Exodus
chapter 37 begins, “Bezalel
made the ark of acacia wood… he overlaid it with pure gold both
inside and out“.
He cast gold ring for carrying the ark, and “he
made poles of acacia wood and covered them with gold“.
It continues, “He
made the atonement cover of pure gold… then he made two cherubim
out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover… the cherubim had
their wings spread upward… faced each other looking toward the
cover“.
Bezalel seems to have taken this job onto himself. Taking the
instruction given back in chapter 25, he begins with the items in the
Most Holy Place, the innermost part of the Tabernacle. The atonement
seat, or Mercy seat is where the blood of the sacrifice will be
sprinkled, it is where the glory of God will dwell. It is the most
important thing in the tabernacle, because without it, the other
articles are worthless. Without the atonement, they are lost in
their sin and separated from God. 1 John 2:2, uses this same word
used for “Mercy Seat” to describe Jesus Christ, “we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He
Himself is the propitiation
of our sins; and not our only, but also for those in the whole
world“.
Jesus is our atonement, the final payment for our sin if we accept
Him as our Lord. 1 John 1:9 explains, “If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our
sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness“.
The
rest of the chapter details the construction of the other articles
inside the Tabernacle. “They
made the table of acacia wood… overlaid with pure gold”
along with all the articles for the table, again “out
of pure gold“.
“They
made the lampstand out of pure gold… They made the altar of incense
out of acacia wood… overlaid with pure gold“.
“They
made the sacred anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense…”
all according to the specification God gave Moses in chapter 25.
Again, we see all of the individual parts are important only when
they are together, and ONLY when they are used as God commanded.
They are sacred not because they are made of wood and gold, but
because they are used in the worship of God.
The
Tabernacle was probably not very impressive from the outside, just a
big tent covered with animal skin. The inside would have been a
breathtaking sight indeed. We are like the tabernacle, most of us
are not very impressive on the outside, but if God’s Holy Spirit
dwells in you, you are a beautiful sight to God. But God did not
bring you to salvation to keep that beauty hidden away out of sight.
We are to be used to bring the truth of salvation to others. 1 John
1:3 explains our role, “what
we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may
have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ“.
May you allow God’s Holy Spirit to work through your life today.