When Moses descended from the Mount of God at Sinai, he carried with him the tables of stone inscribed with the ten commandments, a book of law that would shape the relationship between Israel and her God and between the people themselves, and the plans for a tabernacle--a portable tent of worship that would become the very heart of ancient Israel's community.
The tent of worship was not your grandfather's pup tent. Even if the materials--precious metals, gold, bronze, and silver; exotic leathers; exquisite linens--could be found in sufficient supply today, their cost would prohibit reproduction of the tabernacle and its furnishings.
The true splendor of the tabernacle, however, was not in its corporeal components: its metals, leathers, and linens. No, for within the Holy of Holies--the innermost of the two rooms of the tabernacle--dwelt the Shekhinah (pronounced shaKEEneh), the Hebrew word to describe the abiding presence of God. And, as if to demonstrate that the Divine cannot be contained within a space, the manifestation of God's presence--a pillar of fire enveloped within a cloud--extended high beyond the leather covering of the tabernacle, into the heavens above.
In addition, an exquisite embroidered veil, or curtain, separated the Holy of Holies from the outer room of the tabernacle, the Holy Place, where the priests ministered daily on behalf of Israel. Only one man, the High Priest, only one day a year, the Day of Atonement, was allowed to part the veil and enter the Holy of Holies and stand before the presence of God. More than just a partition, the veil represented the separation between God and man, between spirit and flesh, between heaven and earth. Now, here's where the imagination is awakened... How is it possible to reconcile God's abiding presence in the tabernacle of old with the assumption--and, though it may surprise you, it is indeed merely conjecture--that heaven, the dwelling place of God, lies "yonder beyond the stars"? What would it look like (remember, we're just imagining "out loud") if heaven and earth are separated by dimension, rather than distance? How might this perspective clarify scripture including, for example, when God walked "in the garden in the cool of the day," or when Stephen saw "the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God," or Paul's simple assertion, "The Lord is near"?* Might it be possible that the tabernacle's Holy of Holies was, in fact, nothing less than a portal, a gateway, into the heavenly realm?
How significant, then, was the moment when--just as Jesus drew his last breath upon the cross--the veil (60 feet tall, 30 feet wide, 4 inches thick), the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem's temple--the successor to the tabernacle, was torn in half, from top to bottom?
The composer of the beloved hymn, This is My Father's World, imagined the day when "Jesus, who died, shall be satisfied and earth and heaven be one." In what way, long ago in the person of Jesus, was earth and heaven made one? Finally, and again we're just imagining "out loud," how might this perception of heaven and earth prove transformative in you?
I can only imagine...
*Scriptures references include Genesis 3:9; Acts 7:56; Philippians 4:4; witness also the stunning imagery of Exodus 24:9-11. |
