The Tabernacle of Moses: Fast Facts & a Quick Tour

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Fast Facts About the Tabernacle of Moses

The tabernacle (Heb. mishkan)was constructed circa 1450 b.c. at the foot of Mount Sinai. It took about a year to build.

Hebrew Names for the Tabernacle

  • Mishkan means “tabernacle, dwelling or habitation.” Mishkan is from the root word shakan meaning “to dwell, abide, settle down, reside, tabernacle.”The word shechinah derives from shakan and refers to the manifest light or presence of YHVH among his people(Exod 25:8–9).
  • Ohel ‬(as in tent of the congregation/meeting) means “a nomad’s tent, dwelling, home, habitation”(Exod 29:42).
  • Miqdash means “sacred place, sanctuary, holy place”and is from the primitive root qadash and means “to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed or set apart, be separate or holy” (Exod 25:8).
  • Kodesh or the sanctuary because it was set-apart ( or kadosh) to Elohim (Exod 30:13).
  • Ohel haeduth means “the tabernacle or tent of the testimony or witness” since it contained the ark of the covenant housing the Torah-law given to Moses, which was an abiding witness of Israel’s covenant with YHVH (Num 9:15).
  • Mishkan haeduth means “tabernacle of the testimony” (Num 10:11).

Examples of YHVH Tabernacling With His People

The children of Israel have just left Egypt and are now trekking through the wilderness en route to the Promised Land. Within a couple of months, YHVH gives them their first assignment. In Exodus 25, he tells them to build a tabernacle. Why? He says to Moses, “And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” (Exod 25:8). From the beginning of time, in the Garden of Eden, Elohim has wanted to “hang out” with man. Elohim’s desire to dwell or tabernacle with man is a theme that runs from Genesis to Revelation. We see this idea repeated in the Testimony of Yeshua (the New Testament).

John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The word dwelt (Gr. skenoo) means “tent or tabernacle.” The Greek word skenoo most likely derives from the Hebrew word shakan meaning “to dwell, abide, settle down, reside, tabernacle”and is the root word for mishkan, which is the main name for the Tabernacle of Moses.

Luke 2:7, The baby Yeshua was laid in a “manger.” This may have been a sukkah or tabernacle, which is the flimsy little hut that Israelites build during the biblical feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles as commanded in the Torah (Lev 23:33–43). We see the connection between manger and sukkot in Genesis 33:17 where Jacob built booths (or tabernacles; Heb. succot or sukkot, sing. sukkah) for his livestock showing us that the Hebrew word sukkot can also mean “livestock barn or manger” as well as a temporary habitation where Israelites dwell during the biblically commanded festival of Sukkot. This raises the possibility that Yeshua was born in a festival sukkah during the feast of Sukkot — not just an animal barn. The LXX Greek word for sukkot in Gen 33:17 is skenas meaning “habitation, dwelling or tabernacle” and is the same word used in John 1:14 and Revelation 21:1–3 in reference to Yeshua tabernacling with his people. Putting all the pieces together, Yeshua was likely born in a sukkah-manger most probably on the Feast of Sukkot with a human sukkah (or body, of which the physical sukkah during Sukkot is a metaphorical picture) in order to redeem man from sin, so that Yeshua might tabernacle with redeemed men forever in the New Jerusalem.What an amazing Truth picture is presented before us when we put all the pieces of the puzzle together!

Revelation 21:1–3, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from Elohim, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of Elohim is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they shall be His people. Elohim Himself will be with them and be their Elohim.’” The word tabernacle in verse three is skenoo in the Greek, the same word used in John 1:14.

