In the Old Testament, the altars of the patriarchs, the tabernacle constructed under Moses, and the temple built by Solomon were all sufficient and efficacious means by which the people of God experienced the covenantal and joy-full presence of the Lord their God. All of the spectacular and mighty acts of redemption that God worked on behalf of his people were always unto this end of union and communion. In other words, redemption served the covenant promise: I will be your God and you will be my people. This promise is the refrain played on the pages of Scripture as the mighty hand of God beats down upon the enemies of his people and gently orchestrates Israel’s entrance into the land of Canaan.

Notice, for example, how the exhortation in Psalm 105 to seek the LORD’s presence continually (v. 4) arises from God’s work of (1) rescuing his people from their Egyptian bondage and (2) bringing them into the land in which he promised to dwell with them. He brings his people out with joy, as the Psalmist recounts in v. 43, for he brings them out to dwell in his presence in which there is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11).

Nevertheless, while these means of God dwelling with his people in the Old Testament were good as both sufficient for the time and effectual in administering the covenantal presence of God, they were still only temporary and provisional (Heb. 8:13). They ultimately foresignified Christ to come, as foretold by the prophets (see Westminster Confession of Faith 7.5). In the incarnation, the Son of God “tabernacled” among us as the true and eternal, the final and permanent dwelling place of God (John 1:14). For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9).

With this redemptive-historical transition from what was good, yet provisional, to what is now better and permanent, that is, from the shadows to the substance, which is Christ, the joy-full presence of God is experienced in more fullness, evidence and spiritual efficacy, even extending to all nations (see Westminster Confession of Faith 7.6).

With all that in mind, we can consider the event of Pentecost with its momentous background as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church by the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus Christ. If it is by a Spirit-kindled faith that we share in Christ (Belgic Confession art. 22; Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 53), who is himself the end-time temple of God, then what does that tell us about the nature of the church?

Pentecost and the Church as the Temple of God

The apostle Peter writes, “As you come to [Jesus Christ], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:4-5; cf. Isa. 8:14; 28:16; Ps. 118:22). In a similar vein, the apostle Paul asks the Corinthian church, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you…?” (1 Cor. 6:19; cf. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:20-22; Rev. 3:12; 11:1-2). The point is that as believers are united to Jesus Christ by faith they too are built up as the temple of God. The church is the eschatological temple where God now dwells in the power of his Spirit. This is the reality that the tabernacle and temple prefigured. However, God is not just dwelling with his people, as he did in the past, but within them in an unprecedented way.

This indwelling of the Spirit in the church transforms the church into the dwelling place of God, which takes place at Pentecost. Pentecost closely parallels the Sinai theophany when Moses received the blueprint for building the tabernacle.[1] But rather than Moses coming down from the mountain with a blueprint to construct a shadow of the heavenly reality, Jesus comes down from heaven in the power of the Holy Spirit[2] with the heavenly reality itself.

Pentecost also parallels those occasions in the Old Testament when God came to fill with his presence the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34-35) and temple (1 Kgs. 8:10-11). This is why Peter on the day of Pentecost uses the prophecy of Joel to explain the significance of this extraordinary event (Joel 2:28-32). The church as the eschatological temple of God is totally dependent upon Jesus Christ and filled with his resurrection joy (Ps. 16:11). Clowney helpfully writes,

The church’s existence as the body-temple depends totally on the resurrection body of Christ in which the church is raised up, and on the Spirit of Christ by which the church lives. Paul’s appeals for the unity of the church are drawn from the unity of the body of Christ as the true and final temple. For Paul the body and the temple go together: the breaking down of the middle wall of the temple creates one body; the New Temple grows as a body (Eph. 2:21); the body is built as a temple (Eph. 4:12, 16). Christ is the cornerstone of the structure, the Lord in whom the New Temple exists.[3]

Pentecost and the Mission of the Church

The substance has superseded the shadow, the church has superseded the Solomonic temple as the eschatological end-time temple with people from all nations being built up as a spiritual house. “Subsequent to Pentecost, when people believe in Jesus, they become a part of Jesus and the temple, since Jesus himself is the locus of that temple.”[4] Consequently, as the church expands throughout the earth by Christ’s Word and Spirit, God’s dwelling place is also extended and the creation mandate is fulfilled in the form of the Great Commission (note, for example, the allusion to Gen. 1:28 in Col. 1:6).[5] G. K. Beale powerfully captures the impact of this theme on the mission of the church today:

Jesus … becomes the cornerstone of the new temple, and Christians are like living stones being built into the dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:22; 1 Pet. 2:5), which ‘grows into a holy temple in the Lord’ (Eph. 2:21) through the proclamation of the word of God during the church age. Through faithful witness, even in the midst of suffering, the church expands with power, eventually to fill the entire earth.[6]

Pentecost tells us most emphatically that God is a missionary God (Ezek. 20:34; John 3:16; 4:23) who has sent his missionary Spirit (John 16:8ff) to testify to and apply the work of his missionary Son (Luke 19:10) to form a missionary people (John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 2:9) to fulfill his mission for the world (Gen. 1:28; Matt. 28:19-20). At Pentecost the church became the eschatological temple set ablaze by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel during the already-not yet until the mission of God is complete.

