The Tabernacle – Part 3

The Tabernacle, the tent of meeting, is a key part of the story of the Children of Israel. God designed it to be a visible sign of his presence with his people and as a focus for worship. Every detail was significant and looks beyond the Children of Israel to Jesus Christ, the more perfect tent (Hebrews 9:11). In part 3 we look at Exodus 25 and see the instructions for building the first piece of furniture, the Ark of the Covenant. The significance of the ark not only tells us something of the worship of God for the Children of Israel, but also for how we worship him today and into eternity.

Transcript

Part three of this series, the Ark of the Covenant you can still have your opportunity to build a tabernacle if you want. There’s still instructions here. There’s also handouts for part one and part two. If you don’t have those, you can take those with you later. Everything is online. And you can go and find everything there that you might need if you do want to catch up on things.

This evening we’re going to start by turning in our Bibles to our scripture passage for this evening. The one that’s going to guide us and lead us. And that’s in Exodus 25. Versus 10 to 22.  The first two weeks have really been overview of what we’re going to be thinking about. But now we come to beginning with the furniture of the tabernacle.

And there’s a very good reason why it begins first, as we’ll see later. So Exodus chapter 25, beginning of verse 10, and then to verse reading through to verse 22.  They shall make an arc of acacia wood. Two qubits and a half shall be its length, a qubit and a half. Its breadth, and a qubit and a half its height.

You shall overlay it with pure gold inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it.  You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet.  Two rings on the one side of it, and two on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.  And you shall put into the ark the testimony.

You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, Two cubits and a half shall be its length, And a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold, Of hammered work shall you make them, On the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends.

The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall their, shall the faces of the cherubim be.  And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark. And in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.

There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you.  in commandment for the people of Israel.  Amen. Where to begin?  If you were designing an ark today, where would you begin? We’ve jumped a wee bit.

In fact, if you looked back at part two, we were right towards the end. Chapter 35 of Exodus, looking at that last week, but now we’re jumping  back in time as it were, because the story of the tabernacle is a story of two parts.  After the children of Israel left Egypt, they made their way through the Red Sea and to Sinai.

And it was at Sinai that they waited on the Lord. That’s when Moses went up, chapter 19, and really they’re at Sinai through to chapter 32.  And Moses hears from God and he is He’s summoned by God to go up the mountain, and he goes up. The mountain’s enveloped by a cloud, and that’s where he receives the instruction.

Not just the Ten Commandments, but the most important rules that the community are to follow. Later rules will follow by God,  but for now, God gives Moses what is needed to establish this community of his people.  So the people are waiting at the bottom.  See the smoke.  See the thunder. They see the cloud.

And they wait, but as we know,  not just from the history prior to Exodus 19, but all throughout their history, the children of Israel are an impatient lot.  They can’t wait.  And so they decide if God isn’t going to reveal himself to us, we’re So that we can worship him, we’re going to fashion our own.

And we’ve talked about this every night so far, but it is a significant moment, because it is the turning point in this story of God’s people. They fashion for themselves that idol. They ask Aaron to do it,  to fashion that idol that they would worship. Now, where did they learn this from? Of course, they learned it from the Egyptians.

The Egyptians had all of these idols of gold that they would have worshipped in their homes and also in public spaces. The pharaohs were buried with golden images of cats and other animals, cows included,  to show the significance of what they worshipped. I enjoy watching those  drama slash documentary shows of the pyramids.

And as you see, some of these ancient sites, you see the carvings on the stone of all of these images.  And so they got impatient and thought we’re just going to go back to default. We’ve been in Egypt all this time, so let’s just fashion for ourselves a God  like we’ve seen in Egypt, but it’ll be our God this time.

And of course we know at that point Moses comes down and he is furious with what the people have done. There’s punishment for the people, but there’s also hope for the people.  Because what Moses was bringing down the mountain with him in those tablets of stone was the covenant promises of God.  As I said last week, the commandments were never your right into heaven.

Keeping the Ten Commandments was not what got you into heaven.  The commandments were to be followed because they were good,  but because they came from God, and if the people truly loved God, then they’d follow his ways.  But as they came down and they recognized what they’d done as Moses challenged them, there’s a change in the people.

