As a Sunday School teacher, my wife and I are always on the lookout for ways to make the Bible come alive for the class and to have experience as keenly as possible the historical events in the pages of the Bible. Two years ago when we were teaching our 11-year-olds about the Tabernacle, we had bought a cardboard scale model printed by Rose Publishing and had assembled it for our lesson. It worked pretty well but we thought we could do better. Well, the folks at GoodSeed pointed us to a company called The Tabernacle Place and they made really good scale models of the Tabernacle.
We got our hands on one and assembled it. The details are amazing. The tent posts are held up by actual string, the material that simulates the sea cow skin covering actually feels furry and ark is in gold colour. When we unveiled it in class, it was as if a rock star had appeared in the midst of the children. They whipped out their mobile phones and started to snap photos of the articles in the Holy Place, the sheep, the priests, the tablet on which the Ten Commandments were written, the golden jar of manna, everything. It was a surreal experience for me.
I had to remind the class to show a little reverence for the Tabernacle, even though it was merely a scale model. Then I went through the lesson, explaining the meaning of each piece of furniture and explaining the whole point of God asking for animal sacrifice. It was an elaborate visual aid to let his people know that the only way for them to approach him was to come in his way: to come with an acceptable sin covering, a blood atonement for their sins.
Leviticus 17:11
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you
to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that
makes atonement for one's life.
