Readings for today: Exodus 25-28
Sanctuary. It’s a word that conjures up a host of images. A safe place. A sacred place. A place where heaven and earth meet. A place where the eternal breaks into the temporal. A place where we meet face to face with God. The original sanctuary was a garden. A paradise planted by God Himself. Full of beauty and wonder and diversity. God walked with humanity in this Garden in the cool of each day. God met with humanity in this Garden at the end of each day. The garden was a sanctuary because it represented God’s desire to dwell with His people. Tragically, sin corrupted this sanctuary and humanity was exiled. No longer able to commune with God, we tried to create our own sanctuary with the Tower of Babel. We tried to make a name for ourselves. We tried to do life without God. The result was a horror show filled with all kinds of evil and violence and injustice and suffering.
How does God respond? He refuses to leave us without a sanctuary. He calls Moses up a mountain. Gives him the divine blueprints. Commissions him to build a house for God to dwell. It’s a stunning act of grace. God choosing to walk again with His people in the cool of the day. God choosing to meet again with His people at the end of the day. God creating a safe space, a sacred space. A place where heaven will meet earth. A place where the eternal will break into the temporal. A place for us to meet with God face to face. No longer a garden, this new sanctuary will be a tent. A portable building we can break down and take with us no matter where we may go. Over the centuries, this Tabernacle will give way to a Temple. A permanent sanctuary within a fortified city. Tragically, each of these sanctuaries will become corrupt as well and be razed to the ground. Humanity losing their connection to God once again.
In the fullness of time, God sends His Son into the world. The Word of God made flesh and blood and making His dwelling place, His tabernacle, His sanctuary among us. Once again, God walks with us in the cool of the day. Once again, God meets with us at the end of the day. And once again, tragically, humanity attempts to destroy the sanctuary once and for all by hanging Jesus on the cross. Thankfully, God raises His Son from the dead. Resurrecting His sanctuary. Making what was perishable, imperishable. Making what was temporal, eternal. Making what was vulnerable, indestructible. Now we have access to God 24/7. Now can approach Him with grace and confidence. Now we can meet Him face to face with nothing to fear.
Readings for tomorrow: No readings on Sundays