Tabernacle. From mishkan, “dwelling,” the word comes from shakan, “to live.” This word is cognate with Shekinah, the majestic presence of God (see on Exodus 25:8 and Gen3:24) in the Holy of Holies (Exodus 25:22). The word "tabernacle" may be more accurately rendered today as "tent" or "dwelling."
The sacred objects of the "tabernacle", with the exception of the altar of incense, have already been described. This is recorded in Exodus 30:1-10. Chapter 26 describes the structure of the sacred “tabernacle.” It had two main parts:
There were auxiliary parts such as:
Ten bedspreads. Fastened together as a “panel,” they formed the inner volume of these four “coverings” (Ex. 26:7, 14), and formed the ceiling of these two compartments. These coverings were two cubits shorter than the outer ones (v. 7), making the inner covering one cubit shorter on each side than the outer one.
Cherubim. Since the materials used by Aholiab in the decoration were identical to those named, it is reasonable to think that these “cherubim” were embroidered on the “curtains” (Ex. 35:35; 38:23). These cherubim represented the armies of heaven who accompany the Lord and carry out His instructions (Ps. 103:20-21; see Gen. 3:24).
Length. Each blanket was 12.45 m long and 1.78 m wide. From the outside there was nothing particularly attractive about the tabernacle. But inside she was very beautiful, with her gold, blue, violet, scarlet “veils” and cherubs embroidered on them.
Bedspreads made of goat wool. The Arabs still use goat hair to weave their tents. It was goat hair that gave the sanctuary strength and protected it in wet and stormy weather. These “covers” were two cubits longer than the inner linen curtains, and reached 13.34 m. Placed on top of the tabernacle, they reached the tops of the silver “supports” or bases on both sides (see v. 19). This was a sufficient covering for the back of the tent, and sufficient to protect the top of the front of the tabernacle.
Sheep skins. This "covering" would have extended over a covering of "mutton skins" to provide additional protection from the elements. Their size is not given, but it must have been large enough to cover the goats' hair blankets (v. 7).
Make bars. They were 4.45 m long and 0.66 m wide; Art. 16). They were placed vertically, placing the two "tenks" (v. 17) of each post in two silver "supports" or bases. The boards were overlaid with gold (v. 29).
Forty nests. They weighed a talent, or 34.2 kg. each (Ex. 38:27). Each would form a cube with a side of less than 14.7 cm. The "nests" were laid side by side on the ground, creating a continuous base for the walls. Another forty “sockets” were required for the north wall (Ex. 26:21), 16 for the west and 4 for the pillars between the 2 compartments - 100 “sockets” in total (Ex. 38:27). The fact that the tabernacle was separated from the earth by these silver foundations symbolizes, according to some commentators, that the church should be separated from the world, not have a permanent residence here, but look forward by faith to "the city that has foundations, whose maker and builder is God" ( Hebrews 11:10). We “have no permanent city here, but are looking for the future” (Heb. 13:14).
Poles - crossbars. To secure the walls, "five poles" had to be made for each side and for the western part, four of which had to be threaded through the "rings". The fifth or middle “pole” in each wall had to run along the middle of the beams (see Art. 28). It is likely that the four visible poles on each wall were on the outside of the tabernacle.
Veil. It was to be of the same material and quality as the "ten curtains" which formed the inner covering of the ceiling and walls of the tent (v. 1), and it was also to be embroidered with figures of cherubim in silver and gold thread (PP 345). .
Four pillars. The “veil” (v. 31) was to hang “on four pillars.” The “curtain of the entrance to the tabernacle” was fixed on “five pillars” (vv. 36-37). The inner curtain did not reach the ceiling, but allowed the glory of God appearing above the Throne of Grace to be partially visible from the Holy Office (PP 353). These four pillars had gold “hooks” and rested “on four sockets [bases] of silver,” just like the foundations of the walls (vv. 15, 19).
Hooks. The "hooks" were the clasps or clips that supported the curtain. The High Priest alone entered behind the curtain that separated the Holy Office from the Holy of Holies and only once a year, on the Day of Judgment (Lev. 16; Heb. 9:7). Before the veil, in the Holy Office, various types of "daily" services were held.
Entrance curtain. This “veil” or coverlet covered the eastern, front part of the tabernacle. Some Bible scholars believe that it was possible to raise or lower this veil if necessary.
Five pillars. There is some difference of opinion as to whether the tabernacle had a flat or a gable roof. Much evidence leads to the conclusion that it was probably flat:
So, although there is no positive evidence, it seems more likely that the roof was flat. The drawings depicting the gable roof of the tabernacle are based on the artist's personal opinion.
Based on materials from the SDA biblical commentary
Lives on earth, among the people of Israel;
והל העדות" - "tent of testimony").
Several places in the Bible combine both names into one mishkan ohel moed(“the seat of the tabernacle of meeting”) (Exod.).
This is explained by the fact that both of these words mishkan And ohel are synonyms in Hebrew. So, both of these words are used in one phrase: "How beautiful are your tents ( ohalekha), Jacob, your dwelling places ( mishkenotech), Israel"(Number).
Much less often in the Bible you can find other names for the Tabernacle: mikdash(“Sanctuary”) and ha-kodesh("Holy place").
In Judaism, there are two main opinions on the purpose of the Temple. On the one hand, the construction of the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, is seen as a kind of condescension to human nature, at best a kind of means; on the other hand, on the contrary, the Temple represents the pinnacle of all conceivable perfections. Both of these approaches are directly related to the disagreement regarding the dating of the receipt of the commandment to build the Tabernacle.
“It should be noted that the Torah does not say, “I will dwell in him", but "I will dwell in the middle of them“, that is, among people. This means that the Glory of God is manifested not so much through the Temple itself, but through the people who built it. It is not the Temple that is the reason for the revelation of the Glory of God, but the selfless desire of people to feel the hand of the Almighty, ruling the world everywhere.”
Soncino
“It is said: “Let them make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among [or: within] them.”(Ex.) - in them, people, and not in him, in the sanctuary. We must all build a Tabernacle in our hearts for God to dwell there.”
Malbim
Thus, the Jewish prophets and teachers of the law repeatedly emphasized the fact that the Temple was needed not by God, but by the people themselves.
“In the west stood the Ark of the Law with its lid decorated with cherubs; in the north - the Table of Showbread; in the south - a Menorah with lamps; the eastern side was facing the people, on that side there was an entrance, and there, one after another, there were altars that seemed to encourage people to joyfully selfless surrender of themselves to the Divine Torah awaiting them in the west. We believe that we will not be mistaken in supposing that the Western side was intended to personify the Torah and the Presence of God which it, and only it, embodies; north side - material life; southern - spiritual life; the eastern one is a specific people, the people of Israel, called to selfless service to God and His Torah.”
According to the text of Scripture, the functions of the Tabernacle can be divided into several main categories, which, first of all, are based on the fact that the main and most important purpose of the Tabernacle is based on the name “ mishkan“, that is, the Tabernacle is the place where the Shekinah of the Creator (Glory of God) dwells on earth, among the people of Israel.
This concludes the first part of the command to build the Tabernacle.
| And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Behold, I have called precisely Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. And I filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding, knowledge and all skill, to create designs, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in carving stones to set, and in carving wood, to do all kinds of work. And behold, I appointed Aoliab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to him, and I have put wisdom in the heart of every wise man, and they will do everything that I have commanded you. The tent of the congregation and the ark of the testimony, and the cover thereof, and all the accessories of the tent; and the table, and all its utensils, and the clean lamp with all its utensils, and the altar of incense; and the altar of burnt offering with all its furnishings, and the laver, and its stool; and the vestments of office, and the vestments of the sacred for Aaron the priest, and the vestments of his sons for the priestly service; and the anointing oil and the spiced incense for the sanctuary: let them do according to all that I commanded you. |
They worked on the construction of the Tabernacle for about six months (from Tishri 11 to Nisan 1). When the work was completed and all the accessories of the Tabernacle were ready, God ordered the construction of the Tabernacle, the consecration of its utensils and the anointing of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood on the first of the month of Nisan (in which the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt took place), in the second year after the Exodus . Consecration consisted of anointing with a sacred composition of pure myrrh, cinnamon, fragrant cane, cassia and oil.
