E25–11: More amazing connections between Sinai and the Tabernacle

What I love about studying Scripture is uncovering the logical patterns woven throughout its pages that remain consistent from the first book of Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation.

That’s an important point.

The pages of the Bible should flow like a beautiful river from beginning to end.

With that in mind, I want to show you a couple of more interesting connections from the Israelite’s time in Egypt to Sinai up to the Wilderness Tabernacle.

First, when God brought the infant tribe of Israel from Canaan into Egypt, counting Joseph and his family, we are told that their numbers totaled 74.

At Sinai, this is the EXACT SAME NUMBER of Israelites that God called to come up to His Holy Mountain when he was establishing another new beginning for Israel as His specially chosen nation.

However, literally speaking, there were far more than 74 Israelites who actually journeyed from Canaan down to Egypt.

We don’t know the exact numbers, but we’re told of one incident when a fairly large number of people were added to Jacob’s tribe,

Recall when Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi avenged the rape of their sister Dinah.

They led a raid that killed all the adult males inside Shechem and took all the women and children as slaves.

Such occurrences were actually quite common for all Middle Eastern cultures in those days, so I’m pretty sure that other similar events occurred when members from the other tribes were kidnapped to increase the size of the then-fledgling Hebrew nation.

The point is that the 74 Israelites were meant to be representative of the entire Hebrew nation that entered Egypt, in the same way that the 74 Israelites the Lord called to come up to His mountain also represented the Israelite nation that had recently departed Egypt.

Second, recall that at Mount Sinai, Moses erected 12 standing stones to represent the 12 Tribes of Israel before the Lord.

In like manner, inside the Tabernacle, there were always to be 12 loaves of Showbread placed on a table that represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

Third, recall that both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle were divided into three zones of holiness.

What’s interesting is that the type of metals used to construct the fixtures in the Tabernacle also reflected varying degrees of holiness.

Inside the two rooms of the tent sanctuary, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, everything inside was to be constructed out of PURE GOLD.

In the Scripture, gold symbolizes undefiled purity and holiness.

Outside the tent sanctuary, all the fixtures and implements were made out of bronze and other less valuable metals.

Finally, this isn’t about a connection between Sinai and the Tabernacle, but when you examine the Tabernacle carefully, you will find that there are no images anywhere to be found of YHVH.

This was in keeping with the 2nd Word of God.

“You are to have no other gods before me. You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath, or in the water below the shoreline.”-Exodus 20:3–4

One thing that separates the Hebrew religion from ALL other religions in the world is its strict prohibition of god-images or idols.

Next time, we will begin taking a look at the very first item God commanded the people to begin building: the Ark of the Covenant.

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