
When Moses was told to build the tabernacle, notice what God said: “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” (Exo. 25:8,9—emphasis mine DC). Surely, it is evident (from this passage and the directions that follow) that God had a pattern for Moses to follow when He ordered him to build the tabernacle. It is strikingly familiar to the pattern that God had for Noah in ordering him to build an ark of specific wood (gopher), of specific size (300 X 50 X 30 cubits), for a specific purpose (to save him from the flood) (Gen. 6). Incidentally, both of these structures were foretastes of the church. It is the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man” (Heb. 8:2) and as Noah was saved from the ungodly world by water, so we are saved from the ungodly world by the waters of baptism (1 Pet. 3:20,21).
Therefore, the church is comprised of patterns. There is a pattern for salvation which consists of faith (John 3:36), repentance (Acts 17:30), confession of Jesus (1 John 4:15), and baptism (Acts 2:38). There is a pattern for worship which consists of praying (1 Tim. 2:8), preaching (2 Tim. 4:2), singing (Eph. 5:19), giving (1 Cor. 16:2), and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7). There is a pattern for Godly living which consists of following the footsteps of Jesus and the inspired apostles (1 Pet. 2:21; 1 Cor. 11:1).
~Derrick Coble