Part five in a loose, non-chronological series, this episode of The Spirit of the Law focuses on the tent of meeting, or dwelling-place, which the people of Israel constructed according to the temple pattern shown to Moses. But what does the tent of meeting represent in our lives today?
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THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW PART 5: THE TENT OF MEETING
The Feast of Tabernacles (also called Booths, or Sukkot) recalls a time when the people of Israel dwelled in tents following their exodus from Egypt. We covered this feast in our article Feast of Booths and our Scripture study video The Pure Convocations. The feast, which is a special convocation or appointed time, is prophetic in that it points to future events, but it also recalls a time when Yah met with his people, Israel, in a tabernacle, or dwelling-place called the tent of meeting, which he instructed them to build according to the pattern of the temple in heaven, as stated in Exodus 25.
9Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle [word H4908, mishkan, meaning “dwelling-place”], and of all its furniture, so shall you make it.
—Exodus 25:9
But prior to that tabernacle or dwelling-place being constructed, Scripture records the use of another tent.
7Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought Yah would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.
—Exodus 33:7
In verse 9, we are told that when Moses entered this temporary tent, the pillar of cloud descended and remained at the entrance, and Yah spoke to Moses, hence the name he gave it: the “tent of meeting.” Note that Moses pitched this tent “outside the camp.” Yah longed to dwell in the midst of his people, as seen in Exodus 25:8, but following the golden calf incident in Exodus 32, Yah could no longer do so. This is expressed in Exodus 33:
3“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
—Exodus 33:3
Therefore, Moses was forced to meet with Yah outside the camp, and the people could only observe from a distance.
10And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.
—Exodus 33:10
Only those of a certain heart could join Moses—those who truly sought Yah—such as his successor:
11Thus Yah used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
—Exodus 33:11
Joshua could not get enough of it in other words. Who could blame him? He was allowed to be in Yah’s presence, directly benefitting from the purpose of the meeting house that was the temporary tent. The people, on the other hand, were restricted to share in the experience from afar due to their rebellion, thus each person worshipped at his or her tent door. And so it is with many supposed servants today. They are worshipping Yah from afar, but those who are truly his, who earnestly seek to be obedient in all things, will meet with Yah “face to face” as it were. Not that Moses or Joshua literally saw the face of Yah (or Yeshua) at that time. Doing so would have meant their immediate death according to Exodus 33:20. Considering the burning bush and pillar of cloud, Yah had not appeared to them in his actual form up to this point, so the term “face to face” is used as a figure of speech, meaning that his presence was near, like that of two people in a room.
Following their deliverance from Egypt, a covenant was made between Yah and Israel, which was the giving of the law from Exodus chapters 20 to 23. Israel agreed to abide by all the laws of this covenant.
3Moses came and told the people all the words of Yah and all the rules. And the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that Yah has spoken we will do.”
—Exodus 24:3
And that covenant, as with all covenants made with Yah, was ratified by blood.
5And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to Yah. 6And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that Yah has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that Yah has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
—Exodus 24:5 – 8
This was in preparation for the establishment of the official priesthood, which was intended to be 12-tribes strong, as promised back in Exodus 19:6. The aforementioned golden calf incident derailed those plans, however, and Yah established the Levitical priesthood instead, which he anticipated, given the language in Exodus 28:1 – 4. At any rate, in preparation for the priesthood, a more feasible structure that represented the temple in heaven had to be constructed. This led to the tabernacle, or official tent of meeting, whose detailed instructions are given in Exodus chapters 25, 26, and 27.
Much like the temporary booths or tents the Israelites pitched during the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, the official tent of meeting was also set up and disassembled for easy transport. As stated in the Feast of Booths article, our earthly bodies are akin to tents. The emissary Peter expressed this thought via an analogy in 2 Peter 1:13, where he refers to his own bodily tent.
“As long as I am in this skénóma,” Peter says, using word G4638. Some translators have inserted “body,” but the word, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, properly refers to “a tent, tabernacle: of the temple as Elohim’s habitation.”
