What did God plant in the tabernacle?
Could a small, shabby chapel be so great?

Excluding exaggeration and overinterpretation, based on the original Hebrew text
A thoroughly researched and reconstructed book of the tabernacle

The text of the tabernacle is incredibly long on one topic.
It's almost half of Exodus, and it's not easy to understand.
So some people say this:
"Do we really need to know these details? The meaning of the tabernacle is all that matters to us." Is that really so? If so, does that mean God wasted half of Exodus? I disagree.


There is a reason why God gave us such detailed instructions on building construction.
So, we need to know what the “belts” of the plank wall that God told us to do, what the “supports” and “points” and “top rings” were, and how the plank wall was assembled.
And there we must work to find spiritual lessons.
This book is the result of just such work.
Using a combination of audiovisual and visual images, the process of sequentially manufacturing and assembling the equipment and buildings was reconstructed.
And, after a long period of research, I have deeply explored the historical meaning and theological message of the tabernacle and added an explanation.
We must now correct the excessive allegorical and mystical interpretation of the tabernacle and learn about the true world of the tabernacle.

The primary goal of this book is to thoroughly study the text of the tabernacle based on the original Hebrew text and to accurately reconstruct the design, construction, and form of the tabernacle building and its furnishings.
For example, it would be a task that would involve examining, as if under a microscope, where and how even a single nail was driven in.
This is the most important goal of this book.
Next, we will trace the original, primary meaning of the tabernacle, discussed above, in light of its historical, cultural, and geographical background, and explore its further theological significance and cultic logic.
In the final step, we will attempt a new interpretation by exploring the rational Christological and symbolic meaning of the tabernacle, as well as its ecclesiology.
Before examining the tabernacle, we must first dispel our illusions about it.
The fantasy is that the tabernacle would be a magnificent building called the 'house of gold and jewels', or a magnificent and breathtakingly beautiful temple.
Originally, the tabernacle was a shabby, portable tent chapel for poor refugees in the wilderness.
Although it was a building built by the entire Israelite people with all their might, it was small and insignificant compared to the magnificent temples of the empire.
Yet, the reason why the Tabernacle was greater than all the temples of the ancient empires can be found in its other characteristics.
That is precisely what we will pursue in this book.
--- p.9

A notable feature of the Ark of the Covenant is that, while similar arks existed in neighboring countries, the center of the Ark of the Covenant in Israel was the only one that contained nothing.
In the center of the chests of neighboring countries, there is always a statue of their god or the supreme king sitting there.
In other words, the groups of the Ark that symbolized God's throne were not unique to Israel.
The Gentile nations each had their own chests, flanked by winged guardian angels resembling cherubim, and in these chests they kept various precious items.
Among the groups sat a deified or majestic king.
Or, an image of the country's chief god was placed on the ark.

But there was nothing in the Ark of the Covenant of Israel.
For that reason, from the perspective of neighboring countries, the Ark of the Covenant would have been seen as an unfinished product or a counterfeit.
However, the reason the Ark was made empty with nothing between the groups on top of it is because God cannot be depicted in any way.
If someone creates something in the image of God and says, 'This is God,' then at that moment it is not God at all.
We call it an 'idol'.
Rather, the items similar to the Ark of the Covenant from neighboring countries are counterfeit Ark of the Covenant.

--- pp.59~60

On the day of the dedication of the tabernacle, the ordination of priests was also performed at the same time (Exodus 29; Leviticus 8), and at this time, anointing oil was poured and anointed on all the priests.
Specifically, the anointing oil is poured 'on the heads' of Aaron and his sons, not on their bodies (Exodus 29:7).
However, the anointing oil is sprinkled on the priest's garments (Exodus 29:21).
By this the priests are sanctified.
Afterwards, whenever a new priest was appointed, this anointing oil was poured on him.
The object to which the oil is applied becomes holy, but this change does not occur automatically.
Because the holy transformation of humans and things ultimately comes only from God, the source of holiness.
Therefore, the oil is merely a medium that causes holiness and has no meaning in itself without divine intervention.
This is also true for the Ark of the Covenant and other objects.
It was only when God was present that it had meaning and the power of holiness was at work.
In other words, those objects did not automatically guarantee God's presence and create history on their own.

