Today’s
Scripture Reading (June 14, 2012): Exodus 26
There were two curtains, or veils, that protected the Tabernacle and all
of the treasures that were held within the walls of the tent. There would be no
wooden doors, no locks, absolutely nothing that would deter a thief from
stealing the valuable gold and silver artifacts hidden inside. Just a couple of
curtains.
The one advantage possessed by the tabernacle was that no one knew exactly
what was hidden behind those two, royally colored and designed heavy cloth
curtains, because no one but the priests would ever venture behind either of
the curtains. There would be no sightseeing tours; no visiting dignitaries
would ever be invited to look upon the tabernacles wealth. Unless you were a
priest, there was no reason for you ever to venture into the land of the
curtains.
The first curtain would have divided the tabernacle proper from the courts
where the people would have gathered. It was the beginning of the ‘priests only’
land. It was in this place that the priests ministered with no other audience
than God himself. It was a place where incense of burned and waved, where
sacrifices were made and where blood was poured, but a place where no one would
ever witness any of these events. The priests of the tabernacle did not do any
of these things for the praise of man – but only as part of their solemn
worship before God.
The second curtain separated the tabernacle proper from the Holy of
Holies. And no one ventured inside of the Holy of Holies except for the high
priest – and he would only go beyond the second curtain once a year. It was
there that the Ark of the covenant would be kept, the place that was considered
to be the very seat of God. And in the seat of the ark would be some of the
most precious artifacts of the nation – eventually containing the two stone
tablets of the ten commandments and a jar of manna from the desert wanderings. The
protection of the artifacts was dependant on the level of secrecy the priests
would maintain – and the vigilance of the priests as they watched over the
tabernacle.
But what the protection system of the tabernacle missed was the most
valuable treasure that Israel possessed - the people of God. God knew, at that
point in time, that the people of Israel were not ready to learn of their
value. They were still slaves being retrained so that someday they would be able
to recognize the incredible treasure that they were to God – that they were the
beloved creation of God.
Centuries later Jesus would die on a cross and the message of the cross
is all about God’s love for us. Not God’s love for his temple or his
tabernacle, not God’s love for a system of laws, not even God’s love for a
single nation, but God’s love for all of us – that we were valuable enough to
justify his death. And so it is maybe not surprising that at the moment of his
death, the veil was torn. The curtain that hid the Holy of Holies bare from the
rest of the Temple (built to the same basic plan as the Tabernacle) was ripped
from top to bottom revealing the secrets that they were built to hide (of
course, by this time, the valuables had all been stolen.) But what Jesus
revealed was that what was really important all along was us – and that our
value is so great that Jesus died and we gained access through the veil and that
we were now welcome to step into the very presence of God.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: Exodus 27
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