Tabernacle

According to the <a href="/facts/Hebrew_Bible/04qRIX0c">Hebrew Bible</a>, the tabernacle , also known as the Tent of the Congregation (Hebrew: אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, romanized: ʔohel mōʕēḏ, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the <a href="/facts/Israelites/wohGkSzL">Israelites</a> from <a href="/facts/The_Exodus/EYpE0I3K">the Exodus</a> until the conquest of <a href="/facts/Canaan/PyX3f92e">Canaan</a>. <a href="/facts/Moses/D0pp5HMQ">Moses</a> was instructed at <a href="/facts/Biblical_Mount_Sinai/GrIE078u">Mount Sinai</a> to construct and transport the tabernacle with the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness and their subsequent conquest of the <a href="/facts/Promised_Land/3xh6STeG">Promised Land</a>. After 440 years, <a href="/facts/Solomon%2527s_Temple/aed5FD5l">Solomon's Temple</a> in <a href="/facts/Jerusalem/PKJ8LT0Y">Jerusalem</a> superseded it as the dwelling-place of God.
The main source describing the tabernacle is the biblical <a href="/facts/Book_of_Exodus/7Mse01aP">Book of Exodus</a>, specifically Exodus 25–31 and 35–40. Those passages describe an inner sanctuary, the <a href="/facts/Holy_of_Holies/vMXQWXJf">Holy of Holies</a>, created by the veil suspended by four pillars. This sanctuary contained the <a href="/facts/Ark_of_the_Covenant/SUzFGIM0">Ark of the Covenant</a>, with its <a href="/facts/Cherub/AK6QmKB7">cherubim</a>-covered <a href="/facts/Mercy_seat/g8tobMNz">mercy seat</a>. An outer sanctuary (the "Holy Place") contained a gold lamp-stand or candlestick. On the north side stood a table, on which lay the <a href="/facts/Showbread/kVdVVpUN">showbread</a>. On the south side was the <a href="/facts/Menorah_(Temple)/DEKMxFhe">Menorah</a>, holding seven oil lamps to give light. On the west side, just before the veil, was the golden <a href="/facts/Altar_(Bible)/P5H3YI07">altar of incense</a>. It was constructed of 4 woven layers of curtains and 48 4.6 m (15 ft) tall standing wood boards overlaid in gold and held in place by its bars and silver sockets and was richly furnished with valuable materials taken from Egypt at God's command.

Tabernacle open-in-new

Tabernacle