A Tent for Worship

DO YOU know what this building is? It is a special tent for worshiping Jehovah. It is also called the tabernacle. The people finished building it one year after they left Egypt. Do you know whose idea it was to build it?

It was Jehovah’s idea. While Moses was up on Mount Siʹnai, Jehovah told him how to build it. He said to make it so that it could easily be taken apart. In this way the parts could be carried to another place, and there be put together again. So when the Israelites moved from place to place in the wilderness, they carried the tent with them.

If you look inside the small room at the end of the tent, you can see a box, or chest. This is called the ark of the covenant. It had two angels or cherubs made of gold, one on each end. God again wrote the Ten Commandments on two flat stones, because Moses had broken the first ones. And these stones were kept inside the ark of the covenant. Also, a jar of manna was kept inside it. Do you remember what manna is?

Moses’ brother Aaron is the one that Jehovah chooses to be the high priest. He leads the people in worshiping Jehovah. And his sons are priests too.

Now look at the bigger room of the tent. It is twice as big as the small room. Do you see the box, or little chest, with some smoke going up from it? This is the altar where the priests burn some sweet-smelling stuff called incense. Then there is the lampstand that has seven lamps. And the third thing in the room is a table. On it are kept 12 loaves of bread.

In the yard of the tabernacle there is a big bowl, or basin, that is filled with water. The priests use it for washing. There is also the big altar. Here the dead animals are burned as an offering to Jehovah. The tent is right in the middle of the camp, and the Israelites live in their tents all around it.