Centered on God’s Dwelling
Centuries ago almost everyone believed the earth was at the center of the universe. The sun circled the earth, as did the other planets and the stars too. To most people this made sense, because human beings lived on the earth and human beings are the most important part of creation. It makes sense that the most important things should be at the centre.
In Numbers 2:2, we read something about the camp of the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt:
The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side.
God had a certain plan for the organization of the camp. One thing we see from that right away is that he is a God of order. But when we look at what’s at the center of all this, we see something even more profound.
What was to be at the center of the camp of the Israelites was the tent of meeting. This is also known as the tabernacle. The tabernacle was that special holy tent where God had his dwelling place amongst the Israelites. The tabernacle was where you would find the Most Holy Place, the inner sanctum so to speak. At the center of the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant. This holy wooden chest covered with gold contained the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, a golden urn with some manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded. Over top of the Ark of the Covenant was the mercy seat. This had two golden cherubim, angels with their wings spread out. These cherubim represented God’s throne. Within the Most Holy Place, God was sitting on his throne in the midst of his people. God was central.
But there was more. In the outer court of the tabernacle was the bronze altar, also known as the altar of burnt offering. This is where sacrifices were made for the sins of the people. If you sinned against God, you could go to the tabernacle with your animal sacrifice. That animal would be ritually killed, its blood sprinkled on the altar, and the animal burned up on the altar. That animal would be your substitute as it pointed ahead to what Jesus would do. With that sacrifice made at the tent of meeting, you could know that your sin was forgiven and you had been reconciled to God, restored to covenant fellowship. This ministry of reconciliation happened in the center of the Israelite camp.
Now it’s important to realize that what we have in Number 2:2 is a command. “They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side.” What follows lays out exactly where each of the tribes were to camp around the tabernacle. But it was a command. This means that the Israelites were responsible for making sure that God was central in their camp, that the ministry of reconciliation was kept central. If they had wanted to, they could have ignored God and decided to put the tabernacle behind all the tribes of Israel, or some other random place. They could have done that, but they weren’t allowed to. There would be consequences if they disobeyed God. But the point is they had to make a conscious choice to obey God and to have the tabernacle central, to have God central.
Of course, we don’t live in the Old Testament any longer. The tabernacle doesn’t exist and neither does its successor the temple. Those were Old Testament shadows of a greater reality. That greater reality is Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:19 it says that in Christ “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Therefore John 1:14 says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That could also be translated, “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” We’re meant to imagine Jesus coming as the new tabernacle of God, the place where God is dwelling in the midst of his people. And all of that becomes most explicit in John 2 when Jesus says he is now the temple of God. He says that because in him, God is dwelling among his people. Not only that, but in him God is also going to bring about the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ ultimate once-for-all sacrifice on the cross.
Understanding the New Testament fulfillment of Numbers 2:2 helps us see how we should apply it to our lives today. Think about this with me. If the tent of meeting or tabernacle equals Jesus Christ, if the tent of meeting was supposed to be central for God’s people, then it follows that for us today Jesus Christ must be central for God’s people. That’s true in a general sense. Just in a general way, Christ has to be at the centre of our lives as our Saviour and Lord. It’s to him alone that we look for the forgiveness of our sins. But we also need to look to him for the way we should live our lives in response to God’s grace. We look to him as our Lord and Master. So just in general terms, keep Christ central in your life.
But we can make this more specific. Let’s think about worship. In a Reformed church, the way we do things in public worship is carefully designed to fit with these truths from God’s Word. Our worship service is modelled on God’s covenant of grace. The covenant is a relationship and in every healthy relationship there is communication, back and forth. So throughout our worship service, there is this back and forth dialogue between God and us. God speaks and we respond.
However, a Reformed worship service is supposed to have a center. Jesus is the mediator of the covenant of grace. That means he’s the one who makes this relationship work in a friendly way. Because that’s true, he’s supposed to be at the center of our worship. Because Jesus is the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the temple, he’s supposed to be at the center. And if things are done properly in the worship service, Christ will be at the center with what we call the means of grace.
The means of grace are the ways that God graciously works to strengthen our faith. In public worship, we think especially of the preaching and the sacraments. The preaching of God’s Word is at the center of our worship service and at the center of the center is supposed to be the gospel of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Yes, we also need to hear about how Christ works in us and through us in our sanctification, but the gospel is where it all begins. If we’re going to take Numbers 2:2 seriously, we need to have Christ-centered preaching. Our churches need to prioritize that. And when that Christ-centered preaching happens, we need to keep it at the center of our attention.
But then there are also the sacraments. Let’s reflect particularly on the Lord’s Supper. With the Lord’s Supper, we’re also meant to put Jesus in the center. As we participate in the Lord’s Supper, God wants us to have Christ at the center of our thoughts. We ought to be reflecting on his body broken for the complete forgiveness of all our sins. We need to be thinking about his blood shed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins. We need to be embracing the reconciliation we have through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we do that, we’re also to be anticipating the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. That’s described for us in Revelation 21. In Rev. 21:3, the ESV has a footnote at the bottom of the page. It tells us that the Greek for “the dwelling place” of God can also be translated as “tabernacle.” The tabernacle of God will be with man. So that’s really the ultimate fulfillment of Numbers 2:2. Revelation 21:3 is telling us of how God will make his dwelling place with humanity, just like he did with the Israelites in the wilderness. He will be central for his people and eternally so.
But you should notice an important difference between Numbers 2:2 and Revelation 21:3. Numbers 2:2 speaks of a command. Revelation 21:3 speaks of a promise. In this age, we have to strive to keep Christ central in our lives and in our worship. We have the Holy Spirit to help us do that, but our striving is still going to be inconsistent and imperfect. And there’s grace from the cross to cover that too. But in the age to come, Christ promises to be central. He assures us that he will eternally be at the center of our existence. That’s going to be wonderful, that’s going to be so joyful for us, because we’re going to have the closest possible communion and fellowship with him.
Dear reader, always keep Christ central. Keep him central in your life in general. Focus on living for him as your Lord and Saviour. But also keep him central in your worship too. Each Sunday focus on Christ as he is proclaimed and whenever you celebrate the Lord’s Supper, keep your faith fixed on him.
