The Tabernacle was constructed as Israel’s place of worship in the wilderness after they were redeemed from Egyptian captivity. When Israel entered the Promised Land, the Tabernacle continued as the tent of meeting until Solomon’s Temple was built.

No other building had its detailed plans dictated by the Lord God Himself. As Jehovah said to Moses: “According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the furniture, just so you shall construct it” (Ex. 25:9).

Each part of the Tabernacle was intended to portray some aspect of the work and glory of the coming Lord Jesus Christ. Ancient Israel may have had some idea of the symbolism portrayed by the Tabernacle, but it remained for the New Testament to fully illuminate the Lord Jesus Christ, who tabernacled among humanity and offered all a way to the Living God.

The Holy of Holies (the innermost part of the Tabernacle) represented the holy nature of God; the high priest had to offer a suitable sacrifice at the great altar; he had to cleanse himself at the large basin of water (the laver); he ate the showbread, smelled the altar of incense, and lit the lamp stand.

Our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the sacrificial Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, and the One who hears our prayers. His life, death, and resurrection fulfilled the typology portrayed in the construction of the Tabernacle.