At times in one’s life, they say things like, “I’m beginning a new chapter.” This is very often a new circumstance, a new phase in one’s life. The construction of the Tabernacle, I think, represents something of a new chapter in the life of Israel. All of Exodus really leads to that final point in Exodus 40, when we are told, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34) Now in this new chapter, the Lord would lead them even as He dwelled among them so closely.
The people of God surely were prone to think this day would never come, would God would dwell among them in such a tangible way. That’s at least what we see in the narrative of the Golden Calf, that they had given up hope waiting on God. But still the Lord forgave them, and in Exodus 35-40 we see changed hearts in the lives of the people.
All of this regarding the Tabernacle, however foreshadows a greater moment in redemptive history–when “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,….” (John 1:14)
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