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Exodus 25 Bible study: That I may dwell among them

Before any walls, the LORD describes the ark and its gold lid, and says why: "There I will meet with you" (25:22). The whole tent exists so "that I may dwell among them" (25:8), and its name, mishkan, means a dwelling-place. Hebrews quotes this chapter's command about the pattern and says the priests there served "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5).

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“Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
Exodus 25:8 · World English Bible

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“The mercy seat has the same length and width as the ark.”

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What's really going on

"That I may dwell among them"

In the text

At the bush, "God called to him out of the middle of the bush" (3:4). At Sinai, "The LORD’s glory settled on Mount Sinai" (24:16). Now the LORD asks for a place to live among his people: "Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them" (25:8). The verb for "dwell" is shakan, the same verb as "settled" on the mountain (24:16). The word for the tent itself, mishkan, "the tabernacle" (25:9), is built from that verb (Strong's: "from 7931"). The LORD says it again a few chapters on: "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God" (29:45). And at the end of the book it happens: "the LORD’s glory filled the tabernacle" (40:34).

Where it leads to Jesus

A copy and shadow

In the text

Exodus 25:40leads toHebrews 8:5

The LORD tells Moses, "See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain" (25:40). Hebrews quotes the command in its own wording: "See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain" (Hebrews 8:5). Its point is Jesus: "we have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man" (Hebrews 8:1-2). The priests at the tent "serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5).

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Exodus 25

That was a taste

The rest of Exodus 25 is waiting in Favor

  • Only from willing hearts
  • It starts at the centre
  • Made to the pattern
  • From Eden's gate to the mercy seat
  • Bread set before him always
  • A lamp stand of almond blossoms
  • 14 questions as you read
  • 13 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

מִשְׁכָּןmishkansay mish-KAN

Brown-Driver-Briggs gives "dwelling-place, ‘tabernacle’"; Strong's says it comes "from 7931", the verb shakan, "dwell", and gives "a residence" and "specifically, the Tabernacle". So the tent's name says what it is for: "that I may dwell among them" (25:8), "the pattern of the tabernacle" (25:9). This verse is its first use in the Hebrew Bible. It comes 139 times, 58 of them in Exodus, and near the end of the book, "the LORD’s glory filled the tabernacle" (40:34). It is the "tent" of Leviticus 26:11, "I will set my tent among you", and of Ezekiel 37:27, "My tent also will be with them".

For your group

Exodus 25 Bible study questions

  1. 1The LORD asked for gifts only "from everyone whose heart makes him willing." What do you give gladly, and what do you find yourself holding back? Why do you think that is?
  2. 2"Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." What difference does it make to you that God wanted to live among his people, not stay far off?
  3. 3"There I will meet with you." Where and when do you most expect to meet with God? What would help you keep that meeting this week?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 25 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

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