Their perspective shifts.  And we read in Exodus chapter 33 and verse 6 there.  Therefore, the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onwards.  They were to leave Sinai, and as they wouldn’t ornament themselves, they wouldn’t get themselves all dressed up they wouldn’t wear the bling, the gold.

Everything that they had brought with them out of Egypt, remember we’re told that they were, they had plundered Egypt as they left.  It was a sign of their true repentance  and a true change of heart.  For this season anyway,  they wouldn’t wear these things. And so they demonstrated their intention to keep their part of the covenant.

God would promise to be their God  as long as they worshipped him and were faithful to him. That was their side of the promise. And of course, God never shifted from his promise.  The promise was never conditional on the people. It was the expectation of God that the people would worship him.  And so the second part of the story shifts now  to  the building of the tabernacle.

So from 19 to 32, Moses has given the instruction of how to build this from 33 to chapter 40 is the story of everything happening. So really you could match it page by page, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. from 19 to 32 and 33 to 40.  One is the instruction and the other is the outworking. And when you do, it is amazing  how true to God’s word the children of Israel kept their part of it.

Remember, God designed the tabernacle to his design.  Humankind didn’t have the option to change it. Oh, if they didn’t like that design, they could tweak it. No, they couldn’t.  Because everything that God had in this tabernacle was important for then  and it’s important for now as we see the tabernacle as the foreshadowing of Jesus Christ.

So the whole book concludes in chapter 40 and there in verses 34 to 35 the whole work is done. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud settled on it. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

The people remained faithful, and God did what he said he was going to do.  There he is, dwelling with his people as they would wander through the wilderness for all of those decades.  God was with them.  He was there.

So the people were faithful in following what God had commanded. God had asked them to do it, and they did it to show their intention of their repentance. They recognized the wrong that they’d done at Sinai. They’d proved their willingness to keep covenant with God.  And much like we saw in part two of this series, God only wanted those

And so last week we looked at the retelling of that, but let’s go back to what was the original.  In Exodus 25 and verse 2,  when it talks about the, it’s the section just before the one we read this evening, it’s about the contributions, it’s how it’s all going to happen.  This is where God says I only want things from people who have a genuine heart.

Speak to the people of Israel that they  take from me a contribution from every man whose heart moves him.

And the reason why I’ve included this again, not only does it fit in with what we’re about to begin, but it shows the focus God has for worship,  of what he’s always had for worship, and what he’s continuing to expect of his people,  that they will want to worship him. Because their hearts are set towards him.

And whenever we go into the New Testament and look at Matthew chapter 7 and verse 22, it’s Jesus himself who says to us that not everyone who says to me Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,  but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Jesus is saying, people turning up for worship  and simply by being there, they’re going to think they’re okay.

But as we’ve said, and I know that my predecessors have also said from the pulpit,  coming to church doesn’t save you,  and it never did.  Going to tabernacle never saved you.  It was a heart that was set towards God  that saves. It  is worship of God,  true worship of Him, now in Jesus Christ.  That sea us.  And so Jesus in saying this, not everyone who says to me Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.

He’s.  Pointing us to one group, but then he says on the flip side of It’s the one who will do the will of my father in heaven they’re the ones who are obedient to God  and so in this part of the story of the children of Israel we get that snapshot  of People who are following the ways of the Lord.

So let’s get into the passage.  So we begin Really  God’s way of doing this. We have to  It’s God who’s told Moses how this is to go, and so that’s how we’ll follow it. And we begin with the Ark of the Covenant.  Now, the Ark of the Covenant. Much has been said, much has been written, a lot of it not biblical about the Ark of the Covenant.

The most famous of which came from one of my favourite movies Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. And whenever you go back to it, it is a fascinating movie. Because it turns out if Indiana Jones had left well alone, the Nazis would have opened the ark, it would all have been dead anyway, Indiana Jones need not have got involved, and it would all have worked out in the end.

Sorry if that spoiled anyone’s vision of Indiana Jones, but there wouldn’t have been a story or a movie or a franchise then.  But actually, whenever you look at that picture it is wrong.  The cherubim  aren’t facing the way that they perhaps should.  But yet, if you ignore that, it shows the magnificence of what this arc would have been like.

