At the dedication of the First Temple, King Solomon said: “But will God in very truth dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house” (I Kings 8:27).
Like the Temple, the Tabernacle follows a familiar human pattern, with symbolic representations of a chair, table, and lamp. Compare the Shunammite woman’s proposal to prepare a place for Elisha: “Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the roof; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick; and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither” (II Kings 4:10). The ark and the cherubim sheltering it constitute the throne of the LORD, called the One “enthroned upon the cherubim” (Psalms 80:2), and the table and lamp are His table and lamp.
Interestingly, the Tabernacle and its furnishings were built to wholly human dimensions, suitable for an average person. The table, a cubit and a half high, about seventy centimeters, was slightly lower than an ordinary modern table, and the ark-cover bearing the cherubim was no larger than a small bench.
Surprisingly, the Tabernacle’s architecture differs little from that of pagan temples in the ancient Near East, whose ritual furnishings had similar dimensions. Yet alongside this similarity is a fundamental difference: the Israelite Tabernacle contains no statue or physical representation of God. It has a chair, table, and lamp, but its description does not say that the LORD sits on His throne; He speaks from between the cherubim (Exodus 25:22). It has a table, but the priests eat the showbread placed on it (Leviticus 24:9). It has a lamp, but it illuminates the space before it (Numbers 8:2). The Tabernacle thus gives a different meaning to a pattern familiar from pagan temples.
The Torah does not avoid anthropomorphic descriptions of God. I mean actual depictions of the LORD as human, rather than figurative expressions such as “the hand of the LORD” or “the LORD’s anger.” At the encounter with Abraham at the terebinths of Mamre (Genesis 18), as I described in “Three Men,” the LORD appears as a man sitting, eating, and conversing with Abraham. His relationship with Moses is also described in terms of closeness and intimacy: “And the LORD spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11). The Bible thus presents the relationship between the LORD and humanity as one of closeness and intimacy, in which the human is more than a servant or subject: he is a partner in conversation and action.
Moreover, the Bible’s “human” portrayal of God underlies the command to resemble Him and walk in His ways – “to walk in all His ways” (Deuteronomy 11:22). The Sages understood this as an invitation to imitate God’s attributes: “As He is merciful and gracious, so you too should be merciful and gracious” (Sifrei, there).
This conception was not self-evident in the ancient world. Unlike Mesopotamian gods, depicted as primarily concerned with physical needs, indifferent to human distress, and treating people as instruments to satisfy their desires, the biblical LORD cares deeply about humanity. He takes an interest in the world because He seeks a relationship and moral partnership with humanity to realize His plan, rather than to satisfy His needs. Thus, when preparing to punish Sodom, He chose to share His decision with Abraham, seeing him as a partner in this course: “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19).
Against this background, the human dimensions of the Tabernacle and its furnishings acquire a new meaning. They do not mean that the LORD needs a house fitted to His size and needs in the pagan sense; rather the reverse. The Tabernacle’s focus is its role as the place where He dwells among Israel (Exodus 25:8), meets them, and speaks to them, rather than a house in which He lives. Its human dimensions suit its purpose as a meeting place adapted to the human world. Its other name, “Tent of Meeting,” sharpens this meaning. The Tabernacle’s human pattern tangibly expresses God’s willingness to draw close to humanity and speak “as a man speaketh unto his friend.”