The erection of the Tabernacle is described in the last verses of the book of Exodus and ends with a description of the descent of the Glory of the Lord (Shekinah) onto the Tabernacle:
From then on, the cloud covered the Tabernacle throughout the entire journey of the Israelites through the desert. Every time the cloud separated from the Tabernacle, the Israelites took down their tents and set out, and where it stopped, there they pitched their camp.
Once the Tabernacle was built, it took a central place among the people of Israel - literally and figuratively - both during the crossing of the desert and during camps. The distance in the desert between the people and the Tabernacle was never more than 2000 cubits, so that on the Sabbath everyone had the opportunity to come to it for prayer.
Ref. - and Ex. - .
Detailed Location and Dimensions of the Tabernacle according to the Pentateuch
The tabernacle was located in accordance with the cardinal directions. The tent, 31x10 cubits, was located in the western part of the large courtyard ( hatzer), 120 cubits long and 60 cubits wide.
The distance from the curtains of the courtyard to the walls of the tent was 25 cubits from the north, south and west. The entrance to the Tabernacle was located on the eastern side and was covered with a special canopy, which was called Masach, with a total length of 20 cubits. The canopy was knitted from blue, purple and scarlet wool, as well as from woven linen. The canopy was patterned.
Hatzer) is quite large in size 120x60 cubits (about 1985 m², if we take a cubit as 52.5 cm), fenced with sixty (60) hollow pillars of Shiitim wood with copper bases. Embroidered curtains were stretched between the pillars ( we cry), skillfully woven from twined linen, forming walls 5 cubits high (about 2.6 m). Each such curtain was 5x5 cubits, and there were 56 in total.
Opposite the entrance to the tent, the five central pillars on the east side of the courtyard formed the gate of the Tabernacle. These pillars were covered with special canopies of blue, purple and scarlet wool, as well as of woven linen, which was called Masach. The gate curtains consisted of four parts, 5x5 cubits each, with a total length of 20 cubits.
There were 20 pillars in the north and south of the courtyard, 10 in the west, 3 in the east on each side of the entrance and another 4 supporting the canopy ( Masach).
In the courtyard, opposite the entrance, there was a large altar of burnt offering, made of copper-bound wood (which is why it was also called the “copper altar”). Sacrifices were made on it, and a fire had to burn on it constantly.
In the very center of the courtyard stood a copper washbasin ( kior
Detailed Location and Dimensions of the Tent according to the Pentateuch
The tent was a frame made of wooden planks overlaid with gold, covered with four blankets. Its device made it possible to disassemble the entire structure into wearable parts. The dimensions of the tent were 31 cubits long, 10 cubits wide and 10 cubits high. The tent was divided into two parts by a curtain ( parochet). Its back part (western part, measuring 10x10x10 cubits) was called the Holy of Holies ( Kodesh kodashim). In front of the Holy of Holies was a sacred space, the Sanctuary ( Kodesh), separated by a curtain ( Masach) from the front of the fenced yard ( Hatzer). Thus, the tent consisted of three wooden walls: two side walls, to the north and south, and a back wall, to the west, and was covered with a curtain on the east side. Both dividing curtains measured 10 x 10 cubits.
Covers were thrown over the walls and top of the tabernacle, representing its most important part and giving it the appearance of a tent. There were four of them.
The two special corner boards consisted of two boards of the same length, height, thickness and design as all the other boards of the tent. These two boards were bent into two identical hollow half-cylinders, and when they were joined together, they formed a single hollow cylinder, which became the corner board. Each of these boards was 10 cubits high, with an outer diameter of 1 cubit, an inner diameter of 3/π=0.9549 cubits, and a thickness of 0.5-(1.5/π)=0.0225 cubits.
The walls consisted of perpendicularly placed boards, 10 cubits high and 1.5 cubits wide, and the side (south and north) walls had 20 boards each, and the back (west) - 6, except for 2 special boards for the corners connecting it with side walls. The thickness of the board beams is easy to calculate: it was 0.5-(1.5/π) = 0.0225 cubits.
All boards were overlaid with gold. There were 48 boards in total, 46 straight and 4 curved, making up 2 corner boards.
From below, each board was inserted into two silver sockets ( adanim), which served to hold the boards in place. Each footstool was 3/4 cubits long, except for 4 curved footstools, 1.5 cubits each, under the two corner boards for the western wall.
The boards were also fastened with five horizontal transverse bolts at the bottom, top and middle on each side.
On the north and south sides, at a height of 1 and 9 cubits from the top of the walls, there were four bolts in two rows: two bolts of 10 cubits each on the western part of the walls and two bolts of 19 cubits each on the eastern part of the walls, with a gap of 1 cubit exactly in the middle. every wall. On the west side, at a height of 2 and 8 cubits from the top of the wall, there were four bolts in two rows, 4 cubits each, with an interval of 1 cubit exactly in the middle of the wall. The fifth, middle bolt, ran along the entire length of each wall, at a height of 5 cubits from the top of the walls. All the bolts were inserted into gold rings on the boards on the outside of the tabernacle. Each board had two rings for each bolt. The thickness of the bolts and rings is unclear.
All the bolts were overlaid with gold. The bolt rings were made of gold.
Masach
parochet), which consisted of the same two-layer woven material (yarn and fine linen in blue, purple and scarlet) as the lower cover, and measured 10x10 cubits. Parohet
Construction of the Tabernacle according to Jewish tradition (Talmud, Mishnah, etc.)
Tabernacle and camp. 19th century drawing.
The tabernacle was located in accordance with the cardinal directions. The 30x10 cubits tent was located in the western part of the large courtyard ( hatzer), 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide. The distance from the courtyard fence to the tent was 20 cubits from the north, south and west and 50 from the east. The entrance to the Tabernacle was located on the eastern side and was covered with a special canopy, which was called Masach, 20 cubits long. The canopy was knitted from twenty-four pieces of twisted thread, and on both sides were embroidered cherubim(cherubs).
A rectangular courtyard was built around the Tabernacle ( Hatzer) quite large in size 100x50 cubits (about 1370 m²), fenced with pillars on copper bases. Embroidered curtains were stretched between the pillars ( we cry), skillfully woven from fabric like a net, forming walls about 2.6 m high.
The gate of the courtyard of the Tabernacle was located on the east side, opposite the entrance to the tent. They were covered with a special canopy of wool, dyed blue, purple, scarlet and white, which was called Masach and was 20 cubits long.
There were 20 pillars on the north and south of the courtyard, 10 on the west, 3 on each side of the entrance on the east, and 4 more supported the canopy ( Masach) .
In the courtyard, opposite the entrance, there was a large Altar of Burnt Offering, made of acacia and bound with copper (therefore it was also called the “copper altar”). An unquenchable fire burned on it and sacrifices were made. Behind the altar stood a copper laver ( kior) for priests. All courtyard accessories were made of copper.
Only clergy (Levites and Kohanim) were allowed to enter the tent, while other Jews could only enter the courtyard.
The material for the Tabernacle was probably acacia wood ( shita, plural h. shittim), most common in the desert area around the Red Sea. Making all the parts of the Tabernacle from trees of this type is quite difficult, since it is difficult to find the right number of straight trunks, which are usually short in length and strongly curved.
