One of the most defining moments in Israel’s history is the Exodus. In this event, God himself takes his chosen people out of the bondage of slavery under the Egyptians and pushes forward the next phase of his redemptive program by turning them into a nation. Within this defining event is yet another highly cherished event to the Israelites, as Moses goes up onto Mount Sinai and meet with God. It is here that he receives God’s law, the ten commandments, and the blueprints of the tabernacle that they are to build. The tabernacle is central, literally and spiritually, to Jewish life in the Exodus as it stands in the middle of the camp, symbolizing God’s special presence.

Is there a scene that is any more devoid of culture than the Exodus? Here we find the Israelites, a nation without a home, journeying through the wilderness. Sure, they have their customs and beliefs as all cultures do, but they have no cultural artifacts of their own except the clothes on their backs. Of course, the clothing was probably more Egyptians than anything else. This all changes with the tabernacle. Finally, the Israelites have something that ties them together beyond heritage (which was no small matter of course!). We can think of it as both a religious and community center.

But the cultural void we see in the Exodus is a bit misleading. As we see in Exodus chapter 25 and following, the materials used in building the tabernacle, the ark, altars, and other items are pretty exquisite: fine linens, gold, silver, precious animal hides, oils, stones and gems, and sea cow hide (Exodus 25:5, NIV). I can’t wait for those new sea cow boots to become more fashionable.¹ The question is- where did the newly nomadic Israelites get such material? The answer comes in Exodus 12:36:

“The LORD caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” (cf.3:22, 11:2)

The tabernacle, the sign of God’s presence and redemption, was made out of the cultural artifacts that the Israelites took from Egypt- the same country that had enslaved them. Think about that for a minute. Not only has God delivered the Israelites from slavery, but he has taken the profane and transformed them into something sacred.

Isn’t this what we saw in Genesis 3? Adam and Eve tried to cover their own sinfulness by making clothes, yet out of his grace, God redeemed their shoddy cultural artifacts into something much better. Not only does he clothe them with better clothes, but he points them to the goal of his plan of redemption- to clothe us with righteousness by another sacrifice. It wouldn’t be an animal, but instead his own Son, Jesus. God took the profane and made it sacred. In the tabernacle, we see the same thing. God took the profane materials of a culture of enslavement, and made them into a sacred space- a space where God himself dwelled in the midst of his people. A place where atonement could be made. Again, this points us to the coming of the Messiah Jesus- Jesus is himself the true and better tabernacle, he was the presence of God (and God himself) dwelling among the people. And not only was he the place of atonement, he was himself the sacrifice which atones. Again, the movement we see in the Old Testament is one of redeeming culture. But it’s not redeeming culture for culture’s sake, it points us to a greater reality: Jesus Christ, his work on the cross, and the future redemption of all things at his return.