Roadmap for the soul - Judaism, the bible and the tabernacle

Thus far, our story (and our 'roadmap') has placed Israel in the "outer court" ---

This being the case, our next question seems obvious ---

Are the people free to move forward and enter the tabernacle?
(which represents the 'promised land')

The short answer is... no.
At this point in our story,
none of the common people were allowed into the two rooms of the tabernacle at all.

And given the tabernacle's symbolism, this should be expected... Remember now... the tabernacle was covered with 'skins'. And just as God made clear with that first animal back in 'the garden', those 'skins' represented the fact that 'death' stands between man and God as a result of sin.

As our story has amply documented, sin is still very much present within Israel, thus it makes perfect sense that the people are not allowed into the tabernacle... Clearly, they cannot enter, because as the tabernacle's 'covering of skins' shows, the penalty of death applies to them.

It is worth pointing out here, that while the common people are not allowed to enter the tabernacle at this stage in our story, they will not be left 'outside' forever... Remember, in Exodus 19:6, God invited Israel to become "a kingdom of priests". And seeing as the word "kingdom" is a collective term, everyone would seem to be included in that invitation.

But if the common people cannot enter the tabernacle at the moment , who can?

Only the priests...
In the beginning, a man named Aaron and his sons were chosen to become the first priests of Israel. 42
God is going to use them to show what is required before one can enter the tabernacle's 'promised land' as a priest.

The process of becoming a priest is described in Exodus, chapter 29 ---

Exodus 29:4 "... Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall wash them with water".

Exodus 29: 20 "... Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons ..."

As you can see, the process of becoming a priest seems to center around two things...
"blood" &"water".

You may have noticed by now that these two things are a recurring theme in the bible's story...

In the tale of Noah, both were evident... The 'blood' being the 'shed-blood' (or "death of all flesh") that occurred when Noah and his family were 'separated' from the wicked world around them. The 'water' obviously being "the flood".

And likewise, in the story of Israel's 'separation' from Egypt, both are again evident... The 'blood' being the 'shed-blood' (or "death of the firstborn" & the substitutionary "Passover lambs"). The 'water' being Israel's passage through the "Red Sea".

And now, we see that in order to be 'separated' from the rest of the people
and be granted access to the 'promised land' of 'relationship with God' (within the tabernacle) as priests,
both 'blood' and water' are again involved.

Judging from the constant recurrence of these two things,
their meanings are important, so we should probably take a closer look at their symbolism...

Blood's real significance lies in the fact that it symbolizes "life" ---

Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of the flesh is in the blood..."

And as we all know, blood certainly does represent "life"... Or at least, it does when the blood is inside the creature to which it belongs. But when an animal is sacrificed, and its blood is shed, the blood then represents 'life poured out' (i.e. 'death'). Thus, the use of 'blood' in the priestly ordination rituals essentially demonstrated that in some sense, 'death' is a part of the process through which one becomes a priest.

If you recall, this fits quite well with the symbolism seen previously in the story of Isaac... There, we saw that Isaac's symbolic 'death & resurrection' suggested that those who would descend from him and inherit the 'promised land' (as priests) might likewise experience some type of 'death' and 'resurrection'... And now, we find that symbolism being validated... Just as predicted, we now find that 'death' is indeed a requirement for those who are to enter the (tabernacle's) 'promised land'... Before entering the tabernacle's 'promised land' as a priest, the 'substitutionary death' of an animal sacrifice is required. 43

Water's real significance can be seen by taking a closer look at
how it was used in the story of Noah, and also in Israel's departure from Egypt ---

In the case of Noah and his family, their passage through the water (the "flood") was basically a visible sign of 'separation'. It was a sign of their willingness to be separated from the sinful world, and represented their willingness to be identified with God.

And likewise, in the case of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, the passage through water (the "Red Sea") once again served as a very dramatic sign of 'separation'. It was a sign of Israel's willingness to be separated from the sinful world (represented by Egypt) and identified with God.

Overall then, 'water' can be seen as a public demonstration of one's willingness to be 'separated from sin' and 'identified with God'.

Thus, in the priestly consecration rituals, the deeper meaning of blood & water should now be clear ---

Blood - represented the need for a 'substitutionary death'.

Water - represented a 'public sign' of one's willingness to be
separated from sin and identified with God.

Both are required in order to become a priest.
And in order to emphasize this point, God has placed two things in the "outer court" ---

The "altar" was associated with sacrifice and therefore clearly involved blood.
The "bronze basin" (or "laver") was associated with 'washing' and clearly involved water.

As you can see, the prominent placement of the altar and the bronze basin is designed to show the people of Israel that both these things must be experienced, before they can be granted access to the 'promised land' of the tabernacle as priests.

To see more about the part that blood and water played in the priestly consecration rituals, you can look at the book of Leviticus, chapters 8 and 9. It is only after experiencing these rituals, that Aaron and his sons are finally granted access to the tabernacle as priests.

So... what is the function of a priest anyway?

The answer begins with the 'stone tablets of the Law'...

By giving the Law to Israel, God basically forced them to face a problem... By establishing a 'standard', the Law makes them face the fact that there are a great many areas in which they fall short. On a daily basis. the Law now gives the people a heightened awareness of the many ways in which they fail and become 'separated' from God.

This being the case, there is obviously an accompanying need for a means of 'restoration'...
And that's where the priesthood comes in...

The priesthood was designed to offer the people a visible sign that 'relationship with God' could be restored... When one of the common people became guilty of some infraction, they could come to the priests... The priests could then assist in making the appropriate offering on their behalf, and the offending party could eventually be restored to relationship with God and the surrounding community. In a sense, through the ministrations of the priests, the offending party could be symbolically 'brought into' the tabernacle, which represents the place of 'restored relationship with God'.

It is important to note though, that the priests did not really have any power within themselves to restore relationship with God... In fact, not even the priests of Israel have full relationship with God at this point in our story... This can be seen in the tabernacle's symbolism, in the sense that (at this stage of our story) not even the priests were granted full access to the area within the tabernacle...

Here's the point ---

Although the priests were free to enter the tabernacle on a daily basis, they were only allowed into the first room. (the "holy place"). The regular priests were not allowed into the innermost room (the "Most Holy Place") at all. Clearly, their exclusion from the Most Holy Place suggests that even they need to somehow be 'brought in', in order to truly have full relationship with God.

So... what about the "High Priest"?...

Although the High Priest (originally, Aaron) was allowed into the Most Holy Place,
it is important to note that he was only allowed in there once per year,
on what became known as the 'day of atonement' (Yom Kippur).

Given such restricted (i.e. 'infrequent') access, it would thus appear that even the High Priest needs to somehow
be 'brought in' in order to truly attain full and "everlasting" access to the tabernacle's 'promised land'.

But in any case...
what did the High Priest do in the Most Holy Place on that one day each year?

When he entered the Most Holy Place on the day of atonement, the High Priest had essentially one duty... He had the responsibility of sprinkling the "mercy seat" (basically, the lid covering the ark) with the blood of a sacrifice which had been offered on behalf of all Israel. With this yearly ritual, God was communicating the fact that Israel's sins were collectively wiped clean through the death of a 'substitute'... A description of this ritual can be found in Leviticus 16:20-34. On that day, the people of Israel rejoiced, because their sins were taken from them and their relationship with God was restored.

It is worth noting here that it is ---
...the High Priest who ultimately has the responsibility of
bringing both the priests and the common people into God's 'presence',
(thereby restoring relationship with God).

Although the priests have access to the tabernacle, in reality,
they themselves are dependent upon the High Priest for their authority and position.
The High Priest is the 'foundation' upon which their own position is established.
This will become more meaningful a bit later.

As this chapter draws to a close, just remember that ---

Ultimately, it is only through the High Priest that everyone is 'brought in' to God's presence.

The priests have the responsibility of bearing witness to those 'outside' that
relationship with God can be restored.

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