PARASHAH T’RUMAH
(Exodus 25:1-27:19) Week 19
The Study of the Tabernacle is a perfect picture of God’s plan of redemption.
The Study of the Tabernacle is a personal journey into the Holy of Holies.
The Study of the Tabernacle is a SHADOW of the Throne of Adonai.
The Three Chambers of the Tabernacle represent: (Outer Court, Inner Court, Holy of Holies)
The first Heaven (outer court)
The second Heaven (Holy Place)
The third Heaven (Holy of Holies)
TERUMAH or TZEDAKAH: Freewill Offering
MISHKAN: The dwelling place of the Lord; (Shekinah is from this root word)
MENORAH: Perpetual Lampstand; 7 budding branches with oil vases, aflame day and night
The Menorah was 66 pounds of the purest, refined gold. Designed by God, it was hand-forged, hand-hammered and artistically formed from the Creator’s design. The Menorah lit the Tabernacle 24-hours a day. Jesus, the light of the world, was hammered for us, which has brought the purest, eternal beauty into Creation!
Three branches on each side of the Menorah lean into the Center Branch or (Shamash) Service Candle. Jesus, the Servant, is the ONE we must lean into for His light!
KAPPORET: Mercy Seat, crafted from Acacia Wood, covered in a solid sheet of gold. The Kapporet was the top SEAT of the Ark of the Covenant.
Jesus is our Kapporet! He covers us as the Mercy Seat at the Father’s Throne.
HILASTERIOS: A Greek word for KAPPORET, both meaning PROPITIATION.
Jesus is our propitiation!
CHATZER: Outer Court; a picture of the world or Olam Haba meaning outside the holy, heavenly presence of Adonai.
OHEL: The Tent-like structure with 2 Chambers:
(1) Hakodesh, Holy Place for Priestly Presence; (Showbread Table, Menorah, Altar of Incense)
(2) Kodesh Kodeshim, Holy of Holies, Innermost Chamber; (The Ark of the Covenant)
ARON HA’BRIT: Ark of the Covenant
LUCHOT HA’EVEN: Stone Tablets
YERUSHALEM: (Yeru–Knowledge of) (Shalem–Peace of God) meaning the Knowledge of God’s Shalom.
ALTAR: Of bronze metal… could withstand the severest heat…A picture of the power of Jesus to withstand the Father’s WRATH!
LAVER: Basin of Bronze, for the washing/cleansing of the priests before they served in the Mishkan or Tabernacle.
The bronze overlay on Acacia Wood is a shadow of Jesus, who COVERS and OVERLAYS our sin with His purity and power, withstanding the fire of judgement from the Father!
SHOWBREAD TABLE: The Table of Pure Gold for the Priests serving in the Tabernacle: with 12 loaves of fresh, daily, sacrificial bread.
Yeshua said: I am the Bread of Life! (Lechem Panim or Bread of Face)
This table was 18” high. The Priests had to KNEEL to SERVICE this table every morning!
PANIM EL PANIM: Face to Face …Symbolizing the Priests coming Face to Face with Adonai!
CURTAINS: The Linen Curtains created a privacy fence separating God’s dwelling place from the profane OLAM HABA or WORLD.
ALTAR OF INCENSE: The Altar of the Prayers of the Saints wafting fragrantly up to Adonai, continually.
PAROCHET: The Veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place: Torn from top to bottom at the moment of Christ’s death on the cross, to symbolize THE WAY had been made for us to enter GOD’S HOLY PRESENCE.
THE WAY came down from HEAVEN and was TORN for mankind.
Sar Shalom (Jesus) made Shalom between God and mankind; and between Jew and Gentile.
ARK OF THE COVENANT: A Gold Overlay on Acacia Wood Box containing the two sapphire plates of the 10 Commandments, a jar of eternal Manna, and the Budding Rod of Aaron. It and was covered inside and out in purest, solid gold, and the Mercy Seat was flanked by two matching solid Gold Cherubim Angels whose wings met over the mercy seat, as their eyes cast down upon it.
This is where the Shekinah Glory of the Lord hovered in a small cloud and rested.
KOHEN GADOL: High Priest (Yeshua is our Kohen Gadol, or Great High Priest who intercedes for us.)
KORBAN: Sacrifice (Yeshua is the ultimate KORBAN!)
SAR SHALOM: Prince of Peace (Yeshua called himself Sar Shalom!)
Kohen or Priest: The first role of the Priesthood is to serve Adonai in His dwelling place.
Please Consider:
- The Tabernacle was built AFTER the law was given. Without the LAW, there is no TRESPASS, no accountability for sin, no shame, and no Teshuva or turning from sin back to God, and no way to enter into God’s presence!
- In order for Adonai to DWELL with His new nation, He had to construct a boundary around HIS HOLINESS. This is what the MISHKAN accomplished. The Throne of God came down from heaven, to dwell in the midst of the Sinai Desert, in the Olam Haba or in the world. He carved out a small holy place to be made acceptable as a dwelling place with the people.
- The covenantal promise for Israel is that they be a Holy Nation set apart as a Royal Priesthood. The picture of the Tabernacle and each element inside all point to Jesus as the fulfillment of the LAW and of the role of Great High Priest, who mediates and makes supplication for all who will come to His saving grace. LOOK for the foreshadowing of Jesus in this Parashah!
- Consider the PICTURE of the Tabernacle: There was only one way in from the Eastern most opening, then into the outer court, then inner court, and into the Holy of Holies. Visualize the artistic and useful elements of service inside, and how each one mirrors the life of Yeshua! Finally see the veil or Parochet, torn for us from the top all the way down to the hem on the floor of the tent of meeting, by the sacrificial death of Jesus!
