Introduction to the Tabernacle and the Outer Court

1. Introduction to the Tabernacle

2. • 2 Chapters on Creation
• Approximately 50
Chapters concerning the
Tabernacle
• God was with man in the
garden.
• Sin caused separation.
• God wants to restore His
relationship with man and
dwell among us.

3. Word Study: Tabernacle
Old Testament (Hebrew)
mishkan- implies to “dwell”, “rest”, or to “live in”
referring to the in-dwelling presence of God.
(139 times used in the Old Testament)
New Testament (Greek)
skēnoō- to dwell, in a tent (Verb)
skéné- tent, dwelling (Noun)

4. “Tabernacle” used in Bible
Used with conjunction to the tabernacle in the
wilderness. (Exodus 25:9, 26:1, 26:6, etc.)
Leviticus 26:11-13, King James Version
11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor
you.12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be
my people.13 I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of
the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have
broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

5. New Testament Examples
John 1:14, King James Version
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”
Literally means “pitched a tent” or
“tabernacled”
*Born during Feast of Tabernacles

6. New Testament Examples
Revelation 21:3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and
he will dwell with them, and they shall be his
people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God.

7. God’s Desire to be with His People
1) God was with man in the Garden
2) He came to dwell in the Tabernacle
3) He came as flesh, to tabernacle among us
through Jesus Christ
4) He will come again to set up his tabernacle and
dwell forever among his people in the Garden
of New Jerusalem.
• STARTED WITH A GARDEN, WILL END WITH A GARDEN
(PROCESS OF RESTORATION, MAKING ALL THINGS NEW)

8. Coming Back to God

9. Why Study the Tabernacle?
• To better understand God’s plan of dwelling with men.
• To understand how to best approach God and move
closer to Him.
• To get a clearer picture of Christ.
• God uses imagery and symbolism (requires digging
and searching to comprehend).
• It’s a representation of what’s in Heaven.
• Applications to our own life / Connections to other
parts of the Bible/ Strengthening of our Faith

10. Israel’s Exodus
• Freed from Egyptian Bondage (400 years)
– Passover
• Approximately 2.5 million people
• Moses leads a return to Mt. Sinai, where he originally saw
the “burning bush”. (Goes Up)
• Golden Calf Brings About Sin
• Israel makes covenant with God through the 10
commandments.
– Pentecost
• Instructed to Keep Feasts of God (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles)
• Given orders to construct the Tabernacle, carefully
observing all details.
– Tabernacle

12. Israelite Encampment (drawn to scale)

14. Cherubim & God’s People

15. Israelites Traveling in the Wilderness

16. The Outer Walls & Gate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrLYeG-aUSA

17. Ancient Hebrew Tents
• Made from Goats’ Hair or Sheep Hair
• Often Black, in a Dusty / Sparse Environment
• STARK CONTRAST TO WHITE LINEN ON THE TABERNACLE

18. Courtyard Walls & Gate

20. Pillars for Court Walls (Represents Believers)
• Silver represents redemption
through the blood of Jesus Christ.
• Wood (acacia) Corruptible material,
not plated in gold like elsewhere
• Bronze represents the judgment of
sins.
He refines us (bronze), covers us with
His blood (silver), and wraps us with
His righteousness (white linen).
God looks down on us and only sees
Christ’s blood (silver).

21. Revelation 3:12, King James Version (KJV)
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will
write upon him the name of my God, and the name of
the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which
cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will
write upon him my new name.

22. Pillars Held Together by Silver Rods
(Held the curtain tight and providing support to the pillars.)
Ephesians 4:16, New King James Version (NKJV)
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what
every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which
every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying
of itself in love.

23. Pins (stakes or pegs) & Cord (rope)
Isaiah 33:20, King James Version (KJV)
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities:
thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation,
a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not
one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed,
neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

24. Pins of Security
“ I will place on his shoulder the key to the
house of David; what he opens no one
can shut, and what he shuts no one can
open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm
place” (Isaiah 22:22-23).

25. Cords of Love
Hosea 11:4, English Standard Version (ESV)
4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the
bands of love, and I became to them as one who
eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to
them and fed them.

26. White Linen
• Represents purity and righteousness.
• Shows separation from its dark surroundings. (7.5 ft. high)
• A barrier to God, with only one way in.
Isaiah 59:2
Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins
have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear you.
Bright White contrast during the day,
and by night it would have been lit
up by the moon and light from within.

27. White Linen
Leviticus 19:19, King James Version (KJV)
Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a
diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither
shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.
• Pure & Separate, Not Mingled Together
• Those set apart wear white linen.
•
(Levite priests, bridesmaid, saints)
• Christ was wrapped in white linen.

28. White Linen & Robes of White
Revelation 19:8
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints.
Revelation 7:9-10
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

29. The One Gate of the Court (Jesus)
Ex 27:16 "For the gate of the court there shall be a
screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and
scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a
weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets.
EASY TO SPOT AMONG THE WALLS OF WHITE LINEN

30. Colors of the Gate

31. The Gate (One Way In)
• On the East Side of the Tabernacle
– Had to be facing West to Enter
– Many faced East to Worship the Sun
– Signified a Change in Direction of Worship
• Had to Bow Down to Lift It Up to Enter
• Connected to Four Pillars
– North, South, East, West (ANY WHERE)
– Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter (ANY SEASON)
– Hebrew 4 parts of a Day (ANY TIME)

32. “ Enter through the narrow gate. … But small is the gate and narrow
the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14)
and again “Jesus answered,“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me”” (John 14:6).
“ I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. … I am the gate;
whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:7, 9).
Christ is the only way to God.

34. Entering the Gate
For a day in Your courts is better than a
thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God than dwell in the tents of
wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into
His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and
bless His name. (Psalm 100:4)

35. Tabernacle Representation of Time