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Exodus and John #3 – Reveal Jesus As God in Tabernacle
A third connection between these two books is Deity coming to live among the people. In the book of Exodus, it can be easily outlined into three sections. The first is just an obvious way of naming the three sections, and the last two are mine:
- Exodus; Law; Tabernacle
- Compassion; Covenant; Companionship
- Come Out; Come To; Come Down
It is the last section I want to focus on as we continue to connect the books of Exodus and John. While John does reveal Jesus as the temple of God (Jn.2:19-21; 4:26), the tabernacle preceded the temple and both contained the same furniture and function. Jesus also represents the tabernacle. The purpose of the tabernacle was to contain the glory of God, to be the dwelling place of God among the Israelites.
As already seen, John clearly and undeniably declares Jesus’ Divinity. He is both “God” and “I Am.” But just as much of the Bible, John reveals truths on different levels, none of which contradict, and each complements. One of the deeper arguments for the divinity of Jesus is found in studying the Tabernacle as revealed in Exodus.
The Tabernacle and the Gospel of John
John 1:14 HCSB The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word became flesh. Just as the Tabernacle was physical, so became Jesus. The tabernacle was also a temporary dwelling place, just as the body of Jesus was temporary.
When John says, that the Incarnated Word “took up residence” (HCSB) or “dwelt” (NASB) among us, the word there is skēnoō which means: 1) to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle, abide (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent), tabernacle; 2) to dwell (Thayer). The Gospel of John and Revelation are the only NT books to use this word (Jn.1:14; Rev.7:15; Rev.12:12; Rev.13:6; Rev.21:3). As a side issue, this gives evidence that both were written by the same author.
When Jesus “tabernacled” among the people, He was full of God’s glory. Notice what happened after the Tabernacle in Exodus was built:
Exodus 40:34-38 HCSB The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (35) Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (36) The Israelites set out whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle throughout all the stages of their journey. (37) If the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out until the day it was taken up. (38) For the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and there was a fire inside the cloud by night, visible to the entire house of Israel throughout all the stages of their journey.
The glory of the Lord lead the people to God in the Old Testament, and Jesus filled with glory led the people to God and Himself, in the New Testament.
So we have all the hints right here in this verse to help us further connect Exodus and John. The Tabernacle was God’s dwelling place on earth among the Israelites where His glory was seen. Just as Jesus displayed the glory of God, so did the Tabernacle.
To “dwell” a little longer on the Tabernacle being God’s dwelling place on earth, it is helpful to contrast Exodus with Leviticus.
Location, location, location. Those are the three rules of real estate. Sometimes the most innocuous statement can have great meaning. Sometimes where something is said is as important as what is said. In Exodus, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush. Then God speaks from a burning mountain. Then Leviticus opens with these simple little words – Then the LORD summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting (Leviticus 1:1 HCSB). This is the beginning of the Tabernacle being finished. Exodus ends with God filling the Tabernacle and Leviticus begins with God speaking from His new “home.”
In Exodus, God begins comes down to Egypt to bring His people with a strong hand. Then brings His people to His Mountain, a mountain Israel cannot touch. Finally, God comes down from the Mountain, leaving the isolating and formidable mountain. God is now in their midst, among His people. Israel is home even before they reach the Promise Land. God speaks from His new home among His people.
Leviticus is about being in God’s presence through the sacrifices within the Tabernacle. While we can get bogged down in the rituals and rules, the blood and the gore, ultimately the message is, “be holy for I am holy.” God is now in fellowship with Israel, and all the details are about being holy, by blood and death, and by living God’s way. God is “from without” and is now “from within.” Man’s holiness “from within” leads to how he lives “from without.” God is living among His people and that determines how His people will live among Him.
When we go back to Exodus, we find several times God’s admonition that the Tabernacle be built to specific specifications.
- Exodus 25:9 HCSB You must make it according to all that I show you–the design of the tabernacle as well as the design of all its furnishings.”
- Exodus 25:40 HCSB Be careful to make everything according to the model of them you have been shown on the mountain.
- Exodus 26:30 HCSB You are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you have been shown on the mountain.
- Exodus 27:8 HCSB Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. They are to make it just as it was shown to you on the mountain.
This is repeated twice in the New Testament:
- Acts 7:44 HCSB “Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the desert, just as He who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.
- Hebrews 8:5 HCSB These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For He said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.
