The Progressions Of God's Dwelling In Man Part Three

As we progress further into God’s master plan, He still has a very important
message to tell us. When YWHW commanded Moses and Aaron to build the tabernacle,
there had to be certain measurements and a particular way of building the
tabernacle for the Lord. For God says to them in Exodus 25:9: “In accordance with
all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its
furniture, so you shall make it.” Therefore, the Lord God still had a burning
desire in His heart and spirit to dwell with the people of Israel, for they had
been in the desert for quite some time and would be for approximately forty years.

During those trying years for the people of Israel, their God still wanted to be
with them. He says in Exodus 25:8, “And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I
may dwell among them.” Tabernacle means place of dwelling or sanctuary. Ever since
the fall of Adam and Eve, the separation of sin between man and the Lord was
great. He could no longer live inside of man. Therefore, God wanted a place of
worship (a tabernacle) to dwell and commune with man. It was Aaron and his sons
who served as priests and high priests in the tabernacle, during the time of the
forty years of wandering in the wilderness. In Exodus 40:11-15, God spoke to Moses
and said, “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of
meeting, and shall wash them with water, and put on Aaron the sacred vestments and
you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest. You
shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them, and anoint them, as you anointed
their father that they may serve me as priest: and their anointing shall admit
them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all generations to come.” The tabernacle
consisted of two rooms. A beautiful veil separated each room. The first room was
called the “Holy Place.” That is where the golden lampstand, the altar of incense,
and the table of showbread were located. The second room was called the “Most Holy
Place.” The Ark of the Covenant was stationed there. It was only the high priest
that could go into the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies). That happened once a year
on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). If you remember, Moses entered the tent of
meeting to speak with the Lord. He heard the voice speaking to him from the mercy
seat, located between the two cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Another verse
which speaks of God communing with man is Leviticus 16:2. “The Lord said to Moses:
Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the
curtain before the mercy seat that is upon the ark, or he will die for I appear in
the cloud upon the mercy seat.”

By Michael Jones