Did God grant this prayer? How did God show that he had forgiven Israel?
How did He show that He was pleased with Moses?
CHAPTER XI
THE TABERNACLE AND ITS SERVICE
Exodus 25.1 to 31.11 and 35.4 to 40.33
Interpretation. The Biblical passages dealing with the construction of the Tabernacle and the nature of its appointments and the services conducted therein are scattered through a number of chapters of our Bible, but for pedagogic purposes it is best to consider them together. Before discussing any details we must realize the significance of the Tabernacle in general. We are to see in it the parent of the temple and the synagogue and understand its significance in the light of the importance of these institutions to later Judaism. "Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them". (Exodus 25. 8.) Our rabbis paraphrase this by the words, "that I may cause My Shekinah to dwell among them." Inasmuch as the Shekinah meant the Divine Presence made manifest, we may render their meaning in more modern terms by declaring that the function of tabernacle, temple and synagogue is to make us realize the presence of God, for though we may theoretically admit His existence without such institutions, we should not feel the reality of His presence were it not brought home to us by the organized worship that they cultivated. But even if it is possible to realize the presence of God merely by the direct communion of the individual without any organized communal worship in a community sanctuary, the God we should then worship would not be the God of Israel and our religion would not consecrate life to the service of His Torah. And just as the Tabernacle, to which every animal that was to be eaten had to be brought for sacrifice, weaned the people from the habit of sacrificing "to the satyrs," (Leviticus 17. 7) so in later times the Temple was the center of the national worship as against the rival cult of Baal and Astarte associated with the "high places", and so today the synagogue is the institution upon which we must depend to guard the purity of Jewish religious thought from the influences of our non-Jewish environment. In view of the significance of the Tabernacle and its daughter institutions, we cannot begrudge the space that our Bible gives to its construction and its ritual.
It is impossible for us to understand the precise symbolic significance of all the ceremonial objects and decorations of the Tabernacle, but the very attention that is given to these details is expressive of an appreciation of the aid to devotion which is to be found in an appeal to the aesthetic sense of the worshipper. Some of the symbolism is, however, quite obvious. Thus it is evident that the placing of the Two Tables of the Law in the Ark which was kept in the Holy of Holies, and was made of choice wood covered within and without with gold and guarded by the figures of cherubim wishes to testify to the sanctity of the Law as the very center and soul of Judaism. The prohibition to any but the high priest to enter the Holy of Holies, and the insistence on ritual purity and provisions for the washing of hands and feet in the brass laver served to remove the worship from the plane of the commonplace and profane and aided in creating that atmosphere of reverence and awe which is indispensible to true worship. The clouds of smoke from the incense suggested something of the mystery of God as is seen from its association in rabbinic tradition with the "cloud of glory". כִּי בֶּעָנָן אֵרָאֶה עַל הַכַּפֹּרֶת "For I appear in the cloud upon the ark-cover" is construed by the Rabbis to mean the cloud of incense.
With regard to the garments of the priests, the appearance on the breast plate of the names of the tribes of Israel emphasizes the representative capacity of the high priest as צִבּוּר שְׁלִיחַ or agent of the congregation, whereas the diadem with the inscription לַיהֲוָה קֹדֶשׁ "Holy unto God" was the symbol of his consecration to God.
Aim. The aim of this lesson should be to interest the child in the synagogue and public worship and more especially to develop in him the sentiment for beauty, dignity and decorum in the service of God.