Tent Pitched by God
In John’s Gospel, Jesus is presented as the true Tabernacle where God dwells and His glory is seen. Unlike the ancient structure with its inner sanctuary that only the high priest could enter, His glory is manifested for all men to see. No longer is His presence limited by physical walls and geographical boundaries. In Jesus of Nazareth, the Father and Creator of all things is worshipped anywhere and anytime, “In spirit and truth.”
What was foreshadowed in the ancient Tabernacle
and the later Temple building in Jerusalem finds its substance in Jesus, the Logos,
the “Word become flesh.”
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| [Photo by Glen Jackson on Unsplash] |
The Letter to the Hebrews also describes the true significance of the Tabernacle but from a different perspective. In its imagery, Jesus is not the tent itself but the greater High Priest who now ministers in the true Tabernacle in the Heavenlies, one “not made with hands.”
According to the Letter, after “achieving the
purification of sin,” the Son “sat down on
the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens.” This last clause alludes to Psalm 110:1. But Hebrews
not only applies that passage to his enthronement as king over the cosmos but
also to his appointment as the High Priest who now mediates for his people in the
very presence of God - (Hebrews 1:3-4, 8:1).
The image in the Letter is based not on the later Temple
complex in Jerusalem, but on the “tent” or “tabernacle” that
Israel carried in its wilderness sojourn. This is clear not only from the use
of the Greek noun skéné or “tent,” but also by the description - “which the Lord pitched.” One
“builds” a temple, but a tent is “pitched.”
The distinction is important since the Letter stresses
the transitoriness of the earthly “Sanctuary” in contrast to the
permanence of its Heavenly counterpart. Moreover, in Hebrews, all
historical references to the “Sanctuary” are about the ancient Tabernacle,
the “tent of meeting.”
- “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 – Emphasis added).
And as our High Priest, Jesus is the “minister
of the Sanctuary.” The term translated as “minister” is leitourgos,
a noun used in secular Greek for a “public servant” who serves the people,
whether in religious rituals or governmental capacities.
The priestly Son of God serves his people in the true
“Sanctuary.” This term translates the noun naos, which, in the
New Testament, normally refers to the inner Sanctuary of the Tabernacle
or Temple, the “most holy place” or Holy of Holies. However, in the
structure of the sentence, “Sanctuary” and “real tent” refer to
one and the same thing, and “pitched” is in the singular number since
only one structure is “pitched by the Lord.”
In other words, the “Sanctuary” and “tent”
are identical. The old distinction between the inner and outer courts of the
Tabernacle does not exist in the “Tabernacle pitched by God.” This
becomes clearer in Chapter 9 of the Letter.
SHADOW vs SUBSTANCE
The ancient Tabernacle was a mere “copy and
shadow” of the true and greater Tabernacle where our High Priest now ministers
for us. The Letter cites Scripture to demonstrate this reality. After all,
Moses was commanded to construct a copy
of the heavenly sanctuary shown to him by Yahweh – (Hebrews 8:3-5).
Moses did not see the actual heavenly sanctuary but its “pattern.” In short, the Great Lawgiver made a copy of a copy. This is not said to denigrate him or anything that God gave to Israel, but to stress the vast superiority of the Son and all that pertains to him over everyone and everything that preceded him.
At this point, the Letter introduces the subject
of the “New Covenant” promised 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.”
The references to the “former covenant”
refer not to the one made with Abraham, but to the Mosaic legislation that
included the Aaronic priesthood, animal sacrifices, and the Tabernacle with its
rituals and furnishings. The fact that the “New Covenant” has commenced means
the old system, including its “ordinances of divine service,” is rendered
obsolete – (Hebrews 8:7-9:1).
The Letter then treats the old 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, making offerings and animal sacrifices. However, 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).
FREE ACCESS
Thus, the structure of the old Tabernacle
demonstrates graphically that the “way into the Holy of holies” remained
obscure while the outer court was still “standing.” Only the High Priest
could access it (“the Holy Spirit this signifying”). But the Tabernacle with this twofold structure
is a “figure,” a “type and shadow” in the present age of
something more profound and quite permanent.
The goal of God’s redemptive plan is not for every Israelite to enter the inner sanctuary of the earthly Tabernacle, but to attain access for men from every nation to the “Throne of grace” in the true and greater “Tent.”
The sacrifices and rituals of the old system could
never achieve the “purification of sins” necessary to enter the Sanctuary,
nor could they make the individual worshipper “complete” or cleanse his
or her conscience of sin’s stain.
In contrast to the “former” system, as our
High Priest, Jesus approached the Divine Throne through the “greater and more complete tabernacle, one not made with hands, not of this creation,” and he did so “once-for-all,” applying
his own blood to remove sin. Thus, he opened the way into God’s presence for
all men. With him now ministering “evermore” as the High Priest of his
people, every member of the new covenant community has free access to the “Throne
of Grace.”
Unlike the old Tabernacle with its multiple
offerings and sacrifices, he entered the true and greater “Tabernacle” “pitched”
by God, where he remains making intercession daily on behalf of his people.
Some members of the
congregation addressed by the Letter were contemplating returning to the local
synagogue to escape increasing pressure, but to now abandon all that Jesus has
provided by returning to an obsolete system and transitory Sanctuary would
be foolhardy in the extreme.
