Exodus 26-28
Reading through the instructions for building the Tabernacle, with all its pieces and parts, materials and associated accessories, one can easily get distracted by (or perhaps mired in) all the details: curtains of just such a size, so many supporting poles separated by just so many cubits, clasps of gold, clasps of bronze, positioned just so, and on it goes. In all those details, we might lose sight of an important theme: holiness.
To be holy is to be set apart, to be marked as separate and distinct, exceptional. God Himself, of course, is holy. As the Creator, He is the ultimate “Other”, the one and only uncreated Being, and so He is clearly set apart from all else. He wants to communicate this “otherness” to Israel, and He does so throughout the Tabernacle.
Just look at the overall design. First there is the outer wall of curtains surrounding the courtyard with the altar, clearly “set apart” from the common world outside. Within that is the main tent, divided into two sections, the “Holy Place” and the “Most Holy Place” (or the “Holy of Holies”), where the Ark of the Covenant is to be placed. Only the priests may enter the Holy Place, and only the High Priest may enter the Most Holy Place (and then only once a year).
Alongside the overall structure of the Tabernacle we have all those pesky detailed instructions, specifying the materials to use, how to put all the pieces together, placement of items within the Tabernacle, etc. All these details similarly point to holiness. This is not a common tent, not something you can just go buy at your local camping store. It is special. It is unique. It represents the dwelling place of the LORD God. He is not to be taken lightly. He is not cheap or common or profane. He is, in a word, holy.
We would all do well to meditate on God’s holiness, to think long and hard about His “otherness”. And then ponder how utterly mind-boggling it is that this holy God would call us into relationship — and not just any relationship, but that He would call us His children.
From Archbishop Beach today:
“For they {Earthly Parents} disciplined us for a short time … but He {God} disciplines us for our good, that we may share His {God’s} holiness.” (Hebrews 12:10)
One verse struck me today: Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters… (Ex. 28:3a, NIV) It has long been clear to me that God has gifted us, each of us, in many different ways, for the building up of the body and, ideally, for the good of the world. See Ephesians 4:11-16. In today’s reading we see explicitly that some in this wilderness journey were gifted in linens and fabrics and poles and metals and other crafts, all with the completion of the tabernacle and the worship of the One True God as the end goal. Again, I am confident that we are all, each, gifted. How are we using those gifts at St. Andrew’s, with an end goal of worshiping this One True God?