Symbolic Structures In Biblical Worship
In the Bible, the primary aspect of God's character is that he is "holy," not only in the sense of being good and righteous, but in the sense of being "sacred, sacrosanct," set apart from the ordinary. The Lord's people, because they belong to him, participate in his holiness (Lev. 20:26). But not only are the Lord and his people holy; physical objects, including structures and the space they represent or enclose, can be separated to God for his exclusive use and thus serve a symbolic function as windows into sacred reality. This is true of the altar, the tent (tabernacle), and the temple.
The Altar
The Hebrew word mizbe'', "altar," means a place of sacrifice. Except for the altar of the tabernacle and temple, which was originally a portable altar of bronze, altars erected in the Bible were of stone. The Pentateuch (Exod. 20:24–26) stipulates that altars are to be constructed of earth (that is, brick) or of stone; if made of stone, the stones must not be cut with chisels because "you will defile it if you use a tool on it" (Exod. 20:25). The meaning seems to be that, as an instrument of sacrifice to the holy God, the altar and other material things "should be used for the service of God only in their natural condition before they have been interfered with in any way by man" (Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions [London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961], p. 408). The prohibition of steps on the altar also served to separate it from anything profane. The Scriptures rarely speak of the altar of sacrifice as a "table" (Ezek. 44:16; Mal. 1:7, 12), since Israel rejected the pagan notion that what was placed on the altar was food for the gods. The biblical view is well expressed by Paul who, in preaching to the Athenians, rejects the idea that God can be literally served by human hands, "as if he needed anything" (Acts 17:25; cf. Ps. 50:12–13).
The altar is a sign of the presence of God. For this reason, in the period before the Israelite kingdoms, altars were often erected as memorials to a theophany, or appearance, of the Lord (by Abraham, Gen. 12:7; 26:24–25; by Jacob, Gen. 35:7, 14). As a structure commemorating a manifestation of God, an altar might be given a name, as with Jacob's altar at Bethel ('El, the God of Israel, Gen. 33:20) or the altar erected by Moses after Israel's defeat of the Amalekites (Yahvehnissi, "The Lord is my Banner," Exod. 17:15–16). Memorial altars were not necessarily used for sacrificial worship. The tribes that settled east of the Jordan built an altar, which they (when confronted by the rest of Israel) claimed was not for sacrifice but for "a witness between us and you" that they, too, were a part of Israel (Josh. 22:7–34).
As a token of the presence of the holy, the altar was sacrosanct, a "bearer of the holy." Jesus acknowledged this concept when he reminded the Pharisees that the gift offered on the altar is sanctified by the altar, not the other way around (Matt. 23:19). In the regular worship of Israel, as laid out in the Mosaic directives, only the priests, specially consecrated for the service of the altar, could "draw near" to officiate in sacrifice. Yet even the altar of the sanctuary was not inherently holy; it had to be purified each year on the Day of Atonement when atonement was made for the sin of the entire worshiping community. The sanctity of the altar is a reflection of the holiness of the God who receives the tribute of his people offered thereon.
In the Christian church there are no true altars, for the sacrifice has been offered once for all in Christ's death on the cross. Nor is the cross called an altar; as the author of Hebrews makes clear, the sacrifice of Christ is offered in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8–9), with the implication that Jesus himself is the altar as well as the sacrifice and the officiating priest (Heb. 13:10–13). In a sense the Christian "altar" is a "Communion table," although the Bible does not use that expression. The Israelite worshiper, having brought a sacrifice, was typically given back a portion of his offering to eat, becoming as it were a participant in a meal hosted by the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 10:18). In the same manner, the Lord hosts his people in the Lord's Supper, the sacred meal of the new covenant. But the symbolism is in the action performed, not in the altar or table. In the Revelation to John, the martyrs cry out from "under the altar" (Rev. 6:9). The witness of the persecuted church, in its participation in Christ's suffering (Phil. 3:10) and its faithfulness to the true covenant, is the foundation for its sacrificial offering to God.
The Tent (Tabernacle)
The tent or tabernacle in Scripture is a picture of the Lord's presence with his people and of the true communion with the Lord which comes through faithfulness to his covenant.
