Good Morning.
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. (Exodus 25:9)
In Judaism it is believed that the tabernacle — in Hebrew, משכן mishkan — became a traveling Mount Sinai. The idea is, wherever the sanctuary rested, it was the focus of holiness that Mount Sinai had been in the wilderness when God rested upon it. Behind the veil of thick, dark clouds God met with His people and spoke to them in a thunderous voice, seated upon His Throne. Likewise in the sanctuary, the Ark of the Covenant served as God’s Throne on earth. Anywhere the Ark went, so too, the Presence of the Almighty.
Just as the Almighty and the words He spoke to His people was the focus of the events that transpired at Sinai, the Ark, — which contained the tablets of the Law — was the focus of the Tabernacle. His presence would rest between the cherubim and He would speak from there to His Priests who would then relay His Words to the people. We can conclude then that, at Sinai and in the sanctuary, the Presence and the Word were focus of all and the very purpose for both.
It is interesting to learn that the Hebrew word for ark — ארון aron — is believed to be from the Hebrew word אור ohr which means “light.” Within the ark, rested the Word of God represented by the two tablets of the Law. The Word contained within the Ark is the Light from which Israel derives its strength. Likewise, all of God’s people derive their strength from the One who is represented by the Word of God within the ark — Messiah, the Light of the World. Because we, in our physical bodies, are temples of the Holy Spirit, we take the Presence and the Word with us everywhere we go — providing the Presence and the Word abides in us. It is our mission to do this, and so that we might be His witnesses, let us be filled with His Spirit and His Word that we might be the light He has called us to be.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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