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Jesus in the Tabernacle VIII The last thing described in the tabernacle instructions in Exodus, is the bronze basin that sits in the courtyard. It’s a large basin made of bronze, on a stand, that is placed between the tent of meeting and the altar. Essentially that means that as you enter the courtyard you… Continue reading The Sea
Jesus in the Tabernacle VII We turn to the altar for incense in Exodus 30. This slightly complicates the flow I’d described from inside to outside, as we step back from the courtyard—perhaps with the high priest we’ve just met—into the holy place to a new, third, item. They are instructed to make a small… Continue reading Let Incense Arise
Jesus in the Tabernacle VI Next the narrative moves through two sections I included earlier in this series, the boundaries of the courtyard and then the oil to burn in the lampstand. The instructions for the construction of the tabernacle then seem to be interrupted in Exodus 28 for a digression on the clothing of… Continue reading High Priest’s Clothes
Jesus in the Tabernacle V The Altar is another box, though not a perfect cube this time. The acacia wood—tabernacle wood—is made into a box slightly shorter than the square on its top is wide. It has horns on its corners, but made of one piece with it. That’s skilled carpentry. The whole thing is… Continue reading The Altar
Jesus in the Tabernacle IV After the lampstand, the instructions given to Moses turn to the tabernacle itself, the tent in which ark and table and lampstand are placed. It’s made of ten curtains, with entwined blue and purple and scarlet yarns, woven with fine white linen. It’s made a very specific size. The intricacy… Continue reading The Tent
Jesus in the Tabernacle III Next, Moses is instructed to build the lampstand, which sits in the holy place with the table for bread. The lampstand is shaped like a styilsed almond tree. Picture a menorah, but with the cup each like an almond flower, seven of them. It is made of pure, hammered gold… Continue reading The Lampstand
Jesus in the Tabernacle II The tabernacle instructions continue with a table made of the ubiqutuous Acacia, of tabernacle wood. This is again overlaid with gold with a moulding around the edge (Exodus 25). It also has rings to allow it to be carried with poles. The tabernacle furniture is not for touching in the… Continue reading The Table of Bread
Over the next eight weeks I’m going to explore the tabernacle in Exodus and the way we find Christ represented in it. The conviction that this is appropriate comes first, because Jesus is described as ‘tabernacling’ amongst us in the incarnation (John 1), second because he refers to himself as the Temple—a later, larger, developed… Continue reading The Ark of the Covenant
In Acts 20, as he is speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus, Paul tells them that he has taught them ‘the whole counsel of God.’ In context he means that he’s told them all of God’s plan, meaning his plan to redeem the whole creation in Christ. He’s told them all of… Continue reading The Whole Counsel of God
Last week I argued that the Bible requires Adam to be the first human and the father of us all. I went through some scriptures that support this, especially Acts 17 and Romans 5. I argued that the Bible says he is, but also that he has to be to be our federal head. Paul’s… Continue reading Adam the Head
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