The Tent in the Old Testament
The desert sanctuary established in the Mosaic covenant was called the tent, or tabernacle ('ohel). The tabernacle continued in use as the worship center after the settlement of Canaan, being stationed at a series of locations including Shiloh and Gibeon, until replaced by the temple. The tent stood within an enclosure, or court, which also contained the altar of sacrifice. The Pentateuch contains detailed instructions for the construction of the tabernacle (Exod. 26:1–30), which was made so that it could be easily disassembled, transported, and reassembled at a new site as the community moved about.
Tents were the dwelling places of Israel during the nomadic period of the wilderness; the tabernacle of the Lord is also called the mishkan, or "dwelling," representing his presence or "name" (Deut. 12:5) in the midst of his people. Like other dwellings of the period, the Lord's house had its hearth (the altar), its table (the table of shewbread), and its lamp, which burned continuously, there being no windows in most houses. In place of the bed, the inner sanctuary contained the ark, representing Yahweh's seat or throne. As a movable dwelling, the tent is an appropriate symbol of the dynamic character of Yahweh. Even his name, given to Moses in the desert, is interpreted to reveal a God who is not stationary, but ever on the move: "I will be who I will be" (Exod. 3:14 author's translation). When David proposed to erect a permanent temple as the house of the Lord, the prophet Nathan made it clear that Yahweh was satisfied to be "moving from place to place with a tent" (2 Sam. 7:5–7). The Israelite worshiper understood that the presence of the God who made heaven and earth could not be confined to one geographic location; this truth was more easily sustained through the symbolism of a simple tabernacle than that of a grand permanent structure, though Solomon attempted to do so in his prayer at the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:27). Many of the early psalms seem to have been composed for the worship David established in Jerusalem before the building of the temple; at this time the ark of the covenant stood in a tent of its own on Zion (1 Chron. 16:1), while the Mosaic tent remained at Gibeon (1 Chron. 21:29). As the Psalms passed into the worship of the temple, the words for the tabernacle came to stand for it as well.
After the settlement of Canaan, the Israelites began to live in permanent structures, houses built within villages or fortified cities. Israelite culture became influenced by that of Canaan, which included the polytheistic fertility cults and the political system of rule by kings instead of by tribal elders and family heads. Thus the tent became a symbol of the idealized Israel, its roots in the nomadic life of the desert where it had received the covenant and had faithfully served Yahweh. When Rehoboam refused to lighten the heavy burden of taxation and service that his father Solomon had levied on the nation for his grandiose court and construction projects, the northern tribes revolted with the cry, "To your tents, O Israel!" (1 Kings 12:16). In token of the nomadic ideal, the Rechabites (followers of Jonadab ben Rechab) refused to live in houses or cultivate the land but lived in tents; the prophet Jeremiah held them up as an example of faithfulness to the Lord (Jer. 35:5–10).
The Tent in the New Testament
Tent symbolism occurs in the New Testament also, where its meaning is dependent on Old Testament precedents. The letter to the Hebrews views the earthly institutions of Israelite religion as pictures of greater spiritual realities. Being the Great High Priest, Jesus "serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man" (Heb. 8:1–2). This "greater and more perfect tabernacle" (Heb. 9:11) is a word picture of the heavenly and spiritual communion of the new covenant which the worshiper may enter in virtue of the atonement made by Jesus Christ.
But in another sense, Jesus himself is the tabernacle, as are those who belong to him. John introduces his Gospel with the statement, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14); the Greek word translated "made his dwelling" is sk?no?, literally "pitch a tent, tabernacle." The incarnation of the Word in Jesus fulfills the symbolism of the Israelite tabernacle, in which the Lord dwells in the midst of the community of his people to maintain the covenant. At the ascension of Christ, the Word in bodily form is succeeded by the Spirit of Christ, the Helper promised by Jesus (John 16:7), who dwells with the people who are his temple (1 Cor. 3:16–17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16). The tabernacle (sk?n?) is the worshiping church, the bride of the Lamb: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men" (Rev. 21:3 NASB).
Both Paul and Peter speak of the Christian's body as a "tent" (2 Cor. 5:1–2; 2 Pet. 1:13–14), a temporary residence to be replaced by an eternal one. This should not be misunderstood in an individualistic sense. The eternal "tabernacle" is not the believer's body, but the believer as the body of the Spirit. This is made clear by Paul's comparison of the "spiritual body" of the resurrection to Adam, who was filled with life by the Spirit or breath of God (1 Cor. 15:44–45). The life of the resurrection is corporate, since there is "one body and one Spirit" (Eph. 4:4).
