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And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.
Exodus 26:33
God continued showing Moses the plans for the tabernacle the Israelites were to construct, the place where His presence would dwell among His people. Remember, what God showed Moses are physical representations of the spiritual reality.
Today in our reading, we see three distinct aspects of the tabernacle:
Division. God describes the intricate woven veils and curtains which will divide the tabernacle from the people. They even divide the parts of the tabernacle: the Holy Place from the Most Holy. The dividing curtains were beautiful, but they represented division between God and His people. He was unapproachable apart from sacrifice because of sin.
Covering. Over the division, God showed Moses how to prepare a covering. The beauty would be covered by something very ordinary: goatskins and ram skins. Those who did not know God dwelt in the tabernacle would miss the beautiful glory of His presence by the ordinariness of the protective covering of the skins.
Framework. Holding up the division and the covering was a framework of poles set in bases with crossbars. A framework supporting the entire tabernacle and God's place among the people. The framework of our faith is His Word. It establishes the division between us and Him: Creator to created. It establishes the covering of His protection in our lives as we follow His Word. It is the framework for life, revealing His presence in the ordinary, revealing His beauty through faith.
Connecting this physical representation to the spiritual reality, we see Jesus, the Word made flesh. He came in the ordinariness of a human being, but to those who were blessed with eyes to see, He contained the glory of God's presence on earth. He showed us what it means to live out God's Word as the framework for our lives.
Not only is He the framework, but the covering of protection. He came to cover our sins with His blood making a way for us to be reconciled to God. The tabernacle was the forerunner of the temple. Just as the tabernacle had a veil dividing man from God, so did the temple. And when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). Jesus, through His sacrifice, made a way through the dividing curtain of holiness so we could enter into God's presence by faith rather than personal sacrifice.
New Testament Believers have His Word to support us. His blood as a covering. And eyes of faith to see His beauty, and a Way to enter His presence.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith...
Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV
Father God, You are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
You have always wanted to dwell with those You created.
Grow my faith to take full advantage of the access You've
given me to Your presence through Jesus by way of the Spirit.
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