19. The Tabernacle (Exodus 25-40)

As Israel journeyed through the desert, God did not want to be a distant God, but someone who "dwelt" in the midst of His people. Therefore, He asked Moses to build the Tabernacle, a mobile sanctuary that would accompany the Israelites on their pilgrimage. Every detail of the Tabernacle, from the curtains to the gold utensils, was designed to reflect God's holiness. At the center of everything, in the most sacred place, was the Ark of the Covenant, containing the tablets of the Law, a symbol of the Lord's presence and faithfulness.

The Tabernacle was always situated at the center of the camp, with the twelve tribes of Israel distributed around it. This reminded the people that God must be the center of their entire lives, their decisions, and their work. When the cloud of God's presence rose above the Tabernacle, the people would set out; when the cloud stopped, they would camp. In this way, they learned to let themselves be guided totally by the Lord amidst the hardships of the desert.

For Christians, the Tabernacle is a beautiful prefiguration of Jesus Christ and the Church. The Gospel of John says that Jesus "pitched His tent" among us (dwelt among us). Today, the real presence of God that was once in the Tabernacle of the desert is found in an even more sublime way in the Tabernacle of every church, where Jesus remains with us every day in the Eucharist to be our companion on the journey.