The Tabernacle: Christ with Us

Verse of the day: Exodus 25:8 “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”

We know that the Tabernacle was a “type” or “picture” of Christ. The tent itself, and its instruments, represents something about our Lord and Savior, and means something to us. Let us begin with the tent. God designed it the way He did so that it would be easily set up and dismantled. In this way, the Tabernacle went with the Israelites, wherever God led them. This also meant that the tent was with them regardless of what they were facing in the wilderness, and even in their rebellious moments, God did not take the Tabernacle away from them. How does this typify Jesus? When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, who also takes up permanent residence in us (Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 3:16). The Word of God tells us, that, as His children, as born again believers, nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). Jesus also told us, in John 10:28-30, that He gives us eternal life, and no one can take us out of His hands. We are eternally secure in Christ when we put our faith and trust in Him alone for eternal life. As we walk through life’s trying times, Jesus is with us, the Holy Spirit never leaves us, and God never forsakes us. God is our Helper (Hebrews 13:5-6). While the Lord was here on earth, He was tempted as we are, but did not sin, and because He walked this earth as a Man, He can relate to anything we suffer or are tempted with (Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16). Regardless of what God allows us to experience or suffer in this lifetime, Jesus goes with us, the Holy Spirit guides us and comforts us, using the Word of God. Jesus knew pain, sorrow, rejection, and loss. We should praise God for the fact that even in our rebellious moments, or those moments when we choose sin over righteousness, He does not cast us aside, nor forsake us. Instead, He convicts us so that we will repent, confess, and come back into fellowship with Him (1 John 1:8-9). Even if we are stubborn, He will discipline us, as His children, in order to restore the intimacy that is hindered by our sinful moments, so that we continue to walk with Him in righteousness (Hebrews 12:3-11). The Israelites saw many marvelous things while God dwelt in their midst, and that was a great blessing. However, the same God who was with them, and made His glory visible to them, today has made His glory visible to us, in Christ. Hebrews 1:1-4 tells us, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” How much more blessed are we that the God who dwelled in a Tabernacle amongst the Israelites, in the wilderness, is even closer to us in our walk with Him, never leaving us, empowering us, molding us, shaping us, and loving us, in spite of us. Christ is with us, and nothing, or no one, can change that. May our Lord and Savior be honored and praised for His unfailing love for us.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).