I learned something new today as I read the tedious instructions for how to build the Tabernacle. With no video to watch, no phone to record instructions & probably no pen to capture the details, I wondered how they remembered it all?
To be honest I wanted to skip the reading. It seemed pointless until I reached Ex. 27:14.
God describes all 3 walls of the Tabernacle, but this verse tells that the entrance must face eastward. I stopped & thought, “The sun rises in the East & sets in the West.” The Tabernacle, the temporary shelter of God, was to face the rising sun. Why?
A little digging revealed that unlike pagan religions, easterly facing temples were unique to the Jews. In fact, calculations show that the sun rises at the current Temple Mount in Jerusalem on the day of Passover almost at the exact true magnetic East!
I wonder if the command for the Tabernacle to face East was a foretelling off the future & final Passover Lamb that was to come?
The Tabernacle was a temporary residence of God where He resided with the Israelites until King Solomon built the Temple. It was also the place sacrifices were made for sin. When one entered the Tabernacle, their backs would be to the sun & when they left? Their entire body would reflect the resplendence of the sun they faced!
The prophet Malachi foretells of the coming of Jesus, calling Him, “the Sun of Righteousness {who} will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” 😃
Jesus came as the last lamb to forgive ALL sin for ALL time! When we receive His salvation, it is like leaving the Tabernacle or Temple & facing the brilliance of the sun!
Jesus is ever before us. He’s our rear guard. He surrounds us, encompasses us & resides inside! We carry the Light of the World within! Do we let our faces reflect that?
Father, not one iota or detail is happenstance with You! Thank You for the reminder that You forgive our sins as far as the East is from the West! Let us walk in the freedom only You provide leaping with joy like calves set free! Let there be Light in our heart, Light in our speech & Light in the cadence of our life because of what You’ve done! Show us how to live the Light life!
EXODUS 26:1-27:21
MATTHEW 25:1-30
PSALM 31:1-8
PROVERBS 8:1-11
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