The Tabernacle
Lecture Two
Heavenly Reality and Earthly Fulfilment
God has never worked in a haphazard manner – He has always worked according to a plan and purpose. I believe He exists outside of the normal framework of time as we understand it, and that is why He is the same yesterday, today and forever – and why He alone knows the end from the beginning. How often it was during the time of the Old Testament prophets God would point out that He had declared things before they happened, specifically that people might know He was and is the true God. See Isaiah 41:22-23; 46:9-10; 48:3-6; 52:6; John 13:19, 14:29; Matt 24:25. In fact the fulfilment of Scripture is a very prominent feature in the New Testament – just go through the Gospel of Matthew and count how many times you find the phrase “that it might be fulfilled” (At least 16 times!).
This is an important concept when it comes to the study of the Tabernacle because I believe that in that tent in the wilderness, God was declaring His intentions for the age to come. It was a grand picture painted in painstaking detail to illustrate His plan and purpose in our day and age, and even for the age to come. It was an earthly shadow of the heavenly reality, and an illustration repeated and confirmed twice more in Scripture. There is a reality in Heaven, that God wants worked out in the earth. The Tabernacle was an earthly illustration of that reality, and the visions of Ezekiel and John both served to confirm that heavenly reality.
The Pitching of The Tabernacle
In Numbers 2 we read of the overall positioning of the Tabernacle – how Israel was to encamp around it once it was set up. The Israelites were given precise instructions on everything, from how to build it to how to surround it. Of the 12 tribes of Israel (remembering that Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, were numbered with the 12 in place of Joseph and Levi) were to surround it as follows:
To the West – Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin, under Ephraim’s banner.
To the East – Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, under Judah’s banner.
To the North – Dan, Naphtali and Asher, under Dan’s banner.
To the South – Reuben, Simeon and Gad, under Reuben’s banner.
Though it is not specifically stated in Scripture, the Jewish Talmud and Jewish tradition assigns certain figures to the standards or banners just mentioned:
Judah’s banner bore the lion (Gen 49:9)
Dan’s banner bore the eagle
Ephraim’s banner bore the calf or ox (Deut 33:17)
Reuben’s banner bore the man (Gen 49:3)
Further to this, the Levites camped directly around the Tabernacle (between Israel and Tent) and their service was divided into 24 sections or divisions (1 Chron 24:1-18).
The overall picture would have been the camp with four faces (Eagle, Man, Ox and Lion), with 24 courses of Levites, with the Tabernacle in the middle including the table of showbread, the brass laver, the altar of sacrifice, the seen branched candlestick, the ark of covenant with the mercy seat and the holy of holies and altar of incence. Besides this, don’t forget the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night representing God’s presence with them (Ex 13:21-22).
Ezekiel’s Vision
In the first chapter of Ezekiel we have an account of a mysterious vision seen by the prophet. He is obviously having a vision of God and of heaven, and the mystery begins to clear when it is seen in conjunction with the Tabernacle and Revelation chapters 4 and 5. At this stage, let us consider the main elements of the vision:
Cloud and fire (v.4)
Four creatures with the faces of a man, lion, ox and eagle (v.10)
Lamps (v.13)
Lightning (v.13)
Wheel full of eyes (v.18)
An expanse or platform of crystal (v.22)
A throne (v.26)
Man seated on throne (v.26)
Rainbow (v.28)
The vision also mentions the voice of the Almighty. Ezekiel clearly saw the beauty of the Lord and heard His voice (Ps 27:4).
John’s Revelation
In the fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation, John tells of a breathtaking vision of heaven. Indeed it seems to be more than a vision, it is as if he has been transported there by the Spirit, and what he is relating is like an eyewitness account of what he is actually observing. Note what this vision includes:
A throne and someone seated on it (v.2)
A rainbow (v.3)
24 Elders (v4)
A voice (v.5)
Seven lamps of fire (v.5)
Lightning (v.5)
A sea of glass like unto crystal (v.6)
Four creatures that look like a lion, man, ox (calf) and eagle (v.7) Also full of eyes.
Voice (4:2, 5; 5:2,11)
Prayers of the saints (5:8)
A Lamb in the midst, a lamb slain (5:6).
What does it all mean?
The similarities between these passages are more than coincidental – God is trying to tell us something. These pictures all represent the same thing. Ezekiel and John had visions of God and of heaven. The Tabernacle, bearing great resemblance, would appear to be an earthly picture of what must happen on earth to fulfil the heavenly reality. In other words, God’s plan and purpose in our day and age will be a fulfilment of all three passages. Ezekiel and John’s visions are pictures of the reality in heaven. The pitching of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness is a shadow or illustration, a pointer as to how that heavenly reality is to be worked out in the earth.
John saw a true representation of the heavenly reality. Ezekiel saw an artist’s impression of that reality and how it is to be fulfilled in the earth. The Tabernacle is a miniature working model representing both heavenly and earthly aspects. In it we saw what God is aiming at, and also our role in it. It’s a model of that heavenly reality, and a model of the earthly fulfilment of that heavenly reality.
We have the blueprints, the model, the artist’s impression – it is now under construction!
Look briefly at the similarities:
Tabernacle Ezekiel’s vision John’s vision
Man, Lion, Ox, Eagle Man, Lion, Ox, Eagle Man, Lion, Ox, Eagle
Fire and cloud Fire and cloud Fire and thunderings
Brass laver Expanse Sea of crystal
Thousands encamped Full of eyes Full of eyes
Mercy Seat Throne Throne
7-branched lampstand Lamps (torches) 7 lamps
24 Courses of Levites 24 Elders
Altar of incence Bowls of incence
Altar of sacrifice Lamb slain
Voice of Almighty Many voices
Lightning Lightning
Rainbow Rainbow
Man seated on throne One seated on throne
