The Cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of God filled The Dwelling. Moses couldn’t enter the Tent of Meeting because the Cloud was upon it, and the Glory of God filled The Dwelling.
-Exodus 40:34-35 (MSG)
For 7 consecutive chapters in Exodus, all we get are instructions of how to build the Tabernacle (or The Dwelling, as The Message refers to it) and it’s furnishings. Then, Aaron and the Israelites momentarily slip into idolatry. And to finish things up, we have 6 more chapters of the people following the instructions for the Tabernacle that Moses was given via God.
As as I read through the Tabernacle instructions, all I could think about was the endless list of specific measurements and requirements, down the the tiniest detail. It’s basically been day after day after day of nothing but gold, acacia wood, onyx stones, goats’ hair and dolphin skins.
Honestly, it seemed like God was really picky.
However, to end Exodus, Moses says that once completed, the glory of God filled the Tabernacle. He even goes as far to say that the glory of God was so powerful and so overwhelming that he couldn’t even enter the building. What a presence he must have felt.
Later on in the Bible, Solomon builds a Temple for God and we are told that it also was filled with God’s glory. Then, even farther along, Jesus rises from the dead and we are told that God’s tabernacle/temple, his dwelling on earth, the place he fills with his glory, has changed again. From now on the church is God’s tabernacle/temple. Not the physical church building per se, but rather the entire body of believers.
I can imagine God laying out the instructions for his “tabernacle/temple” now… This eye color, this height, this weight, this many hairs on their head, this future, this promise, this hope. If he cared so much about the minute details of his dwelling place then, why would we even question whether or not he cares about any of our concerns now? Does God not love us more than buildings? Of course he does, and maybe that’s the point.
God, thank you for caring for my smallest, most trivial details. Thank you for filling me with your glory. Thank you for the poignant reminder that I am the Tabernacle.