--- p.95

We should not arbitrarily assign spiritual meaning to the tools used on these various altars.
For example, it is difficult to interpret as follows: ashes symbolize sin, a shovel symbolizes confession of sin, a bucket containing ashes symbolizes the treatment of sin and atonement, a meat hook symbolizes God's support to prevent the saints from falling into temptation, and a fire bowl symbolizes the fullness of the Holy Spirit containing the spark of the Holy Spirit.

It is difficult to understand how the ashes of a holy beast, ascended to God as a fragrant aroma, could symbolize sin.
We must remember that the red heifer was burned whole, including its skin, blood, and even dung, and its ashes were piled up in an ashes pit outside the camp, and instead, it was mixed with water and used as a purification water for those who were seriously unclean in groups (Num. 19; 31; cf.
Numbers 8).
How on earth can ashes, a symbol of sin, serve to cleanse us of impurities? Ashes are simply waste products of a sacrifice.
It is also strange to interpret the shovels and ashes as confession of sin and atonement.

Meat hooks have nothing to do with the grace of God that sustains the saints.
So, what exactly is the point of Eli's two sons' actions, who used meat hooks to snatch and steal meat they liked without permission (1 Sam. 2:12-17)? The altar hooks were simply used by the priests to turn the meat on the altar and cut off the boiled meat.
Any number of other passages of Scripture could be used to teach this lesson.
These altar furnishings are simply precious worship items made and used for altar maintenance.

--- pp.170~171

For a long time, a story has been circulated, mainly from the pulpits of American and Korean churches, about the high priest entering the Most Holy Place with a rope or cord tied around his ankles.
According to the story, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place alone, the sound of a bell outside confirmed that he was alive.
But if the bell doesn't ring, he is considered dead and must be dragged out.
So, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, he had to wear a rope.
Because the Holy of Holies was such a dangerous place, it was impossible to know when the high priest might die suddenly, such as from a heart attack, or when the high priest might accidentally damage God's holy glory by making a sacrificial mistake and die instantly in the Holy of Holies.
This is the story of how, if the high priest died in the Most Holy Place, no one could enter there, so they pulled the ropes to pull out the body.

However, this story is not found anywhere in the Old Testament and is in stark contrast to the evidence of the Bible.
Above all, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest takes off his magnificent high priestly robes and puts on simple linen garments without any decorations before entering the Most Holy Place (Lev. 16:4).
Therefore, since the sound of a bell can never be heard in the Holy of Holies, the story that the death or life of the high priest was confirmed from outside by the sound of a bell is completely unfounded.
In the end, the rumor that the life or death of the high priest was confirmed by the sound of the bell must be ruled out.
So, did the high priest wear linen and tie ropes around his ankles when he entered the Most Holy Place?
--- pp.278~279

Contact with the Ark of the Covenant and all other sacred objects was strictly forbidden.
Even if they were descendants of Kohath, they would die if they touched the holy objects in the inner sanctuary, and even if they looked at them, they would die (Numbers 4:15, 19, 20).
This is the result of a person being struck by the holy aura from the holy relic.
The altar of burnt offering and the water basin in the courtyard, from which the aura of holiness emanated relatively weakly, were open for the people to observe, but even contact with them was strictly forbidden, even to the Levites.
Unauthorized contact with the altar could result in death (Numbers 18:3).
Even priests could go up to the altar in a pure state after washing their hands and feet and putting on their undergarments. Otherwise, they were warned that they would die (Exodus 28:43; 30:20; 40:32).
Because the sacred objects of the tabernacle were so dangerous, they had to be wrapped in two or three layers so that not only the common people but even the descendants of Kohath, who were responsible for transporting them, could not touch or see them.

--- p.305