The walls consisted of perpendicularly placed beams, 10 cubits high and 1.5 cubits wide, and the side walls had 20 beams each, and the back one - 6, except for 2 beams for the corners connecting it with the side walls. The thickness of the beams is not specified, but, according to the Talmud, it was equal to 1 cubit. All the beams were covered with gold leaf.
The bottom bars were cut so that they could be inserted into two silver sockets ( adanim), which served to hold the entire structure in place even on an uneven surface. The footstools were 3/4 cubits wide, 1 cubit long and high.
The beams were probably also cut out from above, so that additional adanim fastened them together. In addition, each beam was attached to its neighbor by means of upper and lower wooden tenons, which protruded from each board and was inserted into a hole made in the adjacent board. The beams were also secured with five horizontal transverse bolts on each side. From below and above (at a distance of 2.5 cubits) four bolts, each half the length of the wall, ran in two rows. These bars were set into gold rings on the outside of the tabernacle. An additional, middle bolt passed through holes made in the middle of the boards. According to one opinion, this bolt went horizontally from end to end of the Tabernacle (70 cubits) and miraculously supported its entire structure. The bolts were also plated with gold leaf.
At the entrance to the tent were installed five pillars of acacia, covered with gold leaf and mounted on copper bases, on which the curtain was attached ( Masach), blocking the entrance. This curtain was similar to the one that covered the gate of the court of the Tabernacle.
Inside the tent was divided into two unequal parts by another curtain ( parochet), which consisted of the same two-layer woven fabric (yarn and fine linen in blue, purple and scarlet colors) as the lower cover, and was 14x12 m in size. Parohet was fastened with gold hooks on four acacia pillars, covered with gold leaf and mounted on silver bases.
A Torah scroll written by Moses himself was kept next to the Ark. Also kept in the Holy of Holies was a vessel with manna, Aaron's rod that blossomed, the anointing oil, and later also the golden gifts of the Philistines.After the construction of the Temple by King Solomon (about 950 BC), the Ark of the Covenant with all the accessories of the Tabernacle was solemnly transferred there. From this time on the tabernacle is no longer mentioned. According to legend, she was hidden in an underground hiding place under the Temple.
The further fate of the Tabernacle with the Ark of the Covenant is still a matter of debate; their traces have never been found. There was neither the Ark nor its accessories in the Second Temple, although the associated ritual of burning incense in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur continued to be observed. Josephus, speaking about the Second Temple, like the book of Ezra (Ezra), speaks only about the construction of the altar and the Temple, but not about the Holy of Holies.
Imagine a hot desert, sweat, dust, dirt, scorching sun... Perhaps your life is also somewhat reminiscent of a desert. Now imagine a large tabernacle covered with many layers of animal skins. There was always silence and coolness inside, but this was not the most amazing thing - the tabernacle had a special compartment called the Holy of Holies. God lived there...
Later, the camp tabernacle turned into the most majestic temple - the Temple of Solomon. The structure of the temple and the tabernacle were the same. In the New Testament, a believer is called the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17). That's why the tabernacle can be considered as an image of the inner world of a believer, and also as an image of entering into the worship of God living in his regenerated spirit. There are other approaches to the symbolic interpretation of the structure of the tabernacle, but we will not consider them here.
Worship of God plays a vital role in the salvation of man. The Savior said this when answering the question about the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself; On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). Loving your neighbor as yourself is a paradoxical commandment. An honest person immediately understands that it is absolutely unattainable. People are not capable of living like this. For this you need a different heart, a heart like God Himself.
Therefore, the Lord gave us the first commandment to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. How to bring it to life? First of all, in prayer. Actually, the main purpose of prayer is precisely to worship God. If we devote most of our prayers to the worship of God - thanksgiving, praise, glorification, then a lot will begin to happen almost automatically - “by itself,” and most importantly, we ourselves, our souls, will change. Then you can proceed to the second part of the commandment - to love your neighbor.
The Lord loves us with unconditional love, but the lover desires reciprocal love. So the Lord expects from us an expression of love. Of course, love for God should be manifested not only in prayers. Our obedience to the Word, especially in situations where we do not want to obey, is the clearest manifestation of love: “If you love Me, keep My commandments”(John 14:15).
But let us return to the tabernacle, which is very edifying to consider as a way of worshiping God. The Tabernacle is filled with the most profound images that can inspire us to deeply worship the Lord in the depths of our hearts. For me, studying the Tabernacle is a powerful source of intellectual and spiritual inspiration. I hope the following summary will be a blessing to you.
The picture shows that the tabernacle was tripartite and divided into the outer court, the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. The outer court symbolized the human body, the Sanctuary symbolized the soul, and the Holy of Holies symbolized the human spirit.
Rice. Plan of the Tabernacle of Moses. 19th century illustration.
The tabernacle was covered with animal skins, which were fastened with gold hooks. In this you can see the image of the human body, which exists according to laws determined by God. Gold, as a royal metal, often symbolizes the actions of God and His laws, operating both in the spiritual world and in the physical.
When a man looked at the tabernacle from the outside, he saw only a tent covered with blue skins on top. The size of the tabernacle was relatively small. Under the blue skins there were other mutton skins, already red, then covers made of goat's hair, and then decorated with light linen. In the four elements of the covering of the tabernacle one can see the main components of the spiritual anatomy of man. Blue skins indicate the physical body of a person, which can only be seen if one looks at it with physical eyes. Underneath them are red skins of ram, which indicate the human soul, about which it is said, “The life of the body is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11). The red color also directs thought to the truth about the only way to save the soul - through the Blood of Jesus Christ. Even further, there are blankets made of goat hair, which symbolize the fallen sinful nature of man, his flesh. Interestingly, there were eleven large goat blankets (Ex. 26:7). Perhaps this indicates eleven main components of the carnal nature of man (the most obvious are selfishness, laziness, pride, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, love of money, greed, etc.). It is clear that in the carnal nature of each individual person, this or that “veil” can be of different “sizes”.
Finally, in the very depths is the most beautiful and subtle part of the covering - ten curtains of twisted linen and colored wool (Ex. 26:1), decorated with images of cherubim. Twisted linen was used in those days to make the clothes of kings and priests. These veils indicate the human spirit, which has direct communication with the angelic world and God Himself. The number of veils - ten - may indicate the complexity of the most intimate part of a person - his spirit.
Thus, the covering of the tabernacle has deep symbolic meaning. In this regard, we can recall the following text from Scripture: “Therefore we do not lose heart; but if our outer man is decaying, then our inner man is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction produces eternal glory in an exceeding abundance, when we look not at what is seen, but at what is unseen: for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18). The decay of the outer man is called short-lived and light suffering. Eternal glory appears in abundance when we look not at the visible world around us, but at the invisible one, which is precisely the real and eternal world. It all depends on what we pay our attention to. When a person's soul is occupied with praising God and spiritually meditating on God's Word, it rises to the world of the spirit. Vanity, carnal passions and desires of the world pull her back. We make the choice.
The tabernacle had gates, about which we read in the Psalms: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise. Glorify Him, bless His name, for the Lord is good: His mercy endures forever, and His truth endures forever” (Ps. 99:4,5). We begin the path of worship to the God who lives in our regenerated spirit with doxology (thanksgiving) and praise. We always have a reason to thank God because He is good and we always have a reason to praise Him because He is merciful and true!
The gate was supported by four bars made of shittim wood, which can be associated with the four elements (water, earth, air and fire), which the human physical body mainly had to deal with. According to the ideas of ancient people, the entire material world consisted of these elements. The shittim tree is a hard, rotting acacia tree, the wood of which symbolized the inviolability of God's laws on which the universe rests. “...For with the Lordfoundations of the earth, and He built the world on them."(1 Samuel 2:8). The same spiritual and physical laws that govern planet Earth operate throughout the entire universe.