Quoting from the Feast of Booths article:
“You see, our spirits are housed in these mortal bodies, and Yah wants to dwell in us as well.… [O]ur bodies are also what the Feast of Booths point to. Moreover, our bodies are formed and destroyed by birth and death, which is pictured in the setting up and breaking down of the temporary booth or tent you are to dwell in.”
This is true of the tent of meeting as well. It was temporary, capable of being assembled and disassembled as needed, representing birth and death. But Solomon’s temple, in all its magnificent splendor, was meant to be a permanent structure, representing the immortal bodies we will inherit in the future.
8He will swallow up death forever.
—Isaiah 25:8
14I shall ransom them from the power of the Grave; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Grave, where is your sting?
—Hosea 13:14
Going back to the earthly tent of meeting, various items were attached to and associated with it, all having different functions and spiritual representations. The items needed for the tent’s construction were also to be supplied by the people, being a collective effort.
1Yah said to Moses, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.”
—Exodus 25:1 – 2
And so it is with Yah: only those who are willing to yield themselves will form the ultimate body of servants that will fill his Kingdom. Starting at verse 3, the first of the items mentioned as contributions are a series of precious metals, namely gold, silver, and bronze, which represent the nations. We go into greater detail concerning this subject in our documentary, The Economy of Yah. Prophetically, this highlights the future plight of the nation of Israel, whose sovereignty and temple would be destroyed and controlled by Gentile kingdoms that would later emerge in the very order of the metals listed, per the prophecy of Daniel 2:31 – 45. These metals were to overlay various items in the tent of meeting, being a constant representation of the nations for which Israel was to intercede and minister to as a kingdom of priests, thereby converting them from base metals to the precious metals Yah desired them to be. This will be fulfilled in the Kingdom to come, per Revelation 5:9 – 10.
Next in order are threads of violet, purple, and scarlet (some translations say blue in place of violet but the Hebrew sense implies violet, which is more a bluish purple). These thread colors are also significant in meaning. Purple represents royal honor, as demonstrated in Daniel 5:7, 16 and Judges 8:26. Scarlet represents primacy, or being first among others. This is signified by the emergence of Zerah’s hand during his birth in Genesis 38.
28And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”
—Genesis 38:28
Of course, Zerah’s twin brother Perez ended up being born first, but Zerah retained the scarlet thread, thus he was named Zerah, meaning, “to rise.” In short, purple and scarlet are a show of Israel’s high honor as an intended royal priesthood, as well as their status as the first among all nations:
7For thus says Yah: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations.”
—Jeremiah 31:7
I say all this to demonstrate that each and every item in the tent of meeting held deep significance and was chosen for a specific purpose, not unlike the servants of Yah, who are living tents of meeting. In Exodus 26, Yah commanded that the Israelites erect frames and bars of wood to be overlaid with gold; these are akin to our bones, the internal frame of our body. Curtains of goats’ hair were to hang on this collective frame and cover the tabernacle, acting like a hairy skin. It is clear Yah is building a representation of the body in the tent of meeting.
As you read the instructions that detail the tent’s layout and organization, you’ll see a seven-branched golden lampstand placed within the first apartment, the light of which filled the tent interior and was never to go out while the tent was in use.
2“Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.”
—Leviticus 24:2
What organ of the body could this possibly represent? Yeshua gives us a clue:
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”
—Matthew 6:22
In a larger sense, the lampstand also represents the work the Israelites are to do in the earth as a collective, being the light of the world. In the second apartment, the Most Pure Place or Qodesh HaQodeshim, we could find the ark of the covenant, which held the ten commandments on tablets of stone, as well as various other items of importance. These were covered by the mercy seat. Over the seat itself, the glory of Yah hovered. This was the place of highest importance, into which only the high priest could enter but once a year, per the instructions in Leviticus 16. In correlation to his servants, Yah desires to be seated primarily in our innermost state of consciousness.
