you gotta go in through the door

The Word for today:
Exodus 28

mark this:
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. (John 10:9)

Going back to the tabernacle is the spiritual equivalent of going back to the basics. Whether you're an All-Pro Bible commentator or a rookie believer, the Tabernacle should be visited and revisited--first to teach us the basics of our salvation, and continually thereafter to make sure we're staying on track as we teach others.

Over the coming days we're going to take a tour of the tabernacle, from its single gate to the Ark of the Covenant.

We're going to keep it simple, concentrating on just a few of the furnishings per day. By the time we're done, you should be able to visualize your way through the tabernacle like you can visualize your way through a house where you once lived for twenty years.

First, a view from the outside:

The tabernacle was a portable temple, a "Tent of Meeting" within a movable courtyard. It was constructed after the pattern that God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and was continuously assembled/reassembled in the desert as Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land.

It wasn't big. Nestled at the very center of the Israeli encampment -- more than a million people -- it was a modest place.  The enclosed courtyard was 150 feet long--about half the length of a football field. The covered Tent itself was about 45 feet long.

This "Tent of Meeting" was not a place where man met man, but where man could meet God. From the beginning of creation, God's plan was to allow people the joy of fellowship with him. However, the entrance of sin into the world (Genesis 3) caused the separation of God from man, for if sinful people were to come into God's presence, his holiness would consume them.

The Tabernacle provided a temporary means by which the Israelites could enjoy God's presence without being destroyed by it. And it remains invaluable for us today, for it shows us in tangible ways what is required to meet God.

***

We'll start our tabernacle tour at (where else!) the gate.

To set the scene, let's consider the words of a beloved gospel song:

"So high you can't get over it
So low you can't get under it
So wide you can't get 'round it
You gotta go in through the door…" (1)

The thing to remember about the gate is that there's only one!

The entire tabernacle complex had but one entrance--because there is only one way to approach God. The Bible never wavers on this issue. It is the First Commandment of the Old Testament:
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:2-3)

And it is the "First Commandment" of the New Testament:
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  (John 14:6)

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."  (Matthew 7:13-14)

This concept bothers many people. They find it narrow-minded and exclusive, when its intention is to point to a Savior who can actually save. Thus what some hear as "Thou shalt not" is really all about what thou shalt do to be saved:

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) lyrics from "Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham"