The Tabernacle – Part 6

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 6 we go beyond the Tabernacle tent and look at the pictures in the Tabernacle court. From the design of the permitter fence to the altar and the basin for washing, each communicate that worship is by God’s design. When we approach God in worship we come on His terms. Today we still need to make appropriate preparations for our public worship of God. As the psalmist tells us in Psalm 24 we must have clean hands and a pure heart.

Transcript

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been looking at the tabernacle. I don’t know if you took the opportunity to go through your handouts. Of course, as a good student, you would say yes, you did. So we’ll now get the quiz out and see how well you can answer some of the questions. Maybe that’s how we’ll finish.

Maybe we’ll have a quiz and let the teacher and me come out again. We’ve two more nights after this and that’s it. We’re going to make this an eight part series. How the next nights are going to go,  everything as we discover tonight is significant, if we haven’t already picked up on that with the tabernacle, it’s all significant and so one part of scripture, because we’re going to do a wee bit of jumping around this evening, we’re going to skip a few chapters at a certain part, but we will come back to them, because as much as the furniture of the tabernacle was important.

And as we’ll see tonight, as much as the fixtures of the court or the courtyard were important, so too how the priests would be dressed would be important. And that’s where we’ll go next week, looking at the priests who served in the tabernacle and in the tabernacle courts.  What did it mean for them to serve before the Lord?

And then the final night is, we’ll finish, there’s still an altar of incense to be looked at.  But then we’re going to look and see what is the real significance of the tabernacle? How do we piece it all together to understand its significance to us today? That it’s not just something there in Exodus as an historical account,  but actually it has relevance for us today.

And that’s where we’ll try and tidy everything up in a nice bow for us as we finish in two weeks time. So that’s where we’re at  this evening. We’re going to begin in Exodus 27.  and verses 1 to 19.  So do turn up there, Exodus 27, verses 1 to 19. This is going to be the bulk of what we’re going to look at, and then we’ll skip across a few chapters to look at something else this evening as we finish.

But this is where we’ll begin. So Exodus 27, and beginning at verse  And so the Lord says to Moses, You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.  And you shall make horns for it on its four corners. Its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels, and basins, and forks, and firepans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar, so that the net extends halfway down the altar.

And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. You shall make it hollow with boards.  As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

You shall make the court of the tabernacle.  On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen, a hundred cupids long for one side. Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise for its length on the north side.

There shall be hangings a hundred cupids long, its pillars twenty, and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.  And for the breadth of the court on the west side, there shall be hangings of, sorry, hangings for fifty cupids, with ten pillars and ten bases.

The breadth of the court on the front of the to the east shall be fifty cubits. The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and three bases. On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and three bases.  For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen embroidered with needlework.

It shall have four pillars and with them four bases. All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver and their bases of bronze. The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze.

All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court shall be of bronze. Amen. This is the word of God.  So having spent so much time looking at the inside of the tabernacle, we’re now going to look at what the whole complex was like. So we’ve spent a lot of time in here.

We’ve still one more to do. The The incense that was there but we’re now going to take a look outside and what the rest of this whole area was to look like. And really, there in the first paragraph,  This is really the overview of what this is like. The tabernacle courtyard was 150 feet, 46 meters long and 75 feet, 23 meters wide, totaling 11, 250 square feet, which is 1, 045 square meters.

That’s the kind of space we’re talking about. Now that comes from the ESV study bible, so they’ve done their work and measuring it all out and that’s what they have said it looks like.  And so as we come to this outer court, there’s a lot of space.  Because the first thing we have to we have to learn about this place is, where this was the no go area, this was the place where the people could go.

They could enter in, because they would have to present whatever they were presenting to be offered on to the Lord, and they would have to stand there and see it, and at times they, as well as the priests, might have to eat of the meat that was cooked as a sign of what they presented. And really, that’s where the people, the focus of the people would be on this altar.

