the beautiful dwelling place

It seems its mostly nerds that draw pictures and diagrams of the tabernacle. It can't be artists and poets, anyway, because every time I look at one of these pictures, I think, "Wow. That's really ugly." You'd think God would've employed a little more fung shui.

Of course, when you've got mostly animals skins and sticks to work with, I guess you've got some limitations. But still. It is unfortunate that those illustrations do not inspire.

Fortunately, the Bible didn't come with illustrations, it came with words.

Unfortunately, it was not a poet who wrote the words. It might have been an engineer. Or accountant. Either way, another nerd. Somebody for whom precision held greater sway over beauty. And as with the illustrations, these words do not exactly inspire.

Fortunately, the tabernacle was designed by the very one who defines beauty. And if we take the time to look, past the illustrations, past the words of material and measurement, into the actual picture of the tabernacle, the vision is too awesome to fully take in.

Some scholars go a little overboard with the symbolism of the tabernacle. As with all art forms, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Did the type of cloth used mean something? Or was it just all that was available in the middle of the desert? Other details, for example, how the tabernacle was to be located centrally in the camp, surrounded by the twelve tribes, are an obvious picture of how God's presence is to be central, close by.

You can't help but see Christ in the picture of the tabernacle. It was a shadow of what we today enjoy with Jesus...which is yet a shadow of the reality that will someday enjoy with Jesus.

This week, I'm spending time in the outer courts with the concept of Peace.

Next, I'm going into the inner courts with the concept of Joy.

Finally, I'll enter the Holy of Holies with the concept of Love.

I'm not promising this'll be any less nerdy or more beautiful than those illustrations and diagrams, but I'm going to jump in anyway...