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This week’s Parasha is Terumah, which means contribution or offering, and covers Exodus 25-27:19. In last week’s Torah portion the Israelis agreed to obey the laws of the covenant that Moses brought down from El Elyon, the God Most High. In this week’s Parasha, Moses is instructed by God to take a contribution from every man whose heart moves him. We should remember that the Israelis had only been free for a month or two. Out of their new wealth, which the Lord had given them from the Egyptians, the Lord asked for a portion and the Israelis gave very generously. In fact, they gave more than was needed. Out of this wealth, the Three-In-One God gave them very specific instructions. He wanted gold, silver, and bronze, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat hair, ram and seal skins, acacia wood, and olive oil.

The first thing that Adonai required them to build was the Ark of the Covenant, which would be made out of acacia wood. It was to be built according to the Lord’s exact measurements and then overlaid in gold inside and out. They would also make handles out of acacia wood to carry the Ark. The top of the Ark was made of pure gold and would have two Cherubim facing each other on top of what God calls the Ark Covering. The next item was a table for the bread, and it was also to be made out of acacia wood and covered in gold. After this they were to build a lampstand made only of gold, and it would have seven branches with cups on each branch that would be filled with oil.

Next, they were instructed to build the Mishkan, also known as the Tabernacle, with exact measurements of 150 feet long by 75 feet wide. Inside the Tabernacle was the tabernacle tent, also known as the tent of meeting, with measurements of 45 feet by 15 feet. Take a look around the sanctuary here . If we include the bimah where I am standing and add in the back area where our coats are, we could fit all of this into the Mishkan with room to spare.

The tent of meeting inside consisted of two rooms. The first room was called “The Holy Place” and the second was called “The Most Holy Place” where only the high priest, in this case Aaron, was allowed to enter once a year on the Day of Atonement. In this room the Ark of the Covenant was kept and inside the Ark of the Covenant were three very important items. The Ark would later contain a golden jar which would hold the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded. The Ark would also contain the Covenant tablets, also known as the Ten Commandments. During transport, only the priests were allowed to carry the Ark.

In the holy place there were three articles of furniture. The first was a golden lampstand made of solid gold, then the altar of incense and a table for bread. The tent of meeting was built of acacia wood that had been overlaid in gold with a frame supporting the tent covering. The inner walls had blue, purple, and red coverings with cherubim sewn into the fabric. This beautiful curtain also separated these two rooms. This is the veil that was torn from top to bottom immediately after Yeshua’s death – teaching us that we no longer need a Priest to go to the throne of God. We have direct access to Him because of Messiah. Halleluiah, praise the Lord!

The tent covering consisted of four layers of cloth and seal skin that would keep it waterproof. This covering would be very heavy and the Levites would be responsible for setting it up and taking it down as the Israelis moved from one area to the next. Outside of the tent of meeting was the outer court that had seven-foot high walls that surrounded the tent of meeting. The walls consisted of fabric curtains that were held by acacia wood pillars that were overlaid in bronze. There were two items in this outer court: a bronze basin used for ceremonial washing and a bronze altar used for sacrifices. The Jewish people could enter in the outer court, but only the priests were allowed in the tent of meeting.

Brothers and sisters, I love this section in the Torah regarding the Mishkan for a couple of reasons. One reason is because as a woodworker, I like to make things out of wood with my hands, which is a gift that Adonai has given me … and I really like power tools. Secondly, and most importantly, is the opportunity to worship our Lord, and what a gift it was to worship in the Tabernacle. Wherever the Mishkan was, it was holy ground; it was sacred. Remember when Yeshua came into the Temple and He found the money changers inside the court? He overturned their tables and chairs and threw them out. Why? Because it was His Father’s house and was sacred. Think about it. This is where they went to worship El Gibbor, the Mighty God. This was the place to be. This was where the nation of Israel went to show their devotion to God. The Israelis were out in the wilderness, but yet the Mishkan gave them a tangible place to worship.

Brothers and sisters, let’s think about some take aways from today’s lesson. God asked the Israelis, who were willing to give generously, to build a tabernacle. A month ago they had nothing to give, but God provided the Israelis with the wealth of Egypt so that they would have what was required to build the tabernacle with plenty to spare. The Lord is always way ahead of us and knows what are needs are and what they will be.

When it came to the building of the tent of meeting, God chose the best. After all, this is where He came down to dwell with us. The wood he used was acacia, the same wood used for the ark that houses the Torah in our office here at Shema. I can promise you that this is the strongest and hardest wood I have ever used. And all of the wood was overlaid in gold except for two articles. The Ark Covering was pure gold; no wood was used. Adonai would dwell between the Cherubim oer the rk Covering. The other article that was made of only gold was the lampstand. All other articles in the tent of meeting were wood and covered in gold, and the curtains on the inside were beautifully colored with purple and blue. God chose the best materials and very strong wood.  He is the greatest and worthy of the best. Isn’t He worthy of our best?

There are lessons to be learned from the metals used to build the Mishkan. Outside of the Tent of Meeting the water basin and the altar of sacrifice were made of bronze, and the tent covering was seal skin on the outside and paled in comparison to the inside that had beautifully colored covering. This reminds me of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah: He had no beauty that we should desire Him. Yeshua’s beauty is on the inside where He is more valuable than gold. Notice that where God would dwell was all gold, and that where sinful man was allowed was bronze. God is of the greatest value (gold), while sinful man is associated with a metal of less value (bronze), and a metal associated with the need for judgment and atonement.

There are lessons to be learned from the various articles in the Mishkan. The bronze altar of sacrifice was the first object that sinful man would see as a reminder that sin is what separates us from God. When we think of the table of the bread, we should see Yeshua as the bread of life. The lampstand in the tent of meeting, which brought light into this fully covered tent, and without this lampstand there would be complete darkness in the tent reminds us all of Yeshua the Messiah who is the light of the world, and supplies our every need.

Thank God for the things we learn from Parasha Terumah!