Click the
image to view photos of a model and computer illustrations of the sanctuary. After the people of Israel came out of Egypt (otherwise known as "The Exodus") Moses was told by God to build a Tabernacle for Him (God) to "dwell" in. The people knew, as we know, that the great God could not possibly "dwell" in any building made by man, yet it was important to God that His people had a visible center for the worship of the one true God. This was also a protection against idolatry. The surrounding nations were very much into worshiping idols and God wanted to make sure that His people remembered that there was only one true God.
The sanctuary, or tabernacle, that Moses built was a representation of, or a model of, what is in heaven (Hebrews 8:1-5). This first Sanctuary was only to be a tent that could easily be dismantled and moved from one place to another because the Israelites were, at that time, a wandering people.
Click the
image to view photos of a model and computer illustrations of the sanctuary.
(Thanks, Maranatha Media & Messiah's Mansion, for providing additional insight into this important subject on your website and for giving Bible Timelines Online permission to use these images of the Sanctuary.)
As stated above, the first Sanctuary was a tent. It was later replaced by a "permanent" structure built by King Solomon. This can be understood as showing that the significance of the building itself was nothing and that what it represented was everything.
Notice what is said in the New Testament book of Hebrews about the real sanctuary and the real High Priest:
8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum:
We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand
of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true
tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
God gave to Moses a list of instructions on how he was to build the Sanctuary. Each part of the Sanctuary and each piece of furniture represented a portion of Christ's ministry for us. This is a subject that every person should understand, it is very important.
For further study, read: