Some Differences Between Tabernacle, Temple, and Synagogue
The tabernacle is first mentioned in Exodus 25 when God instructed Moses to build one – also referred to as a tent of meeting – to host the presence of the Lord. The temple in Jewish life refers to the temple built in Jerusalem that was the central place of worship. And the synagogue, historically and today, has served as a gathering place for prayer, instruction, and community. It continues to be central to Jewish life today, as it was in the time of Jesus.
Tabernacle
The design of the tabernacle came down from heaven (Hb 8:5), as did Jesus himself. It took 9 months to create the tabernacle; Jesus was in Mary’s womb for 9 months. The main person in charge of building the tabernacle furniture was Bezalel of Judah (Ex 31:2); Jesus was of the tribe of Judah. The tabernacle was anointed with holy anointing oil (Ex 30:22-30) before it was put into use; Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit before he began his ministry (Jn 1:32). Jesus Christ means Jesus the Anointed One.
The tabernacle had only one door; Jesus stated he was the door and the only way to the Father (Jn 10:7). The tabernacle door was made of blue, scarlet, purple, and linen (white); the blue and scarlet represent the water and blood he shed on the cross; purple represents royalty as the robe he had at time of crucifixion; white linen represents the burial cloth in which he was buried.
The Bronze Altar represents judgment and required sacrifice; Jesus bore our judgment and became the atoning sacrifice for us (1Jn 2:2). The Menorah represents Christ’s light and his spirit; Jesus stated he was the light of the world (Jn 8:12). The Table of Shewbread represents Christ body broken for us; Jesus stated he was the bread of life (Jn 6:35). The Altar of incense represents intercessory prayers Christ offers for us as our High Priest (Hb 7:25). The Veil represents Christ’s body and it being ripped from top to bottom is allegory for Christ dying for us by his own volition; Jesus stated the way to the Father is only through him (Jn 14:6). Its colors are the same as those of the door. The Ark of the Covenant represents God’s Throne Room and its Mercy Seat represents God seeing us through the blood of Jesus Christ and declaring us righteous (Ro 3:25, 5:1).
The tabernacle was in use for almost 500 years and represents our pathway to God. Jesus is the door. We immediately face judgment (bronze altar) but Christ becomes the atonement (propitiation) sacrifice for our sin. Yet, we still have our sin nature and require continual cleansing (bronze laver) by God’s word and his holy spirit. We then have fellowship with Christ where he is the light for our path as we walk with him, where he is our sustainer as we partake of him and become more like him, where he is our High Priest and makes intercession for us with the Father. We can come boldly to our Father because of Christ’s crucifixion for us and find the Father declaring us righteous because Christ’s blood covers our sins.
Solomon’s Temple
Solomon’s Temple was the first temple built to replace the tabernacle by King Solomon. His father David had gathered all necessary materials for its construction (1Ch 28:11-19). David also devised how the priests would lead the people in worship. Its building construction started in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign (2Ch 3:2), and it was completed in the eleventh year of his reign (1Ki 6:38): 7 years. Its front faced East.
On the outside of the temple stood the Sea, set upon 12 oxen for the purpose of the priests to wash. This vessel replaced the original laver used in the tabernacle. He also made ten other lavers for the priests to wash the portions of the animals used for sacrifice.
The altar was as wide as the tabernacle itself (20 cubits; 30 feet) and was square. I think it was designed knowing that the population would grow and its surface would be needed for the future number of sacrifices that it would support. At the temple dedication, Solomon offered 22,000 cattle as well as 120,000 sheep and goats. He created additional, temporary altars to offer the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
The doors to enter the court were made of bronze. Inside the temple in the Holy Place stood ten menorahs and ten tables for the shewbread: 5 on the north side of the temple and 5 on south side. Palms, chain designs, and cherubim were engraved into the sides of the Holy Place and all were overlaid with gold. He also adorned these with precious stones. The holy place was 60 cubits long (90 feet), 20 cubits wide (30 feet), and 30 cubits high (45 feet).
The doors to the temple were overlaid with gold. A curtain (blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen with cherubim designed into it) was between the Holy Place and Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was 20 cubits (30 feet) square. Therefore, stairs were needed from the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies. Its surface was overlaid with gold. He created two large cherubim: each with a wingspan of 10 cubits (15 feet) with each wing 5 cubits (7.5 feet). Therefore, both covered the entire space with their wings outstretched.
