This is the foundation guide. Every other guide in the series — and every part of the book itself — assumes that the reader has done the work in this opening study. The work is simple: take a blank sheet of paper, draw the floor plan of the Tabernacle from memory, mark every piece of furniture in its place, and lay the cross of Jesus inside the diagram.
It is a four-session guide, designed to take an evening Bible study group through the foundation in a single month. It can also be used as a weekend retreat, or worked through alone in four quiet sittings.
What you will need
A Bible, opened to Exodus 25 to 27 and to Hebrews 8 to 10. A blank sheet of A4 paper for each person in the group. A pen or pencil. Optional: a packet of coloured pencils, useful for the third session.
Session one — The two zones, the gate, and the altar
Read Exodus 27 verses 9 to 19 aloud as a group. Together, identify on the page the dimensions of the courtyard and the location of the gate. Then read Exodus 27 verses 1 to 8. Locate the bronze altar. Have each person draw the courtyard rectangle, the eastern gate, and the bronze altar in its proper place. Discuss: why does the Tabernacle have only one gate? What does this say about how anyone enters the presence of God?
Session two — The laver and the entrance to the Tent
Read Exodus 30 verses 17 to 21. Locate the bronze laver. Read Exodus 26 verses 36 and 37, locating the entrance curtain to the Tent of Meeting. Each person now adds these to their drawing. Discuss the daily ritual of priests at the laver — what does the laver represent? What does the New Testament say about washing with water and the Word? Read John 13 verses 1 to 17.
Session three — Inside the Holy Place
Read Exodus 25 verses 23 to 40 (the Table of Showbread and the Menorah), and Exodus 30 verses 1 to 10 (the Altar of Incense). Each person now adds the three pieces of furniture inside the Tent — Menorah on the south, Table of Showbread on the north, Altar of Incense in the centre. Discuss: how do these three correspond to Spirit, Word and Prayer in the Christian life? Read Revelation 8 verses 3 to 5 — what is the incense?
Session four — The Holy of Holies and the cross
Read Exodus 25 verses 10 to 22, and Exodus 26 verses 31 to 35. Locate the Ark of the Covenant and the inner veil. Each person now adds the Holy of Holies and the Ark to their drawing. Then, with a different colour pen if available, lay a simple Latin cross across the entire diagram — the head of the cross reaching into the Holy of Holies, the feet at the bronze altar. Read Matthew 27 verses 50 to 51, then Hebrews 10 verses 19 to 22. Close the session in prayer, with the diagrams in front of the group.
For the leader
The aim of this guide is not to produce architectural draughtsmen. It is to put the picture into people's hands. Many participants will draw badly the first time. That is fine. The point is the act of drawing — of working through the geometry, of noticing where each piece of furniture belongs and why. By the end of the four sessions, every person in the group should be able to draw the Tabernacle from memory and explain what each part means.
If a session runs short, end with prayer and pick up at the next session. If a session runs long, do not rush. The slow drawing is the point.
This study guide is drawn from Part One of Behold — The Kingdom of God is at Hand.