The Apostle John saw, in a vision, the throne room of God. He saw an altar there (Revelation 6:9), revealing that God’s throne room is also his temple. There’s nothing surprising about that. But if we continue reading Revelation, we find a detail that is a bit surprising:
After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple – that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law – and it was opened (Revelation 15:5).
The temple John sees here is a tabernacle. That’s a word that we don’t usually see outside of the Bible, but what it means is a tent made of skins, or green branches, or some other simple material. The Greek word is skēnē. This is, incidentally, the same word used for the tents Peter offered to set up when Jesus was transfigured (Matthew 17:4, Mark 9:5, Luke 9:33). According to Hebrews 11:9, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in tabernacles. Importantly, it is a temporary shelter.
King Solomon built a magnificent temple for God that stood for almost four hundred years before being destroyed by the Babylonians. A second temple was built after the Jews returned from captivity, and it lasted for nearly six hundred years. This second temple was enlarged and rebuilt by King Herod to be even more impressive than the first one. But before either of these temples was built, God’s presence resided in a tabernacle, a tent, built by Moses in the wilderness. And it is this tent that the Scriptures say was modeled after the heavenly plan (Hebrews 8:5). I’ve sometimes heard the tabernacle Moses built described as a portable temple, but it would be more accurate to say that the temple was a stationary tabernacle.
Knowing that God’s temple in heaven is a tent, it’s easy to understand why he might not have a strong desire for anything else on earth. In fact, when King David once conceived the idea to build a temple, God told him:
Go and tell my servant David, “This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’” (2 Samuel 7:5-7).
Why is this significant? A tabernacle is portable. People had to travel to Jerusalem to visit the temple, but the tabernacle traveled with the Israelites through the desert. God has not connected his presence to a particular piece of land, but to his people. Wherever God’s people are, that’s where his presence rests. This is so important that even in heaven the angels see the tent and are reminded that the presence of God is not tied to a place, not even a heavenly place, but that he is found wherever his people are found.
It is true that “tabernacle” (skēnē) is not the word Paul uses when he writes that the church is God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19). He uses a different word; Greek naos. But by identifying the church as the temple he still makes the point that God’s presence remains with God’s people.
Be aware of God’s presence. Every now and then take a breath and remind yourself that God is present with you. Speak to him conversationally, as if he’s standing right next to you. I’ve discovered in my own life that this way of thinking has been a game changer. The more I keep myself aware that I am in the presence of God, the more I find myself doing the things I know please him, and avoiding the things that don’t. Jesus said:
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Let’s take him at his word. Live in the awareness of the presence of God.