The ark would have been turned 90⁰ as the poles would face the door (2Ch 5:9), and they actually protruded into the curtain. There was also a curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it (2Ch 3:14).
We find the description of cherubim in Ezekiel chapter 1. Their faces looked like this: each of the four had the face of a human being, on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides, they had human hands. They had two wings spreading out upward, one on either side, and two covering its body. Each face represented each aspect of the kingdoms of the Earth God created: humanity (man), livestock (ox), wild animals (lion), and birds of the sky (eagle). Note: fish are always treated as less than for some reason and seem to always be a source of food.
Zerubbabel’s Temple
Zerubbabel’s Temple was built when many of the Israelites returned from Babylonian captivity. Many gave gold, silver, and garments to the construction of a new temple. King Cyrus, back in Babylon, gave back many of the articles of furniture Nebuchadnezzar had taken. The altar was the first thing erected, and in the 7th month, feasts were celebrated and their offerings given. Construction of the temple started in the second month of the second year of their return.
The construction of this temple had several interruptions but was finally completed in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius in the month Adar and the temple dedicated. So that was almost 20 years for it to be completed. Passover, occurring the next month after the temple’s construction, was the first feast celebrated in this newly built temple. We don’t know much about this temple, but we do know it was not as glorious as Solomon’s temple (Er 3:12-13).
Herod’s Temple
Herod’s temple is still called the 2nd temple because the temple functioned without ever stopping rituals during all the building and upgrades that Herod made to Zerubbabel’s temple. Because services never ceased, it is still called the 2nd temple.
The temple was built in Jerusalem where God placed His Name for the place of worship of God. It was used for a variety of communal needs: schools, communal meals, hostels, courts, collection and distribution of charity, political meetings, worship and reading/interpreting the Torah and Prophets.
Herod started improvements to Zerubbabel’s temple in 20 BCE, and it took 46 years to complete: 25 CE. So, it was basically a new building at the start of Jesus’ ministry and was in the process of being built when he was presented as a baby and also when he went for a visit as a twelve-year-old.
The leading scribes at first opposed Herod’s plan as they were very suspicious of the whole thing. They actually believed that once Herod pulled the old building down, he would never replace it. Herod had to promise that he would not touch the old building until he had built the new one around it. Once things commenced, under no circumstances were the services to be interrupted. Herod hired workmen by the thousands. Among them were many priests to build those portions not accessible to ordinary Jews. The work was started by leveling larger portions of the Temple Mount, so that the new building might be erected on a broader base. It was also made much taller, so that the white stone gleamed in the bright Palestinian sun and could be seen from miles away. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
Tribulation Temple
The picture of the Tribulation Temple is blurry because we have no idea what this temple will look like. We can assume it will be similar to Herod’s temple, but we don’t know that for sure.
The Bible clearly teaches that a new temple — which will be called The Third Temple — will be built in the future. It will most likely be erected at the beginning of the Tribulation in the form of a tent temple, like the Tabernacle of Moses. A more permanent structure will then be built around and above it. The Antichrist will desecrate this temple in the middle of the Tribulation.
Most Jews in Israel are not interested in building a new temple as they are quite secular and agnostic. Only some of the more orthodox Jews are preparing for the ability to put a new temple in Jerusalem and have been preparing for many years to build all the necessary pieces of furniture required.
There is some controversy around where the temple actually stood within Jerusalem. Many state the current temple mount is exactly where the temple stood. Others say that the temple would need to be south of the current temple mount because the size of the current temple mount is more like the size of the Antonia Fortress. They based this upon the description that the historian Josephus provided.
