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Exodus 35-40 This week's Torah portion brings us to the end of the book of Exodus. It is the narrative of the building of the Tabernacle and the indwelling of God within the Tabernacle. Our ancient Sages gave several different reasons for the construction of the Tabernacle. One of those reasons, probably the predominant opinion, is that the Tabernacle gave the Israelites an opportunity to relive the Sinai experience over and over again. There is a variety of similarities between the Sinai experience and the presence of God in the Tabernacle. Nahum Sarna, in his book Exploring Exodus (p. 205), describes the similarities like this: During the theophany [the appearance of God], the mount was separated into three distinct zones of increasing degrees of holiness and restriction of access. At the foot of the mount stood the people, and there the altar was set up; in like manner, the altar was placed in the Court of the Tabernacle to which the laity had access. Higher up on the mount was the second zone of holiness, to which only the priests and elders were admitted. Corresponding to this in the Tabernacle was the Holy Place, which was restricted to the Priesthood. The summit of the mountain constituted the third zone, which was exclusively reserved for Moses. Its counterpart in the Tabernacle was the Holy of Holies. Just as the Lord communicated with Moses on the mountaintop, so He does in the Holy of Holies; and in the same way that the cloud covered Mt. Sinai after Moses had ascended, so the Tabernacle became enveloped in cloud on its completion, and the pillar of fire hovered over both Sinai and it. Finally, of course, the most powerful and impressive reminder of the experience at Sinai was provided by the two tablets of stone housed in the Ark inside the Holy of Holies, which served as the focal point of the entire edifice. Rabbi Chanock Waxman described in more detail the similarities in the descriptions of Moses at Sinai and Moses in our Torah portion today.: 1) Moshe acts alone (see 24:12-15). 2) God's glory embodied in a cloud covers the mountain and dwells upon it. 3) Moshe is held back. He cannot enter and must await the divine summons. 4) God calls Moshe and Moshe enters to be with God. 5) The Children of Israel witness Sinai enveloped in cloud and fire. The Tabernacle insured that we would remember the covenant at Sinai and that we would never be alone. God would lead us to the promised land and he would accept our sacrifices. Many years after the initial construction of the Tabernacle, a permanent Temple was built in Jerusalem by Solomon. Our Haftarah portion this week describes the dedication of the Temple. When Yeshua came, he inaugurated a new way of approaching God that had been promised through the prophets. Now, rather than requiring worshipers to approach him via the offerings in the Temple, God himself dwells within the community of Messiah followers via the offering of Yeshua In the New Covenant this truth is depicted both communally and individually. This means that we dwell in the "Tabernacle" all of the time. There is never a time when we are outside of the presence of God. We are always standing at the foot of Sinai. We are always in the Temple. This should translate into a way of life that could be considered radical. It affects the way we relate to one another; the way we relate to God and the way we relate even to ourselves. At Sinai we promised to obey. Yeshua gives us the empowerment to obey. At Sinai we were consecrated to the Lord. Messiah cleanses us and is transforming us to the image of His glory. The day will come when the whole world will dwell in the Tabernacle. In Revelation 21:3 we read, And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the Tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them. The passage goes on to say... I saw no Temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its Temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb (Rev. 21:22-23). In that day, the glory of the Lord will not only fill the Tabernacle, but the glory of the Lord will fill the world. The Tabernacle points toward the future, to the reality the new heaven and new earth.
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By Howard Silverman
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