The Temple As Sacred Space
The temple on Mount Zion epitomizes the concept of "sacred space." Like other sanctuaries, it was erected on a mountain or hill. Ancient peoples regarded such elevations as places where heaven and earth might intersect, as in Jacob's dream at Bethel in which he sees a ladder connecting heaven and earth with the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Upon awakening, Jacob is overcome with awe and exclaims, "This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven" (Gen. 28:11–18).
As the intersection of the cosmic and the earthly, the temple is also a picture of the universe in miniature, incorporating heaven, land, and sea within its confines. On Zion, sang the Israelite worshiper, the Lord "built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever" (Ps. 78:69). In the inner sanctuary, containing the ark of the covenant, the Lord is "enthroned between the cherubim" (Ps. 80:1; 99:1); he rides through the heavens on them to come to the aid of his anointed (Ps. 18:10). Ascending to the sanctuary in pilgrimage, the worshiper cries, "I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven" (Ps. 123:1). "The Lord made the heavens," proclaims the psalmist, and in his next breath, "Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary" (Ps. 96:5–6). The heavenly majesty of the Lord, who covers himself "in light as with a garment," is depicted in psalmic imagery reminiscent of various features of the temple: its beams, its curtains, the fires and smoky cloud of the altar of incense (Ps. 104:2–4).
At the same time, the temple's sacred space is an architectural representation of the earth, its land and vegetation, its seas and rivers, and its inhabitants. The celebration of Yahweh's kingship in the sanctuary, as recorded in the Psalms, includes recognition that he sustains the physical creation: "The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved" (Ps. 96:10; cf. Ps. 93:1–2). Because of the overwhelming and beautiful presence of the Lord in his sanctuary, the field exults and the trees of the forest sing for joy before the judge of the earth (Ps. 96:12). Even the birds find a nest at the altars of the house of the Lord (Ps. 84:3). Through his covenant faithfulness, he preserves both "man and beast" in the place where "both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings" (Ps. 36:7), a reference to the wings of the cherubim overshadowing the ark. Here, encountering the radiant presence of the holy, "in your light we see light" (Ps. 36:9)—the first of God's creations (Gen. 1:3).
The sanctuary also represents the earth as the setting for Israel's "sacred history," the drama of the Lord's deliverance of his people from their enemies. "His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war" (Ps. 76:2–3). Because God's dwelling place is in the midst of his city, attacking armies are defeated; the worshiper is invited to "come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth," destroying the enemy's armaments (Ps. 46:8).
A telling expression occurs in Psalm 24, which proclaims that "the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers" (Ps. 24:1–2 nasb). Mention of seas and rivers seems out of place in landlocked Jerusalem, which has no stream except the intermittent brook of Kidron. But the sea and the river are in the temple! The metal "sea" cast by Solomon's craftsmen seems an oddity until we understand that the temple's sacred space also pictures the sea upon which the earth is established, "the floods," which "have lifted up their voice" to the mighty Lord (Ps. 93:3–4). In the sanctuary, "the sea roars" before the coming judge of the earth (Ps. 96:11–13). As to rivers, "there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy places where the Most High dwells" (Ps. 46:4). It is the sacred river, part of this symbolic microcosm, which Ezekiel sees flowing forth from the restored sanctuary to heal the land; "so where the river flows everything will live" (Ezek. 47:9).
In its architectural embrace of the creation, the sanctuary imparts to it a spiritual aspect; "in His temple everything says, 'Glory!' " (Ps. 29:9 nasb). We are reminded that heaven and earth were created as the setting in which the drama of human sin and divine redemption through the covenant is acted out and that they are witnesses to the covenant between the Lord and his worshipers (Deut. 4:26; 30:19).
As a pictorial microcosm of heaven and earth, the Israelite sanctuary proclaims the presence of the living God throughout all creation as he manifests his glory to his worshiping people. In thinking about the architectural needs of the church today, we do well to ponder the importance of "sacred space" as a symbol of the Lord's indwelling of his spiritual temple, the body of Christ.