August 7, 2022
Read Exodus 25:8-30
8 They should make me a sanctuary so I can be present among them. 9 You should follow the blueprints that I will show you for the dwelling and for all its equipment. 10 Have them make an acacia-wood chest. It should be forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. 11 Cover it with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold molding all around it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 13 Make acacia-wood poles and cover them with gold. 14 Then put the poles into the rings on the chest’s sides and use them to carry the chest. 15 The poles should stay in the chest’s rings. They shouldn’t be taken out of them. 16 Put the covenant document that I will give you into the chest. 17 Then make a cover of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. 18 Make two winged heavenly creatures of hammered gold, one for each end of the cover. 19 Put one winged heavenly creature at one end and one winged heavenly creature at the other. Place the winged heavenly creatures at the cover’s two ends. 20 The heavenly creatures should have their wings spread out above, shielding the cover with their wings. The winged heavenly creatures should face each other toward the cover’s center. 21 Put the gold cover on top of the chest and put the covenant document that I will give you inside the chest. 22 There I will meet with you. From there above the cover, from between the two winged heavenly creatures that are on top of the chest containing the covenant, I will deliver to you all that I command you concerning the Israelites. 23 Make an acacia-wood table, three feet long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. 24 Cover it with pure gold and make a gold molding all around it. 25 Make a frame around it that is four inches wide and a gold molding around the frame. 26 Make four gold rings for the table. Fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 27 The rings that house the poles used for carrying the table should be close to the frame. 28 Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. The table should be carried with these poles. 29 Make its plates, dishes, jars, and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them of pure gold. 30 Set the bread of the presence on the table so it is always in front of me.
Good morning! God gives us detailed instructions to follow.
It is so good to be home. Each year, I look forward to going to Wallops and working with students as they learn to work as a team, overcome challenges, and write a viable mission for NASA. To complete their plan, the students must complete detailed research of each aspect of the mission. For most, this is the first time they have studied and considered the ideas upon which they are working. The mission they create must be a new idea so they have to take what they read and apply it in a new way. Each week, I marvel as the teams create remarkable presentations.
In this morning’s passage, God is giving very explicit instructions to Moses regarding the construction of the tabernacle that will hold the covenant between God and the Israelites. Because there is no model of anything similar in existence, God gives Moses specific details. In the previous verses, God asks for an offering from the people. This was not a “tax” but an opportunity for the Israelites to generously give a portion of the gifts that they had received.
The tabernacle represents the presence of God among the people. It did not contain God, but it was a place where they could go and approach God with their gifts, offerings, and prayers. Instead of asking if God was with them as they experienced their challenges, they could now say that God traveled with them along their way. The tabernacle was a visible sign of God’s presence with them and among them.
When Jesus was crucified, died, and resurrected, he was revealed as the tabernacle for all of God’s children. 11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12)
During Jesus’ walk among us, he modeled how to live as God’s children and gave many examples for us to follow through the parables and stories that he shared. Through the Holy Spirit within us, the Kingdom of God through Christ is always with us. We have been given a divine opportunity to share God’s love through our own examples of living a Christian life.
Loving and Caring God, Thank You for loving us. We come to You on our knees as we consider the blessings we have been given. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: How might I serve as an example of Jesus’ teachings today?
Share God’s love freely to all! Pastor Liz