Examples of YHVH’s People Tabernacling With Him

The talithe (also talit) or prayer shawlworn by Jewish men is an examples of YHVH’s people tabernacling with him. The word tal-ithe means “little tent.” Each Hebrew man has his own little tabernacle, tent or prayer closet to pull over his head whenever he wants to tabernacle or commune with his Elohim. When a talit is spread out with one’s arms it resembles a bird with wings. This represents YHVH’s “wings” forming a protective shield or brooding over his people. Such a place becomes a place of refuge (Ps 91:1,4). The Spirit of Elohim brooded over the waters of the earth at creation (Gen 1:2). Yeshua spoke of his desire for Jerusalem as a mother hen spreads out its wings and gathers together its young (Matt 23:37). In ancient Mideast culture, a man would cast his outer garment over his wife-to-be as an act of claiming her for marriage. In Ezekiel 16:8, YHVH spread is “wings” (Heb. kanaph meaning “edge, extremity, wings, bird’s feathered wings”) over his bride, Israel, to cover her nakedness. The Jewish wedding canopy or chuppah represents this.

Constructing the Tabernacle — All Israel Was Involved

All Israel contributed to the building of the tabernacle (Exod 25:1–7), yet YHVH chose two Israelite artisans, Bezalel and Aholiab (Exod 31:1–6), filled them with the Spirit of Elohim “in wisdom, understanding, knowledge and in all manner of workmanship…” This teaches us that the work of YHVH is a joint effort of the entire body of YHVH-Yeshua, but that YHVH will endow certain individuals with unique gifts of the Spirit in order to accomplish his specific plans and purposes (Eph 2:22; 4:11; Rom 12:4–8; 1 Cor 12 and 14).

The Israelite Encampment Around the Tabernacle

The Israelites camped around the tabernacle (Num 2:1–34). On the east side were Judah, Issachar and Zebulun; on the South side were Reuben, Simeon and Gad; on the west side were Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin; and on the north side were Dan, Asher and Naphtali. According to the numbers of the fighting men given in Numbers 2, we see that the encampment of Israelites around the tabernacle formed a perfect Paleo-Hebrew letter tav, which looks like a cross or our small letter t. This is amazing when added to the fact that everything in and around the tabernacle pointed to Yeshua the Messiah, to his redemptive work on the cross and the steps of each person must take to be reconciled to Elohim and eventually to inherit eternal life. Moreover, the Levites camped around the tabernacle forming a protective perimeter between the Israelites and the tabernacle itself (Num 1:53), even as Yeshua provided the five-fold ministry of apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd or pastor and teacher to surround the church, to edify the body of Yeshua and to bring them into the unity of the faith (Eph 4:11). 

A Quick Tour of the Tabernacle

The Altar of the Red Heifer (Num 19:1–11)

See the article toward the end of this teaching on the red heifer where we discuss how it relates to Yeshua’s death at the cross. It is necessary for each saint to visit this altar representing the cross, which was located just outside the tabernacle, before being allowed into the tabernacle as the writer of Hebrews informs us (Heb 13:12–13).

The Outer Curtain (Exod 27:9–19)

The tabernacle’s outer court was approximately 150 feet long by 75 feet wide (or 11,250 square feet, which is about one-fourth of an acre) in size.

The curtains of the outer court (Exod 27:9–19) were made of fine white linen and was seven-and-a-half feet tall. The linen curtains speak of robes of righteousness the bride of Yeshua will wear on her wedding day (Rev 19:8).

Sixty pillars supported the outer curtain. They were set in heavy bronze (or brass) bases topped by silver capitals. These pillars represent redeemed humanity wearing robes of righteousness. Wood symbolizes humanity, while bronze symbolizes judgment against man because of sin, and silver represents redemption or Elohim’s ransom price for man’s sin.

The Door to the Tabernacle (Exod 27:16–17)

The door of the outer court curtain contained three colors woven into white linen fabric: blue, purple, crimson, and white. These four colors speak of different attributes of Yeshua, whom Scripture likens to the door of salvation (John 10:1–18). These four colors combine to form a full picture of Yeshua, the Redeemer and Savior of Israel. Only through him can man come to the Father, have salvation, eternal life and inhabit the glorious New Jerusalem pictured by the glory cloud over the Holy of holies in the tabernacle. The four colors also correspond to the four faces of the living beings around the throne of Elohim (Ezek 1).