Only once does God have to say something to make it true and worthy of our attention. But when God says something over and over again, obviously He is making a point. Why did God demand that the tabernacle be made specifically according to His plan? Here are four possibilities, each one true in an of itself, but all true collectively:
- To test the obedience of the Israelites. All of the Wilderness was a test (Deut.8).
- To teach the Israelites proper worship – God has always been specific how to worship Him. Never has God allowed man to choose how to worship Him. Never has God allowed man to add or take away.
- The Tabernacle was a shadow of heaven itself (Heb.8:5; 9:11,24).
- To foreshadow the coming of Jesus.
It is this last one that we are focusing on. Jesus Himself was the Tabernacle of God on earth in the Incarnation. His ministry displayed the objects of the Tabernacle as revealed in the gospel of John. If Jesus is found in the very existence of the Tabernacle, let’s look for Jesus in the objects of the Tabernacle.
The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle is special to God. We see evidence for this in that the Tabernacle was His idea, the temple was David’s. When the book of Hebrews was written, the Tabernacle is referenced again and again, but the temple never is. Personally I think the Tabernacle fits the concept of “this world is not my home” because of its mobile nature and structure. To show the special nature of the Tabernacle, here is a quote,
“The Scriptures devote more room to the description of the Tabernacle and its appurtenances than to any other single subject. Its details are described with noticeable particularity; and no less than seven times in Scripture we find reference to God’s solemn charge to Moses that He should make all things according to the ‘pattern’ which was shown to him ‘in the Mount’ (Ex.25.9,40; 26.30; 27.8; Num.8.4; Acts 7.44; Heb.8.5).” (J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore the Book, p.95)
The Tabernacle consisted of three parts: Outer Court; Holy Place; Most Holy Place (i.e., Holy of Holies). Three is symbolic in Scripture of “Divine Perfection” (http://carm.org/what-biblical-numerology). Scripture speaks of three heavens, don’t know if this is a coincidence to the Tabernacle of not, nor do I know if the Triune nature of God is somehow connected. Even man is made of three parts – soul, spirit, body. And looking at the entire Bible, it is divided into three parts: Patriarchal, Mosaical, Christian. We could add many more, but one thing is certain. While we do not know whether all the threes in the Bible are connected, that the tabernacle consists of three parts is not an accident or coincidental.
The Holy Place was a perfect cube, perfect in three parts – height, width, length. In the Tabernacle it was 10x10x10. In Solomon’s Temple it was expanded to 20x20x20. It is interesting that in Revelation, the Holy City is also pictured as a perfect cube:
Revelation 21:16 HCSB The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal.
This is where the common and old refrain “city foursquare” comes from. This is the translation of both the KJV and the ESV:
Revelation 21:16 ESV The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.
All the dimensions are interesting and purposeful because they are from God. They lead to the immediate purpose of the Tabernacle, which as said before, but let us reiterate it again, was to be a dwelling place of God among His people.
- Exodus 25:8 HCSB “They are to make a sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them.
- Exodus 25:22 HCSB I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.
In our outlines above, this is God having “Companionship” with Israel as God “Comes Down” to dwell in the center of their camp.
As with all structures, there is an entrance. In order to enter into the Outer Court of the Tabernacle there was one and only one entrance.
- Exodus 27:16 HCSB The gate of the courtyard is to have a thirty-foot screen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. It is to have four posts including their four bases.
Some believe the four colors have representation in the four gospels. Blue being the color of Divinity which is echoed within John; purple is royalty (Matthew); scarlet shows humanity (Luke); and linen or white (Mark) represent purity in service. I mention this because of the connection to the gospel of John. It will not be the purpose of this study to decipher each aspect of the tabernacle in all of its wonder.
When it comes to entrance ways, God is fond of “one.” There was one door to the ark (Gen.6:16). One way into the Tabernacle (Ex.27:16). And of course Jesus is “The Way” “and no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus being “the One” is an important point within John as he reveals Jesus.
In Exodus 27:6. the word for “gate” (sha‛ar) can also be translated as door. In John, Jesus said He is the door (Jn.10:9).
- John 10:9 HCSB I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.
Outside is Israel, inside is God. Inside the priests go, but only so far. They enter into the Outer Court and the Holy Place. The High Priest only goes into the Most Holy Place. Except for Moses, who went there regularly to speak to God.
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