This entire chapter is a description of the tabernacle blueprint.
“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole. You shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. There shall be two tenons in each frame, for fitting together. So shall you do for all the frames of the tabernacle. And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place.” (v1,6,15,31-34)
We don’t commonly measure things in “cubits” any more, so picture this: the tabernacle itself is 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high, made of high-quality fabrics and wood, with fittings/cladding of silver and gold. For further perspective, this would be a few feet larger than two city transit buses parked side-by-side – it’s a reasonably large tent. The outer tent walls which formed the courtyard (verses not quoted above) were 75 feet wide by 150 feet long – an area roughly half the length and half the width of a football field (one quarter of a field). It was large enough to contain the mobile temple, as well as an altar, tables, and standing room for a couple hundred people.
All of these components formed three main areas – the outer courtyard, the holy place, and the inner holy of holies (the latter two sections being inside the enclosed tabernacle and divided by the veil mentioned above). The holy place is where the table of the bread of the presence and the lampstand resided, and of course the inner holy of holies is where the Ark of the Covenant and God’s presence resided. This three-tiered design is the same general design as the temple Solomon builds in Jerusalem, and the same design that is later used in other temples and synagogues.
This three-tiered layout was originally necessary, kind of like how Israel was treated at mount Sinai – most people could come to the courtyard (assuming you were ceremonially clean) to worship and offer sacrifices on the altar (the same way all people were allowed at the base of the mountain). Some more trusted, more spiritually clean individuals (ie. the priesthood) were allowed into the holy place (remember the leaders of Israel were allowed partway up the mountain?). And finally, only one individual was allowed face-to-face with the presence of God, the high priest only once per year on Yom Kippur (Aaron becomes the tabernacle high priest, and only Moses [and possibly Joshua] was allowed at the top of the mountain).
This old system was designed so that God could draw near to a chosen sanctified few, and they would convey God’s words to the people and/or make sin sacrifices on the people’s behalf. The people, not being sanctified, were not allowed in the presence of God or they’d be killed (because sin cannot be tolerated in God’s presence).
Thankfully, Jesus’ death and resurrection changed this entire system. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” (Hb 4:14) “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mt 27:50-51a) “and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hb 9:12) “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,” (Hb 10:12) “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hb 7:25)
Jesus’ death enabled the presence of God to have direct communion with all people, because the power of sin was dealt with once and for all – all people could now be seen as righteous and holy in God’s eyes, because we were now seen through the lens of Jesus’ death and propitiation for our sin. We no longer need a human high priest to enter the holy of holies, because Jesus was the Great High Priest who made the ultimate and final sin offering on our behalf and He and the Holy Spirit are now the intermediaries between us and God.
Jesus, we praise You for You are the Great High Priest, the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice paid the final penalty for our sin. Father thank you for making a way to resolve the sin issue that we humans were not capable of solving on our own. Thank you for tearing the veil, removing the barrier between the two of us, so that we may freely enter into Your presence. All glory, honor and praise be to You, O Lord God Almighty, who has restored our relationship that sin had destroyed.
~Conqueror in Training