It is difficult to imagine moving and ordering the thousands of people of Israel though the time in the desert. Yet, there was order, and that order had great meaning. The tribes were set up around a centerpiece: the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the place where God designed to meet man. There the sacrifices would be made. There the Ark of the Testimony sat. There the bronze laver, there the show bread. Each of these things pointed to Jesus Christ. The Tabernacle was the place where the Holy God would meet with sinful man. This was the center of their camp. Each tribe was given a place around the tabernacle. Their relationship to God was the center of their existence; bothe corporately and individually.
Everything in the tabernacle is a picture of all that Christ came to accomplish. Now we spiritually must mimic what God had Israel display physically. We must gather ourselves around the One who "tabernacled" among us. (John 1:14). Our relationship to Him the source of our unity and our direction. If you long for greater unity in the Church you must settle around the One who, alone, sits at the center.
Thanks for this post. It is a good reminder of what our focus should be on.
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