In that fictitional,  fictitious movie,  the Nazis believed they could control  God.  Does it sound familiar?  I hope it does because 1 Samuel, the Philistines thought they could control God as well.  You may never have watched Indiana Jones. If you haven’t, it’s okay. You’re not missing much. But it’s the fact that even in the late 80s, early 90s, even as  liberalism was growing,  there was still something that attracted people to things of scripture.

They may have been inaccurate,  but it is the central plot in quite a successful movie.  And so for many in our world today,  the Ark of the Covenant is only known to them because of Indiana Jones.  But here we have it in great detail of what God has requested for us to understand.  And there you have an image of it there  for you to see on your handout of what it perhaps looked like.

And what we’re going to do is we’re going to see  the significance of this piece of furniture.  Now I don’t know if you find it interesting that actually the first thing that’s been constructed is in fact a piece of furniture and not the tabernacle itself.  If we were to begin with this, maybe it’s because of our climate.

We think let’s build a shelter first and then we can put everything in because of our weather.  But God’s priority is different than ours.  The Ark is first because of its significance.  The Ark is going to teach us about the very person of God and his relationship with his people. No other piece of furniture will do it so clearly as the Ark of the Testament or the Ark of the Covenant.

as it’s called in different places. This was going to be the central part of the whole thing. It was going to be the most beautiful of everything. It was completely gold.  And the Ark is significant because it is the place where God said he would meet with his people.  Now, its position, and you have this on page four, just to help you see where it’s going to fit.

But I’ve given you that. We circled there to see that you can see where it is.  You can see that it is right in the holy place.  It’s behind the curtain. It’s the only piece of furniture behind the curtain. And  the high priest can only go behind that curtain on one day of the year.  And his action of going in is to bring the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkle it on the mercy seat.

So that the sins of the people would be forgiven.  So although the people didn’t gather around the Ark and that’s where God met them, it was the people’s representative, the high priest, the one who was purified to go in, met God on behalf of the people over the Ark of the Covenant.  Later in Revelation chapter 11 and verse 19, we see that the Ark has a future purpose.

And there we read in, in John’s vision. Then God’s temple in Heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumbles, peels of thunder and earthquake.

See, God,  in the vision that he gives John,  is assuring us that he is in his heaven, ruling and reigning. There is no longer a need for an ark that would be brought around with the people. God would be firmly in his heaven, because that’s where his people will be.  So the ark is significant, not just in pointing us to Christ and the work of Christ, but in  But also pointing us to the very presence and nature of God that we will have in eternity.

Now, on pure practicalities, we’re told in Exodus 25 verse 10 that the ark was a rectangular box, fashioned out of acacia wood.  Acacia wood is a strong wood. It’s good for making furniture. We would have had some pieces of furniture made out of it whenever we lived in Malawi. It grows there, and so you, it’s a good thing to make.

And the measurements of the box are given in cupids, but I’ve put in there for you that one cupid in Moses day was equivalent to about 18 inches. Although the length of a cupid would be changed in later years with the children of Israel. So with this, the body of the ark was about 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches tall.

So that, that’s it.  You may, you might have been expecting, I don’t know, something much bigger so that all the people could see but that’s it.  27 inches. Still significant  in its presence in the people,  amidst the people, so that they would recognize God with them.  And so given that the Ark would be a sign of the royal divine presence, it was covered in the only material that was befitting, and that was gold.

It was a heavy thing. It wasn’t light.  And you’ll notice, or I hope you noticed that it said that the poles would be kept in it.  Later we’re told that the reason why the poles were kept in it so that there wouldn’t be damage going in and out,  that the presence of God would remain as beautiful on the day it was created.

Throughout all of the time that it would dwell with the people.  So with gold, it’s heavy and certain people, certain Levites, were assigned or designated to transport the Ark as the people wandered through the wilderness.  And into the Ark was going to be placed the testimony. That’s what the passage says.

The two tablets of stone that were given to Moses with God’s writing on them, they would be placed in there. So that people would remember God’s law. So his presence with them went hand in hand with his instruction.  It wasn’t simply about having God on your side. Remember, it’s about dwelling with his people so that they could worship him.

