Shown on the Mountain

It has been said that you should not doubt in the dark what God has told you in the dark. There’s nothing wrong with the saying, and I think it speaks to an important point. But, like most such sayings, I believe it is said much better with scripture. So, here it goes, “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” Exodus 25:40.

Perhaps a little context would be helpful in showing the point.

Moses has just received the Ten Commandments, many other rules, and a detailed design for the furnishings of the tabernacle. These objects were the holiest utensils ever created, and they included the ark of the covenant, the physical symbol of God’s presence on earth.

Imagine Moses, after he came down from the mountain, trying to fashion these pieces in the middle of the desert: gathering the raw materials, acquiring the necessary tools, and then completing them to God’s extravagant design. It is not hard to imagine Moses and the craftsmen becoming discouraged. They may have even questioned the point of the utensils, or why they had to be so lavish. But it was in those times when they remembered the command of the LORD, “make them according to the pattern which was shown.”

And it’s a good thing they did. They had no way of knowing it at the time, but their faithfulness was remembered thousands of years later. It was then that the writer of Hebrews quoted that fortieth verse of Exodus 25. And it was then that he revealed why it was so important. He tells us that they were for a “copy and shadow of heavenly things.” They showed the greatness of God, and foretold of His work in the future.

So let us not grow discouraged in following God’s design. All that we do is meant to be a copy and shadow of something better to come. And, if we are faithful to the pattern shown us on the mountain, people will see how great God is, even in the desert.