And that’s where we’re going to begin with the bronze altar.  And as I said just a few minutes ago, everything as significant as it was within the tent. has its significance outside of the tent.  And to understand why this is important, we have to remember that really this is the first,  this is the first instruction for that  worship of the people coming to, to present unto the Lord.

And Leviticus will give more of that. Remember this is still a time where the people are being brought together as a social community, but also as a holy community, a spiritual community. There’s been sacrifices done, the first being in Genesis 3, whenever Adam and Eve sinned,  and of course they had to be covered because they knew they were naked, and to get the skin that was needed an animal had to be killed.

A sacrifice had to be made so that their shame would be covered, and they get a very physical picture of the sin that they had. And so that was the account of the first sacrifice.  An animal having to be killed for Adam and Eve so that they would not be naked. The second sacrifice then was of course Cain and Abel.

They were asked to present to the Lord the best and it was that sacrifice where Abel took the best of his animal of the flock in Genesis 4 and chapter 4.  Then going on to Abraham. We know, of course, the test. Abraham and Isaac. Isaac was on the altar. Everything was ready to go. The Lord says, Stop.  And so that Isaac could come down from the altar, a ram was provided as a sacrifice onto the Lord with a sweet aroma.

And, of course, that wasn’t just the smell of the animal, but it was The faithfulness on Abraham’s part.  And then, the moment before we get to the Sinai Peninsula, where the people now are, they had to sacrifice a lamb whose blood would be spread on the lintel of the door, so that the angel of death would pass by, knowing that was a house where a lamb had been slaughtered and offered, so that the firstborn would live.

So we can see the picture being formed, but now this is the formalizing of it. It’s now the people’s responsibility to bring their sacrifices and their offerings onto the Lord. And so now it’s time for an altar, not a makeshift one that could be put up and left as a memorial or pulled down again, but one that would stay.

And look at its proximity to where it is. It’s there. You come into the gate and it’s there. And what do you see beyond it? You see the tabernacle, that tent of meeting, where as you would go in, of course the people couldn’t go in, but as the priest would go in they would have those instruments there that they needed and then on the day of atonement once a year, the high priest in behind the veil to spread the blood on the mercy seat.

So that sacrifice would be the atonement for the sin of the people.  And animals there, in that second paragraph. These animal sacrifices would continue in Israel once the Old Covenant was sealed. This was going to be their continued practice. And as the book of Leviticus tells us, it’s very clear as to what each of those sacrifices are for and what purpose there are.

And yes, the Day of Atonement was once a year. But there would be daily sacrifices. Not that you had to go every day, but because of the number of the people of Israel, this would be a constant. There would never be a moment where this, during daylight hours, this altar would not be used, because people would be bringing different offerings, grain offerings, thank offerings, different offerings onto the Lord for different reasons.

Be they large animals or simple as doves, the Lord always made sure that whatever the people had was enough.  for them to approach him.  And I guess that’s what’s also striking about the courtyard of the tabernacle. This is a place where the people now can approach the Lord. And as they would come in to this place, This is what they would see.

They would see this square box, as it were, this altar, under which the fires would be lit, and then the meat would be on top, and everything. Did you notice the utensils that were there? The shovels and the basins and the net. Everything there to catch everything. So because this was going to be busy and so it had to be sure that it would be dealt with quickly so the next sacrifices could be brought, that there would never be a delay in everything happening.

We become familiar with acacia wood, that’s what it was made of, and it was covered in bronze. Remember the further away from the holy of holies or the most holy place where everything was gold. The further away you get, you go to silver and you go to bronze. And so here the altar is bronze and that’s what it’s made of.

Now the interesting thing in this picture is it’s horns.  And this is significant because we do hear of these horns later on in the Old Testament.  And these horns are very practical, most likely. They stopped anything going over by accident, because of course it had to be on the altar. Anything that fell off the altar became unclean, and so it just helped keep things on the altar.

