Exodus 36 (Read Here)
Exodus 37 (Read Here)
Exodus 38 (Read Here)
Exodus 39 (Read Here)
Exodus 40:1-33 (Read Here)
This little chunk of scripture is one that most people can easily justify skimming quickly or simply skipping over completely. After all, how does knowing every intimate detail of the Tabernacle’s construction relate to our lives today in 2023 or even speak to God’s character (besides showing that He is obviously very detail oriented)? Well, you might be surprised…
The amount of symbolism and metaphor packed into these five short chapters is immense. You could honestly go down a rabbit trail of research that would blow your mind. Once you see the connection between the construction of the Tabernacle, the layout of the Garden of Eden, the construction of the future temple, and the significance behind all of it pointing to a God who desires to dwell with his people, you’ll never look at these chapters the same way again. But that’s not what this devotional is going to focus on. We’re actually going to hone in on something much more subtle. In verse 43 of chapter 39, the work is finally complete. Then, Moses blesses it:
“And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.”
Have you ever built or crafted anything? It’s hard. Like, really hard. There are so many details and variables that could go wrong. But the interesting thing about these chapters is that there is really no evidence of struggle or frustration through this process. Things seemed to come together quite perfectly. A few key people led the projects, but there was a massive amount of contribution from others (both in resources, skill, and time). To me, this is a beautiful picture of the church coming together in unity to follow the Lord’s command and accomplish a huge task. Just think about the possibilities that we – as a local expression of the church – could accomplish for God if we all pulled together in unity.
God has individual plans for all of us; that is most definitely true. But sometimes, we can get so hung up on figuring out the exact path God has laid out for us individually that we miss out on what God has called us to do collectively. Let’s be a unified church. A body of believers who are all working together towards the same goal!