In the outer court there were two objects - a brass altar where animal sacrifices were made and a brass laver where the priests who were required to officiate in the Sanctuary were ritually washed. Brass in Scripture symbolizes judgment.
If only gold was used in the decoration of the Holy of Holies and the sanctuary, then in the outer court mainly copper and silver were used (Ex. 27: 10-11, 19). The spiritual world is a higher world in relation to matter, just as gold is incomparably more expensive and valuable than copper. However, the hooks for the outer covering of the tabernacle were made of gold, which indicates the invisible participation of God and His Word in everything that happens in the material world. The fact that gold was used to decorate not only the Holy of Holies, but also the sanctuary, which represents the soul of man, suggests that it is God's will that the soul be "clothed with the inner man"(Col. 3:10), was under complete subjugation of the spirit. In this case, she figuratively “dresses herself in gold.”
We return to the brass altar. Through animal sacrifices, people condemned their sins and covered them up. The altar, of course, refers to the perfect sacrifice that the Lord Jesus made for us. It is impossible to approach God in any other way than by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. After thanksgiving and praise, we invoke the Blood of Christ and proclaim the faith that through the precious Blood we are redeemed, forgiven, justified, sanctified, pardoned, and have victory over the powers of Satan: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter into the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus Christ , a new and living way... let us approach with a sincere heart in full faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with clean water” (Heb. 10:19-22).
The brazen altar is also where we remember the sacrifice of our physical strength and body itself to God. The apostle begs us about this: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, [for] your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
Next, it was necessary to go through purification in a copper washbasin. The Apostle John speaks about the boldness with which we can come to God: “Beloved! If our heart does not condemn us, then we have boldness towards God.”(1 John 3:21). Here the heart should be understood as conscience. If we have a good conscience, then we have the boldness to further approach God; what should we do if this is not the case, if our words differ from our deeds. In the same letter we find the answer: “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He, being faithful and righteous, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7-9). Sin is not so terrible as it is not to live in the light. After all, if we confess our sins without hiding or obscuring them, then the Lord makes two specific promises: (1) to forgive us, (2) to restore our righteousness through faith in Christ.
The brass laver also indicates the need not only to receive, but also to give forgiveness: “And when you stand in prayer, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your heavenly Father may also forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25,26).
Then begins the second part of the tabernacle, called the Sanctuary and symbolizing the human soul. Only priests had access to the interior of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. By the grace of God today we are all part of the royal priesthood. The entrance to the holy place was supported by five pillars. It seems to me that they indicate the five senses through which the soul receives information from the body. Another interpretation is to compare the pillars with the five Hebrew letters that spell out the word God (“Elohim”) in Hebrew.
This part of the tabernacle contained three items: the golden seven-branched candlestick, the table of showbread, and the golden altar of incense. The symbolism of the Sanctuary indicates the complete dedication of a believer’s soul to God.
The seven-branched candlestick (menorah) symbolizes the human mind renewed by the Word of God. The menorah had 22 lamps, which had to be cleaned daily and then lit. Derek Prince has suggested that the mind may have 22 activities, each of which must be enlightened by the Word. The number 22 has another special meaning in the symbolism of Holy Scripture. The fact is that in ancient Hebrew, as in modern Hebrew, the alphabet consists of 22 letters. Thus, the number of menorah lamps exactly correlates with the letters of the alphabet, from which any word, any concept, or expression of any truth can be composed. This fact gives even greater depth to the comparison of the seven-branched candlestick with the mind of a believer.
The priests added fresh oil to the lamp daily. This image reminds us of the enormous importance of what we feed our minds with. The person will behave according to his thoughts. Defeats, like victories, begin with thoughts. God's Word enlightens the mind and gives it the ability to evaluate everything that happens in the right light: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”(Ps. 119:105). The psalmist speaks about the connection between the mind and God's Word: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; All who do [His Word] have a right mind.”(Ps. 110:10).
There is a separate command about oil: “And command the children of Israel that they should bring you pure oil, beaten from olive trees, for light, so that the lamp may burn at all times” (Ex. 27:20). Oil was extracted from oilseeds. At the same time, the skins and pits of the olives were thrown away, and only pure olive oil was taken. Our thinking is very heterogeneous. We have spiritual thoughts, but often we think according to the flesh or in terms of this world. All this can be figuratively compared to peel and bones, which are in no way suitable for the seven-branched candlestick. You can't overload your mind with everything. The oil must be “knocked out” - carnal, earthly, and even more so sinful thoughts must be eliminated. In this regard, I remember the following words of the Savior: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”(Matt. 26:41). Before prayer, we must learn to stay awake and not let carnal thoughts enter our minds. In other words, the oil for the lamp must be carefully prepared—clean and “beaten.”
The priests had to add pure oil to the lamp daily. So it is our daily responsibility to fill our minds with the grace of the Spirit and the truth of the Word. The lamp had to be cleaned of carbon deposits daily by adjusting and cleaning the wicks. It was necessary to add fresh oil, as we have already discussed, and also to light the fire.
Fire is one of the biblical images of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2). The actions of the Holy Spirit are indicated by the material of the seven-branched candlestick (pure gold), as well as the number of its branches. They are usually associated with the seven gifts or manifestations of the Spirit, about which the prophet Isaiah speaks: “And a branch shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his root; and the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness (another translation - the fear of God A.B.)” (Is. 11: 1,2). The Spirit of the Lord can be represented by the central branch of the menorah, and His grace-filled gifts to the human mind by the other six branches.
Without the Holy Spirit, we are unable to understand Scripture and live a life pleasing to God (see Proverbs 3:5-8). Without the grace of the Spirit, our wisdom will only be earthly and spiritual. But when the mind of a believer is tuned to God, wisdom from above flows into him: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17 ). We should burn for God, igniting our minds with this holy fire, and thus fulfill His will on earth. All this is more than just mental knowledge - it is Spirit and fire!
On the right side of the sanctuary there was a table overlaid with gold with the showbread. Bread indicated the dedication of a person's will and time to God, since the flour from which bread is baked consists of tiny particles of flour, just as time consists of seconds, minutes and hours.
Bread is also a common symbol of God's Word. Let's remember the famous: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”(Matt. 4:4), where the Lord quoted the text from Deuteronomy 8:3. The word for the spirit is like bread for the body, and the process of spiritual reflection can be compared to carefully chewing bread in order to get the greatest benefit and pleasure from it...
Reflection should not be merely a speculative exercise. It ends with a person beginning to embody the Word in his daily life, and this already requires an effort of will.
A person’s will should not independently guide his decisions, but be subordinate to the spirit. Will is a good performer, but a bad leader. The righteous of all times knew this truth. This is how David describes the blessed righteous man : “But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night!”(Ps. 1:2).
The Lord Jesus Calls for Complete Commitment to Him and His Word : “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples”(John 8:31). And again: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul will destroy it; Whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24, Cass.). The path of salvation is the path of irrevocable dedication.
Every Saturday, the priests carefully placed fresh loaves of bread in two rows, or rather “columns,” with six loaves in each column. We can say that the Lord inspected the condition of the loaves and even their position, because God does not have the slightest carelessness or inattention. This indicates the importance of accuracy and attention to detail.
The twelve loaves indicate certain values to which a person needs to devote himself again and again so that the choice becomes unshakably firm. The bread was divided into two parts, which may prophetically point to the Greatest Commandment given to us by the Lord: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself; On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). Thus, according to the Lord's plan, all our decisions and actions should express love for God, as well as love for people. The six loaves of love for the Lord can correspond to decisions regarding studying the Word of God, communing with God in prayer, fasting, church life, serving God, and giving to God. Other breads can symbolize service to people in the workplace or at school, service to children, service to a spouse and parents, service to relatives, friends, special services to God and people.