But there is an account in 1 Kings chapter 1 where Adonijah,  who was setting himself up as king because he saw David’s  old age and frailty, he runs to the altar and clings to it. And he won’t budge from it.

And this is what we read there in 1 Kings 1 verses 49 to 53, just some of of that passage. Sorry, it’s Solomon who’ll forgive him. Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose to heaven. and each went his own way, and Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.

Then it was told Solomon, Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon. For behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.  Two things to notice in this. First of all, what we’re reading here in the Sinai Peninsula continues.

This practice of tabernacle continues throughout the period of the wilderness years, Joshua, the period of the judges, King Saul, and King David.  This is not just something that happens and then drifts off into history in obscurity. This tabernacle and its court continues to be the center of worship for the people of Israel until Solomon builds the temple.

Second thing, Adonijah is actually not doing a bad thing,  because he’s showing us exactly what this altar is for.  Adonijah is running to the altar for salvation.  He doesn’t want to be cut down by Solomon, because Solomon had every right. Solomon was a rightful heir to the throne. Adonijah was not. Solomon could have easily got rid of him.

And where does  Adonijah run? He runs to the place where salvation is, to the tabernacle, to the altar, because it’s on the altar that the sacrifice takes place. Is given  and makes atonement  for the sins or for whatever it may be  for the person to the Lord. He actually runs to the very place of salvation.

And by the way, how that story finishes in 1 Kings is Solomon does indeed spare Adonijah’s life. Now it’s not because of the altar, it’s not because there’s some deep religious activity in Adonijah, but simply because he proves himself a worthy man. That’s what scripture says about that passage.

But the significance is the symbolism of the altar. As the animal sacrifice on the altar saves Israelites from sin. So here it is the place of salvation for Adonijah. I’ve mentioned it already, but they had to make the pots, they had to make the pans. There was no hardware store to go and pick these things up from.

And so everything had to be ordered and organized. for this to happen well because it was such a place that it was always busy and always kept going. And so given the reality of sin,  this needed to be something that could be moved and that’s why we have poles in it, much like the table of showbread, so it could be carried whenever the people moved on and could be immediately put in place because as soon as it was, it would have been lit and people would have come to make atonement for their sins before the Lord.

And we do live in a different time. And you might say, it must have been great because it just must have been this perpetual barbecue. We’re getting into the summer season. I don’t know, you’ve probably all smelt your first cut of grass. You maybe haven’t smelt your first barbecue, maybe this weekend, who knows.

But you know the smell, it’s so good. If you like a barbecue, there’s nothing quite like the smell of a barbecue.  This, as we know, was a pleasing aroma unto the Lord.  And it’s in the New Testament that we continue to hear of this pleasing aroma. We  don’t know exactly how this happened, how these sacrifices were brought, what the priests exactly did.

We’re given a list of what they did, but how did it work out on a day to day basis as they moved camp and set up again? We genuinely don’t know. What we do know is that the sacrifices in the Old Testament point us to the New Testament.  We do not offer repeated sacrifices as the people had to do, because we have had the once for all sacrifice in Jesus Christ.

The Lamb of God who was slain for us, not on an altar of fire, but on a cross,  where blood was shed.  The innocent put on a cross. so that we could know atonement for our sins. And our response to that is what we read in Romans 12 verse 1. We may not have to offer up  a sacrifice weekly or regularly, but we’d offer up ourselves because Paul writes there,  I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship.

See, God still requires an offering.  His son was offered for our salvation, but he also requires us to offer ourselves, not to earn our salvation, but to prove our salvation.  That we will live his way so that we will know our faith to be genuine, saving faith.  As we know God more because we offer our whole lives to him and every act of service that we do.

So the significance of the altar is that, yes, Christ on the cross is our sacrifice. But as Paul says here in Romans 12, we are to continue to present our bodies as living sacrifice.  Living for Him, proving that  our salvation and our faith through Christ alone is genuine and good.  So let’s move on to the next part.

And we move on to the Bronze Basin.  Now, little is known about the Bronze Basin. Of all of the things that we’re presented with, we know very little of how it was to be structured. So And so the books that I’ve been using haven’t been so specific and they’ve been given different ideas. So here on the screen you have a very bad picture because it’s quite literally the big picture you have on page three zoomed up and you can see it’s almost like a cup, it’s got a wide base and then it has a basin for the water to be in.

Others have designed it like this, the significance being that not only were the priests to wash their hands but they also had to wash their feet. I remember as a child, washing your feet, you had to swing your leg up, put it in the sink. I don’t think maybe a priest could do that. So maybe this is more as to what it was like, where there would be a basin at the bottom for the priests to put their feet in and to wash those, as well as hands on top, with a basin on top.

We simply don’t know. They were given artistic license here in how we read the text.  And so we actually have to jump across to chapter 30 to find out what’s going on. What we need to know about the Bronze Basin. And there we have it in verses 17 through to verse 21. I’m just going to read these few verses there in Exodus 30, beginning at verse 17.

The Lord said to Moses, You shall also make a basin of bronze with its stand of bronze for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar. and you shall put water in it,  with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.  When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die.

They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.  So this is a bit of an idea of what this basin is about. Do you see the lack of detail? We just get its purpose. It’s to wash hands and feet.

And we’ll come to think of what that that means, and  whenever you look at what it means to come before God, and we can all think of different passages, and we’ll certainly come to probably the most famous of them all about cleanliness, and, we’ve probably all heard the old adage, cleanliness is next to godliness, actually it turns out there’s a bit of truth to that.

Because the priests could not enter the tabernacle unless they were clean.  Nor could they offer sacrifices that were holy unless they were clean.  And so cleanliness was something that had to be done by those mediators between man and God.  Not only was it a physical cleanliness, it was also to point to something within.

And of course, that is,  And cleanliness is a major concern in the law of God because you’ll know in the book of Leviticus different people who cannot be near the camp or be near the people of God or don’t have access to certain aspects of Jewish communal life because of their uncleanness.  And so washing here is the one that’s pointed out for the priests.

The bronze basin stood there between the altar and the tent.  Symbolizing, you can see the logic in it, but you can also see the theology in it. The people can approach, but they can only get as far as the altar.  The basin was required so that the priests could move further, so that they would be clean. The people could not, because remember, as nice as the curtains were, they weren’t allowed into the tent of meeting, and they certainly, no one but the high priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies with the cherubim embroidered on the veil before it.

So Exodus 21, tells us that all they had to do was make a basin of bronze. How and what it looked like, as I say, we do not know, but what they would have to do is pour the water over their hands, over their feet, and then dry themselves with towels.  Probably the exact practice of washing varied from time to time.

Again, we don’t have specifics on how it was done, but as the generations changed, or as seasons got busy, or indeed just simply the change of seasons it probably varied, but they had to be clean before they could enter into the Lord. And did you see the severity of why they had to be?  There in verses 20 and 21, we were told on two occasions that they had to do this so that they may not die.

So when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash the water. Why? Wash with water so they will not die. And they shall wash their hands and their feet so that they may not die.  God’s telling them and us something here.

And here the connections of dirt with sin and cleanliness with purity are important  because the pollution of physical uncleanliness is often used as a metaphor for spiritual impurity. So the removal of dirt from the body was a way to portray what was necessary of an inward renewal before the Lord, which of course for the people was their offering on the sacrifice.

on the altar. But for God’s priests, those mediators,  they would have to go more and show the physical cleanliness. And that’s what developed,  whenever we talk of baptism in the Old Testament, that’s what developed this idea of pools where there were steps going in with a dividing wall on the steps and there would be a wee door under the water that as you went down, you were unclean and you went through the waters of baptism and you went under the wee door and came up again through the clean waters to prove you were cleansed.