And every time they saw the ark, they would be reminded  that the stone tablets were in there and the law that they had committed themselves to. Those 10 items that God had gathered the people around for worship of him and how they would live well together.  But there were more things in the arc than just the stone tablets.

And I find this in a book I’ll confess that. And I thought I’d just copy it and give it to you rather than me trying to make it different. Part of it. So we have the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, they’re there. The significance of that is to remind the people of God’s holy nature.

But there was also a jar of manna which, of course, manna we know from the story in Exodus 16. And the jar of manna reminded the people of God’s constant provision, that as they wandered through the wilderness, God would provide, as they would settle in the land, as they would be in fear of their enemies.

The reminder was there that as God provided provision in the past, so he would do the same in the future.  And then the third thing that was in the ark was Aaron’s rod that had began to blossom.  And what this signified, and that’s told us in number 7 verse 10, Aaron’s rod confirmed God’s choice and anointing of Aaron as high priest.

The Messiah was the chosen and anointed one, as we’ll read, as we read in Hebrews, just like Aaron. Even the ark was pointing to the true high priest. The prophet, the priest, and the king, Jesus Christ, fulfilled that. And it’s actually in Numbers 17 where the instruction is given that Aaron’s rod would be put with the testimony.

But if we jump to the New Testament and to Hebrews,  we get a, the author of Hebrews telling us all of this in verses 3 to 5 of chapter 9. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place. You’ve seen that on your cutaway  view of the tabernacle.  Having the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, an iron staff that budded,  and the tablets of the Covenant.

Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things, we cannot now speak in detail.  So here we have, as  the writer of Hebrews is communicating something of Israel’s past, remember that’s what Hebrews is about, it’s about connecting Jesus as the fulfillment of all prophecy.

We have it told the significance of the ark and what it contained.  It contained these things as a reminder to the people as they journeyed through that God was truly their God who kept covenant promise with them.  But in the story.  As the people went through monarchy and exile and really then into Greek and Roman rule, they would be reminded that God was the one to whom they were to worship.

That he was the one who provided for them through physical needs, but he had also appointed a mediator between them and him so that they could know forgiveness of sins.  So that was the arc of the covenant, but it’s in two parts because it’s not just the box, as it were, a storage box for these items. The second part of it is the mercy seat.

Let me confess something to you that you may not know. I can’t even remember if I told the elders this in my interview. It’s too late now, for about four years, I attended the Salvation Army.  It was a great deal. I played the piano for them at their evening service, and they gave me a box of food.

As a student, it worked perfectly.  But I learned a few things about the Salvation Army. Number one, they don’t have sacraments.  And I was never satisfied with why they never had communion. I’m not sure that the officer who was talking to me about it was giving me an accurate position on it.  But the other thing that they have front and central is what they call the mercy seat.

And so a traditional Hall of a Salvation Army Corps would have a platform with a lectern in the middle.  Below the lectern would be a small table, probably for a bunch of flowers, but the collection plates, and then either side of it would be two long benches.  And for the Salvation Army, those benches were called the Mercy Seat.

And after ever, at the end of every sermon, people would be invited to come up to the Mercy Seat, either for salvation, so that someone could pray with them, that they would know Christ and come to living faith,  Or simply to kneel and pray, and to ask for God’s mercy.  And,  it was an interesting thing to observe.

I probably didn’t fully take it in as a  18 to 21 year old. And it wasn’t until later years that I read about the tabernacle and understood a little bit. about the mercy seat and the mercy seat is quite literally the lid  of  the ark of the covenant  and its design is very significant  and again as i said last week  part of this is about restoration not just of the people to god but restoration of creation  Where is the last place in the Bible, in the story so far up to Exodus, that we hear of Cherubim?

They’re standing with flaming swords outside the Garden of Eden.  There’s significance that there’s Cherubim now on top of the Ark of the Covenant.  God is restoring  his people.  And his creation to himself. He’s taking back what sin has captured.  But in how the cherubim are designed, if you look there,  their wings go forward touching each other.

And isn’t it interesting what God said  in verse 22 of the mercy seat. We’re told that it was going to be the place where God would come and speak with you, that is Moses, about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.  The mercy seat has been described as a throne.  This is where God takes his seat.

