Moses' Tabernacle was indeed the foreshadow of heavenly things to come. All the elements making up the holy of Holies came to life in the New Covenant. The Tabernacle was the birthplace of the Jewish religion. Mary was a living Tabernacle and the birthplace of our Catholic faith as well. Christ said “Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” He came to live, with perfection, to consummate the Old Covenant and to establish the New Covenant. But Matthew doesn’t stop quoting Christ with simply “filling”, “For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.” And too, we shouldn’t forget that in Christ’s birth, another wondrous birth occurs; the birth of God’s Kingdom on earth.
Where did the Holy Spirit put the New Covenant word? Christ, the New Covenant, was placed in the Ark of the New Covenant, the womb of Mary. (Cf. Luke 1, Rev 11:19, Rev 12:1) God was infused into man becoming Christ. Christ was one person with two natures, one of God, the other of man. Thus after the proper time, Christ was born of Mary as foretold by the angel; “Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1: 31-33) Eventually, like light passes through a window He passes through the veil, a veil now rent. Christ now becomes like the Menorah (light of the world), whose Word fell on the Altar of Incense to rise pleasingly to God, whose light fell on the loaves of proposition (likened to the Twelve Apostles). These loaves were consumed by the high Priests who were said to receive Divine knowledge. As you probably know, a Divine Hope is born out of knowledge giving the expectation of obtaining the Vision of the Divine. Other furnishings in the Tabernacle foreshadows the coming of the Second Kingdom, the Catholic Church. The mercy seat was sprinkled with the offered blood of the Victim as Christ’s blood atones for our sins. The Table of Shewbread was a food for knowledge as the Twelve are food of knowledge for our spiritual welfare. Likewise, we partake in the food of life, the Eucharist. The menorah is the light of Christ. The altar of incense are the prayers of the Church.
God’s residence on earth is made holy by His command. Therefore, Moses was ordered to keep the Tabernacle spiritually and ritually clean. The Ark of the Testimony (Exodus 25:16, 22; 26:33, etc.), the Ark of the Testament (Exodus 30:26), the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord (Numbers 10:33; Deuteronomy 10:8, etc.), the Ark of the Covenant (Joshua 3:6, etc.), the Ark of God (1 Samuel 3:3, etc.), the Ark of the Lord (1 Samuel 4:6, etc.) was the Incarnate Word of God; all of which take residence in the womb taking the form of the Person of Jesus titled our Christ. Judaism or Catholicism certainly wouldn’t suggest that God should take up residence in an unholy place.
JoeT
.png)