You, you quite literally had a  submersive bathing experience. You were washed clean.  And the Jews would have had to have done this, particularly as we come to the time of Jerusalem and the temple and the second temple, Herod’s temple. We know that this practice was there of going down and in and up again to show cleanliness, not once, but.

But as often as was needed to demonstrate a cleanness from sin.  And this is what God has taught his people. Because as we move into the Psalms and those great songs, Psalm 51 sings of this cleanliness, where we read in verses 2 to 3, Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,  and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Then verse 7 says purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

So there you have this, even at the time of David,  an acknowledgment that we need to be clean, not just outside, but inside. And so the worship of God deserves the best that we can offer, both physically and spiritually.  Now, I’m not talking here about  dress code. I’m not talking about that  conversation.

Because external cleanliness is nothing without spiritual purity.  We can be the cleanest we’ve ever been, bath night, Saturday night as a child. We all remember that with your Sunday go to church suit and that had to be worn and that was proof. But if your heart wasn’t pure, if your heart wasn’t cleansed then what was the point?

Because ultimately that’s what the Lord is looking for. Remember what we were thinking about on Sunday evening, man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks. No,  I’m not saying that people should turn up to church in a state of undress or dirty clothes or things like that. There is a preparedness of approaching the worship of God.

Of course there is, there has to be. But it’s not just about the physical appearance. It’s also about the physical practice.  Are we jumping out of bed at 10 past 11? I don’t think anyone here in front of me is. Jumping out of bed 10 past 11, lifting whatever and running out through the door.

Where’s the preparedness in that?  To approach the Lord and worship of him.  See our hearts and minds must be washed clean of sin, so that we can dedicate ourselves properly to the Lord, in our acts of worship, particularly public acts of worship.  And so ultimately only the blood of Jesus can give us such cleanness and as we read in 1st John chapter 1 verse 7,  but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us  from all sin.

It’s probably one of the failings of the Victorian church  that focused on what was outward and didn’t deal with what was inside.  I hope the church in this generation doesn’t make the same mistake.  That we look at the heart and look for that discipleship growth in Christ.  Because ultimately that’s what the people were doing.

They were presenting an animal and it had all the outward looking appearances But unless their heart was clean,  because what have we looked at as well in 1st Samuel? Sacrifices I do not require, but what I require is a heart  that is loving of me.  So even the sacrifices weren’t it was the heart, the attitude, and the approach of God.

And so this basin teaches us  that worship is truly by God’s design. What this whole series is called,  he’s designed it that we would be prepared to meet him.  Not just by external sacrifices that were needed and that shedding of blood for atonement to be made,  but inwardly. that we have dealt seriously with sin so that we may be clean internally,  enabling us to worship him through his spirit and in the power of the spirit  and know the blessing of that worship of him.

Let’s move to the final part for this evening  and we’re looking at the Tabernacle Courtyard. So this is the whole campus itself, there it is there, looking at the At all of this, what does it mean to have all of this space? The space was there because people were going to be there, so you needed it.

I don’t know if they came in and In family groupings, was there 10 at a time, 50 at a time? But space was needed. There were animals, loud animals, big animals, all needing to be dealt with.  And so space was needed for all of this.  So not every Jew or Israelite could enter the tabernacle. It was only the priests who would bring in what was needed to present it before the Lord on behalf of the people.

But it was a demonstration that people could approach God. God.  And there’s a few things here. The complex itself described for us in those verses 9 to 19. And what the passage does is it tells us that the courtyard was enclosed by a fence of fine linen curtains. And actually when we come to look at how the priests were dressed, We see that linen is one of the most significant items used for the priests.

And so here it is here. It’s a covering, really, for the tabernacle so that there wasn’t access, that no one could run through the curtain as if it was the church hall stage and go surprise.  This was done so that people would know the significance, not only of the material, but also the significance of approaching the tabernacle and the courtyard.

