The Court of the Tabernacle

Story:  The Court of the Tabernacle

Passage: Exodus 27:9-19

Characters:  God, Moses

Summary:    God gives Moses instructions for the tabernacle court.

  

Notes:  I don’t have a ton to say about the court of the tabernacle.  It was a much larger area than the tabernacle itself.  The pillars around the court were to be made of bronze.  The curtains were to be blue, purple, and scarlet.  Silver was used in the support of the Tabernacle.  Once again, we see gold is not being used.  These items do not represent the Father, Son, or Spirit like the gold ark, table, and lamp stand do.  Of particular interest to me is verse 19.  All the utensils of the Tabernacle were to be made of bronze.  Bronze feels like a very human metal.  Its use in the Bible is linked to sin and sacrifice.  Unlike gold, bronze is not pure.  It is neither precious nor pure.  I feel like this makes it a good representative of humanity.  The fact that the utensils were made of bronze shows us the impurity of our sinful nature.  Unlike the items in the Most Holy Place or the Holy Place, these utensils are tarnished.  We have a need for redemption. 

Questions:  Why is bronze used outside of the Holy of Holies?

Lessons:  We are sinful and impure.  Just like bronze was not found in the Most Holy Place, our impurity cannot mix with the pure holiness of God.  We are sinful and are impure.  In the New Testament, Christ is killed by humans.  The pure and spotless lamb is slaughtered by impure humanity as a sacrifice for our atonement.  The bronze utensils in the Tabernacle are a beautiful foreshadowing of our ultimate redemption through Christ!