Exodus 25:8-9

8 And let them make Me a sanctuary,[c] that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.

A Tabernacle is a dwelling place, and God has always wanted to dwell with his people since creation. In the garden of Eden when he would come down in the cool of the day to have fellowship with Adam and Eve.

We must also recognize that before the death and resurrection of Christ, God did not dwell in the hearts of people as he does today, something we sometimes take for granted.

It took the children of Israel 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before they possessed the promised land. During this time, they needed a place where they could worship God and offer sacrifices to him, a place where God could dwell and interact with them.  That place could not be permanent because they were always on the move. This is why God gave Moses the instructions to construct this Tabernacle in the wilderness.

It is also important to note that God gave clear specific instructions on how this Tabernacle was to be constructed and what would be contained there in because we do not worship God on our terms but on his terms. He directs how we are to approach and meet with him. In the New Testament, it is no longer about a place as Jesus told the Samaritan woman, but rather it’s about the condition of the heart. We are to worship him in spirit and in truth.

In our Christian journey, sometimes we feel alone and forsaken, and the enemy will try to convince us that God does not want to be with us. Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s desire from the start has been to dwell with his people, and it is still the same today, and it will be the same in eternity according to the book of Revelation.

Reflections. 

• Who is one famous person you have met and hang around? How was the experience?
• We are to approach and worship God on his terms and not ours. What’s your understanding of this statement?
• How does knowing that God did not dwell in the hearts of men before, but now he dwells in your heart change your perspective of Him?