Crimson symbolizes the human aspects of Yeshua, for red is the color of man and red clay from which YHVH created man (adam). Some Bible commentators believe this points to the Gospel of Mark, which reveals the nature of Yeshua at the pashat (the simpleor plain level) of biblical understanding. Some see this as corresponding to the ox cherubim and the tribe of Ephraim, which had on its banner an ox. According to Hebrew roots commentator and linguistic scholar James Trimm, “Mark presents the Messiah as the servant (the servant who purifies the Goyim in Isa 52:13, 15) the “my servant the Branch” of Zech 3:8 who is symbolized by the face of the Ox in Ezekiel 1 (the Ox being a servant, a beast of burden). Mark does not begin with an account of the birth of Messiah as do Matthew and Luke because, unlike the birth of a King, the birth of a servant is unimportant, all that is important is his work as a servant which begins with his immersion by [John]. Thus Mark’s simplified account omits any account of Yeshua’s birth or preexistence and centers on his work as a servant who purifies the [people of the nations].”

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The Tabernacle of Moses—YHVH’s Pattern of Salvation for Mankind

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The Story of the Bible From Genesis to Revelation

Thy way, O Elohim, is in the Sanctuary (Heb. Kodesh). (Psalm 77:13)

The story of man, as recorded in the pages of Divine Scripture, begins in a garden and ends in a garden. In both of these paradises — the Garden of Eden and the heavenly New Jerusalem, man walks in intimate oneness with his Creator. Paradise was lost in the former and will be regained in the latter.

But between the two — between the books of Genesis and Revelation — is the saga of man’s separation from his loving Creator due to his prideful rebellion against YHVH’s Torah — his life-giving, fatherly and loving instructions in righteousness. Between Genesis and Revelation is the agonizing history of a Father reaching out in every conceivable manner to his prodigal children, urging them to repent of their sin, and to turn from the downward path that leads to spiritual darkness, separation and eternal death.

YHVH has a plan to redeem man — to save him; that plan is revealed in the Bible — the Word of Elohim. But the Bible is a big, complex and daunting book to most people. Deciphering this plan of salvation can be intimidating to those who do not have the keys to unlock the mysteries. Once the code is deciphered, however, and the plan unveiled, understanding the Book is a cinch. To understand the Tabernacle of Moses is to understand that plan. Though of divine origin, it is a simple layout and design. But its simplicity belies the true enigma of it. Even though the youngest child can understand the basic message of the tabernacle, within it’s linen veiled enclosure is to be found some of the deepest wisdom of the universe, for in it the mysteries of YHVH’s plan of redemption for mankind is revealed. In its furnishings and details one finds in code-form the seven-step plan of YHVH’s set-apart annual appointed times, as well as the seven steps of the biblical Hebraic wedding. These all reveal the steps every human must take to reverse the curse of death that fell upon Adam. They show man the way back to the Father and back to that garden paradise that man lost. Within the set-apart or holy sanctuary of the tabernacle is revealed the way of Elohim, the way of salvation and eternal life.

When Adam and Eve sinned, YHVH thrust them out of the paradise called Eden. They began to wander in search of redemption in a wilderness of separation brought on by their sin. From that point on, men continued to wander seeking redemption. Their wanderings took them further away from redemption and from YHVH the Redeemer, however. We pick this story up with the children of Israel who have left the Wilderness of Sin and begun to wander in the wilderness of Sinai in search of their destiny. After having revealed himself to them at their deepest point of despair, YHVH brought them to a mountain in the desert — Mount Sinai — and presented to them an alternative lifestyle — one that would give them hope and lead them to everlasting life replacing the hopelessness and uncertainty about their future. He then gave them a purpose and a destiny. YHVH gave them a job assignment. It was to build a tabernacle — a place of rest, healing, cleansing and intimate relationship with him. Whether they realized it or not, that simple tent was their future hope. It was the pathway back to paradise. Outside the tent was a hot, parched and gray wilderness full of serpents, scorpions and the dreaded heathen Amalekites. Inside was redemption, cleansing, life, food, leading to the glorious presence of the Elohim of Israel — a foreshadow of the New Jerusalem. David understood this when he said, “Thy way, O Elohim, is in the sanctuary” (Ps 77:13).

