camp, where everybody could see and everybody could follow. In
fact, the place of the Tabernacle would be at the very heart of the
people, both stationary and in travel, so that at any time the people
could look to the center of their existence and see God there. God
fulfilled his promise to be with them in that renewed covenant, and
here was a beautiful picture of that presence.
It was also the opportunity for God to show his glory, the word that
recurs through Exodus for the divine force that comes among the
people in light and in power. God's glory would fill this place and
demonstrate to the people that God was not a benign, safe presence,
but a very powerful and active presence in their midst. And then, of
course, with the pillar and the cloud coming down at the end of the
story, this is going to be the focal point of God's guidance. When
the cloud lifted, the people would know it was time to dismantle the
Tabernacle, carry it on the poles that were inserted to lift its
component parts, and march on through the wilderness. When the cloud
descended, that was the signal: this is the place where we're
going to camp. And if you read the unfolding history, you will see
that they did a lot more camping than they did walking. I mean, they
were out there for forty years eventually. They did not know at this
point that it would be that long. No matter what, God was right there
in the middle of things, in the center of action.
The Tabernacle symbolized something so precious to the people, so
visible, that it was life-changing for them. It signified that God
was among his people, not in mighty acts, not in rescue (there are
other symbols for those things). The symbolism is not about his
provision or even his guidance so much, nor in his judgment, nor in
frightening power on a forbidden and foreboding mountain. The
Tabernacle symbolized God among his people, just there, in their
midst, dwelling, abiding with them. This place was set apart
specifically for the people to know that God was with them. Period.
The
Set-Apart Objects. Referring to the unlabeled diagram on the
back of your bulletin, I'd like you to identify the special things,
just to get a picture of what this looked like. This is on a scale of
one cubit per 32nd of an inch, and a cubit is about 18 inches. The
set-apart objects, those items that furnished this sacred area, are
enclosed by a curtain (A) which marks off the Tabernacle from
the rest of the camp. The fence was made of very fine fabric
with an acacia wood frame to hold it up. A gate (B) at
the very bottom- 20 cubits across-gave access to the courtyard
surrounding the Tabernacle. Within the walls we have a tent divided
into the Holy of Holies (C), the holiest place, and the Holy
Place (D).
In the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant rested out of sight of
the Israelites. This was a box made of acacia wood overlaid in gold,
and it contained some sacred objects that were kept for memory
purposes. The first is the pair of stone tablets engraved with the
Ten Commandments, and then at this point in the story, they also
stored a jar of manna, just to be reminded of God's faithful
provision of food through all those forty years. That ark sits
in the Holy of Holies, and the High Priest is the only one who can go
in there. It is the most solemn, central place in Israel.
In the Holy Place, separated by a curtain, we have a table, a
lampstand and an incense altar. The wood used in all of these
furnishings is acacia wood. The dishes on the table are made of gold,
and on them are twelve loaves of bread signifying the twelve tribes
of Israel and their perpetual offerings to the Lord. A lampstand
which probably looks like a menorah made of gold, with seven branches
and a candle at the top of each one. Then an incense altar, again
made of acacia wood with a gold overlay. The priest comes in
and burns the incense, depicting either a screen between the people
and God's holiness or signifying the prayers of the people going to
God in a sweet aroma. Those are the items that are in the Holy Place.
Outside the Holy Place, in the big courtyard, are two more items. As
you enter the courtyard, you wash yourself first at the basin for
ritual hand and feet washing (E). Then you go to the altar of
burnt offerings (F) to present your offering where there is a
big fire going. The priest attends that place, and the next several
chapters of Leviticus (immediately following Exodus) describe the how
and when offerings are to be made here.
The Set-Apart Acts. Now that there is a sacred place and
sacred objects, Moses also sets in motion the sacred acts, the ritual
acts, which will define the people's worship for centuries. The
priesthood is conferred upon Aaron and his sons, the tribe of Levi.
The Levites are the priests of the people of God. They are the ones
who represent the people to God, coming before YHWH to say the
prayers and make the offerings on behalf of the people, after making
an offering for their own sin.
The question came to me in the last couple of weeks, why would God
honor Aaron as the High Priest after what Aaron did with that golden
calf? I think that is a very good question, because Aaron doesn't
deserve any special honor. Frankly, I don't know why Aaron was not
executed with those other 3,000. He was the one who made the calf. So
here is Aaron now being made the High Priest, the head of the whole
ritual life of Israel. Why? I actually think that God did this on
purpose specifically to deal with Aaron's leadership in evil. What
does the priest do? If you read into Leviticus, the priest is the one
who makes atoning sacrifices, first for himself and his own sin and
then for the sins of the people. So every time somebody else brings
a sacrifice, Aaron has got to repent of his own sin first, just in
case a day might go by when Aaron might forget what he did. Right?
God says, "Remember, you repent of your own sin first, and then
for the sins of the people." Every day he will wash
ceremoniously and trust God for his inner cleanliness, and he will
offer sacrifices for sin on a regular basis, confessing his own
first. Now the priesthood in general signifies among the people
the ongoing nature of repentance, the ongoing nature of obedience and
submission, and certainly the fact that we carry an ongoing
obligation or debt to God in response to the mercy, the undeserved
mercy that God has given.
