The tabernacle texts show the Lord is not only a king who is holy but also a king who desires to be with his people. This is the very reason he gives for the building of the tabernacle: “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst  ” (Ex. 25:8). As noted at verse 8, we want to be near the ones we love. The Israelites are in their tents; the Lord will be in their midst in his (cf. Ex. 25:8). His is not a “tent of seclusion” but a “tent of meeting,” where the Israelites can come before him in repentance and praise to experience his forgiveness, mercy, glory, and love (cf. Ex. 25:9).

Read the Passages

8And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. —Exodus 25:8-9

31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 35 And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side. —Exodus 26:31–35

What Does the Tabernacle Teach Us About the Kind of God He Is?

Many Bible readers may be tempted to skip six chapters of detail about tabernacle construction. But careful attention to these chapters rewards us with a rich theology of who God is. At least three aspects of God’s character are displayed here.

First, he is the Israelites’ King, as evidenced by the tabernacle’s function as a palace-tent in their midst. Exodus and Leviticus together give several indications that the tent functions in this way:

(1) The Israelites bring their tribute here (Ex. 25:1–9), just as a people would bring tribute to a king’s palace.

(2) They comes here to “stand before” the Lord (Lev. 9:5), just as one “stands before” a ruler or person in authority (1 Kings 1:28; 3:16; Est. 8:4).

(3) Its ornate furniture and tapestries are unlike those of any other tent in Israel (Ex. 25:10–26:37; Ex. 30:1–10; cf. also at Ex. 25:4). This is clearly a tent fit for a king.

(4) Just as a king’s servants wears special uniforms and minister before him in the palace (1 Kings 10:5), so the Lord’s servants (the priests) wear special uniforms (Ex. 28) and minister before him here (Ex. 28:43).

(5) It has a throne room—the Most Holy Place—where the Lord’s glory sits enthroned over the ark among the cherubim (1 Sam. 4:4; Ps. 99:1), who serve as the attendants at his royal throne (cf. the seraphim in Isa. 6:1–2).

(6) The curtain before the Most Holy Place is woven with cherubim (Ex. 26:31–33), who not only symbolically guard the entrance into this throne room (cf. Gen. 3:24) but are heavenly beings, thus making clear it is the throne room of the heavenly King.1

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