Expert: Scott Talbot - 6/12/2006

Question
Scott
  This may be a dumb question but here goes.
The tabernacle was 150 feet, by 75 feet, and there
were more than 600,000 Jews in the wilderness.
  How did they all fit in there for thier
Sabbath day worship service?

                           thanks
                            Bob

Answer
Bob,

Thanks for the question. (And it isn't a dumb question.)

When we think of places of worship in the 21st century, we think of a place where the entire congregation meets. However, the tabernacle was not made for this purpose.

The tabernacle was a physical way to represent God's presence to the Jews as they traveled through the wilderness. While they may have come "to" the tabernacle at times to worship, they did not all have to go "in."

The things found in the tabernacle were items used by the Levites, the tribe that represented the entire nation of Israel as they approached God in worship. Other areas of the tabernacle were further limited to certain members of the priesthood, including the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest entered once a year, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) to atone for the sins of the nation.

Scott