Ever since I read through the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus.... Deuteronomy; the first 5 books in the Bible), I always wanted to see a life-size model of the tabernacle. When I read through Psalms, I wanted to more accurately relate to the psalmists who spoke of the holiness of the Lord's presence in the tabernacle. Today, because of what the Lord Jesus has done (died for our sins and rose again!), we can go boldly before the Lord's throne in Heaven. However, it must have been amazing to have the awesome Lord's manifest presence right there in the tabernacle.I tend to not give consistent answers when asked about my favorite passage in the Bible. But one of my favorites is definitely Exodus 33, where Moses shows his love for the Lord over the promised land (and the Lord is absolutely worthy of it!). In that chapter, we read:
Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
Exodus 33:7-11
In this passage, we see why the Lord might have chosen Joshua as the successor of Moses later on. He loved the Lord's presence. Those with real wisdom always love the Lord's presence more than anything else in the world (whether it's job, family, friends, entertainment, or ministry). How great it is to be allowed in the presence of our God! The Scripture rightly says:
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation
Hebrews 2:3
Thank you Lord, for your forgiveness and mercy that we can be allowed in your presence!
Going back to the tabernacle, it was an excellent experience because I got to visualize very well what it must have been like for Joshua and psalmists (sorry, the picture I posted above is not very good at all; we got there at night time). Now when I read Psalms and Old Testament passages that refer to the tabernacle, I can have even more appreciation of those passages
At the tabernacle replica, they hand you an mp3 player that explains and walks you through the whole thing so that you won't miss any details. In all, it takes >40 minutes for the tour. We had to wait for ~2 hours before we could get in, but the wait was well worth it. I think they ask for $5 per person for this. I strongly encourage you to go see this thing when you get a chance. At the time of this posting, the tabernacle replica is on its way to Texas. For Californians, you'll get a chance in September (Modesto, CA). The schedule can be found at their website below:
http://www.tabernacleexperience.com/
Also, check out the video that they have on the website as well.
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