Immediately following the making of a covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19-24), God commanded Israel to make for Him a special house because He would dwell in their midst. Later, He declared that He had delivered them out of Egypt for this purpose (Exodus 29:46).

"And let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it." (Exodus 25.8-9)

In the instructions given to Moses, God emphasized that the special house be built according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain (Exodus 25:40 and 26:30). This brings us to the question, "What did Moses see on the mountain?"

When Biblical revelation in its entirety is considered, we conclude that Moses saw a vision of the New Jerusalem on the mountain. The best explanation for Bible prophecy is that God causes the individual prophet to see future events or entities by the working of His Holy Spirit. Some things appear as real visions of future events, while some appear in symbolic form. In either case, the future is revealed to the prophet. We maintain that something of this nature happened to Moses.

The primary vision of the New Jerusalem is given to us in the Bible by John in the book of the Revelation. John describes the city of New Jerusalem as being a perfect cube of fifteen hundred miles on the side (Revelation 21.16). The city was made of pure gold and the Holy One and the Lamb dwelled there (Revelation 21.18,22). We believe that Moses and John saw visions of the same thing — the ultimate dwelling place of God. Ezekiel recorded a vision of something very similar. Ezekiel gave fewer details but is probably describing the same city. He named it: the Lord is there — . (Ezekiel 48:30-35)

We believe that the city of New Jerusalem corresponds to — the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle. The Most Holy Place was a perfect cube of about 15 feet on a side. Everything in the interior was gold including the ark which represented the throne of God.

Moses also saw a second chamber associated with the Most Holy Place. This is referred to as — the Holy Place. It is the same width and height as the Most Holy Place and twice as long (~ 15’ x 15’' x 30’). The two chambers were separated by a veil. In the outer chamber were located three furnishings: the seven-branched menorah, the table for the bread of presence and the altar of incense. Of course, beyond the entrance of the Holy Place stood the laver and the bronze altar. All of this was positioned in the camp of Israel.

It seems obvious when considering these prophecies that the Most Holy Place is a prophetic picture of the New Jerusalem. This leads, naturally, to the question of what is envisioned by the Holy Place which is separated from the Most Holy Place by a veil. Since it is not seen in the vision of the New Creation, it must represent something in this present age.

To understand what the Holy Place represents, we must consider the items associated with it. First is the Menorah. The menorah represents the light of God flowing out to the world. In the second place is the Bread of Presence. We maintain that this represents God’s physical provision for the world. The menorah and the table for the Bread of Presence were positioned on the outer wall of the Holy Place nearest the entrance. Finally, the Altar of Incense was placed next to the veil and represents intercessory prayer before God.

We conclude that the Holy Place represents the ministry of Messiah in the present age, i.e., the anointing functioning through human flesh in this present age. Messiah Jesus declared that He was the "light of the world" (John 8:12) and the "bread that comes down from heaven" (John 6:51). Also, it is stated that He lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). So we see Messiah Jesus functioning in each capacity envisioned in the Holy Place. In addition, the Veil, itself, represents His flesh (Hebrews 10:20). So when He died on the cross, we have the testimony that the veil was rent from top to bottom (Luke 23:44-46). In the vision of the New Jerusalem both the Holy One and the Lamb dwell in the city.

So we can better understand the tabernacle as envisioned in the diagram at the right.

The Scripture declares that "as He is, so also are we in this world" (1 John 4:17b). So at this time "Messiah in the flesh" is Jesus manifested through the Church. In the end we also must each pass through the veil (death and resurrection) to minister in the New Creation (flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God).

1. The pattern of prophecies revealed by God transcend the ages. He does not need to start over from time to time.
2. The ministry envisioned by the furnishings of the Holy Place which foresee Messiah in this age are positioned squarely in the camp of Israel. This precludes the assumption of a separate identity by the Church separate from Israel.
3. Our ministry today is identical to that carried out by Messiah Jesus during His earthly ministry. Every local church has the capacity of the full manifestation of the Messiah.

[ Published: 11 March 2003 ]