The Tabernacle, Part 12— Prepared For God’s Presence
God gave Moses specific instructions so that a place could be prepared where He could come near to His people. Everything about the construction of the Tabernacle was according to the pattern that God had shown Moses. God wanted to reveal His plan for atonement, redemption and reconciliation. The Tabernacle was constructed in such a way as to demonstrate and reveal Christ and the fellowship God has prepared through His body and suffering. It was established as a place where God would come down and meet with them.
Exodus 29:45–46 NKJV I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. 46And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
God prepared a way to come into His holy presence.
In all of our access, fellowship and privilege, we must not forget that God is holy. From Moses’ initial contact with God on the back side of the wilderness, God revealed His holiness.
Exodus 3:5 NKJV Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Even the ground around the burning bush was made holy by God’s manifest presence.
Later, God told them to be holy for I am holy.
Leviticus 11:44 NKJV For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.
Leviticus 20:26 NKJV And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
God is holy! He is absolutely righteous and pure. No sin or evil may come into His presence. Approaching the place where God dwells requires personal holiness, purity, and righteousness.
God required them to build the Tabernacle so that He may dwell among them.
The holy God was coming near to His people. Everything about the Tabernacle and the ministry therein was made holy unto the Lord. Every piece of furniture, utensil, garment, and article was cleansed by the blood of atonement and made holy unto God.
Hebrews 9:22 NKJV And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Exodus 15:11 NKJV “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
What does it mean for God to be glorious in holiness?
The connotation of “glorious holiness” is God’s holiness is unsurpassable. Since God is “glorious in holiness” the people could not dwell in His presence. At Mount Sinai, they were terrified and trembled when the mountain top was covered with the holiness and fire of God.
When God had them build the Tabernacle, natural barriers were established so that He may dwell among them.
The barriers made it possible for imperfect people to come near to God so that they may obtain mercy and grace to help them. They had to put a wall of curtains around the parameter of the court. Everything inside the wall of curtains had to be sanctified by blood and made holy to God. The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies were not visible to anyone but the sanctified and cleansed priests. In all of His holiness and power, God wanted to come near to the people.
No mercy or grace would be possible if it were not for what God has done by giving His Son Jesus Christ to be our atonement and covering for sins.
Extensive preparations for the Tabernacle and the Holy places would be useless without everything that was done on the outside. The Holy Place required various actions to prepare for God’s holy presence. They had to go through washings and cleansing. Their clothes and their bodies had to be clean. The sacrifice had to be offered, the blood had to be sprinkled, and sin atoned. Everything that they wore and all of the furniture of the Tabernacle had to be cleansed and atonement made by blood. The altar and the laver were made holy. The anointing oil and incense were holy.
Exodus 30:27–29 NKJV The table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense; 28the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. 29You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy.
God is a holy God. He said “be holy for I am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16)
Leviticus 19:2 NKJV “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’
1 Peter 1:15–16 NKJV But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
God was preparing a people for His presence. The Tabernacle was built so that God would have a dwelling place among His people.
God initiated this whole expedition at the burning bush when He came down and spoke to Moses.
Moses’ life was transformed when he stood on holy ground. As he talked with God, He was changed.
In direct response to Moses’ encounter with God, God was able to set up an appointment with His people in the wilderness.
God told Moses to go to Egypt and bring them into the wilderness to meet God. Moses wanted to show them this place where he experienced God’s presence and power. Moses knew what He had seen and he wanted his people to see and know the living God. Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush was so great that his life was transformed. It was at a burning bush when Moses first saw God. When he brought the people back, the whole mountain was on fire with the glory of God. God is always exceeding in His greatness. You never have to worry about God depreciating or diminishing. He always takes you upward, from faith to faith, from glory to glory, from measure to measure. He takes you to deeper depths and higher heights. He causes you to walk into new realms of glory and anointing.
Moses had the privilege of an open face communion and fellowship with God.
The Bible says: “The Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11)
There was no prophet in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face-to-face. We have a very limited understanding of what Moses saw and knew. He had an open fellowship and communication with God. God said this face-to-face relationship was unique. God spoke plainly with Moses and not in dark sayings. Moses saw the form of the Lord. (Exodus 12:8) Moses wanted the people to experience that same open face communion with God. He wanted God’s presence to be manifested in their lives. He came to value God’s presence so highly that he did not want to do anything without God.
