Good Morning.
And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it. (Exodus 25:10-11)
Of all the furnishings that went into the sanctuary, the ark is the first mentioned; it was also the first piece to be placed in the sanctuary when everything had been completed. Considering that it was God’s Throne on earth and that it housed the Tablets of the Law, we can see some important principles taking shape; principles that have great importance for all of God’s people.
The text demonstrates that the Tabernacle existed in order to house the Presence and Word of the Almighty, not the other way around. In other words, without the Presence and His Word, the sanctuary was just a tent — without His Presence both the Temples that stood in Jerusalem were just structures, magnificent though they may have been. This fact is highlighted in the days of Yeshua when He engaged those who considered the gold of the Temple to be more sacred than the House itself. He told them:
“He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.” (Matthew 23:21)
The point He was making was that the One who dwells in the temple is the One who sanctifies the temple and all associated with it — without Him it is nothing. Likewise we, as His people, are nothing without His Presence in our lives. We may possess great talent, skill and charisma, but without the Spirit of God and His Word working in our lives, we are like the tabernacle void of His Presence — just a shell adorned with expensive trappings. We were created to serve Him — not the other way around. We are designed to be a proper abode for His Spirit to rest within us and so, may it be, that He is always enthroned on our hearts to sanctify us as living sanctuaries.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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