Help us to be a part of your temple, and to please you in everything.
Now that the Children of Israel had the law it was time for the priesthood to be established.
What was the purpose of them?
The Children of Israel were to be a special people, one that God had set aside to be examples to the whole world. They in turn were to be guided by the priests. The priests were to approach God on behalf of the people, offer the sacrifices and guide the lives of all of the people. Moses said that a leader 'like him' was to follow. He knew kings would come to rule over the Children of Israel, and that even them should be guided by the priesthood. But Moses, as a prophet himself, also knew that a king would come who would be able to mediate with God directly.
Back to the subject. God gave very specific instructions as to how the tabernacle was to be built, what the furnishing were and even where they were to be placed.
One other specific instruction was who was and wasn't to touch them once they were in use. The tabernacle and furnishings were to be holy and as such only people who were holy (sanctified) could touch them.
The items were mainly of gold. But as the items were to be carried some were made of wood and covered with gold. The cost was enormous, but the people gave willingly. (Remember that the gold was taken out of Egypt when the people left.) It would be nice to give something that was to benefit God in such a way.
It was interesting to note that the people didn't move camp until the tabernacle was ready, and that it was always in the middle of the march when the people moved.
The tabernacle was still in use until the time of King David, approx. 400 years later. I wonder what happened to it after that.
Why did God give such specific instructions how to build the tabernacle?
Look up what was in the tabernacle. What purpose did the items do?
Why was the tabernacle in the middle of the camp? What does this signify?
What can we give God, that would please him?