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According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instructed at Mount Sinai to construct and transport the tabernacle. with the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness and their subsequent conquest of the Promised Land. After 440 years, Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem superseded it as the dwelling-place of God.
The main source describing the tabernacle is the biblical Book of Exodus, specifically Exodus 25–31 and 35–40. Those passages describe an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, created by the veil suspended by four pillars. This sanctuary contained the Ark of the Covenant, with its -covered mercy seat. An outer sanctuary (the "Holy Place") contained a gold lamp-stand or candlestick. On the north side stood a table, on which lay the showbread. On the south side was the Menorah, holding seven oil lamps to give light. On the west side, just before the veil, was the golden altar of incense. It was constructed of 4 woven layers of curtains and 48 tall standing wood boards overlaid in gold and held in place by its bars and silver sockets and was richly furnished with valuable materials taken from Egypt at God's command.
Biblical scholar Michael B. Hundley argues that the Priestly source uses the terms "tabernacle" and "tent of meeting" in a complementary way to emphasize the sacred tent’s dual function as a divine dwelling place on earth and a place where the resident deity meets with his people.
Dr. Hacham Isaac S. D. Sassoon argued that the Priestly source’s focus on the Tabernacle, rather than the Temple, serves as a post-exilic critique of the idea of rebuilding a stationary Temple, presenting the mobile Tabernacle as a divinely-ordained permanent structure for the Israelites.
Traditional scholars contend that it describes an actual tabernacle used in the time of Moses and thereafter. This view is based on the existence of significant parallels between the biblical Tabernacle and similar structures from ancient Egypt during the Late Bronze Age.
The detailed outlines for the tabernacle and its priests are enumerated in the Book of Exodus:
Liane Feldman holds that there are contrasting descriptions of the Meeting Tent in the Pentateuch, where the Priestly source presents a large, ornate tent at the center of the Israelite community, while a non-priestly strand describes a smaller, simpler tent for Moses, which in her view demonstrates the composite nature of the Pentateuch and differing perspectives within it.The Consuming Fire: The Complete Priestly Source, From Creation to the Promised Land. World Literature in Translation. Berkeley; Los Angeles: The University of California Press
Benjamin D. Sommer suggests that while the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was reserved for God’s presence, the main room featured a metal menorah with six branches on each side, potentially echoing the asherah pole, which he thinks was used in the cult of Yahweh.Sommer, Benjamin D. The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel. Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 47, 75.
There is a strict set of rules to be followed for transporting the tabernacle laid out in the Hebrew Bible. For example:
An Israelite healed of tzaraath would be presented by the priest who had confirmed his healing "at the door of the tabernacle of meeting",. and a woman healed of prolonged menstruation would present her offering (two turtledoves or two young pigeons) to the priest "at the door of the tabernacle of meeting"..
It was at the door of the tabernacle that the community wept in sorrow when all the chiefs of the people were Impalement and the men who had joined in worship to the Baal of Peor were killed on God's orders..
After the conquest and division of the land among the tribes, the tabernacle was moved to Shiloh in Ephraimite territory (Joshua's tribe) to avoid disputes among the other tribes (; ; ; ). It remained there during most of the biblical judges., The Book of Judges, prefatory notes: "…The twelve judges of the present book, however, very probably exercised their authority, sometimes simultaneously, over one or another tribe of Israel, never over the entire nation." "Because of the theological nature of the narrative and the author's selective use of data, it is difficult to reconstruct the history of Israel during the period of the judges from the accounts in the heart of the book (3:7–16:31)." According to a possible translation of , the Ark, and thus the tabernacle, was at Bethel while Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, was alive.
After the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, the subsequent history of the tabernacle is separate from that of the Ark, even after the latter was returned. Under King Saul, the tabernacle was eventually moved to Nob, near Saul's home town of Gibeah, but after he massacred the priests there (), it was moved to Gibeon, a hill-shrine (; ; , 13). Just prior to David's moving the ark to Jerusalem, the ark was located in Kiriath-Jearim ().
The Ark was eventually brought to Jerusalem, where it was placed "inside the tent David had pitched for it" (; ), not in the tabernacle, which remained at Gibeon. The altar of the tabernacle at Gibeon was used for sacrificial worship (; ; ), until Solomon brought the structure and its furnishings to Jerusalem to furnish and dedicate the Temple (). Compare Guy Darshan, “The Tent of Meeting in Samuel and Kings,” in: The Pentateuch and Its Readers, Tübingen 2023, 123–143
There is no mention of the tabernacle in the Tanakh after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians in c. 587 BCE.
