The Tabernacle (or Mishkan in Hebrew) was God’s designated dwelling among His people. On Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with Moses and Israelites, declaring, “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people…” (Exod. 19:5a). God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and instructions for living as a holy people, set apart to honor Him and reflect His presence in the world. 

In Exodus 25, God instructed Moses to collect offerings of gold, silver, copper, linens, colored threads, wood, oil, animal skins, precious stones and other materials to build a sanctuary: “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it” (Exod. 25:8–9). Every detail mattered: the dimensions, the materials, the furnishings, even the garments of the priests were specified to honor God’s holiness. 

This attention to detail is reflected in the modern-day replica of the Mishkan at Timna Park in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Built according to the biblical specifications, visitors can walk through the outer court with its bronze altar and bronze laver, enter the Holy Place with its golden lampstand, table of showbread and altar of incense, and go behind the veil that was once restricted to the high priest once per year to approach the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat. The replica faithfully mirrors the care and precision with which Bezalel and Aholiab, the artisans chosen by God (Exod. 35:30–35), constructed the original Tabernacle.