As already noted, the breads indicate the distribution of time. If we make decisions but don't take the time to implement them, decisions will become bubbles. Therefore, the priests put in twelve full-sized loaves. Each decision is confirmed by a certain time and put into practice.
The Sabbath is a day of rest, worship and spiritual reflection. Today, most Christians gather for worship and fellowship on Sunday. Thus, each service should remind believers of the dedication already made and call on those who have not yet dedicated all areas of their lives to God. Therefore, the church regularly encourages us to bring to the Lord all our capabilities, abilities and gifts, and if necessary, life itself.
The Apostle Peter passionately calls us: “Therefore, brethren, be diligent more and more to make sure your calling and election; If you do this, you will never stumble, for in this way free entry into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be opened for you” (2 Peter 1:10,11). If we make our choice to live according to the spirit and the highest title of children of God firm, then the falls will stop naturally. A person who has made a quality dedication of his life to Almighty God cannot fall.
The priests were to place clean frankincense on each row of loaves (Lev. 24:7). Lebanon (from the word "white") is a white, fragrant tree resin that we call incense. Frankincense was burned daily in the tabernacle as a pleasant aroma and indicated the “fragrant” life that a believer should lead. Every decision made by a believer must serve the will of God. As it is written: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17). When a Christian submits his will to the spirit, he manifests on earth "the fragrance of Christ"(2 Cor. 2:15).
The table was made of shittim wood covered with gold and had a crown around the entire edge so that nothing from the table would fall onto the floor. Every decision we make must be implemented. Nothing should remain at the level of “good intentions.”
Finally, the golden altar of incense typically points to the bright emotions of awe, joy and peace that the human soul always experiences as it approaches the greatest mystery, which is located in the Holy of Holies behind the final veil.
Only a special composition of incense was to be burned on the golden altar: “The Lord commanded Moses: “Take the aromatic substances - nata?f, shehe?let and galban, half and half with pure incense - and make from them incense for incense - a skillfully prepared composition , seasoned with salt, pure, holy” (Ex. 30:34,35 RBO).
Dmitry Shchedrovitsky writes that in the original, “fragrant substances” means some special incense, and not a generalization of the names of four substances, as in the Russian translation. That is, the Lord told Moses that the incense should have included five substances. This may indicate positive emotions experienced by a person in God's presence (awe, joy, peace, admiration).
It is also interesting that all of these substances are of plant origin, except for shehelet. Shehelet was extracted from ancient fossilized shells, which may be an indication of the “stone” part of the human emotional sphere. It is known that the average person has five of the most destructive emotions. These are anxiety, fear, anger, disappointment, guilt and shame.
Research shows that Christians who were previously addicted to alcohol or drugs are at particular risk due to their lack of control over their negative emotions. These emotions lead them to an old, unwanted, but tried and tested method of “stress relief” - a drug.
Fossils were first crushed, “ground to dust,” and then burned. The burning of the shehelet symbolically indicates the opportunity to calm down any negative emotion in the presence of God and, even more than that, to replace it with a positive one. First of all, experience joy and peace, as it is written: “Rejoice always, because you live in unity with the Lord! And again I say: rejoice!”(Phil. 4:4 ESV) and “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” ( Phil.4:6,7). Personally, I believe that the incense that is burned on the golden altar and also placed on the showbread symbolizes pure spiritual joy.
The entire sanctuary was to be constantly filled with the aroma of incense burned on the altar. This reminds us that every Christian must continually live in a special spiritual state before the Lord. Holy Scripture calls this state the Kingdom of God, which is within us (Luke 17:21). The Apostle writes: “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”(Rom. 14:18). The Kingdom of God is within, in the Holy Place. It is not connected with the material world (food or drink). The kingdom is based on righteousness as a right relationship with God, who has adopted us forever through faith in Christ. The consequence of this relationship is two positive emotions - peace and joy. In fact, the presence of peace and joy in the heart is an indicator of the proper state of a Christian. We are called a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:11) and just as the priests were required to constantly burn incense, so we are responsible to continue in righteousness, peace and joy. To do this, it is very important to learn how to immediately return to a state of inner harmony.
The easiest way to enter into peace and joy is to go further into the Holy of Holies, because nothing disturbs the harmony there, the Spirit of God reigns undivided there. In the Old Testament, people did not have the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies except the high priest once a year, but we have a qualitatively better covenant and qualitatively better promises! The way to the most holy place is open today to every true believer: “Therefore, brothers, having confidence to enter into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He again revealed to us through the veil, that is, His flesh” (Heb. 10:20,21 ).
It is very important to remember on what basis we enter the sanctuary. If based on our deeds (prayers, fasts, donations, etc.), then the path will be closed. There is only one basis - faith in what the Lord did on the Cross, faith in the power of His Blood and nothing more! I remember when I was immature in spirit, I was often surprised that God’s presence came when I felt completely unworthy and did not come when I, in self-righteousness, thought that I had “earned” something through fasting, prayer, and religious deeds. A new and living path is open only by faith and only through the Blood of Christ! This does not mean that prayers and good deeds are not needed at all. They are a consequence of the fact that I have a close filial relationship with God, but not the basis of this relationship. The only reason is what the Savior did for me!
We not only begin the path to God by grace, but we also move throughout our lives by grace. In our own strength we are not able to fulfill God's commandments. Only a new spiritual person can do this. The prophets of the Old Testament already foresaw this truth: “I will flow in the way of Your commandments when You enlarge my heart.”(Ps. 119:32). First, the Lord expands, revives, transforms the spiritual nature by His grace, and only then by grace am I able to fulfill His commandments, the essence of which is “agape” love.
The Holy of Holies typifies the spirit of man. There was no artificial lighting. However, there was light - otherwise the high priest could not perform his ministry. The light came from God's manifest presence. So in the spirit of man there is an imperishable lamp: “The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man, searching all the depths of the heart.”(Prov. 20:27).
It was possible to enter the most secret place of the tabernacle only through the last curtain, fixed on four pillars. The number of pillars indicates the most intimate thing - the enduring presence of God. God's personal name, possibly Yahweh, is written using four Hebrew letters. Since its exact sound is lost, it is also called Tetragramaton (Latin for “four letters”). The number four also corresponds to the four aspects of the Savior’s ministry to us, named in 1 Cor. 1:30 : “From him you are also in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" The Lord is our (1) wisdom from God, (2) righteousness, (3) sanctification, and (4) redemption. Finally, if we remember that the spirit of man is reborn through the incorruptible Word of the Gospel, then it would be wise to connect the four pillars with the four Gospels.
In the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, overlaid with pure gold. The lid of the ark in the Slavic translation was called “purification.” The high priest sprinkled the blood of animals on this lid. In Romans, Christ is called “the purifier” (Rom. 3:25) because He is present in the spirit of every regenerate person through the Holy Spirit. It is Christ that we invite into our hearts as the Savior, and then He becomes our eternal “purification.”
Above the lid were golden sculptures of two cherubs, facing each other, as well as the lid of the ark. The cherubs overshadowed the ark with their wings. When the first people sinned, the Lord appointed the cherubim to guard the Garden of Eden so that people could not return there. But here the cherubim no longer hinder, but protect, overshadowing the spiritual nature of the reborn person with wings.
Why were there two cherubim in the Holy of Holies? Firstly, there were two tablets. One spoke about love for God, the other about love for one’s neighbor. The cherubim continuously looked at the tablets through the lid and loved God and each other with perfect love.
There is another very beautiful and deep interpretation. Cherub is one of the highest angelic ranks. Each of them is great and supremely powerful. The prophet Ezekiel described one cherub: “You were an anointed cherub to overshadow, and I appointed you to do so; you were on the holy mountain of God, walking among the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you” (Ezek. 28:14,15). This powerful angelic being became proud and fell from heaven to earth (Ezek. 28:13-18). Today we know this cherub as the devil or Satan. Pride is born when a person or angel begins to pay too much attention to himself and his gifts and talents. The cherubim above the mercy seat are facing each other. This means that they see first of all not themselves, but others. Their attention is captured by the beauty and greatness of the other angel, so they are not in danger of becoming proud. Likewise, we must constantly direct our inner gaze to the Lord Jesus and the infinite perfection of His image, so as not to fall victim to pride.
The ark contained the tablets of the covenant, a jar of manna, and Aaron's rod that blossomed. The tablets of the covenant indicated the content of the regenerated spirit: its righteousness and holiness, wisdom and spiritual intelligence, the fruits of the spirit, the most important of which is agape love.
Prophecies about the content of the regenerated spirit were written down several centuries before the coming of the Savior: “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And every man shall not teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for everyone, from the least of them to the greatest, will know Me, because I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 8:10-12).
God promised to put His laws into the regenerated spirit of man. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall a most amazing fact. The Ten Commandments, written on two tablets, contained 613 letters. Exactly the same number of commandments – 613 – contains the Law of the Old Testament! This means that each letter on the tablets spoke of a certain commandment... Only God's wisdom is capable of this. Truly “O depth of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments and unsearchable are His ways!”(Rom. 11:35 CASS). Every one of God's commandments is already written down in the spirit of a born-again Christian!
Manna was a type of feeding on God's Word. The vessel with manna in the ark of the covenant is an indication of that incorruptible Word with which the miracle of the new birth began: “as being born again, not from corruptible seed, but from incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”(1 Peter 1:23). Also, the manna was incorruptible, which indicates the eternal life that already exists in the regenerated spirit: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”(John 17:3).
Finally, the blossoming rod is a symbol of resurrection and power. The rod pointed to the completion of man's salvation - the resurrection of his mortal body for incorruptible and unfading life. It also symbolized the authority and power that is in the spirit of every born-again believer. We have been given power over the earth (Gen. 1 ch.) and, first of all, over that piece of “dust of the earth” that makes up our physical body. We must learn to exercise authority in the spirit over illnesses, curses and demons that can attack our bodies and souls.
Thus the plan of the tabernacle is the plan of real worship, where man gradually passes through the gates of thanksgiving and praise, through the Blood of Christ, through the cleansing of confession. Then he goes deeper and begins to be filled with the Holy Spirit through “drinking” living water and reasoning with the Word. He devotes himself, his will and time to the Lord. The joy of the spirit, the joy and harmony of eternal life breaks out from within in the form of a prayer of praise and worship. The believer is now ready for deep worship in spirit.
The very word “worship” is washed out and worn out. It often refers to the musical portion of a worship service, or even as part of that portion when slow hymns (called “worship songs”) are sung. Real worship begins only in the Holy of Holies, only in the spirit. The Lord Jesus said unequivocally about this: “The time will come and has already come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers for Himself. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23,24). What happens behind the veil of the Holy of Holies is always a mystery that cannot be adequately expressed in our language. We can only say that communication begins with the Spirit of God, Who lives in our spirit. Communication implies a certain dialogue. The result of worship is almost always a specific Word, which is why the Lord said: “ true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” The Word of God is truth.
We find a striking example in the book of the prophet Isaiah, who described a unique experience of worship (however, worship is always unique): “In the year of the death of King Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the whole temple. The Seraphim stood around Him; each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And they called to each other and said: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts! the whole earth is full of His glory! And the tops of the gates shook at the voice of those shouting, and the house was filled with incense. And I said: Woe is me! I'm dead! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people also of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand he had a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth and said: behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity is taken away from you, and your sin is cleansed. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send? and who will go for Us? And I said: here I am, send me. And He said, “Go and tell this people: You will hear with your ears and not understand, and with your eyes you will see and will not see” (Isaiah 6:1-9).
There is a lot that can be learned from this text. For example, the description of the celestial beings called Seraphim is very interesting. These are creatures with six wings. Renowned Bible teacher Derek Prince noted that four (two-thirds) of these were used for worship. Indeed, covering the feet and face are images of worship. Two wings (one third) were used for action or, one might say, service. What conclusion can be drawn from this observation? If the heavenly proportion of the ratio of worship and service is two to one, then the earthly one should be the same... Indeed, how much incomparably richer our life and service would be if we devoted twice as much time and effort to worshiping God as not serving...
The prophet’s amazing experience ended with Isaiah hearing the voice of the Lord: “ who should I send? and who will go for Us? and responded with faith and obedience: “ Here I am, send me.” Someone has said that worship begins with holy expectation but ends with holy obedience—this is a spiritual principle. This is how it was with the prophet Isaiah, this is how it always happens. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Christ's disciples experienced a special experience of worship. It was so good for them that they wanted to make tabernacles and stay forever on this mountain (Matt. 17:4), but the special action of the Holy Spirit ended and the Lord led them down, where ministry to the demon-possessed, the sick and the lost awaited them.
The Apostle James expressed the result of worship this way: “Pure and undefiled godliness before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). The Greek word "treskeia" is usually translated as worship, but in this text as piety. So, the result of pure and immaculate worship is that believers begin to cover the needs of orphans and widows and keep themselves from being polluted by the world. Why are we talking specifically about orphans and widows? In the social conditions of the first century, there was no social welfare system for them, so the Spirit of God called His worshipers to minister to their needs. Today, too, the Lord calls many to serve this category of disadvantaged people, although, of course, not everyone is called to serve only orphans and widows. James emphasizes the general principle that as a result of worship (the purpose of worship is precisely the worship of God in spirit), we hear the call of God's truth (the word of God is truth) to serve the specific needs of specific people and devote ourselves to doing the will of God. By doing this, we also keep ourselves from this world. Here, as in the text of 2 Pet. discussed above. 1:4, the positive part is more important than the negative part. When we focus on doing God's will, the soul naturally draws closer to the spirit and thereby becomes sanctified. On the contrary, if all the efforts of a believer are directed only at not sinning, he will sin sooner...
So service flows out of worship, not as a substitute for it. Worship ends with hearing the voice of God and dedication—holy obedience—readiness to serve the needs of the people with the strength the Lord provides. Worship Begins with Holy Waiting and Ends with Holy Obedience.
I want to end with a prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father! First of all, I thank You for adopting me as son through Jesus Christ, regenerating my spirit. You gave me the power to be called and to be Your child! Glory to Thee for the boundless treasures that, by Thy mercy, are in my spirit. I believe that my spirit is righteous and holy, my spirit has the mind of Christ, has the wisdom that comes from above. My spirit has great power and authority - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead!
Precious fruits are ripening in my spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, mercy, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Lord, enlighten the eyes of my heart so that I may know all the riches of Your glorious inheritance...
Help my soul to patiently and faithfully walk the path of transformation into the image of Christ. Teach me to live by the spirit and not by the flesh. Keep me from the temptation of legalism. Protect me from the impoverishment of faith!
I believe in the physical resurrection of the dead. I believe that such a glorious day will come when You will give me a new incorruptible body in which I will forever glorify You and serve You.
I thank You for the salvation that I have through faith in Christ! Receive all the glory, honor and praise in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen".
In the synodal text in Gen. 3:24 refers to one cherub, but the word cherub has a plural ending, so it is more correct to understand that the Garden of Eden was guarded not by one, but by two or even more cherubs.