Without the study of the Tabernacle in the Book of Exodus, our New Testament view of Jesus (Yeshua) is only half of the story!
This may be the most important Parashah of your life!
TAKE THE WALK OF YOUR LIFE, or HALLAKAH through the Mishkan, a foreshadow of Adonai’s heavenly throne, and see with fresh eyes, His truth! May we hear the beat of the Heart of Torah, JESUS!
STAND in the opening to the Tent of Meeting. The curtain is pulled back and secured for your walk inside. See the crossbar of Christ, that tree, laying down as your threshold of entry. He is the THRESHOLD, the DOOR, THE ONLY WAY INTO THE FATHER!
CONSIDER the altar of sacrifice. See the ramp up to it. Jesus is the RAMP and the WAY UP to the altar. HE is our eternal Passover Lamb or Se Ha Elohim.
As a royal priesthood, gaze into the cleansing water of the laver. Look at your reflection in the mirrors lining the basin, as a priest and minister in His Holy Dwelling Place.
SEE the brilliant Menorah filled with Holy Oil; a symbol of the Holy Spirit who lights our paths and reveals hidden mysteries from God’s word, revealing the prophetic elements of the MISHKAN. SEE the servant candle burning in the center of three candles on either side. Jesus, as servant to the Father, served mankind with his eternal life for life sacrifice!
SEE the golden Showbread table where the priests laid daily voluntary offerings to Adonai, BUT ALSO NOURISHED THEMSELVES AS THEY SERVED! May we lay down our offerings and gifts of the spirit…sacrificing to Adonai all that we love and cherish. Adonai promises to make Holy unto Himself, everything His people sacrifice to Him! Imagine all that you have ever sacrificed to the Lord, now, made eternally HOLY to the Lord.
SEE the Altar of Incense (Fragrance) just in front of the torn Veil. This is a symbol of your prayers, and the prayers of all time from the Saints, which never extinguish, but burn brightly in the presence of Adonai!
MIKDASH: The Tabernacle is a shadow of the innermost chamber of the Most-High! The Kingdom of God is within you! Luke 17:21
THE CREATION STORY AND THE TABERNACLE: (The CREATION of the MISHKAN)
DAY ONE: “He who stretches out the heavens like a curtain” (Ps 104:2) Curtains to stretch out over the Tabernacle!
DAY TWO: “Let there be a firmament and let it divide between the waters” (Gen 1:6) The Veil divides the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.
DAY THREE: “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together” (Gen. 11:14) A Copper Basin of water for the Mikveh of the Priests.
DAY FOUR: “Let there be luminaries in the heavens” (Gen. 1:14) The Menorah; 66 pounds of purest gold, lighting the darkness.
DAY FIVE: “Let fowl fly above the earth” (Gen. 1:20) Golden Cherubim spreading their wings over the ARK of the Covenant (ARON HA’BRIT)
DAY SIX: Man was created on the 6th day! “Bring Aaron your brother to perform Service in the Sanctuary.”
The sixth day, Aharon (a man) entered into the beauty of the Tabernacle as a Priest of all God had called forth!
DAY SEVEN: “And the heavens and the earth were completed, and God completed his work, and God blessed it, and God Sanctified it” (Gen 2: 1-3) “Thus was completed the work of the Tabernacle. Moses blessed them, Moses completed the work of the Tabernacle, and Sanctified it.”
Meditate upon Hebrews 1:3
This Son is the radiance of the Sh’khinah or Divine Presence, the very expression of God’s essence, upholding all that exists by his powerful word; and after he had, through himself, made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of HaG’dulah BaM’romim.
HAFTARAH (Old Covenant) READING: I Kings 5:26-6:13
“It was the 480th year after the people of Israel had left the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Shlomo’s reign over Israel in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Adonai.”
Reading through the description of Solomon’s building of the House of the Lord, there are many parallels to the building of the Mishkan at Mount Sinai. Consider the layers of the building and furnishings of the temple of the Lord. Jesus is at the HEART of it all.
Israel is the CENTER OF THE EARTH; Jerusalem is in the CENTER OF ISRAEL; The Temple is the CENTER of JERUSALEM; and YESHUA is the CENTER OF ALL LIFE.
THE THREE CHAMBERS OF THE MISHKAN ~ TABERNACLE:
Outer Court, Inner Court or Holy Place and the Holy of Holies
- MEDITATING ON THE TABERNACLE BRINGS REVELATION!
- PRAYING AS YOU WALK THROUGH BRINGS INTIMACY WITH THE LORD!
- RESTING INSIDE THE HOLY OF HOLIES BRINGS UNENDING JOY!
BRIT CHADASHAH (New Covenant) READING: Hebrews 8:1-6, 9:23-24; 10:1
“Here is the whole point of what we have been saying: We do have just such a Cohen Gadol as has been described. And he does sit at the right hand of Ha G’dulah in heaven. There he served in the Holy Place, that is in the true Tent of Meeting, the one erected not by human beings but by Adonai.”
“For the Messiah has entered a Holiest place which is not man-made and merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God.”
“For the Torah has in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the actual manifestation of the originals. Therefore, it can never by means of the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year bring to the goal those who approach the Holy Place to offer them.”
The perfect picture of Yeshua Ha Massiache:
He is the inner CHAMBER of the Father’s WILL
He is the inner CHAMBER of the Father’s LAW
He is the inner CHAMBER of the Father’s beloved TORAH
Yeshua sits at the right hand of the Father, in the Holy of Holies, making intercession for the beloved!