In Proverbs 7, the wise writer instructs his readers to treasure up his words and keep his commandments, and to bind them on the fingers and write them on the tablet of the heart. The word “heart” here is leb, word H3820, which refers to the inner man, soul, mind, and heart. When we turn to Jeremiah 31:33, concerning the renewed covenant, Yah promises to write it wa’al lebam, “on our inner selves, souls, minds, hearts.” This is what we are instructed to love Yah with in Deuteronomy 6:5. In this way, the Most Pure Place of the tent of meeting, where the ark of the covenant resides with the tablets of stone covered by the mercy seat, and the whole apartment hidden away by an inner veil, is a representation of the innermost place of man, that area of consciousness where Yah is to be securely seated.
That means we are not to enthrone idols in this space, in any form, be it entertainment, loved ones, self, money, pursuits, or any other thing. Yah Elohim must be seated on that throne, and no other deity. But the tent of meeting reveals more than a correlation to Yah’s servants. In Exodus 40, beginning at verse 2, we see the command for the tent of meeting to be erected at last, and on the first day of the first month of the year at that. After the Most Pure Place was set up, and the ark of the covenant hidden by the inner veil, we are shown the order of items as they were to be placed in the first apartment of the sanctuary upon assembly. This was the place where the priests were to perform their regular duties throughout the year.
Yeshua, our high priest, had to be anointed prior to beginning his priestly work. We see from Torah that two very important requirements were to be met in order for one to become a priest:
4You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
And…
7You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.
—Exodus 29:4, 7
Being washed in water and anointed with oil were the two physical acts a future priest was to experience in order to become a priest. This is the reason for Yeshua’s immersion, which we covered in part 3 of this series, The Laver. But he could not be anointed with physical oil, because that would have rendered his priesthood earthly. More than that, he was not a Levite, so the law concerning this would have been violated as well. Yeshua was instead anointed into a higher priesthood by something greater than oil. In Zechariah 4, the prophet is shown a vision of a lampstand with seven lamps, each having a lip, and a bowl on top of the lampstand. On either side of the bowl were two olive trees, which obviously fed the lamps with oil. When Zechariah asked the heavenly messenger what they were….
6Then he said to me, “This is the word of Yah to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Yah of hosts.”
—Zechariah 4:6
The olive trees, which produce oil, represent the work of the Spirit. Therefore oil, which is used in anointing, is also a representation of the Spirit of Yah. A second witness to this is found in the book of Isaiah:
1The Spirit of Yah Elohim is upon me, because Yah has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
—Isaiah 61:1
So the highest form of anointing by Yah is via his Set Apart Spirit.
21Now when all the people were immersed, and when Yeshua also had been immersed and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Set Apart Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove.
—Luke 3:21 – 22
By this, Yeshua was fully anointed for the office of high priest, therefore he could fulfill the work of not only the priesthood, but the tent of meeting itself, as you will see. Take special note concerning the order in which the items are placed in the first apartment also.
4And you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen door of the tabernacle.
—Exodus 40:4 – 5
The golden altar for incense represents the prayers of the set apart ones, as we explained in week 6 of the The 12-Week Journey. This is proven in Psalm 141:2 and Revelation 5:8. So, that aside, we start with the table. Leviticus 24:5 tells us that 12 loaves of bread baked with fine flour were to be placed on the table of pure gold, in two piles of six. Each bread represented a tribe, and that bread, we are told in verse 8, was from the people of Israel, just as Yeshua emerged from the line of Jacob. Yet, the bread …
9 … shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a pure place, since it is for him a most pure portion out of Yah’s food offerings, a perpetual due.
—Leviticus 24:9
The bread was for the priests, just as Yeshua is the bread from heaven meant for the children of Israel, the future kingdom of priests.
47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life.
—John 6:47 – 48
Next in order, per Exodus 40:4, was the lampstand and its lamps, which was to light the interior of the tent.
12Again Yeshua spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
—John 8:12
Yeshua is clearly represented by the lampstand with its seven lamps. But just as the bread numbers 12, representing the 12 tribes, who are to feed the world with the knowledge of Yah and his Son in the form of righteous doctrine, so too does the lampstand double as Israel, who Yeshua said were also the light of the world (see Matthew 5:14). Following the lampstand, the priests were to set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle, or tent of meeting. This led the way in and out of the sanctuary, granting one access to fellowship with Yah.
