In 1922, Archeologist Howard Carter discovered an entrance to an Egyptian tomb. A sealed doorway. And on the doorway was the seal of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Most tombs have been plundered and robbed long ago but this one was nearly pristine. Behind that door were treasures beyond their wildest imagination. It was the discovery of the century.
This morning we are also going on a discovery with much more behind the gate than gold. Turn with me to the book of Exodus 25:1-9…
One third of the book of Exodus is devoted to one subject – the Tabernacle. That fact alone should cause us to take notice. It was a very important object. Why is that? Because it was the key to worship. It was to be the center of their lives. It was the place where every Israelite had access to God and had contact with God.
Think about what is at the center of YOUR life? I see during the past two weeks many fans around Mankato. I’m just guessing – but I wouldn’t be surprised that for many of them, the Vikings are at the center. But there are many things that can be at the center. It can be our job or our family or our own body. But God wants to be at the center.
Well, for Israel, the Tabernacle was at the center. And here as we read about it we discover that the Tabernacle was the key to approaching and worshiping God. Now imagine if you are an Israelite and you have broken God’s Law and seek forgiveness.
GATE
First of all you enter through the gate. There is only one way into the area of worship. No back door. No side door. There is one way to God and that is through the altar.
ALTAR
And you enter with an animal in your care. You could come with a sheep or a goat but you could also come with something smaller like a pigeon or something larger like a bull. But you come with your sacrifice because you can have no access to the Father without a sacrifice made for your sins. The altar is in the way! So you confess your sins and the animal is sacrificed in YOUR place. There MUST be a payment for sins.
Leviticus 17:14 says this amazing principle of God: “for as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life.” Blood represents life – it has great value to God.
But when we sin what happens to our blood? It becomes polluted. Our whole life is filled with the pollution of sin and God will not and cannot receive us because he is holy.
Therefore what was the solution to this problem? Leviticus 17:11 says this “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” Hebrews 9:22 states it plainly: “all things are cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
So when people from the Old Testament times wanted to cleanse their polluted body from sin, they would bring before God a substitute – an innocent animal whose blood was pure and that animal would die in the place of the person coming to worship. The blood of that animal would be shed and collected and sprinkled on the altar outside in the courtyard. And God would be satisfied.
THE LAVER - CLEANSING
A second part of this whole process of entering into the worship of the Tabernacle was the laver. It also stands in the way of access to the place of worship – if you were entering with the sacrifice, you are not yet at the tabernacle. These two elements stand in the way.
The laver was a bronze basin filled with water. It was absolutely crucial in this whole process of sacrifices because the priests needed to be clean in order to make sacrifices for the people. The Old Testament tells us that they were to wash their hands and their feet before any sacrifices were made and before any of them went into the Tabernacle. (Exo. 30:19-20) Cleansing was necessary before entering into God’s presence.
So once the sacrifice was made and the priests had followed the rules for cleansing, then you had access to the worship of God. In the Old Testament, you would not be allowed into the tabernacle itself (only priests were) but you would embraced by the Lord and he would receive your worship.
Why am I going into all this detail? Why is it so important to understand this? Because the tabernacle is the key for Old Testament worship AND for New Testament worship. No – don’t misunderstand me – I’m NOT saying that we should start sacrificing animals and set up a whole sacrificial system. But the tabernacle is a pattern for our worship of God.
Turn with me to Exodus 25:9 “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” The Tabernacle was built on the basis of a pattern.
Last winter Peter and I worked on a WWII model airplane. It was very elaborate and demanded a lot of work. We would have been lost had we not followed the directions exactly as they were stated. The instructions were the pattern for building the plane and after we were done what did we have? A beautiful model! Did we build the actual plane? No, of course not! It doesn’t fly. It’s a small replica. It looks very much like the real thing from 60 years ago.
Now this is exactly the situation with the Tabernacle. God gave Moses the pattern of how to build it when he was on Mount Sinai. And then Moses followed the directions exactly and built what God had showed him. What did he have in the end? A model! A copy! A miniature!