So in modern measurements, the dimensions, as we said, were 150 feet long, 70 feet wide, and the border was about seven and a half feet high.  So the tabernacle proper was about 15 feet tall, so it was visible. People could see it rising above the curtain, but that’s as close as they could get, unless they were bringing something in to be offered onto the Lord there on the altar.

The pillars, probably made of acacia wood, held up the curtains, and they, that made the courtyard fence, and these then pillars were inserted into bronze. Bases that had silver hooks for the curtains, bronze going into the earth, silver because it was a reminder that there was something in this that you were close to God, but just not close enough.

This is as far as you could come and no more.  Now, the interesting thing is, and again, this is the connection. As you look at this look at,  and you have it there on your handout, but the colors of the curtains match exactly the colors of the tabernacle entrance. And of course the veil. The only difference is these two have fine embroidery on them.

The cherubim was embroidered onto the veil so that no one could pass through.  No Israelite could pass through these, only Aaron’s family and the priests, but all people could access through these and again the significance of the colors, purple and scarlet,  gold embroidered.  approaching royalty. This was the color of royalty.

This was the color that people recognized of the sovereign.  And so they were coming to worship their sovereign god.  And the curtain served as a gate of the courtyard, probably closed at night, but kept open during the day so that worshippers could come and go.  And so this courtyard, as whenever we look at the temple structure as well and the different courts within the temple, this courtyard provided limited access to God’s presence.

And this is what John Calvin talks about in terms of theological significance for Israelites being able to enter the courtyard, but not the tabernacle.  John Calvin says  it is the court of the people, which is here referred to, where they consecrated the victims,  offered their prayers, and were reconciled to God.

Now, victims are animals, by the way, just in case anyone thought anything more than that.  In this manner, the condition of mankind was shown to the Israelites by their being forbidden to enter the temple. Tabernacle  whilst at the same time they were reminded that men although unworthy outcasts are received by God if only they seek him simply and with due humility mindful of their own unworthiness.

Even though that’s quite old,  almost 500 years, it’s not a bad summary  of what’s going on here.  Because actually you might think God says no you can’t come this far but I’m not He allows you this far  and such grace that he allows humankind to approach him in this way.  God is giving them access  so that because he shows his desire that all people would draw near to him.

They can’t be in his presence. That’s just not possible because they would be consumed.  But they can get as close as they can get  so that they can know God as their own. And he has provided us with greater access to himself under the new covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ. So we are to take advantage of our privilege to draw near to him in prayer and fellowship through Christ.

And God wants to be close to us because he tells us in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19 through to 22. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near,  and listen to this again, with a true heart and full assurance of faith,  With our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our body and our bodies washed with pure water if you knew Hebrews 10 before this, you now know it even more because look at the language of Hebrews 10 compared to the language of the Temple court.

You have it all there. The curtain that has now been able to pass through because of Jesus.  The flesh that would have been on the sacrifice at the altar has been paid for by Christ. We have a great high priest, that is Jesus, who intercedes for us. And so because of him, we have no curtain with the cherubim on it to stop us, but we can draw near.

But where is the sincerity? It’s in the heart. with a true heart and full assurance of faith, and how our hearts, they’re sprinkled clean. How would the people’s sins atone for? The sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat, and from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  I can’t do anything more.

The picture paints itself.  God had it planned. Every step of the way points us to Christ. And what God’s design for worship is.  I think this is wonderful. I think the pictures that we’re getting here in Exodus.  open our minds even more to who Jesus is,  and tells us exactly who God is, and how we are to engage with him through worship, and knowing him as the God of our salvation.

So how do we finish for this evening? What’s the application for today? It may seem that the details of the Tabernacle Courant aren’t relevant. in God’s design of worship. We might think God just said do this, and that’s okay. It was just their practice. But look at the significance, because each part of the tabernacle as a whole, that whole temple court,  is dependent on the other parts.

