Exodus 25 · a question people ask
Was the tabernacle a copy of something in heaven?
Exodus says Moses was shown a pattern on the mountain (25:9, 25:40), but it doesn't say what he saw. Hebrews says the priests "serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5), calls the holy places made with hands "representations of the true" (Hebrews 9:24), and says Christ is "a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man" (Hebrews 8:2). Christians agree that, by Hebrews' own words, the tent pointed beyond itself: "This is a symbol of the present age" (Hebrews 9:9). They read "copy" in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
A sanctuary in heaven
Those who hold this view read Hebrews as saying there is a real sanctuary in heaven, and Moses saw its likeness. Hebrews speaks of "the copies of the things in the heavens" (Hebrews 9:23), and in Revelation, "God’s temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant was seen in his temple" (Revelation 11:19).
Hebrews 8:2 · Hebrews 9:23 · Revelation 11:19
Heaven itself, God's presence
Those who hold this view read "the true tabernacle" (Hebrews 8:2) as heaven itself, where God is, rather than a building. Hebrews says Christ came "through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation" (Hebrews 9:11), and entered "into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24). On this reading, the pattern shown to Moses pictured God's presence; it wasn't a plan of a heavenly building.
Hebrews 8:2 · Hebrews 9:11 · Hebrews 9:24
The verses
“According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.”
“See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.”
“This is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect,”
“For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;”