• Tabernacle
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • the Gershonites and on the N the Merarites. (Num. 3:23, 29, 35, 38) Farther away were the other twelve tribes: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun on the E, Reuben, Simeon and Gad on the S, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin on the W, and Dan, Asher and Naphtali on the N. (Num. 2:1-31) From any part of the camp the tabernacle could always be easily located, because of the cloud by day and the fire by night, that stood over the Most Holy, where the ark of the covenant was situated.—Ex. 40:36-38.

      HOW TRANSPORTED

      In moving the tabernacle and its furniture and utensils, the priests carried the ark of the covenant, and the Kohathites the holy furniture. They transported these things on their shoulders, walking. (Josh. 3:8, 14; 4:10, 16-18; Num. 4:4-15; 7:9) The Gershonites, having two wagons, transported the tent cloths (except the curtain to the Most Holy, which was placed over the Ark [Num. 4:5]), the tabernacle coverings, screen, the related tent cords and certain service utensils. (Num. 4:24-26; 7:7) The Merarites, with four wagons, took care of the very heavy items, the panel frames and the pillars, socket pedestals and related tent pins and cords of both the tabernacle and the courtyard.—Num. 4:29-32; 7:8.

      HISTORY

      After Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the tabernacle was set up at Gilgal. (Josh. 4:19) It was relocated at Shiloh during the time of dividing the land (Josh. 18:1), where it remained for years (1 Sam. 1:3, 24) before being moved to Nob. (1 Sam. 21:1-6) Later it was at Gibeon. (1 Chron. 21:29) When the ark of the covenant was moved to Zion by David, it had not been in the tabernacle for many years. But until the temple was built by Solomon, sacrifices were still offered at the tabernacle in Gibeon, it being called “the great high place.” (1 Ki. 3:4) After the construction of the temple, Solomon had it brought up and apparently stored there.—1 Ki. 8:4; 2 Chron. 5:5; see ARK OF THE COVENANT; BOOTH; HOLY PLACE; MOST HOLY; TEMPLE.

      FIGURATIVE USE

      The apostle Paul throws light upon the pictorial significance of the tabernacle. In a context discussing the pattern made by the tabernacle and the services carried on therein, he speaks of Jesus Christ as “a public servant of the holy place and of the true tent, which Jehovah put up, and not man.” (Heb. 8:2) Farther on he says: “Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come to pass through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” (Heb. 9:11) The tent in the wilderness was an arrangement set up by God’s command for approach to him in true worship, an arrangement for typical removal of sins. Being an illustration (Heb. 9:9), it would foreshadow the arrangement that God established in which the great High Priest Jesus Christ could serve, appearing in heaven before his Father with the value of his sacrifice that can actually remove sins. (Heb. 9:24-26) Through this arrangement faithful men can have real approach to God. (Heb. 4:16) The heavenly “tent of the witness” or tabernacle was seen by the apostle John in vision.—Rev. 15:5.

      The apostle Peter, being a spirit-begotten son of God with the hope of heavenly life in association with Christ Jesus, spoke of his fleshly body as a “tabernacle.” It was a ‘dwelling place,’ but was only temporary, since Peter knew his death was near and his resurrection would not be in the flesh, but in the spirit.—2 Pet. 1:13-15; 1 John 3:2; 1 Cor. 15:35-38, 42-44.

      For the various articles of furniture and equipment used in the tabernacle, see articles under individual names.

  • Tabor
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • TABOR

      (Taʹbor) [possibly height, lofty place].

      1. An outstanding mountain in the territory of Issachar on its northern boundary. (Josh. 19:17, 22) In Arabic it is called Jebel et-Tor. It is situated about twelve miles (c. 19 kilometers) W of the southern end of the Sea of Galilee and about five miles (8 kilometers) E-SE of the city of Nazareth.

      Isolated from other mountains, Tabor rises abruptly from the Jezreel valley to an altitude of 1,843 feet (562 meters) above sea level. From the W-NW it looks like a truncated cone, and from the SW like the segment of a sphere. From its summit it affords a magnificent view in all directions. The impressive prominence of this mountain probably explains why the psalmist mentions Tabor and Mount Hermon together as outstanding examples of the Creator’s majestic craftsmanship. (Ps. 89:12) Jehovah also used the striking massiveness of Tabor—standing alone in the Jezreel valley—to illustrate the impressiveness of the force Nebuchadnezzar was bringing against Egypt.—Jer. 46:13, 18.

      Tabor was made particularly famous when Barak, at God’s direction, assembled 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun against Sisera and his army including 900 chariots with “iron scythes.” At the given signal Barak and his forces hurried down the slopes of Tabor, and after Jehovah had thrown the Canaanites into confusion, the Israelites won a decisive victory over the fleeing forces of Sisera.—Judg. 4:4-16.

      Some years later Tabor witnessed the killing of Gideon’s brothers by Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. (Judg. 8:18, 19) By the middle of the eighth century B.C.E. the unfaithful priestly and regal houses of Israel were “as a net spread over Tabor,” possibly using that mountain W of the Jordan as a center for idolatry to snare the Israelites; Mizpah may have been so used E of the Jordan.—Hos. 5:1.

      The summit of Tabor, a rather flat elliptical area about a quarter of a mile (.4 kilometer) wide from N to S and twice as long from E to W, provided a commanding position and a most suitable location for a fortified city. The ruins show that such a city flourished there before and after the first century C.E. This fact gives reason to question the tradition that Tabor was the location of Jesus’ transfiguration, for the accounts say that Jesus and his three companions were in the mountain “by themselves,” “to themselves alone.” Mount Hermon is more likely that “lofty mountain” and it is near Caesarea Philippi at the headwaters of the Jordan, where Jesus was shortly before the transfiguration.—Matt. 17:1, 2; Mark 8:27; 9:2.

      2. One of the cities in the territory of Zebulun given to the Levitical sons of Merari. Today its location is unknown.—1 Chron. 6:1, 77.

      3. The “big tree of Tabor” was presumably in Benjamin’s territory. It was a landmark that Samuel referred to in his instructions to Saul after Saul’s anointing, where he was to meet three men en route to Bethel. The site is unknown today.—1 Sam. 10:1-3.