Exodus: A Group StudySample

What is this passage saying?

Bezalel leads the crafting of the objects in the tabernacle.

What is this passage teaching?

As the chief craftsman, Bezalel was entrusted with making the most sacred object in the tabernacle: the ark of the covenant. Inside would be the tablets of the ten commandments, the budded staff of Aaron, and a vessel of manna (Hebrews 9:4). The ark would reside in the Holy of Holies, a curtained area where Yahweh’s presence would dwell. The top of the ark was a golden slab called the “mercy seat” (Exodus 37:6). Fashioned with two cherubim on each side, the mercy seat was a physical representation of Yahweh’s throne. Once a year, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat, atoning for the blood of all the people (Leviticus 16:2-16).

How do I Respond?

As Bezalel put his hands and tools to the acacia and gold, fashioning the ark, he was crafting a brilliant shadow. Little did Bezalel know, almost two millennia from the construction of the tabernacle, God would manifest the reality of His presence in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Upon Christ’s death, the veil of the temple was torn, exposing the Holy of Holies. This was no act of desecration, but fulfillment. In Jesus, there is no ark of the covenant because He has written the law on the hearts of his people (Jeremiah 31:33). In Jesus, there is no yearly day of atonement, because the blood of Christ was sprinkled once and for all, forever securing the redemption of His people (Hebrews 9:12). In Jesus, there are no high priests to go before God on behalf of his people, because they are a royal priesthood, boldly entering the throne room of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Resist to urge to see these chapters as tedious accounts of construction, but monumental expressions of God’s future grace. What Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites knew as shadows, you experience the full reality. Praise God today for the work of Christ and what He has accomplished on your behalf.