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Frauds in the Messianic, Hebrew Roots Movement Exposed

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WARNING! THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR RELIGIOUS GAME-PLAYERS. IT IS FOR THOSE WHO ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR SPIRITUAL WALK. In this video, Nathan Lawrence calls out fakers, frauds, talkers and white-washed sepulcher hypocrites who are part of the so-called Messianic or Hebrew roots movement. This is a call to repentance and for everyone everywhere to get right with YHVH-Yeshua in preparation for his second coming and to stop playing nefarious games with His Torah-Word.

 

Natan is back in the saddle—literally!

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Thank you for all of your loving comments and prayers as I battled COVID a few weeks back. It was only last week that the vast majority my strength returned to me and I was able to start working again, including climbing trees. My son Jared does most of the climbing for our family tree service business, but I still do some of the more technical jobs, and, besides, at age 62 I like to strap on my climbing saddle and get up in a tree once in a while just to prove that I am still up to it. These photos were taken last week.

 

YHVH’s Torah-Law: Yeshua and the Apostles Versus the Church

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What the Mainstream Christian Church Teaches

If you have spent anytime in the mainstream Christians church, you have heard taught that the law of Moses (YHVH Elohim’s Torah-law) was “done away with” or words to that effect. Is this what Yeshua the Messiah and his apostles really taught? How do those who teach that the law of Elohim has been annulled, replaced by the New Covenant and is thus, to a large degree, no longer applicable to Christians reconcile this view with the plethora of Scriptures that say otherwise? They cannot. 

No! The false teachers in the Christian church who teach that the law or commandments of Elohim have been done away with have spread before the people of Elohim a table full of vomit and are encouraging, no brainwashing, the people to eat of their fare. 

These doctrines and teachings of the mainstream church are nothing more than the traditions of men by which the clear, unchangeable and indisputable Word of Elohim has been made of none effect, which is something for which Yeshua castigated the religious leaders of his day (Mark 7:8–13; Matt 15:3–9), which is a stern warning to every so called follower of Yeshua today. 

Yes, as Paul astutely wrote and is as true now as when he  penned these words, “the carnal mind is enmity against Elohim; for it is not subject to the law of Elohim, nor indeed can be,” (Rom 8:7). The prophet Jeremiah had something similar to say about the carnal, rebellious and sinful nature of man as well especially when it comes to obeying the Creator’s commandments: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer 17:9). 

Yes, sadly, a long time ago, the leaders of the mainstream church chose to follow the inclinations of their evil hearts and contrived cunningly devised and pernicious justifications, philosophies and unbiblical doctrines of men to circumvent many if not most of the commandments of Elohim. These doctrines of men by which the Word of Elohim has been made of none effect were then codified into theologies, institutionalized into catechisms and doctrinal statements, and then taught in their institutions of education to be passed onto successive generations of deceived people. How sad and vile! 

This has been a vast calumny against the  clear Word of Elohim orchestrated by Satan the devil himself, who was the first one to question the Word of Elohim at the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, thus deceiving the first humans to believe the lie that YHVH did not mean what he said when he gave them commandments to obey. This lying deception led to the first sin and man being cut off from Elohim. 

The so-called early fathers starting in the second century A.D. fell for the same Satanic deception and bought into the same lie as Adam and Eve. These lies were largely institutionalized in A.D. 325 at the famous Council of Nicea as led and orchestrated by the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine. This was the nascence of the Roman Catholic Church, which has subsequently passed this false teaching on to all of her harlot daughters and to the spawn that has flowed therefrom. 

