A Biblical Vision, Part I: Mastering the Old Testament Witness to Christ

Session 4 Jesus as Fulfillment of the Tabernacle, the Priesthood, the Sacrifices, and the Festivals

The Tabernacle Is a Symbol of the Messiah

The Old Testament tabernacle is full of meaning because it is a symbol of the Messiah and his salvation. The book of Hebrews gives much instruction concerning the tabernacle. . . . The earthly taber nacle was a copy or a shadow of the true dwelling place of God in heaven (Heb. 8.5; 9.24). It showed what God was like and what was needed to deal with sin. In this way it symbolized what the Messiah was to do for our salvation. We may say that it “foreshadowed” the Messiah and his work. It was like a shadow of the Messiah cast back ward in time into the Old Testament period. The shadow was always inferior to the reality. The earthly tabernacle was made of earthly things, and could never equal the splendor or holiness of God in heaven. The earthly sacrifices of bulls and goats could never equal the blood of Christ, who cleansed us from sin forever. The shadow was not itself the reality, but a pointer to Christ who was the reality. Yet the shadow is also like the reality. And the shadow even brought the reality to bear on people in the Old Testament. As they looked ahead through the shadows, longing for something better, they took hold of the promises of God that he would send the Messiah.

~ Vern Poythress. The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses . Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1991. pp. 10-11.

Heb. 8.5 They serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you

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I. The Tabernacle of God: A Type of Christ

Jesus Christ fulfills all the types within the earthly tabernacle of the Lord in the wilderness (including all replicas of the Tabernacle in the Temple)

make everything according to the

pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

A. General truths regarding the Tabernacle

Heb. 9.24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

1. The Tabernacle was a copy or a shadow of the true dwelling place of God in the heavenlies.

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