According to the Bible, God, one for Jews, Christians and Muslims, did not immediately lead people to the idea of building a temple for Him. The first indication can be considered the dream of Jacob, the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham, the same one who bought the birthright from his brother Esau for lentil stew. Having set out on a journey to avoid the wrath of his deceived brother, Jacob spent the night on the road and settled down to sleep right on the ground, using a stone instead of a pillow:
“And I saw in a dream: behold, a ladder stands on the earth, and its top touches the sky; and behold, the angels of God ascend and descend on it. And behold, the Lord stands on it and says: I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie will I give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants will be like the sand of the earth; and you will spread to the sea, and to the east, and to the north, and to the noonday; and in you and in your seed all families of the earth will be blessed; and behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go; and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. Jacob awoke from his sleep and said: Truly the Lord is present in this place; but I didn’t know!
And he was afraid and said: How terrible is this place! this is nothing other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob arose early in the morning, and took the stone which he had put for his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And [Jacob] called the name of that place Bethel, but the former name of that city was Luz. And Jacob made a vow, saying: If [the Lord] God will be with me and keep me on this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I will return in peace to my father’s house, and the Lord will be mine God, then this stone, which I have erected as a monument, will be [for me] the house of God; and of all that You, O God, give me, I will give You a tenth.” (Gen. 28:12-22)
Thus, the shepherd Jacob, not yet able to build a real temple, outlined the main principles of temple construction. Firstly, he marked the place of the presence of higher powers by erecting a memorial sign. Secondly, he consecrated it by performing a special ritual of anointing the stone with oil (olive oil). Thirdly, he called this place the house of God. Finally, he gave this place another definition - “the gates of heaven,” that is, the place from which the path to another world opened. Since then, any sacred building of the Abrahamic religion can be recognized as such by the presence of these signs.
Landscape with Jacob's Dream. Painting by Michael Lucas Leopold Willmann. Around 1691 Wikimedia CommonsThe first real temple appeared among the Jews much later. Moreover, it was an easily dismountable camp structure, one might say, a temple-tent.
On the way out of Egyptian captivity, but long before finding the Promised Land, the people of Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses climbed this mountain more than once, where he personally talked with God. There, on a cloud-hidden peak, the first Ten Commandments were given to humanity. In writing, inscribed on stone tablets. Along with them, Moses received detailed instructions on how and where to store them. Firstly, it was necessary to collect donations from the people: “wool of blue, purple and scarlet color...” (Ex. 35:6), flax and leather, valuable species of trees, a lot of gold, silver and copper. Master craftsmen were also needed. Here are the names of two of them mentioned in the Bible and forever remained in history: Bezaleel, the son of Uriah, the son of Hor, from the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan (Ex. 35:30, 34).
“He filled their hearts with wisdom to do all the work of a carver and a cunning weaver, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen, and weavers who do all kinds of work and make cunning cloth.” (Ex. 35:35)
So, in accordance with the instructions of the Lord, a wooden box, lined with gold on all sides, was made to store the tablets. From above it was closed with a golden lid, decorated with winged figures of seraphim. Gold rings were attached to the corners, into which poles lined with precious foil were threaded. It turned out to be something like a stretcher - a convenient device for wandering through the desert. But most importantly, during the stays, this box with tablets - the Ark of the Covenant - had to be in a special tent, in the tabernacle.
Tabernacle. Drawing by an unknown author. 19th century Wikimedia Commons It is the tabernacle that is the ancestor of all temple buildings among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Judging by the description in the Bible, it was a large multi-layered tent made of pieces of fabric skillfully interlocked with each other and here and there hanging down from the edges with graceful draperies. Below lay fine linen, that is, most likely, linen, then wool, and on top, apparently as protection from the rain, goatskins. Unlike an ordinary tent, there were wooden walls inside - rows of vertical beams made of shittim (acacia) wood on silver sockets. The southern and northern sides consisted of 20 such beams, the western - of six plus two corner ones, connecting the structures at right angles. It turned out to be a room stretched from east to west, something like a basilica. Inside, a woven curtain on five pillars with copper bases divided the space into two parts, the larger of which, the first from the entrance, was called the sanctuary. It contained a golden seven-branched candlestick, a table for bread offered as a sacrifice to God, and a small altar for incense. A small, distant room - the Holy of Holies - was intended to store the Ark of the Covenant, and only the high priest could enter it. An integral part of the temple was a courtyard, fenced with woven curtains on pillars made of the same shittim wood, but on copper supports. In the courtyard there was the main altar, on which animals offered as gifts to God were burned, and a vessel for ablutions.
Construction of the Tabernacle. Engraving by Gerard Huth from the book “Figures de la Bible”. 1728 The artist managed to show on one sheet everything that is described in the fortieth chapter of the book of Exodus. Wikimedia Commons 
Tabernacle of Moses. Drawing from the Old Russian translation of Kozma Indikoplov’s book “Christian Topography”, 1495 In the interpretation of the Russian artist of the late 15th century, the tabernacle is precisely a tent, allowing the formation of the beautiful folds described in the Bible, and not a modest tent tightly fitting the wooden walls. Since then, prayer buildings of all Abrahamic religions have been built according to a three-part scheme: the vestibule - a courtyard or narthex (narthex), the main space of the temple itself and a special sacred area - an altar or simply a raised platform with a table or cabinet for sacred texts. This tent turned out to be not just a place for storing the tablets of the Testament, and not only a special territory where sacrifices were made before the tablets, as before idols. Now the tabernacle, and not the place once marked by Jacob's stone, became the house of God. The Jews could verify this literally: as soon as Moses assembled the tabernacle and consecrated it with oil, it disappeared into a divine cloud - a visual evidence of the divine presence. When the cloud lifted, it became clear to the desert wanderers that it was time to move on in search of the Promised Land; if it stopped, it was a sign that it was time to set up camp for rest.
It is interesting that the structure of the tabernacle is described in the Bible in the most detailed way. It is indicated how many spikes are needed on each pillar so that they connect to each other, how the gold-lined poles holding the structure together should lie; it is said that on each piece of fabric that serves as the covering of the tent, exactly 50 loops are needed and precisely blue, and the hooks that connect the loops to each other must certainly be cast from gold. However, it is quite difficult to imagine what the tabernacle actually looked like - at least the reconstructions of different researchers bear little resemblance to each other.
Having finally arrived in the Promised Land (promised by God), it would seem that the Jews immediately had to build a real, permanent temple. However, the question of building a full-fledged stone temple arose only with the advent of real state power: the first of the Jewish kings, Saul, was not yet up to architecture - he was completely consumed by jealousy of David’s military glory; David, in turn, being on the throne, became preoccupied with construction, but the honor of being considered the builder of the First Temple went to Solomon, the son of David.
“And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which was shown to David his father, in the place that David had prepared, in the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite.” (2 Chron. 3:1)
King Hiram of Tire undertook to help Solomon not only with materials, but also with skilled labor - he sent skilled stonemasons and an architect.
“And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have listened to what you sent to me for, and I will fulfill all your desire for cedar trees and cypress trees; my servants will bring them from Lebanon to the sea, and I will deliver them on rafts by sea to the place that you assign to me, and there I will lay them down, and you will take them; but you also fulfill my desire to deliver bread for my house.” (1 Kings 5:8-9)
Construction took seven years. The stones were delivered to the site already processed, and there was an important theological reason for this: even Moses was forbidden to build an altar from hewn stones. Then it was believed that materials defiled by the touch of iron were not suitable for holy work. Apparently, the builders of Solomon's Temple, realizing that they could not build a worthy building from shapeless material, tried to get around this prohibition by processing boulders far from the place of use. In addition, this solution preserved reverent silence on the construction site.