So everything is ready for the setup: the Tabernacle, the sacred
objects, and now the sacred acts of worship. We see Moses give tender
loving care to arranging everything just so. I imagine it was a very
exciting day. It was all done in one day, but the pieces of this had
been constructed perhaps for several months by gifted craftsmen and
folks who had special gifts of carving or cutting or sewing or metal
work. God endowed them with specific gifts in order to do it just
right (see chapter 36). And I imagine it would be very exciting to
wonder if it was all going to come together properly, because it had
to be exactly right. It was Moses' responsibility to put it all
together, and though I doubt he was physically able to put a hundred
cubits of cloth onto a frame without assistance, no one else is
mentioned as participating at this strategic moment. Clearly, he had
ultimate responsibility to make sure everything fit. And it did.
The sacred place is now erected. The sacred things have been put in
place. The sacred priesthood is poised for ministry. Moses, it says,
finished the work. He went as far as a human being could go to make
it just right and honoring to God. It was as if God were on
tippy-toes for the moment when that last joint locked into place. And
then what happened?
God filled the tent with his glory. The cloud covered the tent
of meeting, (the cloud that previously greeted Moses as he entered
the tent); the power of it was so great and God's glory so strong
that even Moses had to back away in reverence and awe. When God
showed up that day, even the professionals could not do their
God-given duties. Moses and the priest stood back and watched God
fill the shell that they had constructed. There was nothing more a
human being could add to God's presence.
That says something to me about our role in ministry with one
another: we do want everything to be just right, and we do want what
we do, and how we do it, to be beautiful and precise because
God is beautiful. God has given us a command to love him with all our
heart, mind, soul and strength. But what we prepare-the sermon I
write, the place you build,-is the shell in which we invite God to
dwell and fill with his glory. It is God's Spirit who really
makes things happen. We get so busy trying to please God and make
things just right that we forget there's one critical step, and that
is to beckon God to come and fill what we've done, because
ultimately the ministry we offer is what God makes happen by his Spirit.
When God shows up, everything routine is preempted, which brings us
to our connection with Palm Sunday. This is what happened when
Jesus - God come in the flesh-showed up at the temple in Jerusalem.
We hear the bustle, the joy, the crowds. We see the commerce on the
temple mount, people selling the animals that would be offered in
sacrifice. We notice all sorts of activities going on, business as
usual, just the same sort of day as any other day. But Jesus shows
up, enters the temple, and the glory of the Lord fills the place.
This was truly Emmanuel, God with us!
And what did he do when he arrived? He took a look around and said,
"This isn't what God had in mind for the temple," and he
started turning the tables over and giving instructions. He invaded
the place. The religious leaders were so busy fulfilling what they
thought was their God-given calling that when God himself showed up,
as promised, they were not apparently willing to adjust their
agendas. Political circumstances were set in motion that ended in
Christ's crucifixion on Friday.
One of the questions we have to ask ourselves is whether the
situation is any different today. If Jesus Christ himself were to
come into this room and turn tables upside down, how would we
greet him? What would be our reaction? Would we consider that an
invasion or a disruption of our lives, or would we see God fulfilling
his promise by filling this place with his glory? He may not
come in the form of a cloud or fire, but he makes his presence known
in other ways. When he makes his presence known, are we going to keep
on pursuing our own goals, our own way of doing things, claiming that
we're serving God, or are we going to give him the central, powerful
place that he deserves? The people of Jesus' time had that choice. As
he looked on over the landscape to Jerusalem from the Mount of
Olives, he saddened to the point of weeping. He knew that Jerusalem
was not aware of what was coming. Jerusalem did not recognize its
Messiah's arrival, and he grieved.
Do we recognize that God has come in Jesus Christ, or have we been
blind or indifferent to the reality that God is present in our midst?
Do we contain him in a box, or do we let his glory fill this place?
Do we expect God to invade and take over? We have this place that has
been constructed and consecrated for the Lord's presence, but now in
Christ, our vision goes way beyond a place. He says he is
dwelling in our hearts by faith and in community with one another.
"Wherever two or three are gathered in my name", he said,
"there I am in their midst." God is wondering if your heart
and the fellowship you enjoy are actually welcoming his presence.
In Aaron's time, the priesthood was limited to the Levites, but now
in Christ there is a new reality. All Christian believers are now
priests. There is a "priesthood of all believers," the 16th
Century Reformers said, because every one of us has direct access to
the Lord of the universe through Jesus Christ, our mediator.
This One who died and rose is the one High Priest as well as the
sacrificial lamb for our sins. God is wondering if you and I are
ready to cease our human striving and know that he is Lord and Savior
and responsible for our salvation?
Our actions, our worship, God says, find meaning when they are done
in response to what he has done in Jesus Christ. This we do by
the power of the Holy Spirit who helps us to recognize God's
presence. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reside and abide at
the very center of our existence, individually and corporately.
God's presence in us and with us. God is wondering if you and I are
ready and willing for his Spirit to show up. It's a dangerous
thought, but that is what God wants. And if God gets what God wants,
this church and this community will be turned upside down for Christ!
Let's be open to that. Let us sing our praises, give worship with a
heart made clean by Christ. Hosanna! Hosanna! Come Lord Jesus
Christ. Quickly.