9I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
—John 10:9
After walking through it themselves, it is the role of each and every Israelite to show the world that door. This is how the great multitude will eventually stand before the throne of Yah, as pictured in Revelation 7:15. These three functions of the tent of meeting are beautifully represented in Yeshua, but the illustration does not end here. Next in order are these:
6You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, 7and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 8And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.
—Exodus 40:6 – 8
Here we see that the altar of burnt offering is next. This relates to sacrifice, or the laying down of life for the sake of others. In answer to this, Yeshua said:
11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
—John 10:11
Yeshua is also pictured as the sacrificial “lamb of Elohim” in verses like John 1:29. In the same way, we are to be a kind of sacrifice on that very altar, as Yeshua explained in the account of Luke:
23And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his stake daily and follow me.”
—Luke 9:23
We must all carry our personal stakes upon which we sacrifice our old selves daily. This is the true sacrifice to Yah on the altar of burnt offering. Next came the basin, or laver, which we covered in part 3 of this series. The laver is the place of washing, which pictures immersion. But it also represents resurrection, or being born into a new life.
25Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
—John 11:25
This immersion is represented by the new life we live following the altar experience wherein we sacrifice our old selves. Getting rid of the old you is a painful experience, however, and requires trials by fire. It is a fire immersion of sorts, being a precursor of the spiritual fire immersion mentioned by John in Matthew 3:11. Next in the order is the outer court, which was screened off and made accessible only by a special screen gate that was hung. This was the way into the tabernacle area, which represented the priestly work that was to lead the world back to Yah. To this Yeshua says:
6 … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
—John 14:6
Note that the true function of the tent of meeting and the priestly work associated with it was to lead to life and salvation in the highest spiritual sense, via the work of Yeshua. Following the arrangement of these items, upon initial set up, Exodus 40 further instructs:
9“Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become set apart.”
—Exodus 40:9
This final anointing is even seen in Yeshua’s walk. The official duties surrounding the tent of meeting were to be carried out by a line of priests, who officiated in succession from generation to generation. Yeshua was not to do the priestly work alone. He needed to mint other priests. That meant anointing them for the work, just as the tabernacle and all that was in it was anointed for its work. Remember that being anointed to the highest priesthood order is not carried out with oil, but with the Set Apart Spirit. Prior to ending his priestly work in the world, Yeshua established the 12 in this way:
21Yeshua said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Set Apart Spirit.”
—John 20:21 – 22
Only then could the emissaries fully enter their particular priesthood office. Interestingly, the order of the first apartment and court furniture following the initial assembly of the tent of meeting, clearly defines our walk with Yah when we first awaken to truth:
Once you are fed the bread of life upon hearing of the Master by supping on sound doctrine, and you receive it (the table of showbread experience), you immediately share this news with your loved ones and those in your immediate surroundings, spreading it in the bright hope that they too will benefit from the light (the lampstand experience). Whether they receive it or not, if you continue your walk, you will step through the door of the tabernacle into the full light of the sun in search of greater truth. In this way, you also experience more. Yeshua himself said, 26“I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given” (Luke 19:26). (The screen door experience). With this increase in knowledge, you will eventually see the need to change your ways, do away with old habits and behavior, and kill the old man or woman in you (the altar experience). With that, you will experience fiery trials and testing that will allow you to do away with old habits and interests. You will experience a spiritual immersion that will in effect cause you to be raised a new creature, intent on living Torah and emulating HaMashiach to the best of your ability, while the things of the world will lose their appeal (the basin, or laver, experience).
In time, Yeshua will prepare you to walk through the court gate and into the wider world to do a greater work. But for this, he must anoint you with a portion of the Set Apart Spirit, just as the tent of meeting and all its furniture was anointed for service. In keeping with this, may you exist as a living tent of meeting in service to Yah. And with that, I say, shalom!
Keywords: scripture-study, spirit of the law, letter of the law, Levitical priesthood, Melchizedek priesthood, covenant law, tent of meeting, tabernacle, mishkan, dwelling-place, qodesh haqodeshim, mercy seat, ark of the covenant
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