READ: Ex. 26:1–37: … And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain …
A tabernacle is a tent, movable and temporary. The temple, by contrast, is permanent. The tabernacle was the predecessor of the temple that Solomon would eventually build for the LORD. Nevertheless, the tabernacle represents God’s heavenly sanctuary, where His throne stands.
It is often called the tent of meeting, although the people actually assemble in the courtyard. In the Holy Place (the first section), priests bring atonement and thanksgiving offerings and perform other duties. The Most Holy Place (the second section), where the ark stands, is entered only once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement.
Heb. 9:7–8 states that only the high priest entered the second part once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.
By this the Holy Spirit indicated that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. The Old Testament ministry of atonement, although a reflection of the heavenly sanctuary, is only a foreshadowing of the glorious work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Heb. 9:11–12 says: “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
How does the blood cleanse our conscience from dead works?
Sing: Ps. 51:7