There is also usually a constantly lighted lamp, Sanctuary lamp, or a candelabrum, lighted during services, near a spot similar to the position of the original Menorah. At the center of the synagogue is a large elevated area, known as th bimah, where the Torah is read. This is equivalent to the tabernacle's altars upon which incense and animal sacrifices were offered. On the main holidays the Kohen gather at the front of the synagogue to bless the congregation as did their priestly ancestors in the tabernacle from Aaron onwards ().
Tent of the Presence
Some interpreters assert the Tent of the Presence was a special meeting place outside the camp, unlike the Tabernacle which was placed in the center of the camp.Clements, Ronald E. (1972). Exodus. New York: Cambridge University Press. Series: The Cambridge Bible Commentary: New English Bible. pp. 212–213.Berlin, Adele and Brettler, Marc Zvi., editors. (2014). The Jewish Study Bible. New York: Oxford University Press. 2nd edition. . p. 178. According to Exodus 33:7–11, this tent was for communion with Yahweh, to receive oracles and to understand the divine will. The people's elders were the subject of a remarkable prophetic event at the site of this tent in Numbers 11:24–30.Executive Committee of the Editorial Board, Eduard König. (1906). "Tabernacle". in the Kopelman Foundation's JewishEncyclopedia.com website Retrieved 18 November 2019.
Builders
In Exodus 31, the main builder and maker of the priestly vestments is specified as Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, who was assisted by Oholiab and a number of skilled artisans.
Plan
During the The Exodus, the wandering in the desert and the conquest of Canaan, the Tabernacle was in part a portable tent, and in part a wooden enclosure draped with ten curtains, of blue ( tekhelet תְּכֵלֶת), purple ( ’argāmān אַרְגָּמָן), and scarlet ( šānî שָׁנִי) fabric. It had a rectangular, perimeter fence of fabric, poles and staked cords. This rectangle was always erected when the Israelite tribes would camp, oriented to the east as the east side had no frames. In the center of this enclosure was a rectangular sanctuary draped with goat-hair curtains, with the roof coverings made from rams' skins.
Holy of Holies
Beyond this curtain was the cube-shaped inner room, the Kodesh Hakedashim (Holy of Holies). This area housed the Ark of the Covenant, inside which were the two stone tablets brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses on which were written the Ten Commandments, a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which had budded and borne ripe almonds (, , ; ).
Tachash
Tachash is referred to fifteen times in the Hebrew Bible; 13 of these refer to the roof coverings.
Restrictions
Rituals
Twice a day, a priest would stand in front of the golden prayer altar and burn fragrant incense. Exodus 30:7–10. Other procedures were also carried out in the tabernacle:
Subsequent history
During the conquest of Canaan, the main Israelite camp was at Gilgal (; ) and the tabernacle was probably erected within the camp: "…and returned into the camp" ( see "…they shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side").
Relationship to the golden calf
Some rabbis have commented on the proximity of the narrative of the tabernacle with that of the episode known as the sin of the golden calf recounted in . Maimonides asserts that the tabernacle and its accoutrements, such as the golden Ark of the Covenant and the golden Menorah were meant as "alternates" to the human weakness and needs for physical idols as seen in the golden calf episode.Maimonides (Rambam) Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon (c. 1190) Delalatul Ha'yreen (Arabic), Moreh Nevukhim (Hebrew), Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3:32, Part 11:39, Part 111:46. Other scholars, such as Nahmanides, disagree and maintain that the tabernacle's meaning is not tied in with the golden calf, but instead symbolizes higher mystical lessons that symbolize God's constant closeness to the Children of Israel.Naḥmanides (Ramban) Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi Bonastruc ça (de) Porta (c. 1242) Bi'ur, or Perush 'al ha-Torah, Commentary on the Torah, Exodus 25:1 and Exodus Rabbah 35a.
Blueprint for synagogues
Synagogue construction over the last two thousand years has followed the outlines of the original tabernacle. Every synagogue has at its front an ark, aron kodesh, containing the Torah scrolls, comparable to the Ark of the Covenant which contained the tablets with Ten Commandments. This is the holiest spot in a synagogue, equivalent to the Holy of Holies.
Inspiration for churches
Some Christian churches are built like a tent, to symbolize the tent of God with men, including St. Matthew Cathedral, São Mateus, Brazil, Zu den heiligen Engeln (To the Holy Angels), Hanover, Germany and the Cardboard Cathedral, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Mandaeism
A mashkhanna ࡌࡀࡔࡊࡍࡀ (Hebrew cognate מִשְׁכַּן ),Secunda, Shai, and Steven Fine. p. 345. Beth Manda ࡁࡉࡕ ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀ, Beit Manda, or Mandi ('house of knowledge'), is a cultic hut and place of worship for followers of Mandaeism. A Mashkhanna must be built beside a river in order to perform maṣbuta (baptism) and other ceremonies because Living Water is an essential element in the Mandaeans faith.
See also
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