This week we enter the nineteenth weekly Torah portion, Terumah, which in Hebrew means “offering.” At this point in the Exodus story, the Israelites have just witnessed the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea and stood at the base of Mount Sinai to receive the covenant. They have been given the foundational instructions for living as set-apart people. Now, God has a plan for a communal building project. 

This leads us to wonder: Why did God need the Tabernacle? Why did the creator of the universe even allow for himself to be limited to a tent? Doesn’t that mean God was condescending to the imagination of men and allowing himself to seem like all of Israel’s neighbors’ gods with their temples and altars? The truth is, God didn’t need the Tabernacle. Man did. God used the Tabernacle to invite his people back through the gates of Eden. He desired to once again be in their midst, to be known by them and worshiped.

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