For more on this topic check out this episode of Vos Group with Drs. Camden Bucey and Lane Tipton as they expound upon the insight of Geerhardus Vos regarding the redemptive-historical significance of the tabernacle and God dwelling with his people.

[1] For a defense of relating the two events see G. K. Beale, “The Commencement of the Spirit’s Building of Believers into the Transformed Temple of the End-Time New Creation,” in A New Testament Biblical Theology, 592ff.

[2] For a discussion of the close relationship between Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit see Richard B. Gaffin, “Pentecost: Before and After,” Kerux 10, no. 2 (September 1, 1995): 3-24.

[3] Clowney, “The Final Temple,” WTJ 35 (1973), 184-85.

[4] Beale, New Testament Biblical Theology, 634.

[5] It can be said that the church inherits the creation mandate in the form of the great commission.

[6] Beale, God Dwells Among Us, 135-36.

We continue our expedition through the biblical drama of the triune God’s pursuit of union and communion with his people in joy-full fellowship (Ps. 16:11). The promise, “I will be your God and you will be my people,” is the refrain of his heart that reverberates at every turn in the story to the glory of his name and the good of his people. We’ve already considered the blueprint of God’s plan for consummate fellowship in the garden and the way in which he continued his pursuit of it in the face of sin, death and rebellion during the era of the patriarchs. However, the temporary meetings between God and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ached for something more as they were only faint experiences that left so much more to be desired. What Israel needed was for God to take up permanent residency in their midst. This he would do in the tabernacle.

God’s Presence in the Cloud

During the exodus from Egypt we read of these two peculiar pillars, one of cloud and the other of fire, which led the Israelites during the day and at night, respectively (Exod. 13:21-22). Later we read of Israel seeing the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud (Exod. 16:10) and the Lord informing Moses that he is coming to him in a thick cloud (Exod. 19:9), which descends upon Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:16; 24:15). Thus, the glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai in the cloud (Exod. 24:15-16) and Moses was summoned to enter the cloud, where he met with the Lord (Exod. 24:18). The point here is that God dwelt in the covering of the cloud—his presence was there. And if God’s presence is in the cloud, then Mount Sinai, upon which the cloud descended, can be considered a mountain-temple.[1]

The Purpose of the Tabernacle

Beginning in Exodus 25 we are informed of the Lord’s speech to Moses inside the mountain-temple, which instructs him to receive freewill contributions from the people to build a sanctuary according to the specifications that he will lay out (Exod. 25:10-30:38). Why? God gives us his reason: “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst” (Exod. 25:8). This is a remarkable statement in light of previous redemptive-history. Adam was banished from Eden where he dwelt with God and the patriarchs only had temporary visits from him, but now God is going to take up residence in the center of Israel’s camp, he will dwell among his people in the tabernacle! This is a major step toward the fulfillment of Psalm 16:11 and the consummative picture of Revelation 21-22.

Patterned After the Heavenly Tabernacle

After the Lord discloses his purpose for building the tabernacle, he includes precise instructions for building it and the various articles that will inhabit it. These instructions are not random or arbitrary, but patterned after the heavenly tabernacle. In this way, the heavenly tabernacle is shadowed down from heaven to earth in the earthly tabernacle (cf. Heb. 8:5-6). Geerhardus Vos explains from the epistle to the Hebrews,

When the Epistle [to the Hebrews] speaks of shadowing this means shadowing down (from heaven to earth), not shadowing forward (from Old Testament to New Testament). … The New Testament is not merely a reproduction of the Heavenly Reality, but its actual substance, the Reality itself come down from heaven. … In [Hebrews] 9:24 the author speaks of the earthly tabernacle as the antitype of the true tabernacle. … This manner of speaking differs from our own, and also from that of Paul and Peter. The latter uniformly regard the Old Testament as the type of which the New Testament is the antitype; this is the common New Testament usage. But the author of Hebrews, on the contrary, speaks of the Old Testament as the antitype. An antitype, of course, always has a type lying back of it as its model. To find the original type, of which the Old Testament is the antitype, then, we must go back of the Old Testament to heaven. This heavenly type was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai.[2]

The earthly tabernacle is the antitype of the heavenly tabernacle, which is the type. But in relationship to the New Testament (when the reality actually comes down from heaven), the tabernacle stands as a type for Jesus Christ and the church, which are the antitypes. This means that the reality did not come down in the tabernacle, only a shadow did. And this shadow prefigures the substance of the reality in the New Testament, namely, Jesus Christ and the church. Thus, the tabernacle was not an end in itself, but always pointed to something greater.

The Three Areas of the Tabernacle

The tabernacle consisted of three distinct areas: the courtyard, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies (the inner sanctum wherein the ark of the covenant was located).[3] The ark “served a double function, being both the footstool of a throne and a chest. Understood as a footstool, the ark of the covenant extends the heavenly throne to the earth; this is where the divine king’s feet touch the earth. Consequently, the tabernacle links heaven and earth.”[4] Solomon assumes this link in his prayer at the dedication of the temple (1 Kgs. 8:30-51; 2 Chron. 6:22-39).

