In the first reading today (from Exodus 40) we hear of the “Dwelling” or the “tent of meeting” also known as the Tabernacle. It was a “portable” sanctuary used by the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness – portable in the way a large meeting tent can be erected, taken down and transported. It was not a small tent.

Exodus 36, 37, 38 and 39 that describe in full detail how the actual construction of the tabernacle took place during the time of Moses. It is a part of the Bible when readers quickly start turning pages to “get back to the action” of Exodus. But let us pause for a moment and consider the Dwelling that is detailed extensively in the Book of Exodus.

• Ex 25: Materials needed: the Ark, the table for 12 showbread, the menorah.
• Ex 26: The tabernacle, the bars, partitions.
• Ex 27: The copper altar, the enclosure, oil.
• Ex 28: Vestments for the priests, ephod garment, ring settings, the breastplate, robe, head-plate, tunic, turban, sashes, pants.
• Ex 29: Consecration of priests and altar.
• Ex 30: Incense altar, washstand, anointing oil, incense.

During the wilderness sojourn years, the Tent of Meeting was a place where God would give instructions to Moses and the Israelites.  It was a symbol of God’s presence with them, and it was a place where they could come to worship Him. “In the daytime the cloud of the LORD was seen over the Dwelling; whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey.” It provided a sense of stability and hope during their time in the wilderness.

Yet when “…the cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling. Moses could not enter the meeting tent.” Moses had walked straight into God’s fiery presence on Mount Sinai without fear. But by the end of the Book of Exodus, he can’t enter God’s presence. What changed? What changed between was the account of the golden calf (Ex 32-34).  When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments, he also carried the blueprints for the Tent of Meeting/tabernacle.

A central story of the Bible is human access to God’s holy space. The story of Genesis begins with humanity present in God’s holy space, the Garden, a place where Heaven and Earth are one. We know how that story ends. The story of the Tower of Babel is an account of humans trying to access God’s holy space. We know how that story ends.

Nonetheless, God’s desire to restore the holy place where Heaven and Earth meet leads to God initiating movement towards us. It begins in the story of Moses, alone, and the burning bush. Then Heaven and Earth “touch” atop of Mt. Sinai. Moses is there, but God has drawn closer to the people. It is atop Mount Sinai that Yahweh gives Moses the Ten Commandments and the blueprints for the tabernacle. The tabernacle is a localized, mobile place where God gives Israel access to his presence, and it too becomes a place where Heaven and Earth unite. God’s intent is to draw even closer.

But once off the mountain, the events of Exodus 32-34, when the Israelites made and worshiped the golden calf, ruptured the harmony between God and his people to such a great extent even Moses can’t enter his glory. But the presence of God does not depart from the people. His presence is with them, located on or in the Tent of Meeting. The holy place where heaven and earth meet.

The Tent of Meeting is again described in the Book of Numbers and in great detail in the Book of Leviticus – again two places where pages quickly turn to “get back the action.” The Tent accompanies the people for the next 40 years, is carried into the Promised Land, and in time is replaced by the Jerusalem Temple where God is present in the Holy of Holies. Yet in the Book of Ezekiel, as the armies of Babylon march on Jerusalem for its final destruction, the Prophet sees the Spirit of the Lord ascend from Temple – and there is never again the presence of God mentioned among the people.

Did God abandon his plan to draw close to the people? Hardly. God so loved the world He sent his only Son.

The Tent of Meeting is easy to pass over, but it is the holy and sacred place with heaven and earth meet. Just as Jesus is the Divine Presence ever trying to draw close to us.

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