Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

Chapter 27 is very specific in describing the way that the altar was to be created. I’m attaching a picture here that shows the different parts that it was supposed to have. It was to be made a specific dimension (large) out of wood that was then overlaid by bronze so that it wouldn’t catch on fire. It had to have a horn at each corner to tie the animal’s legs down, and then the hoops at the bottom so that it could be carried. Additionally, it had to have a place underneath for the wood to go so that the animal could be burnt. TB describes it as a large fire box. One of the things that was really powerful to me was when I tried to find a good explanation video of the actual animal sacrifice procedure, but we’ll read more about that in Leviticus, I think. Anyway, some of the things that I read about while trying to find this was that the people would bring the animal to the tabernacle, and it would be killed by that person and sometimes with the help of a priest. But what was interest...

Chapter 26 is very much a continuation of instructions for the construction of the tabernacle. Chapter 25 covered the inside things like the ark of the covenant, etc and now we move on to the actual physical structure. Concerning the overall design of the tabernacle, TB explains, “the Tabernacle was divided into 3 zones of varying degrees of holiness: the Holy of Holies being the greatest, the Holy Place with slightly less holiness, and the Outer Court the least. Also recall that the perimeter of the Tabernacle was basically a fence made out of cloth that enclosed an open courtyard. The Tent portion which consisted ONLY of the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, was the only portion of the Tabernacle that had a roof.” I’m attaching a picture that I found online that gives a better visualization to what the whole thing looked like There are some notes that TB makes that I found to be very interesting about the materials. He says, “since the Tabernacle was meant to go wherever God direc...

Chapter 25 is interesting because now we shift from instruction of law to the construction of the tabernacle. It’s long and if I remember correctly from the last time I read through the Old Testament in full, there is a significant portion that discusses dimensions of the tabernacle and the drapes size, shape, and color, etc. and when I read through it last time I was bored. The IM says almost nothing about the next 5 chapters, however TB spends 2 ½ lectures just on chapter 25 alone, so let’s see what I can get out of it that I find profitable. TB notes “chapter 24 ended the 3rd division of Exodus, called Covenant and Law. With chapter 25, we enter the 4th division, a new and central theme of Exodus, concerning the Wilderness Tabernacle and the rituals associated with it.” So it seems like I’m not the only one who noticed a shift is instruction. 25:1-9 – First thing set out is a list of what the Lord wants Moses to collect from the people of Israel for use in the temple. These thing...

24:9-18 - The covenant offered by God has been unanimously accepted by Israel and it has been ratified by a blood sacrifice and now Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders are allowed to go up a portion of the mount. This is significant because previously, they had only been allowed to go up a little bit of the way, but now that they had accepted the blood sacrifice, they are allowed into the presence of God. This is just like us, when we accept Christ we are allowed incrementally closer to the presence of God. When we make and keep covenants in the temple, each step is closer to God until we are finally, eventually allowed completely into his presence. But that takes a while, probably not possible in this life, it’s a process. The words say that “they saw the God of Israel,” whether it was actually God or a manifestation or vision of him, I’m not sure, TB thinks it matters, I don’t. The description is interesting though, explaining, “there was under his feet as it were a paved...