Temple of Solomon. Engraving from François Vatable's book "Biblia sacra". 1546 This is how Solomon's temple seemed to people in the 16th century. True, only to those who carefully read the Bible. Others saw it as round in plan. Wikimedia Commons Like the tabernacle, the temple is described in great detail in Scripture, yet it is difficult for us to imagine what it looked like. It is usually depicted in reconstructions as being close to Babylonian architecture, with characteristic crenellated decorations on the façade, which are also mentioned in the Bible. However, the general composition of the temple is quite obvious. In general, it repeated the structure of the tabernacle: a large courtyard, and in it an elongated room, divided by a curtain into the sanctuary and the holy of holies. The Ark, as before, was intended to be a cubic space into which the high priest could enter only once a year, on Yom Kippur (Judgment Day, the most important of the Jewish holidays). In the sanctuary there was a lampstand, an altar of incense, and a table for the showbread. The temple also had a vestibule and auxiliary premises. The decoration of the building was very rich: marble on the outside, cedar and cypress wood on the inside, trimmed with gold sheets.
The temple, according to the Bible, began construction 480 years after the Israelites fled from captivity in Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, and was completed in seven years. Most likely, there were still 950 years left before the birth of Christ, although there are other estimates.
As expected, during a special ritual the building was anointed with oil and consecrated. A solemn procession brought the Ark of the Covenant into the cave, as it seemed then, forever The temple was destroyed twice and was never restored after the second time. In addition, after the destruction of the First Temple, the main shrine, the Ark with the Tablets of Moses, disappeared.. The divine cloud again, as once in the tabernacle, filled the sanctuary and the holy of holies. The temple became the house of God, which was repeatedly confirmed by the Lord himself, appearing to Solomon.
An angel measures the walls of the Heavenly City with a golden cane. Drawing by Facundus from the book “Beato de Liébana”. 1047 Wikimedia Commons Of the representatives of the Abrahamic religions, only Christians were given the opportunity to learn in detail what the city built in heaven by the Lord himself looks like: an angel appeared to John, one of the closest disciples of Jesus, exiled by the persecutors of the followers of Christ to the island of Patmos to dictate the Revelation (Apocalypse) - the story of what the end of the world will be like and what should precede it. In particular, at the end of human history, the Heavenly City will descend to earth. It will be a square fortress made of precious stones, the height of the walls being equal to the width. Twelve gates - three on each side of the world - will admit only the righteous. And most importantly, as it was revealed to John the Theologian, there will be no temple at all in that City, for instead of it there will be the Lord himself.
“...And one of the seven angels came to me, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, and said to me: Go, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb. And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which came down from heaven from God. He has the glory of God. It shone like a most precious stone, like a crystalline jasper stone.
It has a large and high wall, has twelve gates and twelve Angels on them; On the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east there are three gates, on the north there are three gates, on the south there are three gates, on the west there are three gates. The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. He who spoke to me had a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its walls. The city is located in a quadrangle, and its length is the same as its latitude. And he measured the city with a reed for twelve thousand furlongs; its length and breadth and height are equal. And he measured the wall thereof to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, which is the measure of an angel. Its wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the city wall are decorated with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation is jasper, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedon, the fourth is emerald, the fifth is sardonyx, the sixth is carnelian, the seventh is chrysolite, the eighth is virill, the ninth is topaz, the tenth is chrysoprase, the eleventh is hyacinth, and the twelfth is amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl. The city street is pure gold, like transparent glass. But I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The saved nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates will not be locked during the day; and there will be no night there. And they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations. And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Rev. 21:9-27)
Heavenly Jerusalem. Tapestry of the Angers Apocalypse. Angers Castle Museum, France. 1373-1382 A series of tapestries of the so-called “Angers Apocalypse” represents scenes from the Revelation of John the Theologian. Created for Louis I of Anjou in the workshops of Nicolas Bataille, probably by master Robert Punchon. 74 tapestries have survived to this day and are exhibited in the Angers Castle Museum. Wikimedia Commons Prepared based on materials from the book by Sergei Kavtaradze, “Seven Books about Architecture,” which is being prepared for publication by the publishing house of the Higher School of Economics. We learn to see and understand.”
After this, Moses began to build a tabernacle in the middle of the camp, as the Lord had shown him on the mountain. This was the work of the entire people of Israel. " And all whose hearts were drawn to it, and all whose spirit was disposed, came and brought offerings to the Lord for the building of the tabernacle of meeting and for all its needs and for [all] the sacred garments."(Ex. 35.21). They erected the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, that is, exactly one year after leaving Egypt (Ex. 40.2).
The tabernacle consisted of three parts: Holy of Holies, sanctuary and yard (see Fig. 1.). The tabernacle itself, or sacred tent, stood in the middle of a quadrangular courtyard surrounded by bronze columns that were connected by crossbars. Linen throws hung from the cross beams, so that the area was covered on all sides by high curtains. The walls of the tabernacle were built of poles and beams of shittim (acacia) wood, and its roof was covered first with two woolen blankets with the image of cherubim, and then with two blankets of rams' skins.
Rice. 1. Reconstruction of the general view of the tabernacle (top) and the sacred objects located in it (right)
The sacred temple-tent was divided into two halves: the Holy of Holies and the sanctuary, separated from each other by a woolen curtain embroidered with gold. The Holy of Holies was the most important part of the temple. It contained the Ark of the Covenant (see Fig. 1), which was a box made of shittim wood, lined inside and outside with forged gold sheets. The lid of the Ark, called the atonement, was made of pure gold. At its ends were two images of cherubs. The Ark was considered the most important shrine of the temple. Moses, at the command of God, placed the tablets in the Ark, and placed a vessel with manna in front of the Ark.
There were three sacred objects in the sanctuary (see Fig. 1.). In the center of the sanctuary, opposite the Ark, stood an altar of incense, made of precious wood and overlaid with gold. On it, priests sacrificed incense or incense. To the right of the altar of incense stood a wooden table overlaid with gold with twelve showbreads, which were changed every Sabbath. To the left stood a golden lampstand, like a tree, with seven lamps in which oil burned.
In the courtyard, in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, there was an altar of burnt offering, bound in copper, and a large copper laver for washing the hands and feet of the priests before worship. The entrance to the tabernacle was on the east side, so that the Holy of Holies, in contrast to the pagan altars, faced the west.
The tabernacle without a courtyard was small in size. It was 30 cubits in length (i.e. 15.6 m; the sacred cubit was 52 cm), width and height - 10 cubits (5.2 m). When the tabernacle was completed, Moses consecrated it by anointing all its sacred objects with oil.
At the same time, Aaron and his sons from the tribe of Levi were chosen to perform divine services at the tabernacle. " And take unto you Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may be priest unto me, Aaron, and Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron."(Ex. 28.1). If before the law was given to the Jews, any head of the family could perform priestly duties, that is, make sacrifices to God, but now only the descendants of Aaron could be priests. At the head of the priests was high priest(at first he was also called simply a priest, Ex. 28.1, or “an anointed priest,” Lev. 4.3, or “a great priest,” Lev. 21.10). The first high priest was Aaron, who was anointed by Moses (Ex. 40.12–15), then, after the death of Aaron, his son Eleazar became the high priest (Num. 20.26), then the grandson of Aaron and the son of Eleazar, Phinehas (Deut. 10.6), etc. To assist in the service of the priests at the tabernacle, the remaining representatives of the tribe of Levi (not the descendants of Aaron) - the Levites - were appointed (Num. 3.6-8).
When the tabernacle was built, then a cloud covered it, " and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle"(Ex. 40.34). The cloud over the tabernacle was a symbol of the presence of the Lord among Israel.
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