The Tabernacle | The Ohel (Tent),Mishkan (Sanctuary), and Court of the Tabernacle | Exodus 25-40

1. A real thing, with real logistics. The Biblical text is not as detailed as I remembered, and there are many measurements that aren’t given. Everyone must make assumptions to make the models work (I’m no exception!). But the number of carts and oxen is defined for us in Numbers 7:1–9. These logistics make the Tabernacle more than an unbounded spiritual lesson; it is also a real thing made up of physical materials that have size, weight and shape.
2. Mishkan vs. ohel. “The tabernacle of the tent of the congregation” (Exodus 40:2) refers to two separate but related structures. The “tabernacle” is the mishkan, the sanctuary that contains the Holy and Most Holy Place. The ohel, or “tent,” appears to be the two outer coverings (the tachash skins and the ram skins dyed red), which may not even touch the Sanctuary, but may create a sort of pavilion over it. No detail is given in Scripture!
3. Why not a low leather tent? If the leather coverings were pulled close to the ground, is there enough room to get out of the sun? Leather would make for a stuffy tent. And all the guy lines would take up a lot of real estate within the courtyard. I wondered if pliable leather might be used to make a stretch tent, similar to structures still used by Bedouin nomads today. It would not need to touch the ground or even the Mishkan, would go up quickly, and would provide shade and airflow.
4. Why doesn’t the Bible mention poles? Not every detail about the Tabernacle is given. The use of any rope or stakes is omitted, and this leads me to the understanding that the only things recorded are construction aspects that have specific spiritual significance. We can’t be sure of the height or number of poles; this is all an educated guess.
5. A busy court. I have great difficulty believing the court was only used for sacrifice. Priests cooked and ate there (Leviticus 8:31; Numbers 18:9–10), stayed at the entrance day and night during their ordination (Leviticus 8:33–35), and needed to wash and change (Leviticus 16:4). There was likely record-keeping for timed matters like skin examinations, plus storage for flour, salt, oil, incense, wood and water. There had to have been space for all of it.
6. Arrangement of the entry. I am not sure the Altar and Laver were centered with the Sanctuary. One of the logistical issues is traffic. Placing them centrally dead-ends the central entrance. In Herod’s Temple the Altar was off to one side (on the south), and sacrifices were processed on the north. The central portal could have remained clear, with the south portal for cattle and the north for sheep and goats. Those crossing the court would walk between the Altar and the Laver, reminded that their business revolves around the two forms of Divinely appointed cleansing: the water and the blood.
7. How many large sacrifices a day? My suggestion is that there were not all that many on a daily basis. The Altar is only so large, and the animals have to reduce to ash. Offerings, though central to worship, probably would have been limited by the size of the altar and the time needed to burn them, so only a handful of processing stations would likely have been needed.

“Again, please view this drawing as you should with all of my work: with healthy skepticism!”

See also my Mishkan (Sanctuary) notes, my Tabernacle measurements chart, and my class on the sacrifices and offerings of the Law of Moses.