Put it on my Tab...ernacle

Exodus 26

OK- so more boring detail about the building of the tabernacle. I almost long for geneologies...almost.

In an oversimplified version- they are to make and use lots of curtains. Cherubim are to be worked into the crafting and there are specifc guidelines to this curtain creation. The curtains are to have lots of loops- like 50 per curtain and gold and bronze clasps are to fasten the curtains together.

They are also to make curtains of goat hair to cover the tent of the tabernacle. There is also to be a covering made from ram skins dyed red- and then over that a covering of hides of sea cows.

Then it's on to the frames. Each 15 feet high, 20 on the south side, 20 on the north side, and then others on the west and in corners. Of course the frames are to be covered in gold as well as golden crossbars and rings. Bases accompany the frames.

There is a curtain to be made to separate the holy place from the most holy place. It's to be made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn with cherubim worked into the design. The ark of the testimony goes behind the curtain. The table goes outside the curtain on the north end and the lampstand outside the curtain on the south end.

Finally, there is also a curtain to be made for the entrance made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn. These are also to have hooks, posts and bases.

Seems like a whole lot of boring to me. One thing that is interesting in the midst of it all though is observing the servants taking center stage here. It's so easy to think of God's work as teaching, preaching, proclaiming -and as a public speaking teacher, I naturally value the contribution of orators to the work of the kingdom, I would flounder if service were centrally building and sculpting.

I wouldn't know how to function in a context where praising God sprang from physical construction. And this realization causes me to wonder about the psyche of the person good with hands but not with tongue. Does today's construction worker struggle to find a venue for service?

And the answer comes in the realization of both of these roles springing from misconceptions about the role of God's children in the first place. Despite what we may think, glorifying God involves so much more than eloquence or construction know-how. They both can serve to praise Him, but the methods of praise can be as diverse as the people who praise Him. And when our definitions of what pleases God are too specific we not only rob God of glory, but we rob each other of opportunities to please Him.

So however the metaphor works for you...build His temple.