The Interior
Approximately 50 chapters of the Bible are devoted to nothing more than the construction and operation of a seldom entered tent-like structure called The Tabernacle. Detail after meticulous detail on how it was to be constructed, decorated, cared for, transported, in what order its neighbors were to live around it, and even what the people who worked inside it were supposed to wear fill several pages. Reading them might give the impression that God is big into things like Architecture, Fashion, and Interior Design.
One question comes to mind.
Why???
Just what was it about this simple, nomadic structure that it earned so much airtime?
It was the story it told. The message it conveyed.
Which was profoundly sacred.
Every little thing about that tent was designed for the purpose of proclaiming to the world that…
God Wants Humanity To Have Access To Him So They Can Live In Close Relationship With Him.
This sacred message was the decorating theme or “design concept” around which every color, intricate design, furnishing, and even the materials from which each of these would be crafted was carefully selected by God, Himself. *When placed all together in just the exact order He instructed, the tent and all its inner and outer “pieces” worked together to create what could be described as a time travel tunnel back to life in the Garden of Eden before our tragic fall into sin. A time when God and humanity walked closely together with no relational barriers.
Here are just some of the basics of the intricate, story-telling design you would encounter while walking through.
- The Outer Courtyard with bronze tools and basins (to be used for sacrificing animals) communicated that sin equals the death of every good, innocent, and amazing thing God designed humanity to be. Just as He allowed for the killing of animals to provide fur coverings for the shame Adam and Eve felt over not trusting His words to them, He now allowed the killing of innocent animals to cover the shame that made people feel they relationally couldn't "look a Holy and perfect God in the eye.” These sacrifices were also God’s way of paying for the personal offense people’s sin choices were to Him – a sign He was willing to not hold a grudge as they attempted to once again live in relationship with Him.
- The Holy Place (first room once stepping inside the tent) was lit only by a golden lampstand fashioned to look like almond blossoms. This was a reminder of God’s presence in The Garden of Eden – also known as the Holy Spirit. Directly across from the lampstand was a table on which 12 loaves of bread were placed. As the flames of the lampstand were kept burning day and night, these pieces together revealed that the twelve tribes of Israel were continuously covered by God’s presence, allowing for communion and fellowship just as Adam and Eve experienced. Further into this room, sitting right in front of a sky blue curtain was the altar of incense representing the continuous prayers of people – their part in allowing for communion and fellowship between they and their Creator.
- The Holy of Holies (second room of the tent) was where the Ark of the Covenant covered by The Mercy Seat sat. This room represented life the way it was in the Garden of Eden when no shame “curtain” created a feeling of separation from God. The Ark was “God’s Throne” – the place of His presence which could be accessible to sinful people because of His mercy and compassion over their brokenness.
If any of the parts were to be moved out of place, handled wrongly, or repaired with the wrong kinds of materials or colors, it was a desecration. Not because the tabernacle wouldn’t “look just right.” It was because disorganization could either compromise or distract from the story that was sacred and meant to be carefully guarded, maintained and protected so it never lost its effectiveness. This was important because humanity’s well-being (Israel’s, their neighbors’ and even ours) was dependent on this message and greatly impacted by whether or not it could be clearly communicated.
The portable Tabernacle would eventually be replaced by a building called the Temple in which all the same pieces of furniture, colors, and designs would be ordered in the same ways so the integrity of the message could continue without compromise. This was the intention, anyway. Over time, the message did become tragically compromised. Human stories of pride, greed, compromise with sin, and self-sufficiency replaced the beautiful and sacred story, destroying all the Tabernacle was originally designed to be.
The good news is that when Jesus came to earth, His body became the new Temple as well as the fulfillment of all of its functions. He was the central dwelling place of God’s presence, the priest mediating between God and the people, the Holy Spirit making communion and fellowship possible, the final sacrifice made for sins, and the “curtain” to the Holy of Holies through which we all now must pass in order to be in God’s Presence (Hebrews 10:19-22).
But the Tabernacle/Temple concept didn’t end there. Through the giving of the Holy Spirit in a new way at Pentecost, the “Church,” also called, “The Body of Christ” and the “Temple” was born to be the new portable structure through which the sacred message would continue to be communicated. This would be done as Christ’s Spirit intertwined with individual human hearts through a close, life-transforming relationship meant to bear spiritual fruit – a process known as “being filled with the Spirit.” Each person’s ability to go boldly to the throne of grace (the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle) meant they were all “priests” – simply meaning they no longer had to go through a Levite priest who would offer an animal sacrifice or continuously burn incense in order for them to be close to God. They could now do this for themselves by continuously praying - talking with Him through their sins, mistakes, needs, plans, feelings, and ideas in all things. Each of these priests also became “pieces” of the design concept for the human Temple. The Church.
While there aren’t 50 chapters in the New Testament containing blueprints or instructions for how church buildings should be constructed and decorated, there are many descriptions throughout Acts and the epistles of how the “interior” of our human Temple and all its “parts” are to be fashioned, maintained, and organized in order to continue to uphold and communicate God’s sacred message with integrity. 1 Corinthians 12 in particular explains the ordering of different “parts” and roles – all humbly working together in submission to this main design concept.
The message we carry together as the "Temple" or Body of Christ is powerful! By following Paul's instructions to "honestly evaluate and measure ourselves by the faith God has given us" (Romans 12:3), our "interior design" can always communicate with integrity the sacred, healing, and life-transforming message that God wants us to have access to Him so we can live in close relationship with Him.