Exodus 33:13–18 NKJV Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” 18 And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
There is only one thing that causes people to know that we have found grace in God’s sight.
It is not that we have great Tabernacles, rituals, or physical blessings. The only thing that caused God’s people to be special and powerful was God’s presence with them. Without the presence of God, we cease to be known as the people of God.
Moses said: “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.”
God’s presence distinguished the Israelites as God’s people. Millions of people walked through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire at night. Everything that Moses had experienced was not enough.
Here is Moses standing before the face of God saying: “Please, show me Your glory.”
He was hungry for more of God. Think about what he was saying and doing. He was in a mountain-shaking experience with God, and he wanted more. While standing in the holy presence of God, the only thing that on his mind was the glory of God. He was in God’s presence wanting more of God.
Exodus 33:19 NKJV Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
This is the sovereignty of God in action.
God was saying, “I am going to do what I want to do.” When God is ready, He will do it. We have to be ready for God.
God said: “I will make all My goodness pass before you.”
Can you imagine all of God’s goodness?
It is amazing how much goodness God can allow to pass over you. Don’t quench your vision of how good God can be. God said: “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you.”
Exodus 33:20–23 NKJV But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
This may sound like God does not want to come near to Moses.
We must remember that God is the One Who is looking for us. God desires to have us and draw close to His people. God created us for Himself and He wants to embrace us. It was God that walked through the garden in the cool of the day looking for Adam. God wants to have an intimate relationship with us.
God said: “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you.” Then God said: “You cannot see My face and live.” There are riches of God’s glory that have not been known. His power, holiness, glory, and goodness is greater than what has been revealed.
God was telling Moses “I am going to get as close to you as I can.”
Your human flesh could not contain all the glory that I have. God said: “I want you to get down into the cleft of the rock.” “There is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.”
There is a place beside Me.
You need to get over in the cleft of the rock. There is a place beside me and I will allow you to get as close as you can get. God has provided room for us in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is drawing us aside to that place in Christ Jesus were God will reveal His glory.
We need to see the glory of God.
In John 18, when they came to take the Lord, they thought they were just coming for a man. When He spoke out of His divinity and said: “I am He,” they drew backward and fell to the ground.
He is Immanuel.
When we talk about God, we are talking about awesome power. His words have creative power in them. His wisdom is all knowing. His glory is overwhelming. His presence is filled with His holiness.
When God came in the person of Jesus Christ, He came as close to us as He could.
He is Immanuel, God with us. The only thing that kept them from knowing the raw glory of God was the veil of His flesh. God said: “There is a place beside me.”
God said: “I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:22-23)
God was saying: “If you will get in the place, I will let you see My glory.” You cannot see God’s glory if you are not in the place.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
Jesus is the Rock that you can stand in and see the Father.
From the cleft in the Rock, you can behold the wonder of His glory.
When the Levitical priests were active in the Holy place, the glory of God was in the next room.
The only thing that separated them from the presence of God was the veil.
God was in the next room.
- While they were offering up their prayer and praise, He was in the next room.
- While they were trimming the lamps and putting in the oil, He was in the next room.
- While they were eating from the table of show bread, He was in the next room.
- While they were lighting the incense, He was in the next room.
- They were allowed to dwell in the place beside Him.
God told Moses, “There is a place beside Me.”
God will allow you to dwell in the next room. The only thing that separated Moses from God’s glory was the cleft in the rock. The only thing that separated the priest from God’s glory was the veil. The only thing that separated the disciples from the glory was the flesh of Jesus Christ. When Thomas touched the prints of the nails in His hand and side, he cried out: “My Lord and My God.” Thomas realized that He was touching the hand of God.
How can the priests live and move in the Holy place if the tabernacle is the type of Christ?
God has prepared a place for us to dwell with Him.
Acts 17:28 NKJV “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
If I am in Christ: “There is therefore now no condemnation.” (Romans 8:1)
In Christ, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3)
1 Peter 2:9 “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