This is where God rules his people from.  And so this is the place, as it were, where he sits on his throne, in the midst of the people, with his servant Moses.  So that Moses will hear what the commandments of God are for the people.  And so truly God is ruling and reigning from the very heart of the tabernacle, in the very center of the camp,  with everyone’s doors facing, the door of everyone’s tent facing the tabernacle, so that they would be sure who their true God and true king would be.

All too often, I think as we look at the mercy seat, it seems that it’s just  Nice decoration,  but its significance is so important  because in Hebrew the word translated in the ASV, which I’ve read from this evening as mercy seat is Kippurit, which refers to atonement or reconciliation.  And so it’s related to the root word for cover.

God pledged to meet his people at the mercy seat again,  not as a whole congregation, but with their representative.  And it was a place of atonement, reconciliation, and for covering.  This is God’s place. This is God’s seat. No one can kick him off it. No one can usurp him from it.  This is where he rules, and this is where he reigns.

And it’s the fact that on one day of the year, on the day of atonement, the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat to atone for the nation’s sins. And that’s what we learn in Leviticus 16. And since the lid and the winged cherubim covered the ark, and the ten commandments within, the idea is that the blood of the atoning sacrifice is sprinkled on the mercy seat,  Israel’s sins, they’re violations of the law, shielding the people from God’s wrath.

That’s its significance. It is the place where God commands his people, but it is also the place where the sacrificial blood is presented to God so that his wrath can be settled as the blood sacrifice is brought before him.  And notice, What the imagery is.  The wings, not only are a throne, but they’re a covering.

The root word in the Greek, or sorry, in the Hebrew,  covering. What’s underneath those wings? At this point, it’s the Ten Commandments.  Shielding the people from God’s wrath because of their breaking of the law. God has always been a God of forgiveness of sins.  The forgiveness of sins has always been by blood.

The blood of an animal sacrificed then, the blood of Jesus Christ now.  And what is the application for today? What do we learn from all of this as we finish this evening? In part one of this series, we acknowledge that the purpose of the tabernacle, the whole reason why God gave it, was so that God would be able to dwell with his people.

And as he was in the middle, the people would be confronted.  They had no choice but to acknowledge Him as their God because He was there. But as we know, just because you acknowledge God doesn’t mean that you’re doing it in your heart. And that’s what God always wanted from His people. He wanted them to love Him from their heart  so that they would gladly follow His best ways for them.

And in all of the furniture of the camp, in everything that would be designed, and everything that this picture shows us.  of  lampstands, of the table of showbread, of the altar that would be in the court, of the colors, and what would be engraved or, sorry, stitched into the curtains. It is the Ark of the Covenant that takes central place, because its significance is, of course, that one day in the year when the blood would be sprinkled.

Remember, this is the first thing God commands.  What does he command it for?  He commands it for salvation.  There’s a Redeemer.  There’s someone  who redeems the people. As we sung in Mission Praise 673, the Redeemer we know in this day is Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son, whose blood was shed for us. And so as the people would depend on this arc of the covenant to, to be the place where their sins would be forgiven and God’s wrath would be settled.

So we look to Christ,  we look to Him as the Lamb of God who was slain for us.  And that’s significant, and I know we know this.  But I wonder how much it influences us every single day. One  of the key terms in scripture we read about is sanctification.  Sanctification is that ongoing work of the Spirit of God to fashion and to shape us into the people that God desires us to be.

It happens day and daily.  Sanctification isn’t something reserved for a quick paragraph in a sermon, maybe once a year at a Sunday service.  Our sanctification should be in our minds every single day,  as God is making us ready  to meet him in eternity.  And it’s all because of the blood of Jesus.  Our daily sins are forgiven because of the blood of Jesus.

We are sanctified by the sprinkling of that blood,  that God looks on his Son and looks not on us.  And so we go free. The position of the Ark in the Holy of Holies and its purpose tells us that we cannot meet the Lord unafraid unless our sin has been covered by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The Ark of the Covenant was an old covenant picture of this truth and informed the Israelites that a right relationship with God comes at a cost.

