The Complexity of the Tabernacle

One of the things you have to be struck by when you read through the Pentateuch is the sheer complexity of the Jewish religious system.  The tabernacle, in particular, is a pretty complicated building, requiring roughly 8,000 Levites to move it around, to say nothing of the offering of sacrifices and such.

We've been in Numbers at church, and we lately covered the responsibilities of the various branches of the Levites.  Aaron and his sons were to cover up the ark and the other furniture, for example.  The Kohathites were to carry the furniture, but they couldn't ever look at it, or else they would die.  The other sons of Levi (the Gershonites and Merarites) weren't even allowed to touch it, or else they would die.

This is a bit strange, but I think it goes to show that the purpose of the tabernacle was to protect the people of Israel from the presence of God.  The ark, for example, is covered in blue.  The rest of the furniture is covered in blue and then badger skins, evidently so no one would mistake the ark for something else by accident.

It feels as though the artifice of the tabernacle existed in part to insulate the people from God's glory.  The revelation of God's glory was a terrifying and destructive force.

In this vein, the lens focuses more readily on the person of Jesus Christ.  He is a tabernacle of sorts, housing the glory of God in a way that we can approach and grasp.  When he expired, the veil in the temple that separated the ark of the covenant from the furniture (which was further separated by the general court, et c.) was torn in two, signifying that fellowship with God was restored through Jesus Christ.

It is common today for people to complain of Christianity's exclusive claims:  Jesus, after all, is the only way to the Father.  This is narrow and intolerant.  But on the same token, the revelation we see of God in the Scripture is that his glory can only be approached in very specific ways (and often not at all).  When Jesus says this, he is not simply making a narrow comment:  he is proclaiming good news.  Apart from him, there would be no approach to God.