The term “tabernacle” in the Bible refers to something deep concerning God and His testimony. The phrase “tent of meeting” is positive; however, the significance is not as deep as that of the tabernacle. The tabernacle is related to God’s testimony, but the tent of meeting is related mainly to God’s interest on earth and to His move. You may wish to keep this distinction in mind as you read through the Old Testament. Remember that the word “tabernacle” points to something directly related to God’s testimony and that the term “tent of meeting” points to something that is more outward, external, related to God’s interest and move.
As an illustration of this distinction, let us consider chapter one of Leviticus. According to Leviticus 1:1, the Lord spoke to Moses out of the tent of meeting. In this verse we are not told that the Lord spoke to Moses out of the tabernacle. When we read this verse, we may think that it is a wonderful matter for God to speak out of the tent of meeting. Yes, God’s speaking out of the tent of meeting is wonderful. However, it is not as wonderful as His speaking in the tabernacle.
It is important for us to understand the relationship between the cloud and the glory. We may say that the cloud is the outer part, the “shell,” of God’s glory. By shell we mean an outer covering. If we understand the word shell in this way, we may say that an orange has a peeling as its shell, and we may say that the human body has the skin as its shell. The skin covers the body, and the body contains our being. But the shell covering the human body is not our actual being. Rather, our being is the spirit. Those who were outside the tabernacle could see the shell. Anyone who entered into the tabernacle would see not the shell, but would see the inward glory of the tabernacle.
The young people may enjoy the church life and testify how wonderful it is. However, they may be enjoying only the shell of the church. But this does not mean that they should give up this enjoyment. On the contrary, they should go on to enjoy the inward glory of the tabernacle. Young people, do not be disappointed by my word, and do not throw away the shell because you do not yet have much of the inward glory.
I believe that many of us can testify that when we were in Elden Hall in Los Angeles, we were on the “roof” of the church life enjoying the cloud. Perhaps some would say that the church life in Anaheim is not as exciting as that in Elden. I agree. Nevertheless, we must admit that what we are enjoying today is something deeper and more inward than what we enjoyed in Elden Hall. We may no longer be on the roof enjoying the cloud, but we are learning to intercede at the incense altar. Anyone who intercedes at the incense altar is no longer in the cloud that covers the tent of meeting. Rather, this one is encompassed by the glory that is on the inside of the church life. I hope that more of us will see this and experience it.
Some of the older saints may feel bothered or frustrated. They may say to themselves, “Why are we not as fresh as we used to be? Why is the church life not so exciting?” It is good to be excited and it is also good to be able to excite others. However, it is mainly the young ones who are excited and exciting, for they are enjoying the cloud outside the tent of meeting. But it is difficult for the older ones who are experiencing the glory within the tabernacle to be excited. I can testify that as an older one I may not be excited outwardly, but I find it wonderful to intercede at the incense altar. How I love to enjoy the bread at the table and to linger at the incense altar!
Those in the outer court may gather around the altar of burnt offering and see the cloud covering the tent of meeting. But if they want to see the glory, they need to come inside the tabernacle. The glory is not on the roof; it is within the tabernacle. When we come into the tabernacle, we shall see that the glory is there.