Tabernacle

According to the Hebrew Bible from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instructed at Mount Sinai to construct and transport the tabernacle with the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness and their subsequent conquest of the Promised Land. After 440 years, Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem superseded it as the dwelling-place of God.

The main source describing the tabernacle is the biblical Book of Exodus, specifically Exodus 25–31 and 35–40. Those passages describe an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, created by the veil suspended by four pillars. This sanctuary contained the Ark of the Covenant, with its cherubim-covered mercy seat. An outer sanctuary (the "Holy Place") contained a gold lamp-stand or candlestick. On the north side stood a table, on which lay the showbread. On the south side was the Menorah, holding seven oil lamps to give light. On the west side, just before the veil, was the golden altar of incense. It was constructed of 4 woven layers of curtains and 48 tall standing wood boards overlaid in gold and held in place by its bars and silver sockets and was richly furnished with valuable materials taken from Egypt at God's command.

Meaning

The English word ''tabernacle'' derives from the Latin ''tabernāculum'' (meaning "tent" or "hut"), which in ancient Roman religion was a ritual structure. The Hebrew word ''mishkan'' implies "dwell", "rest", or "to live in". In Greek, including the Septuagint, the Hebrew is translated σκηνή ('' skēnē''), itself a Semitic loanword meaning "tent".

Biblical scholar Michael B. Hundley argues that the Priestly source uses the terms "tabernacle" and "tent of meeting" in a complementary way to emphasize the sacred tent’s dual function as a divine dwelling place on earth and a place where the resident deity meets with his people.

Dr. Hacham Isaac S. D. Sassoon argued that the Priestly source’s focus on the Tabernacle, rather than the Temple, serves as a post-exilic critique of the idea of rebuilding a stationary Temple, presenting the mobile Tabernacle as a divinely-ordained permanent structure for the Israelites.

Description

A detailed description of a tabernacle, located in Exodus chapters 25–27 and Exodus chapters 35–40, refers to an inner shrine, the Holy of Holies, housing the ark, and an outer chamber with the six-branch seven-lamp Temple menorah, table for showbread, and an altar of incense. An enclosure containing the sacrificial altar and bronze laver for the priests to wash surrounded these chambers.

Traditional scholars contend that it describes an actual tabernacle used in the time of Moses and thereafter. This view is based on the existence of significant parallels between the biblical Tabernacle and similar structures from ancient Egypt during the Late Bronze Age.

The detailed outlines for the tabernacle and its priests are enumerated in the Book of Exodus:
* : Materials needed: the Ark, the table for 12 showbread, the menorah.
* : The tabernacle, the bars, partitions.
* : The copper altar, the enclosure, oil.
* : Vestments for the priests, '' ephod'' garment, ring settings, the breastplate, robe, head-plate, tunic, turban, sashes, pants.
* : Consecration of priests and altar.
* : Incense altar, washstand, anointing oil, incense.

Liane Feldman holds that there are contrasting descriptions of the Meeting Tent in the Pentateuch, where the Priestly source presents a large, ornate tent at the center of the Israelite community, while a non-priestly strand describes a smaller, simpler tent for Moses, which in her view demonstrates the composite nature of the Pentateuch and differing perspectives within it.

Benjamin D. Sommer suggests that while the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was reserved for God’s presence, the main room featured a metal menorah with six branches on each side, potentially echoing the asherah, which he thinks was used in the cult of Yahweh.

Tent of the Presence

Some interpreters assert the Tent of the Presence was a special meeting place outside the camp, unlike the Tabernacle which was placed in the center of the camp. According t
Exodus 33:7–11
this tent was for communion with Yahweh, to receive oracles and to understand the divine will. The people's elders were the subject of a remarkable prophetic event at the site of this tent i
Numbers 11:24–30

Builders

In Exodus 31, the main builder and maker of the priestly vestments is specified as Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, who was assisted by Oholiab and a number of skilled artisans.

Plan

During the Exodus, the wandering in the desert and the conquest of Canaan, the Tabernacle was in part a portable tent, and in part a wooden enclosure draped with ten curtains, of blue ('' tekhelet'' תְּכֵלֶת), purple (''’argāmān'' אַרְגָּמָן), and scarlet (''šānî'' שָׁנִי) fabric. It had a rectangular, perimeter fence of fabric, poles and staked cords. This rectangle was always erected when the Israelite tribes would camp, oriented to the east as the east side had no frames. In the center of this enclosure was a rectangular sanctuary draped with goat-hair curtains, with the roof coverings made from rams' skins.

Holy of Holies

Beyond this curtain was the cube-shaped inner room, the ''Kodesh Hakedashim'' (Holy of Holies). This area housed the Ark of the Covenant, inside which were the two stone tablets brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses on which were written the Ten Commandments, a golden urn holding the '' manna'', and Aaron's rod which had budded and borne ripe almonds (, , ; ).

Tachash

''Tachash'' is referred to fifteen times in the Hebrew Bible