Exodus 36:8 – 40:33

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Tabernacle Handout

Some of you have toured Turkey with me to see the many sites associated with the New Testament and church history. If you haven’t yet, I hope there will be future opportunities to do so. Among the many treasures are the beautiful Byzantine mosaics in churches. Some of the most exquisite are in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. But my favorite mosaic is in another church, the Chora church, also in Istanbul. It depicts the Virgin Mary praying, with the Christ Child in a medallion in front of her chest. The inscription explains: hē chōra tou achōretou, “the container of the uncontainable.” This type of icon is called Platytera, meaning “wider”; Mary’s womb had become “more spacious than the heavens.” This is a deeply theological image, reflecting the wonder of the incarnation. The eternal Son of God whom the highest heavens cannot contain nevertheless humbled himself and was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the virgin’s womb. “Our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made Man,” as Charles Wesley wrote in one of his hymns.1

C. S. Lewis captured this mystery in his seventh Narnia volume, The Last Battle. Tirian, the last king of Narnia, peers through a hole into the stable, and observes:

“It seems then…that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places.” “Yes,” said the Lord Digory. “Its inside is bigger than its outside.” “Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”2

How can something be bigger inside than outside? How can something contain another thing bigger than itself? How do you contain the uncontainable? How can God who created everything live in a house made by the hands of his creatures?

God had redeemed Israel from harsh servitude in Egypt. He had brought them to Mt Sinai to himself and for himself. He had entered into covenant with them: I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will dwell with you. I will dwell with you. How could God dwell with his people Israel? They are unholy, he is holy. They are finite, he is infinite. They are constrained, he is unconstrained. How can he be contained in Israel’s midst? But this is what he intends to do. After solemnizing the covenant God had invited Moses to come up to the top of Mt Sinai, where he told him what he wanted the Israelites to do for him:

“[L]et them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.” (Exod 25:8-9 ESV)

“Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” To us this sounds a wonderful idea. Our hearts beat with the psalmist, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord” (Ps 84:1), and with the songwriter, “I want to be where you are, O Lord.” But Israel did not want to be where God was; this was a terrifying prospect.

The Lord had brought Israel to Mt Sinai, to himself. Israel encamped at the foot of the mountain and Moses prepared them to meet God. The Lord came down to the top of the mountain, accompanied by fire, thunder, lightning, loud trumpet blasts.

The people were afraid and trembled; and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us…but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (20:18-19)

Now God wanted to put this terrifying Presence in the middle of their camp! Moses seemed able to survive the Presence, but how could the people possibly survive such a devouring fire in their midst. But this is what God wanted to do. Israel was to make him a sanctuary, a holy space, so that he could dwell among them. Its form was to be a tent, or a tabernacle (Lat. tabernaculum “tent”). God was accommodating himself to Israel. They were staying in tents as they moved through the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan. He, too, would stay in a tent, albeit one much fancier than theirs. But h