On What’s in My Tabernacle

On What’s in My Temple

1 Kings 6:23-29 [MSG] “Then he made two cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, from olivewood. Each was fifteen feet tall. The outstretched wings of the cherubim (they were identical in size and shape) measured another fifteen feet. He placed the two cherubim, their wings spread, in the Inner Sanctuary. The combined wingspread stretched the width of the room, the wing of one cherub touched one wall, the wing of the other the other wall, and the wings touched in the middle. The cherubim were gold-plated. He then carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on all the walls of both the Inner and the Main Sanctuary.”

Observation

Why are cherubim always portrayed as little naked baby angels?  Here they are very definitely portrayed as the strong silent types (“gigantic angel-like figures”) who guard the very presence of God.  Their images are carved all over the inside walls of the Temple.  Very few people could even enter into the sanctuary (the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies) to see these carvings, so this was not a reminder to the general public.  Who needed to be reminded of what Heaven affords in provision, protection and power?  The priests who served. 

In addition to the cherubim, there are the palm trees – symbols of victory, the conquering King (the palm branches of the triumphal entry in John 12 and Revelation 7).  I think also of the wonder and relief that a palm would bring to a wanderer in the desert as the promise of an oasis with water, dates for food, rescue, rest, restoration, relief from the dry, parched journey.  

What of the flower blossoms?  They are beautiful, fleeting, striking, promising seed – spending themselves for the reproduction and generation of more plants, more flowers, more seeds in the future, symbols of hope and redemption.  

Why was all of this on the inside where the general public could not see it?  Because they were not yet redeemed.  Hebrews 9:6-15 This Tabernacle and its sacrifices were a temporary fix, a shadow of the relationship God wants to restore. This Tabernacle, the Temples, and now us as His temple are so reminiscent of the Garden of Eden, that place where God walked and talked with His people, the place He intends to restore to us all in Christ.

Impact on Me

The Word tells us that we are not only a holy people and God’s priests, but also the temple of God’s Spirit.  In Christ, we can enter into the Holy of Holies. I have to ask myself what is engraved on the walls inside me?   Do I look like this Tabernacle on the inside?

When Jesus enters this temple, does He find me offering sacrifices of praise, prayer, obedience, and commitment?  Does He hear my heart and soul declaring that God is my protection, my hope, my victory, my redeemer, my resource, my Lord Whom I obey gladly even to the point of being broken and spilled out for His will and purpose?  Is the presence of God in my Holy of Holies guarded by fiery, fierce cherubim who strike fear in the heart of any enemy that would dare to approach?  Is my service to God coated with gold from top to bottom?

With the help of His Holy Spirit, I am being remodeled, reconstructed, restored to look like His Heaven on the inside so that people who don’t yet know Him will meet Him in me.

Prayer

Lord, I want to serve you with clean hands and a pure heart, a holy temple in which You find the sacrifices You count worthy to praise and worship You.  May my tabernacle of Your Holy Spirit also look like Heaven on the inside, full of Your presence, power and anointing. May my altars always be smoking with that sweet savor of Your presence, Your wisdom, Your redemption, Your grace so that others will come to know You because they are drawn to that fragrance and meet You in me.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.