Where’s Your Tabernacle?

You need a tabernacle!

You must have it!

It’s a place and time in your life set aside to regularly quiet yourself in God’s presence and, through His Word, by His Spirit, draw near to hear His voice…and be wrapped up in His love and grace.

It says something alarming about your Christian walk if you don’t have a tabernacle.

God-on-the-run is no substitute.

I know, I know…your theological warning bells are sounding and they should.

We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). God is now not confined to buildings or tents made with human hands.

You’re right!

But the fact is He was never confined to buildings made by human hands (Isaiah 66:1-2).

He spoke to Abram in the city of Ur. He met with Moses in a burning bush in the wilderness. He chased Elijah down in an empty cave. He visited Ezekiel by the Kebar River in exile in Babylon.

But, at a time of crucial revelation of Himself and a return to His covenant promises to Abraham, this God-without-limits instructed Moses to build a tabernacle “so I can live among the people.” (Exodus 25:8).

In this instance, this meeting place between heaven and earth was a carefully planned and intricately detailed tabernacle, requiring great skill to construct.

This is what the Puritans would have labeled a “thin place.”

For the people, the tabernacle was a daily physical reminder of the immediate visible presence of an omnipresent God.

That’s why the tent of every family in every tribe was pitched so that their doorways always faced the tabernacle. It was the orientation of the people’s lives.

For Moses, it was the place to go when he needed encouragement, wisdom or guidance from the Lord to lead Israel. This physical place of encountering God was so crucial for Moses to lead Israel that young Joshua in-training took note and would stay behind in the presence of the Lord, long after Moses had headed back to his leadership tasks in the camp (Exodus 33:11).

In my quiet time this morning, one of my Old Testament readings had me in Leviticus 1.

To my surprise, verse 1 says, “The Lord called to Moses from the Tabernacle.”

From the tabernacle!!

I imagine (although the text is silent on this) that the instructions that followed for Moses re: the all-important sacrifices in Leviticus 1 came to Moses during one of his regular trips to the tabernacle.

No happenstance burning bush in the wilderness. No isolated mountain top encounter. No being chased down in a cave.

This time the word of the Lord came “from the tabernacle”…that carefully constructed, easily accessible place where Moses could be confident he could go and meet with God.

Now, that’s what I need in my life.

For me, it’s a leather recliner in a little 10′ by 12′ study in our home…surrounded by some of the most important books that have shaped my life.

For me, the time has to be early morning. (If something pulls me away, it seems like I never am able to get back there that day.)

But, I have to tell you, and at the risk of you thinking I’m weird, whenever I walk into that room and turn the lights on, it’s like He is already there to welcome me into His presence.

Can the same thing happen in my car or at the office or listening to a song? Actually, it has.

But, for me…I need the daily regularity and accountability of a tabernacle. It’s like an anchor for my soul.

And sometimes here…I hear His voice.