Listen to what God says in Hebrews 9:23-24 “Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”
Do you hear what the Scripture tells us? The tabernacle was made with hands – a mere copy of heavenly things. It was a copy of the real place of worship which is heaven. God gave the Israelites a copy of heaven where they could go and worship Him. What a blessing!
And so when you read in Exodus about the Tabernacle, you will see that all the instructions for building come directly from God. Moses didn’t make it up. No earthly artist or architect designed it. It was directly given by God because he alone knew heaven.
It also means that every part of the Tabernacle tells us something about worship. It has incredible significance for us! Imagine what we can learn about worship when we study the tabernacle! Inside was a lampstand and a table for bread and an altar of incense. What insight can we gain about God and his glory from these parts of the Tabernacle? Friends, this isn’t just for ancient times but a picture for us today as well. What an amazing gift for us!
Picture the Tabernacle like a Boeing 747 which is flying to Europe. Not everyone is going to get on that plane. Not everyone can afford to spend over a thousand dollars on a ticket – cost is one of the main deterrents. Another is the fear of flying. We might crash.
So not everyone is going to turn to God. Not everyone is willing to do what it takes to go to heaven. Some doubt they are good enough. Others fear what their life will be like if they become a Christian. So, unfortunately, very few even try to get on board.
But for those who do, what is the price? Your life! – confess your sins and trust in Jesus Christ to pay for the whole ticket. Entrust your life into his hands. You might think you have enough good works to make it on board – but it will never be enough. Only giving your life into the hands of Jesus will get you on board – into the plane. Revelation 5:9 says that Jesus, with his blood “purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” 1 Cor. 6:20 “you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
So you have trusted in Christ, confessed your sins – you have been baptized, dying to the life outside of that plane. And now you are getting on board.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a large jet but they have three general areas. First there is the cockpit and crew area where only the plane’s crew have access, then the business or 1st class. Sometimes they are two separate areas. But it’s for the elite. And finally, where I normally sit is the economy class - the cheap seats.
Friends, if you have a ticket paid for by Jesus Christ, you don’t have to sit in economy. So many Christians who have given their lives to Christ believe that being a Christian is simply getting on board for heaven. It’s simply being forgiven and getting eternal life.
Now don’t you even begin to think that I’m talking about getting rich on earth and living the “high life.” I don’t preach prosperity Gospel.
But what am I talking about then? I’m talking about the fact that many many Christians receive the gift of salvation – but never really experience the riches of being in God’s presence. They don’t know him personally. They don’t think that is part of Christianity. They miss out on the riches of his Word. They miss out on the riches of being used by God through Spiritual gifts. They miss out on the fellowship with God in prayer and the powerful ways that they can bless others through prayer. They miss out on the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control.
It’s like sitting in economy when you have a first-class ticket. And in fact receiving salvation is even better. You have access to the cockpit – to the pilot. You can talk to him directly, learn from him the ways of the skies, the winds, the storms, the direction we’re going.
It’s very tempting to just be content and sit in the back and just let life go by. It’s easy to remember that you have your ticket to heaven and be happy with that. But the reality is ridiculous because God has so much planned for you and you refuse to believe it: “That ticket can’t really mean I can be in first class. I don’t deserve to be in the cockpit. I’d rather just sit back and suffer in the stuffy and packed seats.”
I’m going to read a verse that if we’ve heard once we’ve heard a thousand times but it speaks again to us today: Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” What kind of plans does he have for YOU? To give you what? HOPE and what? A FUTURE. Seek Him. Call upon Him! Surrender to Him!
Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” His plans are perfect to bring us to be more like Jesus. To surrender every little part of our lives. To be broken in repentance and to always react to God’s Spirit like a feather in a breeze.
Oh friends, don’t stay out there in the outer courts of the Tabernacle. Don’t remain back there but enter into the fellowship of the Father. He has so much to show you – to bless you with. There is so much he wants to do through you if you’ll only let him.
