God's great desire is to be with His people. He told Moses, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” The people would bring a willing offering, and everything was to be made “According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle.” The tabernacle was a portable tent of meeting that would travel with Israel through the wilderness.
Inside the Most Holy Place stood the ark of the covenant, covered by the mercy seat with two cherubim of gold. God said, “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat.” In the Holy Place stood the table of showbread, the golden lampstand and the altar of incense. In the courtyard stood the bronze altar for sacrifices and the bronze laver for washing.
God set apart Aaron and his sons as priests, dressed in holy garments “for glory and for beauty.” On the high priest's turban was a gold plate engraved HOLINESS TO THE LORD, and on his shoulders and breastplate he carried the names of the twelve tribes before God. God also filled the craftsman Bezalel “with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.”
Every part of the tabernacle points to Jesus. John wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” — literally, He tabernacled among us. He is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, our sacrifice and our great High Priest. Because of Him we no longer stand far off: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.”