Day 14: God’s Desire to Dwell With Us: From Tabernacle to Jesus to New Creation

In this episode of In Light of the Cross, we keep tracing how the cross and resurrection illuminate the Old Testament by focusing on Exodus’s tabernacle (and later the temple) as God’s “tent/house” among his people, showing his longstanding desire to dwell with them despite sin. We walk through how the sacrificial system and priesthood addressed the problem of God’s holiness alongside human sin, and how the temple’s structure—especially the Most Holy Place as a perfect cube and the ark as God’s throne-footstool—symbolized God’s presence without an idol. We connect this story arc back to Genesis and forward to Jesus, noting John 1:14’s idea that Christ “tabernacled” among us and Jesus identifying his body as the true temple. We then look to Revelation 21 where the New Jerusalem is described as a cube, signaling God’s final dwelling with his people, and we conclude that even without the fall, God would still have come—incarnation wasn’t a backup plan. We close with a Herschel illustration about pardon leading to communion, personal reflection, and the Lord’s Prayer. 00:00 Introduction00:38 Big Question and Pause 01:50 Why the Tabernacle Matters 02:48 Tabernacle And Temple Meaning04:15 Sacrifice And Holy Spaces 06:26 From Eden To Temple 08:35 Jesus As True Temple 11:16 New Jerusalem Hope 14:17 Would Jesus Still Come 15:28 Herschel Pardon Illustration 16:58 Personal Application Prayer 18:04 Closing Lords Prayer