Heaven: The Tabernacle of God, The True Temple

We have mentioned the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem as the center of religious sacrifice, worship, and fellowship. But we have not considered its design: given in such detail by God Himself, explicitly patterned after Heaven itself; filled with enough heaven-revealing imagery to fill innumerable books. It is the picture of the true, heavenly Temple into which Jesus is now entered as our High Priest, where overcomers can be pillars forever. It is the place where God dwells with his people forever; hence it is tightly connected to the image of the New Jerusalem (see Ps 24).

In general terms, the design and operation of the Tabernacle (and Temple) reveals the entire Gospel. It depicts God’s holiness, His desire to have fellowship with men, man’s separation from God due to sin, the whole concept of sacrificial death to address sin, the ministry and sacrificial death of Jesus, man’s reconciliation with God and entrance into Heaven. These aspects of the Tabernacle are discussed elsewhere, some of which will be posted at a later time; we will focus here on how the Tabernacle reveals Heaven.

Our first observation is that the very existence of the Tabernacle reveals God’s desire to dwell amongst His people as their kind and loving God: He directed Moses to build Him a tent that would be in the midst of the tents of the people. He did it in a way that showed His intention to be the center, leader and focus of His people: the Tabernacle was to be centrally located in the camp, it was to lead them whenever they moved camp, and it was to be the hub of all interactions between the people and God.

The heart of the Tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary containing the Ark of the Covenant with its cherubim-adorned covering. Here the very presence of God was manifest, hence it represents Heaven itself. But the way was blocked by a heavy veil. If a sinful man passed this veil, He would be struck dead—only the High Priest was able to enter, and that only on the Day of Atonement, and with great ritual to deal with sin. Is access to God’s presence in Heaven permanently denied, then, or is it contingent upon great religious ritual? No! Praise God, the ritual points to Jesus: Jesus came as our High Priest and our Sacrificial Lamb to deal with our sin. The physical veil was torn when Jesus completed His work on Calvary—we now enter through the veil of Jesus into God’s presence in Heaven

Inside the Holy of Holies, God’s presence, sovereignty and desire for relationship were depicted by the ark and its covering. The ark was a chest designed by God to contain three items: the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, the container of manna, and Aaron’s budded rod. All three of these point to the relationship between God and His people: the tablets speak of His covenant to be their God, the manna reminds them that He was their sole provision, and the budded rod reminds them that He chose and provided the one high priest to be an intercessor on their behalf. All three also point to the ministry of Jesus as the means of achieving that relationship: Jesus established the eternal covenant in his blood, He is the manna that came down from Heaven (whom overcomers will eat in Heaven), and He is the Great High Priest who intercedes for us forever.

This covering to the ark represents the very throne of God in Heaven, where He sits between the cherubim. Yet He reveals his desire for relationship by calling it “the mercy seat”, by telling Moses that He would commune with him there, and by inviting every Christian to “come boldly unto the throne of grace… (to) obtain mercy”. Our God is not content to rule remotely, but rather He promises that in Heaven we will see His face.

The cry goes up: “the tabernacle of God is with men!” In Heaven, though, it is not a symbolic structure depicting sinners being reconciled to our holy God. The need for symbolism ceases in the presence of the real thing: God welcoming His reconciled people into His very own tent, the “Holy of Holies.” Hence, John saw no temple in the New Jerusalem, “for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” In light of this reality, we see a dynamic, living aspect to the promise that overcomers will be “pillars” in the temple of their God: they will have a permanent place of value and purpose in the presence of God, much like believers are the “living stones” from which the Church is built.

Praise to Jesus, anyone can enter into permanent fellowship in God’s tent. But those who reject the way of Jesus will hear the refrain “depart from me,” and will remain in the grim “outside.”

Continue to next picture of Heaven: the Throneroom of God
Return to summary of pictures of Heaven and Hell.
Return to Index of all studies.

************************************************************************************
References for the foregoing:

The True Tabernacle or Temple. (Heb 9:1-5, 23-24, Rev 15:5)
Where Jesus is entered as our high priest (Heb 8:1-5)
Where overcomers can be pillars forever (Rev 3:12)
Where God dwells with his people (Rev 21:2-3, 22; Ps 15; Eze 37:25-28)
Note: in this sense, the image of the True Temple is tightly connected to the image of the New Jerusalem (Ps 24)

The Earthly Tabernacle was explicitly designed by God to reflect something real in the heavens (Heb 9:1-5, 23-24, Rev 15:5).
It is no mere analogy: it is key to understanding our separation, reconciliation and fellowship with God. So rich in symbolism that innumerable books could be written about it. Some resources:
“The Tabernacle: Its Priests and its Services”, William Brown:
“Outline Studies of the Tabernacle” Ada Habershon;
“The Tabernacle: Symbolism in the Tabernacle”, Rose Publishing,

In terms of how it relates specifically to Heaven (Ex 25-30)
1. God’s presence, sovereignty, and desire for relationship are depicted by the ark and its cover
The mercy seat (Ex 25:17-22)
The ark contained only three things:
-- tablets of covenant: God desires relationship with people
-- Aaron’s rod: God provides an intercessor— not our choice or role. The rod points to Jesus, condemning false intercessors or teachers like Korah (Nu 16-17); they don't have the true priestly anointing, hence are antichrists (1Jn 2:18-22, 4:3; 2Jn 1:7)
-- Hidden manna: God provides for his people. Jesus is that bread from heaven, whom overcomers will eat in heaven (Jn 6:29-51, Rev 2:17)
The cover of the ark was called “the atonement cover” or “mercy seat”. It included two cherubim facing each other with a space between where God’s presence was manifest—God dwelling amidst His people.
2. Our separation from His presence is depicted by the outer fence and the veil
3. Entrance to God’s presence proceeds
. Through one gate: fulfilled in Jesus (Jn 14:6)
. Via an acceptable sacrifice: fulfilled in Jesus
. . Pure, spotless (1Ptr 1:19, Heb 9:11-15)
. . Bloody > (Heb 9:24-28, 10:8-14)
. . Offered by a suitable mediator: fulfilled in Jesus (Heb 6:20-8:6, 9:11)
. . With purification and sanctification: made possible by Jesus (1Jn 1:7-9, Eph 5:25-26, Tit 2:14, Heb 10:22)
. . Into intimacy with God: the separation is removed by Jesus (Mk 15:37-38, Heb 4:16, 10:1, 12, 19-22
Jesus’ work makes possible all the desires of God as laid out in the Law:
. Life (childbirth, Nazarite’s hair), covenant (circumcision, tablets in ark), blessing/provision (harvest, fellowship offerings), justice (test of adultery, priest’s judgment), fellowship/relationship (where I am, there ye may be also, they shall see his face, the tabernacle of God is with men)

The earthly temple provides a picture of dwelling in the presence of God forever:
Overcomers as “pillars” in the temple of their God takes on a dynamic, living aspect (Rev 3:12, 21:22; 1Ptr 2:3-5)
Finally, the Tabernacle of God is with men! (Rev 21:1-7)

Contrast with Hell: “Depart from me” (Lk 13:24-28)

Trivia: Tabernacle’s Holy of Holies was 15’x15’x15’ (Ex 26);
. The Temple’s Holy of Holies was 30’x30'x20' (1Ki 6:19-20);
. New Jerusalem's Holy of Holies is 7M’x7M'x7M' (Rev 21:16)