Today’s reading: Exodus 39-40; Matthew 24:1-22
43 And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them. Exodus 39:43
2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2
The workers under Moses’ leadership followed the God-given instructions for the details of the tabernacle and the furnishings. Moses reviewed their work and saw that it was done correctly.
A great deal of space in this part of Exodus is given to an explanation of what was to be done and then to a description of what was actually done to show that those in charge of the work did everything according to specification. They carried it out and God’s presence filled the tabernacle as a great cloud. God was pleased. He accepted the work they had done.
But then we fast forward to the time of Jesus and the second temple (the first replaced the tabernacle but was destroyed in the Babylonian conquest). Jesus predicted yet another destruction of the temple. The construction of the tabernacle and the temples had been done according to God’s plan but they were never intended to be permanent.
Jesus, as we will see in John’s gospel, referred to Himself as the temple, a temple that would be torn down at His crucifixion, but raised again on the third day, never to be destroyed again. [John 2:13-22].
Praise God for giving us His Son, in Whom we have a permanent place of spiritual safety and wholeness. By His mercy and mediation, we come not to an earthly temple that can be invaded and destroyed, but a heavenly one which will never end.
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