So why can’t more people see the fact that the mainstream church is incongruent with the biblical Truth they claim to follow? Especially, why can’t the religious leaders with their vast amount of education and advanced degrees including knowledge of biblical linguistics see this? As the saying goes, this is not rocket science! There are many answers to the question why so many Christian leaders are blind to one of the most obvious aspects of biblical Truth. We have already answered this question in part above. Additionally, for many, if not most, its the love of money, or power, or fame, prestige, and the social acceptance that comes from not questioning the status quo. But there is another reason to consider why the erudite have failed to comprehend obvious biblical Truth. It is this: YHVH declared that he would use the foolish and base things of this world (like your author) to confound the wise. Why? That no flesh may glory, and that all the glory should go to Elohim. As we read,

Because the foolishness of Elohim is wiser than men; and the weakness of Elohim is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but Elohim hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and Elohim hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;  and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath Elohim chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Cor 1:25–29)

Moreover, those people who are Truth seekers and who go against the prevailing current of the mainstream Christian church and begin to study YHVH’s Torah-law, guess what? According to David, the study of the Torah makes one wiser than one’s enemies and teachers. This includes all of the doctors and professors in all of the Christian seminaries who teach that the law was done away with! Says David of those who study YHVH’s Torah,

Oh, how I love Your Torah-law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. (Ps 119:97–100)

The psalmist’s prediction was realized when the non-formally educated disciples of Yeshua were arrested and hauled before the Jewish religious elite of their day. In the Book of Acts it is recorded,

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Yeshua. (Acts 4:13)

What were the apostles’ only credentials? They had sat at the feet of the Yeshua the Messiah­—a Torah teacher.

What does this mean for the saints of Elohim in our day?

It is now time for the true saints of YHVH Elohim and the disciples of Yeshua to wake up to the hard cold fact, as hard to believe and as unpopular as such a realization may be, that they have been deceived and have inherited lies from the church system, and that they need to come out of the harlot system of the whore of Babylon (Rev 18:1–4). It is high time to get back to the Bible in preparation for the coming of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, who will judge us all on the basis of the whole counsel of his Word including his Torah-law (Matt 5:19).

The following is a list of phrases that the teachers in the mainstream church continually vomit forth to supposedly justify why YHVH’s Torah-law is no longer relevant to the New Testament saint. Read through this list, and then go on and see what Yeshua and his apostles taught on this subject. Then ask yourself this question: Who is right: the church or the Bible? Then go and do the right thing.

  • We are not under law anymore; we are now under grace.
  • The law was nailed to the cross; it was done away with.
  • Christ fulfilled the law for us so that we don’t have to do it.
  • Christ is the end of the law.
  • One is either under law or under grace; law and grace are mutually exclusive terms; when it comes to law and grace it is “either or,” “not both and.”
  • We have been freed from the works of the law.
  • We are saved by grace, not by the works of the law; therefore, we do not need the law anymore.
  • The law was against us.
  • We are obligated to keep the moral aspects of the law, not the ceremonial aspects of the law.
  • It is a curse to keep the law.
  • The Epistle to the Galatians offers a convincing argument against the law.
  • Love is the fulfilling of the law. All we have to do know is to walk in love.
  • The curse of the law.
  • We’re dead to the law.
  • If we keep the law, we have fallen from grace.
  • The law was for the Jews, not the Gentiles.
  • Since we are not justified by the works of the law, we don’t have to keep the law.

What Yeshua Taught About the Torah-Law

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Church Lies—The Torah-Law IS Done Away With

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What does the Bible really say? Was the law of God (YHVH Elohim) given from his lips to man really done away with, nailed to the cross, a curse, anti-grace, terminated, etc., etc. Did YHVH lie, change his mind, change his standards of righteousness for New Testament Christians, or has the church lied to you about this? What does the Bible really say? We give chapter and verse proof of the real Truth of the matter.