And many people today think that they can be at peace with God apart from an atoning sacrifice. That they can be spiritual, that they can enjoy the singing, that they can even be baptized by simply saying, I want to be baptized.  But if they don’t know that there is an atoning sacrifice for them, and that atoning sacrifice being Jesus Christ, then they can never know salvation.

They can never be saved. And this is what 1st John chapter 2 and verses 1 to 3 tells us.  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.  Just as a side on that verse if you look there towards the end, the last few words of that penultimate sentence, he is the propitiation of our sins and not for ours. only, but also for the sins of the whole world. People have taken that out of context and said, then everyone’s saved.

Universalism. Christ died for everyone. Therefore, no one is going to go to hell. Everyone is going to go to heaven. That’s not what that term means. It’s talking about the world in terms of history. It’s not just for the world at that time, but it’s for all of human history. He’s died for those throughout human history who will come to him, not as a blanket where everyone is saved.

And the purpose of this verse is to assure us of that ongoing work of Christ.  Sanctification. That as we know salvation in him, so day and daily, we have that knowledge of the forgiveness of sins. And  so the close association of the ark where God was present and the law shows that we cannot separate the presence of God from the moral will of God.

If we do not have a desire to obey the Lord’s commands, we are not in a right relationship with Him. If we love Him, we will want to keep His commandments. We’re not going to do this perfectly, of course we know that, but we should be striving for it.  And so we rest only in Christ. For our salvation,  but in love of Christ, we will want to obey God and what is his best for us.

And that’s why for me it’s important and there’s no time to do it in the morning service. But  it’s important for me in an evening service that we have assurance of the forgiveness of sins.  That we look to God’s word and we hear from God, where He says that our sins are forgiven.  I can’t do it. No human can do it.

It is only God who can forgive, but it is all because of sin. of Jesus Christ.  So how do we think a little bit more about this as we finish? If the whole purpose of the Ark of the Covenant was to be God’s presence with the people, how do you know God’s presence with you today? How do you know it?  And we can  put this blanket I just know it.

Yes, you might just know it, but there are practical ways.  It might be in how we pray.  That as we pray we don’t do all the talking. We have pauses in our prayers where we wait on the Lord.  Where he will speak to us.  As we recall his word, as we recall his truths, on what perhaps we have just prayed for.

So what are the practical examples?  Maybe it is singing the truths in our songs and our hymns and our psalms that teach us something more about God that through music  our hearts bubble over with the love that we have for him.  So how do you know the presence of God with you today?  Secondly, we no longer need a mercy seat because Jesus has shed his blood for us once and for all.

How is this good news for you?  How is that sanctification good news for you? And it’s not just about being saved from hell.  There’s more to salvation. Salvation is not the get out of jail free card. There’s more to it than simply knowing you’re not going to hell. So what is it?  And then, if we’re called to share this good news, how can we share it with others?

How can we share this truth that Christ died  for us so that we do not need to die for our own sins?  And then thirdly, that, that generic question that gets shaped differently every week. How can greater understanding of the Ark of the Covenant draw you closer to God as you live for him?  I can tell you one way that it’s not, and it’s not by watching Raiders of the Lost Ark,  but looking at its symbolism.

Looking what it pointed to Christ, but looking to what it points to in eternity.

How can greater understanding of this piece of furniture draw you closer to God as you live for Him?  It’s not there by accident,  and it’s not the first thing by accident.  It is significant  because it shows us that God has always been there. a God of eternal salvation.  So let’s pray as we finish this evening.

Our Father God, we do thank you for  your word that gives us measurements, tells us about materials and tools and how things are to be fashioned.  And Father, we thank you for the faithfulness of your people who made it exactly as you designed it.  And thank you for its significance. Thank you for what it teaches us about your people, what it teaches us about Christ, and what it teaches us about our future.

So as we learn from it, as we think of its application for us today, its very being was to be your presence among your people. Father, thank you that you are with us. Thank you that your Holy Spirit moves among us, that your Spirit is the presence with us today. And so we pray that we will be more attentive to your Spirit.

as you lead us in your ways both now  and in preparation for eternity.  So as we think on these things, may we continue to be drawn to you, our Lord and Savior, and we ask it all in Jesus name.