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Tabernacle lesson: How does the tabernacle point to Christ?

October 11, 2013 Ticia 18 Comments

 

I love when things work out perfectly.  I’ve been working on getting a tabernacle lesson together for our Sunday School lesson, and due to one thing or another I didn’t get it done in time for it to be chronological for our Bible studies, but in homeschool HISTORY when I looked at the schedule for Illuminations* I just about jumped for joy when I saw “Tabernacle lesson,” and I said, “YES!  I’m finally gonna teach this, I’ve been waiting for the Tabernacle lesson!”

how does the tabernacle point to Jesus

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And then I may have gotten an odd look or two.  Okay not really, because my family is rather used to me.

So, how does the tabernacle point to Christ?

the courtyard of the tabernacle

First is the outer courtyard, it is set up to show the Israelites were to be kept apart, just as God is separated from sin.  The Israelites were called to live holy lives to show people who God is.  Of course it’s not possible to actually live a perfect and holy life because we have a sin nature.

altar of sacrifice

Next came the altar of sacrifice, the Israelites would offer a lamb as a sin offering to wash away their sins, this points to Jesus and how he ultimately took away our sins through his death and resurrection.

laver

When the Israelites went inside they encountered the Laver to wash their hands.  This reminded them of their sin, and how sin makes them dirty before God and their sin needs to be washed away.

 

 

 

Tent of Meeting

The Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting, was a large tent with 4 coverings.  I’ve read a lot of different ideas for what these coverings mean.  All of them felt like they input too much Christian symbolism into the meanings of these coverings.  The big thing I noticed as I studied this was how the outside isn’t decorated.  It’s not as if a goat hair covering is super fancy, as a matter of fact it’s rather common.  God didn’t put all the decorations on the outside, just as he does not look at the outside of us to judge us.  God looks at our heart.

 

menorah

Inside there was a menorah to light the tent.  It shines forth to give the priests light, just as God shines forth to give light.  I need to look and see if it was actually called a menorah or if that term came about because of the Maccabean revolt.  Anyone know?

 

table of show bread

The table of show bread had 12 loaves of bread on it, one for each of the 12 tribes.  On top there was also oil and water.  This bread was not for God to eat, but as a reminder of how God cared for them in the desert and provided food and water.  At the end of a week new food was placed there and the bread was eaten by the priests (or as in 2 Samuel, by David when he needed food, so maybe the food was sometimes given to the poor?).

 

altar of incense

The altar of incense burned sweet smelling herbs to go up to God.  They reminded us how our prayers to God were sweet and something God enjoyed just as we enjoy the incense.

 

high priest visiting the holy of holies

Now between the outer room and the inner room, called the Holy of Holies, there was a curtain up.  God dwelled in the Holy of Holies and the curtain was there to protect people from God’s presence.  God cannot abide sin, so to come into His presence with sin was to die.  Each year the high priest would go before God in the Holy of Holies, the Israelites were so aware of their sinful nature they tied a rope around the priest, in case he sinned and died while in there.

But, here’s the important thing to remember, and one of the important things about how the tabernacle points to Jesus

Jesus death on the cross

When Jesus died on the cross the curtain dividing the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two.  We no longer needed that protection because God no longer saw your sin if you’ve chosen to follow Jesus.  Instead God sees what Jesus did for you on the cross.

 

ark of the covenant

There is one final thing in the tabernacle: The Ark of the Covenant.  God told the Israelites to make it to remind them of all God had done and all He had promised to do.  Inside they put Moses’ copy of the 10 Commandments, a jar of mana, and Aaron’s staff.  All items that showed how God had led them.

 

Now the Ark of the Covenant is lost, it disappeared when Rome sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD.  I wonder if God didn’t do that on purpose because we no longer need that reminder.  God himself came down to earth as a man and fulfilled His promise of redemption.  We don’t need to hope for a promise unfulfilled because it’s been fulfilled.

 

tabernacle lesson planIf you click on the picture above you’ll head over to the printable lesson plan that includes links to the model I used.  I re-used the Tabernacle from the time we taught this for our Sunday School class, and it’s held up to multiple times of building, and the kids playing with it somewhat.

How does the Tabernacle point to Christ

More Tabernacle lesson ideas

Gospel Hall printable tabernacle (what I used up above)

God’s Special Tent– an awesome resource for teaching kids about the symbolism in the tabernacle and in many Old Testament topics.  It’s also got some great coloring pages to go with it.  I highly recommend getting it.

Exodus pinterest board-the rest of the Exodus ideas I’ve gathered.

Bible, history ancient history, Exodus, Illuminations, Mystery of History 1, Old Testament

Comments

  1. Phyllis at All Things Beautiful says

    October 11, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    I have been enjoying looking at the Jewish feast days as a promise of Jesus, too.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      October 15, 2013 at 7:35 am

      Oh that would be a fun way to look at things!

  2. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    October 11, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    Looks like a well-thought-out lesson!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      October 15, 2013 at 7:35 am

      Thanks, it was really interesting researching all of this.

  3. Almost Unschoolers says

    October 13, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    It would be interesting to do a study on the origin of the word menorah…love the tabernacle lesson!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      October 15, 2013 at 7:36 am

      Oh that would be interesting, now I kinda want to do that.

  4. Kate says

    June 25, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    Actually, the alter of sacrifice came before the laver. In Ex. 30, After making the sacrifice, the priest had to wash his hands and feet before coming into the presence of God or he would die. It’s a symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice and then his continual renewing and washing of his people.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      June 26, 2017 at 11:14 am

      Thanks, I went back and reread it and you’re right. I need to go fix that.

  5. Debra says

    October 4, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    I am teaching about the journey through the wilderness. Thanks for sharing your lesson plan. It was helpfu.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      October 8, 2017 at 9:37 pm

      I’m glad it was helpful.

  6. Sunny says

    October 6, 2017 at 10:59 am

    Thank you for this lesson. Our Sunday School class is learning about the Tabernacle this Sunday, and this lesson will be perfect to round out our lessons.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      October 8, 2017 at 9:36 pm

      YAY! Until I started preparing for this lesson I hadn’t seen all of the ways the tabernacle points to Christ.

  7. DJMD says

    January 18, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    Thank you for your approach in focusing on Jesus!!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      January 20, 2018 at 8:09 pm

      You’re welcome! It’s a good reminder for me that even the Old Testament teaches us about Jesus.

  8. Rachel Warme says

    June 20, 2018 at 6:41 am

    Prepping a lesson building the tabernacle for kinders. Your plans are great! Thanks for building such a great lesson and sharing your plans so others can teach the Word to even the youngest among us.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      June 20, 2018 at 5:45 pm

      Thank you for those words, they warmed my heart as I read them and encouraged me after a hard week of technical problems.

  9. Catherine says

    January 25, 2020 at 1:51 pm

    I was looking for a clear way to teach second graders in Sunday School how Jesus is represented by the items in the tabernacle. Thank you for sharing this lesson as I cannot improve upon your clear and simple explanations.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Mystery of History Volume 1: Moses and the Exodus, The Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle, and Joshua, Jericho, and Rahab - Nicki Truesdell says:
    May 31, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    […] Dive deeper with this lesson available at Mommydom on “How Does the Tabernacle Point to Christ?” […]

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Ticia Adventures in Mommydom Hi, I'm Ticia! This is the adventures of my family in life and learning. Follow along with us as we share our adventures. We're having a lot of fun and learning as we go.

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