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We must now leave these introductory aspects of the subject and
consider in some detail the way that this 'tent dwelling' feature enters into
the record of the ages. Without necessarily following the order indicated
below, something of the all embracing character of this theme can be set out
as follows:
(1)
The present six days' Creation is likened to a tent, suggesting
that both the Redemptive purpose of the ages, and the pilgrim character
of all concerned is uppermost from the beginning (Gen. 1:6-8; Isa.
40:22).
(2)
The cherubim were 'tabernacled' at the east of the Garden (Gen.
3:24).
(3)
The cherubim are found in the book of the Revelation, and when
the new heaven and new earth are announced in Revelation 21:1 the
'tabernacle' character is still retained, a feature that will demand a
consideration of what the new heaven and earth really indicate (Rev.
21:1-4; Isa. 65:17-25; 66:22-24).
(4)
The dwelling that God chose, and in which He shared Israel's
pilgrimage in the wilderness, was a 'tent', 'declaring plainly' 'Ye are
strangers and sojourners With Me' (Exod. 25:1-9; Isa. 57:15; 63:9).
(5)
The Saviour, when He became Man, gave up the glory that was His,
made Himself of no reputation, and was found in fashion as a man,
bearing the form of a slave; this is expressed by the one word
'tabernacled' in John 1:14.
'And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us', or
'became a tent dweller' (John 1:14; Phil. 2:6,7; 2 Cor. 8:9).
(6)
The present body of the believer is likened to a 'tent' and
transient in contrast with the resurrection body, which is likened to a
building of God not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Cor.
5:1-4).
(7)
Not until the ultimate goal of the age is reached, when God shall
be all in all, will the tabernacle be exchanged for the eternal and the
unchanging state, when 'mortality shall be swallowed up of life'; when
the last enemy 'death' shall have been destroyed.
Before we explore the Scriptures along these lines, a little spade work
will be necessary and even though we may agree that 'much study is a
weariness of the flesh', if we are not to build upon the sand of human
interpretation, we must become acquainted with the actual words of
inspiration that are used in Scripture relative to this pervading idea of a
'tabernacle'. Brick making is associated in Scripture with Babylon (Gen.
11:3), Egypt (Exod. 1:14), pride (Isa. 9:10), and idolatry (Isa. 65:3).
Brick making and building with brick, is never associated either in the
Scripture or in the mind with nomads and tent dwellers, and it is suggestive
that the first halt of Israel, after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage
and brick making, was Succoth (Exod. 12:37). The word Succoth means booths,
temporary shelters for man or beast, and is first mentioned in connection
with Jacob (Gen. 33:17). The moment that the Passover deliverance of Israel
took place, brick making ended and pilgrimage began. In harmony with this
attitude of heart and mind, Moses was told to instruct Israel regarding the
Passover feast: