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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ex. 37-39
The Old Testament is full of strange, random details. Exodus 38:8 contains one such detail. “He made the bronze basin and its stand from the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” Details like these are so seemingly insignificant that the mention of them screams significance. Yet there is never any explanation as to what that significance might be. So we are left scratching our heads once we notice them. I went looking for some insight on this particular detail and found speculations spanning the spectrum from good to evil. But in the end, they are all speculations. In reality, we don’t know what made these women or their donation stand out from all the other people and their donations. Maybe these mentions are God’s way of reminding us that He sees every little detail and they all matter to Him.
Ex. 40
God had very specific instructions not only on how to construct the tabernacle and its furnishings, but also on how to set it up. He gave a specific time for its inaugural assembly and a specific order to the process. I believe the specifics were due to the integral message of the tabernacle. The tabernacle was God’s temporal presence with His people. As such, it was a representation of both His spiritual and eternal presence with us, which were at the time yet to come. Thus, the specifics were necessary in order to make an accurate representation.
I see this representation as a somewhat two part thing. On a broader scale, the tabernacle and the festivals associated with it are God’s road map for His plan for redemption for the whole world. Actually more of an outline or flow chart, I think, as He uses these things to show us what is to come. The more specific representation is the cornerstone on which God’s entire plan is built. That cornerstone is Jesus. He is God’s plan for our redemption. Thus, everything about the tabernacle, or later the actual Temple, with its furnishings and festivals relates to Jesus and how He reconciles first the Jews and then the entire world to God. It is through this reconciliation that God’s full presence can and will be with ALL His people forever. We will be His people and He will be our God. Which was His plan from the beginning.