Christ in the Old Testament

Exodus 26:30

Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 26:15-30 and Isaiah 22:20-24

The frame of the tabernacle fascinates me. This is probably the most boring section of the instructions God gave to Moses for most people. But not for me. I grew up wanting to be an architect and settling for engineering. I am fascinated at how things are built especially in earlier times where modern technology didn’t exist. Old school construction techniques required highly skilled craftsmanship in order to connect pieces to each other without nail guns and glue. Physics would simply hold things together due to the precision of the parts.

The tabernacle is definitely old school construction. The entire temple was constructed of precisely cut boards with mortise and tenon joints along with rings and crossbars. Here is a sample of the wall construction of the tabernacle.

This temple structure within the tabernacle is comprised of 48 boards, 96 sockets, and 15 bars. Spiritually speaking, the purpose of this structure is to house, support, and uphold the work of Christ. In Isaiah 22, we read about a person named Eliakim who was given as a picture of Christ to come. “All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.” (Isa 22:24). Like Eliakim bearing on his shoulders the key to the house of David, Jesus – as pictured in the tabernacle – bears all the weight of His Father’s house.

Let’s look at some the numbers in our passage today. There are 48 boards which is the product of both 6×8 and 4×12. There are 96 sockets which is the product of 12×8. There are 15 bars which is the product of 3×5. Six symbolizes humanity, eight symbolizes new beginnings, four symbolizes the number of the created order, twelve symbolizes perfection of government, three symbolizes divine perfection, and five symbolizes grace. Just so many numbers! But we can simplify all of this by saying:

God created man through Adam but man sinned. Jesus being divine perfection came to earth as a replacement for Adam “and the government will be on his shoulders” (Isa 9:6). Through the perfection of Jesus and through his grace, man would be given a new beginning to dwell with God for eternity.

The message of the tabernacle that we see in the framing is that man was cast out of Eden with cherubim placed at the gates to restrict access back to the place where man once fellowshipped with God. The tabernacle is a picture of Jesus bearing the weight of that sin and allowing us, once again, to have restored access to God.

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for being the master carpenter through whom all things were made and hold together. Thank you for restoring our relationship with our Creator God. Help me to desire Him as much as He desires me.