Upon arriving at Mount Sinai, Moses was instructed to build a Tabernacle,

and several chapters are devoted to a description of this wonderful structure.

Its purpose however was simple:

`Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them' (Exod. 25:8),

and we are told that Moses was given a pattern, and according to that pattern

the Tabernacle was made.  This insistence upon a pattern was repeated when

Solomon was commissioned to build the temple (1 Chron. 28:11,12).  If this were

all that had been said, we might infer from the emphasis upon this pattern, that

both Moses and Solomon were not left to their own devices, but the New Testament

use of this emphasis upon pattern reveals something fuller and deeper.  Summing

up what he had already said, the apostle in Hebrews 8:1,2 concentrates the whole

teaching in `A seated Priest in a heavenly sanctuary'.  Now the priests he says,

serve unto the example or shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of

God, when he was about to make the Tabernacle for,

`See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed

to thee in the mount' (Heb. 8:5).

These `patterns' are set over against `the heavenly things themselves' in

Hebrews 9:23, the holy places `made with hands' being `figures of the true'.

These heavenly things were purified with the better sacrifices of the New

Covenant, even as the typical things of the Tabernacle were purified by the

blood of bulls and goats.  It appears therefore, that whether in the heavens, or

on the earth, the dwelling of God, either among angels or men, must be looked

upon as `a condescension great'.  The house of the Lord was not only a dwelling

place for God among His people, it was looked upon as a dwelling place for the

believer also.  `And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever' is the

closing note of the Shepherd Psalm.  The aspiration of David is further

expressed when he said:

`One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may

dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the

beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret

of His tabernacle shall He hide me' (Psa. 27:4,5).

The sons of Korah did not hesitate to liken the humble nesting place of the

sparrow and the swallow, with dwelling in the house of the Lord (Psa. 84:3,4).

So, even though the section before us is mainly that of a holy temple, it ends

with the words `for an habitation of God through the Spirit' (Eph. 2:22).  These

words will need some revision, but before we deal with any particular word or

phrase, let us see the structure of this new section:

E

Q

u

Fellowcitizens (sun).

v

Of the saints (hagion).

u

Household (oikeios).

v

Of God.