Tent of Meeting
The tent uses gold-covered acacia boards, each ten cubits high and one and a half wide, with twenty boards along each long side. Its inner linen curtains carry woven cherubim. A separate outer entrance screen has five gold-covered posts on bronze sockets (Exodus 26:1–6,15–30,36–37).
Key points
- The sanctuary travels with Israel in the wilderness.
- Look for: Gilded boards, silver sockets, and the lifted cherubim-patterned inner covering.
- Illustrated location: Holy Place
- A reconstruction from Exodus 25–30 and 40, with the bread arrangement from Leviticus 24. The Tabernacle has one lampstand with seven lamps and one bread table. The tent follows conventional chamber proportions inferred from boards and curtains; textual court dimensions are listed separately, while the drawn court outline and object spacing are schematic. The court and tent use different drawing scales, and some furnishings are enlarged for visibility; this is not a single-scale plan. The text does not specify the basin’s size, the lampstand’s height, a complete visual blueprint, or the exact appearance of the cherubim. Their drawn forms and decorative patterns are interpretations. Roof and walls are opened to reveal spaces whose access was restricted. The raised illustrative ground base is a display device, not a prescribed Tabernacle floor; Exodus does not specify a floor material. The rear boards, individual silver sockets, carrying fittings, and small service utensils are simplified or omitted.
- Christ and the sanctuary (Scripture): The Temple’s inner sanctuary housed the Ark. John 2 identifies Jesus’ body as the temple, while Hebrews 9 describes Christ entering the heavenly sanctuary once for all. These passages inform Orthodox understanding of the church sanctuary and Holy Table.
- The church is not a reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple, and Christian Eucharistic worship does not continue its animal offerings.
Scripture
- Exodus 26 — The tent uses gold-covered acacia boards, each ten cubits high and one and a half wide, with twenty boards along each long side. Its inner linen curtains carry woven cherubim. A separate outer entrance screen has five gold-covered posts on bronze sockets (Exodus 26:1–6,15–30,36–37).
- 1 Kings 6:1–35 — Christ and the sanctuary: The Temple’s inner sanctuary housed the Ark. John 2 identifies Jesus’ body as the temple, while Hebrews 9 describes Christ entering the heavenly sanctuary once for all. These passages inform Orthodox understanding of the church sanctuary and Holy Table.
- John 2:19–21 — Christ and the sanctuary: The Temple’s inner sanctuary housed the Ark. John 2 identifies Jesus’ body as the temple, while Hebrews 9 describes Christ entering the heavenly sanctuary once for all. These passages inform Orthodox understanding of the church sanctuary and Holy Table.
- Hebrews 9:1–12, 24–28 — Christ and the sanctuary: The Temple’s inner sanctuary housed the Ark. John 2 identifies Jesus’ body as the temple, while Hebrews 9 describes Christ entering the heavenly sanctuary once for all. These passages inform Orthodox understanding of the church sanctuary and Holy Table.