The Tent Erected by God

Jesus intercedes for his people in the Real Tabernacle - the Sanctuary not made with human hands - that God pitched.

Jesus is the true tabernacle where the presence and glory of God dwell. Unlike the ancient structure with its inner sanctuary that only the high priest could enter, and only once each year, God’s glory is manifested in Jesus Christ for every man and woman to see. No longer is His presence limited by physical walls, geographic boundaries, or the annual calendar.

In Jesus of Nazareth, the God of Abraham and Moses is worshipped anywhere and anytime, only now, “in spirit and truth” – (John 4:20-24).

[Tent - Photo by Glen Jackson (Vancouver, BC) on Unsplash]

What was prefigured in the portable tent carried by Israel, and in the later Temple complex of Jerusalem, finds its substance and fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the ‘Logos’ (λογος) - “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” God’s presence and glory reside in His Son, and therefore, Christ is the true and final tabernacle of God, “the Tent of Meeting” where God speaks and meets with His children - (John 1:14, Leviticus 1:1).

The Letter to the Hebrews also describes the true significance of the Tabernacle, but from a different perspective. In the Letter’s imagery, Jesus is not the tent but the High Priest “after the order of Melchizedek” who ministers in the Tent - “not made with hands.”

After “achieving the purification of sin,” the Son of God then “sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” The second clause alludes to Psalm 110, and the Letter applies the passage to Christ’s appointment as the High Priest who mediates for his people in the presence of God - (Hebrews 1:3-4, 8:1).

• “Yahweh said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. <…> Yahweh has sworn, and He will not repent. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” – (Psalm 110:1-4).

The image presented in Hebrews is not based on the Jerusalem Temple, but on the earlier tent sanctuary that Israel transported as the nation wandered about the wilderness. This is clear not only from the use of the Greek noun ‘skéné’ or “tent” in Hebrews 8:1, but also by the description, “which the Lord pitched.” One “constructs” a building, but “pitches” a tent.

The distinction is important. The Letter stresses the transitoriness of the portable earthly “sanctuary” in contrast to the permanence of its Heavenly counterpart. Moreover, all the historical references to “the sanctuary” in the Letter to the Hebrews refer to the ancient Tabernacle rather than the later Temple:

• “Now, in the things which we are saying, the chief point is this. We have such a high priest who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man”– (Hebrews 8:1-2).

As our High Priest, Jesus is the minister of the sanctuary. The last term, “sanctuary,” translates the Greek noun ‘naos’, which normally refers to the inner compartment or sanctuary of the Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies. In the structure of the sentence, “sanctuary” and “real tent” refer to one and the same thing, and the Greek verb translated as “pitched” is in the singular number. Only one structure has been pitched by the Lord.

The “Sanctuary” and the “Tent” are identical. The old distinction between the inner and outer courts does not exist in “the real tabernacle pitched by God.” This becomes clear in Chapter 9 of the Letter.

The ancient Tabernacle was a mere “copy and shadow” of the real Tabernacle, where our High Priest now ministers. The Letter cites Scripture to demonstrate this reality. Moses was commanded to construct a copy of the heavenly sanctuary shown to him by the God of Israel – (Hebrews 8:3-5).

Moses did not see the actual heavenly sanctuary but its “pattern.” The Great Lawgiver made a copy of a copy. This is not said to disrespect Moses, but to stress the vast superiority of the Son and all that pertains to him over everyone and everything that preceded him in “the former covenant.”

At this point, the Letter introduces the subject of “the New Covenant” promised by God and recorded in the Book of Jeremiah. Just as Jesus holds a superior priesthood and ministers in “the real tent,” so he also offers better sacrifices and inaugurated a “better covenant” – (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

The phrase “former covenant” refers to the Mosaic Legislation that included the Levitical priesthood, animal sacrifices, and the Tabernacle with its rituals and furnishings. The fact that the New Covenant is now in effect means the old system, including its “ordinances of divine service,” has become obsolete – (Hebrews 8:7-9:1).

The Letter treats the previous Tabernacle as if it consisted of two separate tents. In the old structure, there was the outer court, “the first” tent that housed “the lampstand, the table, and the showbread,” namely, “the Holy place.” Beyond “the veil” or “curtain” was the inner Sanctuary, “the second tent,” the “Holy of holies.” It contained the “golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant.”

The priests ministered daily in “the first tent,” the outer court, presenting offerings and animal sacrifices to God. Only the High Priest could enter “the second” or inner tent, and only once each year on the Day of Atonement – (Hebrews 9:2-7).

OPEN ACCESS

Thus, the structure of the old Tabernacle demonstrates graphically that “the way into the Holy of Holies,” the very presence of God, remained obscure and inaccessible for all men except the high priest while the outer structure stood. But the Tabernacle was a “figure,” a “type and shadow” of something more profound and permanent.

The sacrifices of the old system could never achieve “the purification of sins” necessary for entrance to the inner sanctuary, nor could those sacrifices make the individual worshipper “complete” or cleanse his or her conscience of sin’s stain.

• “When he achieved the purification of sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” – (Hebrews 1:3).

• “But Christ, having become a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained everlasting redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the everlasting Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” – (Hebrews 9:11-14).

• “And every priest indeed stands day by day ministering and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, henceforth waiting until his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified” – (Hebrews 10:11-14).

In contrast to the Levitical system, Jesus approached the Divine Throne through the real tabernacle, and he did so “once-for-all,” applying his own blood to remove the stain of our sins. He thus opened the way into God’s presence for us all.

This same Jesus now ministers “forevermore” as the High Priest of his people in the heavenly sanctuary - Not just once each year on the Day of Atonement - so that every believer is cleansed of the stain of sin, and therefore, has free access to “the Throne of Grace.” No longer is entrance to the presence of God limited to the Aaronic high priest, and only once each year on the Day of Atonement.

Some members of the congregation addressed by the Letter to the Hebrews were contemplating returning to the local synagogue to escape pressure from the surrounding society. But abandoning all that Jesus has accomplished for us by returning to an obsolete system would be foolhardy in the extreme and mean the loss of access to God and His “throne of grace.”

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SEE ALSO:

• The Holy Sanctuary - (The New Testament applies Tabernacle language and imagery from the Hebrew Bible to the Body of Christ, the Habitation of God’s Holy Spirit)

• The House of God - (Jesus is the true and only way of access to the Father, the Greater Tabernacle, and the House of God – John 1:47-50)

• "Not made with hands" - (Jesus is the High Priest of the greater sanctuary “made without hands” foreshadowed by the Ancient Tabernacle)

• La Tente Dressée par Dieu - (Jésus intercède pour son peuple dans le Vrai Tabernacle - le Sanctuaire non fait de mains humaines - que Dieu a planté - Hébreux 8: 1-2)