Lessons from the Tabernacle

Learning in Exodus

I can only imagine the excitement as the children of Israel reached the end of creating all the implements and parts of the tabernacle. God had provided the workers and the materials. He had given them detailed instructions through Moses, and He had guided them step-by-step as they completed all of God’s instructions. Now, it was time to set it up.

Chapter 40 follows the pattern established in the last part of the book of Exodus. God gave explicit instructions to Moses, and then Moses saw that those instructions were carried out. This pattern indicates the attention to detail and God’s intimate involvement with the people and how they were to worship Him. No item was left to chance. Nothing was forgotten, changed, or omitted. There is no doubt that the tabernacle was God’s work with His people.

As I read through the directions and how Moses and the people carried them out, I noticed some principles for my life:

• They set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month. This was a special time of new beginning. The people had sinned grossly, but God was setting a new direction for them (verse 1).

I need to set times when I review and renew my commitment to God. How easy it is to go through life just doing the next thing, but God calls me to purposefully seek Him, to set aside the activities of the world and come before Him.

• The instructions that God gave were detailed, and Moses followed them to the letter (verse 17).

I am prone to do things my own way, to set my own standard. I must be careful to set my standard according to what God has said in His word.

• Aaron and his sons were brought to the tabernacle, clothed in the garments of the tabernacle, and anointed as the beginning of an everlasting priesthood that would continue throughout the generations. This was the same Aaron who had caved to the wishes of the people and created the golden calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai. This was the same Aaron who had disobeyed (verses 13 – 15).

When I sin, I can feel like there is no hope for redemption, that I am too unworthy to ever do anything for God. The fact that God called Aaron as the first priest of the tabernacle reminds me that He is the God of grace. He calls me from my sin back to Him for restored relationship.

• When Moses, Aaron, and his sons came near the altar of the tabernacle, they washed (verse 32).

God is holy, and in my humanness, I am not. When I come to Him in prayer, my first thought should be repentance of any sin in my life. I am prone to become covered with the fingerprints of this world, so when I come to my Father, I must confess to Him and allow Him to cleanse me.

• Moses finished the work (verse 33).

God is not done until He is done. I have a mission to which He has called me, and I am to be about His work until He says it is finished. I anticipate that being when He calls me home.

• Once the tabernacle was complete according to all that God had said, God’s presence filled the tabernacle. This became the pattern for the people. When God’s presence was on the tabernacle, they waited. When His presence was lifted, they traveled on (verses 34 – 38).

I am so often in a hurry to do the next thing that I fail to wait on God. He established this principle early with His people. There is a time to wait on Him.

I want to show excitement and joy at the work that God is doing in my life. I want to come before Him humbly with repentance in my heart. I want to allow His grace to permeate every part of my being. I want to keep working until He says I’m done, and I want to wait when it is time to wait.

Reading through Exodus confirms once again the truth given to us by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16

¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Open the Bible anywhere to find God’s instruction for us. It always pays to study His word.