Crystal Writes A Blog

Hidden Beauty

I enjoy going on cave tours, and one of the most beautiful ones I have toured was “Caverns of Sonora” in Sonora, Texas. The image above was a happy accident and is my favorite of all those I captured that day with my old point and shoot camera. As I looked at it, I thought about how long it had stayed in the dark before men discovered it and added light. The beauty was the same, yet only God could see it before the discovery. And then I thought of the Scripture about God looking at our hearts and wondered how much undiscovered beauty might be in people’s hearts.

In today’s reading from Exodus 25:17 through Exodus 25:40 (the end of the chapter), we see the instructions about three pieces of furniture for the yet-to-be-constructed tabernacle. There are details about size and dimension, materials, and usage for the Ark of the Covenant, Table of Shewbread, and Golden Menorah. The beauty being built into each of these items is exquisite, but most of the time, only those who can go into the holy parts of the tabernacle will see them. That means the tabernacle will hide the beauty from all but the priests and God.

There are many theories and articles about the meanings of the tabernacle furnishings, but I’ll tell you a little about my thoughts on the three mentioned today.

The ark, being the dwelling place of The Most High, would represent the human heart. It is the place where the priests will store God’s testimony (the Torah/Law), along with a pot of manna (to represent trust in God’s provision) and Aaron’s rod that budded (to represent God’s power and authority). We know it is good to hide the law of God in our hearts, and isn’t that where we also find faith and where we tap into power? The encouragement to “give it your whole heart” shows just how much is rooted there.

The table has bread which feeds God’s priests, but I believe it is also a reminder that we are not to live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God. I believe it also represents the Bread of Life, which is Yahshua our Messiah.

The Menorah, which is another of those words that includes the Hebrew “OR” for light, will bring light into the holy place. Again, Yahshua is The Light, and in the menorah, oil (which often represents the Holy Spirit) is used to give life to the light. 

There is so much teaching in these furnishings, including that the Mercy Seat sits above the Ark of the Covenant because God’s mercy sits above His law. We can see these things now because He has made us a Kingdom of priests and a royal priesthood, and we can come boldly before the seat of mercy because God tore the veil that once separated us from it. Read it for yourself and search to find your own beauty in these things and in God’s Holy Word.

February 2, 2014 - Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Adonai, Almighty, Ark of the Covenant, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Creator, crystalwriter, Exodus, God, Golden Menorah, holy, Holy Bible, holy place, Israel, light, Lord, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Portions, Scripture, tabernacle, Table of Shewbread, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, www.biblegateway.com, Yahveh, Yahweh