Josephus effuses about the splendor of the Antonia Fortress and how much Herod, a prolific builder, dispensed for its construction. Herod dubbed the Roman camp “Fort Antonia” after his friend, Mark Antony, and it assured his reputation as a master builder by its unparalleled magnificence. It must have been about 40 acres in size, like other typical Roman camps capable of housing a legion of 5,000-6,000 soldiers. Josephus described it as being “erected upon a rock of fifty cubits in height” on a “great precipice.” It had “all kinds of rooms and other conveniences, such as courts, and places for bathing, and broad spaces for camps, such that it had all the conveniences of cities and seemed like it was composed of several cities.” With 60-foot walls, four towers (the southeast being 105 feet high), and smooth stones installed on its slopes, it dominated the temple to its south, ready to fend off the most formidable attacks. When any trouble brewed in the temple, or to keep peace during the festivals, Roman soldiers poured out of Fort Antonia onto two 600-foot aerial bridges, connecting it to the roofs of the temple porticoes, whereupon they dispersed around its four-furlong perimeter. If need be, the soldiers could rain their arrows down upon the people in the outer courts or descend via staircases to perform hand-to-hand combat.
Millennial Temple
Ezekiel goes into great detail about how the Millennial Temple during the reign of Christ will look (Ek 44-48). Yet there is still room for interpretation about certain aspects. We can’t say for sure how it will look, but we can know it will be spectacular and may even surpass how marvelous all the previous temples looked.
The Tabernacle existed for 500 years. Solomon’s Temple lasted for 350 years. Zerubbabel’s Temple lasted 497 years. Herod’s Temple lasted for 89 years. The Tribulation Temple will exist for only 3.5 to 7 years while the Millennial Temple will last for 1000 years.
The size of each temple (or tabernacle) plus its court was approximately the size of the next temple itself. Why would this be? As each temple was erected, it had to accommodate more and more people. Therefore, the size of the temple altar kept getting larger to accommodate the number of sacrifices that would be required. Also, the court kept getting larger to accommodate the more people as well as the number of Gentiles that were supposed to be welcomed into Judaism.
For us to understand their size, let’s use the size of an American football field (100 yds long and a little over 50 yds wide). The tabernacle was about one-fourth that size. Solomon’s temple was about three-fourths that size. Herod’s temple was a little over 3 times that size. The Millennial Temple will be over 12 times that size.
Synagogue
The Greek word for synagogue means a gathering of something (in this case, people). It became known as a place of assembly. The synagogue was a reflection of the temple and was used for a variety of communal needs: schools, communal meals, hostels, courts, collect and distribute charity, political meetings, worship and reading / interpreting the Torah and Prophets,
The first synagogue was likely first started during Babylonian captivity with congregations without a building. In Psalms, we read, By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion (Ps 137:1). Some scholars believe the first synagogue building occurred in the 6th century BCE, but the first archeological evidence of a synagogue building is from 3rd century BCE in Egypt as well as in Capernaum. Literature of the 1st century CE refers to numerous synagogues not only in Palestine but also in Rome, Greece, Egypt, Babylonia, and Asia Minor. Several synagogues have been archeologically discovered:
Gamla was an ancient Jewish city on the Golan Heights with a synagogue. During the Jewish-Roman War (66-73 CE), it became a significant stronghold for many Jews. Many committed suicide by jumping to their deaths rather than being captured by the Romans.
Masada was a fortress built by Herod the Great on a plateau on the edge of the Judean desert overlooking the Dead Sea between 37-31 BCE and also contained a synagogue. Herod also had a multi-tiered palace there. It became a stronghold after the Jewish-Roman War (73-74 CE) where zealot rebels took refuge. Romans built a ramp on one side to eventually invade the city. Many of the Jews committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans.
Herodium was built by Herod the Great as a Fortress and palace about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from Jerusalem and 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Bethlehem built between 23 and 15 BCE. The palace itself consisted of four towers of seven stories, a bathhouse, courtyards, a Roman theatre, banquet rooms, a large walkway ("the course"), as well as extravagant living quarters for himself and guests. Once Herod died and the Great Revolt started, Herodium was abandoned. The Jews eventually had a base at Herodium where they built a synagogue which can still be seen today, unlike much of Herod's Palace.
Capernaum was a base camp, so to speak, for Jesus and his disciples. The synagogue remains that are now visible are from the 3rd century.
Synagogues can be built anywhere; a new temple must be built where the previous temple was located. Synagogues do not perform sacrifices. As a way of putting the Temple memory in a special place, they do not use music during prayer. It is a place for prayer, instruction, and community, both in Israel and wherever Jewish people reside.
God has always prepared a way for people to worship and praise him. Praise of him was to be a testimony to his goodness to the world. We are to do the same.
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens