Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.

In Exodus 39, we read seven times that the priestly garments were made “as the Lord had commanded Moses.” In Exodus 40 we see this phrase seven times. The tabernacle was built “according to the Lord’s command.”

When they obeyed, heaven came down. It is significant that in the last section (beginning in verse 34), the word “cloud” is mentioned in every verse. “…the cloud covered the tent…”, “…the cloud settled on it…”, “…whenever the cloud was taken up…”, “…if the cloud was not taken up…”, and “For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day…” Every single verse mentions this glory cloud. Earlier the people couldn’t approach God on the mountain, now heaven came down to live with them, and verse 38 says that they could all see it: “…in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all of their journeys.”

It gets even better in the New Testament, because Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit, the glory cloud sent from the Father and the Son, now dwells in us. We are temples of the living God. You are the tabernacle. In Christ, we not only have access to and atonement with God and can see the glory of God; but we have the very presence of God living in us.

The tabernacle prefigured the ultimate coming of heaven to earth through the incarnation. It is for this reason that John wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). To put it in another way, God moved into our neighborhood, died for us, and said, “I will be your God and you will be my people. You can come anytime you like and stay as long as you want.”

Today, we have the Spirit of God indwelling us. We don’t need to go to a physical location to experience God’s dwelling with us for as Paul tells us that the Spirit of God dwells within us (1 Corinthians 6:19). And yet we too often live in a fog. We cease to appreciate that heaven came down and glory filled our souls.

The question we must ask ourselves is that if each of us walked around with the cloud of the Lord and fire by night as a meter for how much our lives reflected God’s glory, would there be a big cloud or a tiny one? Would the fire by night be burning bright or just a little flicker.

Application Questions:

When in your life did you most noticeably experience the presence of God? Are you willing to make sure that everything you are saying, everything you are watching, every hunger you are feeding is all yielded and appropriate for God’s glory to arrive?

Quote:

"To stand in the presence of God, that is what the Gospel is. The Gospel is not primarily about forgiveness. It’s not primarily about good feelings. It’s not primarily about power. All those things are byproducts, sparks. It’s primarily about the presence of God." - Timothy Keller

Prayer:

Lord, I thank you that you are willing to come and fill my life with your glory. But I also understand that the key for this is obedience to your command. Search me O God I pray even today and see if there is any wicked way in me and help me to yield to you in obedience. Amen.