Tabernacle's Sacred Nature

The Sacred Nature of the Most Holy Tabernacle Beginning with the meticulous beauty of the specifications regarding the Tabernacle’s construction to its actual manifestation, the Tabernacle is the pinnacle of the idea of “sacredness” and sacred space. Beginning in Exodus chapter 26, G-d begins to give Moses instructions of the utmost specificity for the construction of the Tabernacle. Every aspect of the building process is accounted for, from the exact amount of wooden boards to be used, to the number of loops in the carefully chosen fabric of the curtains. For G-d to give such precise instructions, down to each individual facet of the Tabernacle, conveys the concept of “sacred space”. To give further analysis, G-d tells Moses to make the
Firstly, there is the table for the bread of the Presence, as described in Exodus 25:23-30. The table is described as made of shittim wood, with a gold overlay and with a gold crown boarder. This exquisite table denotes sacredness by the very appearance, wrought with precious gold crowns to house the bread of the Presence. To the left in the diagram, there is the golden lampstand, as was explained in Exodus 25:31-40. The lampstand is wrought of pure gold, an exquisite piece. The lampstand and candles would therefore provide light inside the Holy Place. This lamp, which of course becomes a permanent fixture in all temples and synagogues thereafter, is one of the most recognizable symbols of Judaism. Therefore, this lampstand is integral in the sacred space, as light casts out the darkness, metaphorically and figuratively. Moving towards the lower end of the, there is an altar for the burning of incense. The instructions for construction of the altar are given to Moses in the beginning of Exodus 30. The altar is, like the table for the bread of the Presence, made of shittim wood and covered with gold. G-d tells Moses that it shall be “a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:8). The ritual of burning incense as an offering to G-d, perpetually, in the Holy Space, is yet another aspect of this space that
This veil shrouds the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies. This veil is similar to the one which functions as the entrance to the Tabernacle; however, it is different in that Cherubim are woven into the veil. As the diagram represents, beyond this elegant veil is the Ark of the Covenant and nothing else. According to the book of Exodus, it is where Yahweh would descend to upon a cloud. Only the high priest could enter this Holy space once a year, on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. The rest of the Tabernacle flows unto this space, each element leading up to the culmination of the sacred space: the ultimate sacred space, the Holy of Holies. The nature of the Holy of Holies is so sacred that it cannot be entered save for the aforementioned occasion. That seems to be the ultimate idea of a sacred space, a space so sacred that it cannot be