Introduction & Prayer
What are the different names for the grouping of the first 5 books of the Bible? [Law, Pentateuch, Torah]
Who wrote the book of Exodus? [Moses]
REVIEW QUIZ: What the 7 pieces of tabernacle furniture?
BONUS: What does the word tabernacle mean? [dwelling, tent, habitation]
Pray
Read Exodus 37:1-5
Next Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood—a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 2 He overlaid it inside and outside with pure gold, and he ran a molding of gold all around it. 3 He cast four gold rings and attached them to its four feet, two rings on each side. 4 Then he made poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5 He inserted the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it.
What is special about this central piece of tabernacle furniture?
Why did God design the ark with the rings and poles for carrying? [represented the holiness of God and couldn’t be handled directly by human hands]
Read Exodus 37:6-9
6 Then he made the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—from pure gold. It was 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. 7 He made two cherubim from hammered gold and placed them on the two ends of the atonement cover. 8 He molded the cherubim on each end of the atonement cover, making it all of one piece of gold. 9 The cherubim faced each other and looked down on the atonement cover. With their wings spread above it, they protected it.
What were other names for the cover? [Mercy Seat,, Judgement Seat]
What happened at the mercy seat? [place of forgiveness, place of forgiveness]
What is God symbolizing when He instructs Bezalel to place the angels protecting the cover with their wings?
Psalm 91:1-4 1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
What does life look like when we find rest in His shadow—When God is our refuge and place of safety?
Describe a moment when Psalm 91 became real for you?
Read Exodus 37:10-14
10 Then Bezalel made the table of acacia wood, 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 11 He overlaid it with pure gold and ran a gold molding around the edge. 12 He decorated it with a 3-inch border all around, and he ran a gold molding along the border. 13 Then he cast four gold rings for the table and attached them at the four corners next to the four legs. 14 The rings were attached near the border to hold the poles that were used to carry the table.
Why are civil engineers and architects so concerned with details?
Why was God so concerned with the details of the tabernacle furniture?
Is God concerned with the details of our lives? [Luke 12:6,7; Psalms 139:13-16]
Why is God concerned with the detail of our lives?
Read Exodus 37:17-22
17 Then Bezalel made the lampstand of pure, hammered gold. He made the entire lampstand and its decorations of one piece—the base, center stem, lamp cups, buds, and petals. 18 The lampstand had six branches going out from the center stem, three on each side. 19 Each of the six branches had three lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. 20 The center stem of the lampstand was crafted with four lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. 21 There was an almond bud beneath each pair of branches where the six branches extended from the center stem, all made of one piece. 22 The almond buds and branches were all of one piece with the center stem, and they were hammered from pure gold.
What is the purpose of the tabernacle and the tabernacle furniture? [place for a holy God would meet with sinful man; a sacred meeting place; a place where God would be worshipped]
Why does God design such an elaborate design in the tabernacle and furniture? [God is an holy and set apart from Creation. As such, His uniqueness demands that we see Him as different.]
Why did Moses devote so much time to describing the fulfillment of what God had already described in detail in earlier chapters? What does this teach us about how the people were responding to God’s Word?
How careful are we about following the details of God leading us?
Read Exodus 37:25
Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood. It was 18 inches square and 36 inches high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself.
Read Psalm 141:1-2
1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help! 2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
Read Revelation 8:3-4
Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.
What does incense represent in God’s Word?
What are the greatest barriers to a life of prayer?
Discuss what people have found to be helpful in praying.
Read Exodus 38:1,2, and 24
Next Bezalel used acacia wood to construct the square altar of burnt offering. It was 7½ feet wide, 7½ feet long, and 4½ feet high. 2 He made horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar were all one piece. He overlaid the altar with bronze…Verse 24 24 The people brought special offerings of gold totaling 2,193 pounds, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. This gold was used throughout the Tabernacle.
The Israelites sacrificed bulls and goats to cover their sins. What covers our sins?
Sometimes we make big sacrifices. Sometimes our sacrifices are small. What helps us to live a life of sacrifice and what does that look like?
How do you honor God with resources aside from money?
Think On This…
If the tabernacle points to Christ, what can I do in my life to point people to Christ?