All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze. – Exodus 38:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 26, 2012): Exodus 38

A few years ago, I bought some furniture. Now, it was used furniture and I wanted it for my basement, so I did not have a lot of expectations about what I was purchasing, but I have to admit that the furniture did look good. It had been lightly used and it was perfect for my needs. But it did not take long for the furniture to start to show problems. I guess in a house with a couple of teenage children (and all of their friends) the furniture was no longer being used ‘lightly.’ And the first problems to appear were all of the places where the manufacturer had cut some corners. They were the places that had originally been hidden, but now the hidden was being revealed.

Our attitude is often that if people cannot see it, then it really does not matter. And the principle seems to apply to so many areas of our lives. A while back a friend asked me if it was okay to lie on a résumé. After all, it was the job that he was going to do that really mattered. As long as he did a good job, who cared what his work history was like. It was hidden and, therefore, it did not matter.

We feel the same way about the things that we do inside of our castles. The home is a sacred place and what happens there is no one’s business. And neither are the hidden sins in our lives. As long as no one knows, and we can look okay when we are in public – then what does it really matter what things are hidden underneath? But the reality in which I live is this – just like my furniture, the wear and stress of life will soon inevitably reveal what had been hidden. The secrets, in some way or other, will be exposed.

As God gives the plans for his tabernacle, there is no area that could be overlooked. Even the tent pegs, which would be hidden the dirt, were to be made of a specified material – in this case bronze. The use of bronze was because it was the hardest substance known at the time. Where the builders would have used stone, bronze became a longer lasting and harder (as well as a more expensive) alternative. Even when the Bronze Age began to yield to the Iron Age, the change would not be because iron was a better substance. Iron would begin to reign because it was more plentiful to find and easier to produce. But bronze was still, in many ways, superior.

But God wanted even the things that were hidden to be of the best quality for the job. And I think the example holds for the tabernacle, the things that we make with our hands, and even the way that we live our lives. As hard a thought as this might be, we are to live with the sure knowledge that one day the hidden will be revealed.

    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 39