You see the logic of it? You see the theology of it? The priests can’t move beyond one part until they’ve done another part. And each is inextricably linked.  The blood from the animal sacrificed on the altar, as I said, would be sprinkled on the mercy seat to make atonement for sin, and before entering the tabernacle, the priests had to cleanse themselves, demonstrating the necessity of even they needing to be right.

And this does continue for us today. Even though we don’t offer animal sacrifices, nor do we undertake rituals of cleaning or cleansing,  but we are received by God through the blood of His Son, Jesus.  That blood that is sprinkled on our hearts, that blood that was sacrificed on Calvary. And this doesn’t mean that we can approach God in a manner  unworthy of our calling.

We are to worship him with sincerity. And as we come to worship, particularly public worship, we should be in the right frame of heart and mind. And the psalmist tells us in Psalm 23 and verse 4,  Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully.

We’ve sung it, we’ve studied it, but this is what the Lord requires of us. To be cleansed by Christ,  so that we will be renewed  and able to worship God because of him and through him.  And as we finish with that final image of that, that curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle court, It shows us that God welcomes us.

He delights in our worship,  but it is on his terms.  These terms aren’t arduous, but they’re loving  and they’re merciful.  The ritual is gone, but it doesn’t mean any less a practice  of holy habits that we develop in how we worship God. When we worship the creator of all things, the one who gives life and the savior.

Questions to think about. How seriously do you take your approach to worship of God? How do you ensure that, as the psalmist says, you have clean hands and a pure heart? How do you do that?  I would argue that three minutes before a service isn’t enough.  Your preparation for worship needs to be before you even get there.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Not who may sit in the pew, but who may ascend.  And, ever since I’ve come here, I’ve always appreciated A meeting house on a hill.  I’m not saying we’re the New Jerusalem, there’s something about going up. Particularly if you live at the bottom of Main Street, it’s a long way to go up.

But for each and every one of us, we either go up the ramp at the back, or we come up the steps.  Or we go up Allen Hills Hill to park and then make our way.  How do we approach that? Before we even leave home, how seriously do we take the approach to God and worship of him every time we gather for public worship?

Secondly, what changes do you need to make so that you can approach God in a better frame of mind  and attitude of heart? Because that’s what it’s about.  That’s what the psalmist said. Clean hands and a pure heart.  So our mind and our heart. Mindful of what we’ve done, what we’ve done with our hands.

Mindful of how our heart is.  I’ve been in very rural congregations, farming congregations, where 90 percent of the families are farmers and someone’s sitting over there because someone else is sitting over there and the two couldn’t even walk past each other.  That’s not the approach, the right approach for worship.

And so we have to be thinking about what do we need to do to make sure we are right? It’s, it may not simply be a time of prayer and preparation of scripture reading at home.  It might need to be during the week seeking out how we approach someone so that as we’re in the same building together  we can worship together.

Otherwise, it’s not true worship.  And then finally that third catch all question. How can greater understanding of the tabernacle court and its fixtures draw you closer to God as you live for him? You will, in your own way, figure out the significance of all of these items.  And you’ll start to tie up the knots that are there that show us what God’s design for worship is.

But it’s not just simply about painting a bigger picture. It’s understanding how we live that picture today. So as we finish this evening, let me pray for us as we seek to put this into practice.  Our Father God, we thank you that again as we learn about what seems to be insignificant things in the tabernacle.

Particularly in the outside area of the courtyard.  Father, thank you that they show us what your design for worship is.  How you desire us to have clean hands and a pure heart.  How you desire us to offer ourselves in sacrifice before you.  So help us to know how we do that better. How we approach, how we ascend the hill that leads us up to the place of worship where we find ourselves on Sundays.

Of course, that’s not the only place where we worship, but it is the public place.  So help us to know how we worship you well and how we worship you better.  Give us courage to take the steps that we need to take to make sure we are right before you,  that we may worship you in spirit and in truth.  So hear this, our prayer, Father, as we respond to your word.

In Jesus name.  Amen.