The Tabernacle is Associated with the Garden

T. Desmond Alexander notes three aspects of this special sanctuary that link it to God’s plans for the earth.

First, “the tabernacle has features that associate it closely with the Garden of Eden.”[5] The tabernacle was entered from the east, the lampstand may have resembled the tree of life, and the priests were to עבד and שׁמר the sanctuary (Num 3:7-8; 8:26; 18:5-6), which were the exact commands given to Adam in the garden (Gen. 2:15). The parallels clearly reveal that God is continuing his plan for the Garden of Eden with the construction of the tabernacle.

The Tabernacle is God’s Dwelling Place

Second, “the tabernacle becomes the dwelling place of God on earth.”[6] He says to Moses, “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst” (Ex. 25:8). The text suggests that God lived within the Holy of Holies (a development from the temporary residence he had throughout the patriarchal epoch). William Dumbrell writes,

The tabernacle’s significance [is] nothing less than the seat of divine kingship, fashioned as a copy of the heavenly temple/palace. Thus the golden calf incident interrupts the building of the tabernacle since it entails a denial of Yahweh’s rule. But acknowledgment of this lordship will secure peace in Israel’s greater sanctuary, the promised land. Here the twin motifs of tabernacle and Sabbath intertwine. The tabernacle symbolizes the presence of Yahweh the King who returns Israel to Eden rest by transforming the promised land into a sanctuary.[7]

The articles found in the tabernacle such as an ark (or chest), a table for food, and a lampstand for light point to its use as a home. The glut of gold found in the holy of holies would be consistent with God living there since it best (though inadequately) reflects the honor of the one dwelling there, namely, God himself.

The most convincing evidence that God lived there, however, is found when the construction of the tabernacle is completed and we read that “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exod. 40:34; cf. Num. 9:15-17, 22). This is the same cloud that we said earlier God dwelt in. The divine presence in the holy of holies prevented Moses from entering it, though he would regularly meet with God here at the “tent of meeting” (Exod. 27:21; 28:43; 29:4; 40:2; Lev. 1:1; 3:2; Num. 1:1; 2:2) where God’s glory surrounded it.

The exceptionally holy status of the area also contributes to this understanding of the tabernacle as the Lord’s house. The further one moved away from the holy of holies the more access was granted.[8] In general, the people were permitted in the courtyard, the priests in the Holy Place, and only the high priest on the Day of Atonement after intense cleansing in the holy of holies. How amazing that the infinite God whose presence bursts the heavens takes residence in a 15 x 15 x 15 room constructed by human hands! The entire narrative screams of grace. How could a holy God dwell with a sinful people (cf. Exod. 32)? By grace alone. How could an infinite God be said to dwell in a small cube constructed by human hands? By grace alone.

The Tabernacle is a Model of the Cosmos

Third, “the tabernacle was probably also viewed as a model of the cosmos.”[9] In the Ancient Near East, temples were often viewed as microcosms. The various elements of the tabernacle also convey this idea. For example, the blue, purple, and scarlet colored fabrics may represent the colors of the sky, as Beale argues.[10] The light emanated from the lampstand may represent the sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1:14-16). There are also links between the construction of the tabernacle and the creation of the earth. J. Richard Middleton notes that Bezalel is portrayed using terminology associated with the creation of the earth, being filled with wisdom, understanding, knowledge (cf. Prov. 3:19-20) and all crafts (cf. Gen. 2:2-3).[11] Note similar language is used to denote Hiram in 1 Kings 7 who constructs various furnishings for the temple. Like Bezalel he is “full of wisdom and understanding and knowledge” with regard to bronze work (1 Kings 7:14).

The wisdom literature often depicts the creation as a tent (Ps. 19:4-5; 104:2; Prov. 3:19; 8:27; Job 28:26; 38:4-7), as do the prophets (Isa. 48:13; 51:13, 16; Zech. 12:1; Amos 9:6). “As models of the ideal cosmos, the tabernacle and temple are designed to remind people of God’s original purpose for the world.”[12]

The Tabernacle is Not Ultimate

The cosmic imagery of the tabernacle highlights the fact that this was not to be the final dwelling place of God, but that the whole earth is to become God’s dwelling place. “The temple was a small-scale model and symbolic reminder to Israel that God’s glorious presence would eventually fill the whole cosmos.”[13] The heavenly reality that the tabernacle was modeled after would one day come down (cf. Heb. 9:23ff). The tabernacle was a step towards the fulfillment of this, for with it God takes up permanent (though mobile) residence on earth.

[1] G. K. Beale argues for this in A New Testament Biblical Theology, 608-10; see also Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, 105.

[2] Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 58; see also pp. 57-65.

[3] Beale observes that Mount Sinai (or the mountain-temple) also had three distinct areas: “the majority of the Israelites were to remain at the foot of Sinai (Exod. 19:12, 23), the priests and seventy elders… were allowed to come some distance up the mountain (Exod. 19:22; 24:1), but only Moses could ascend to the top and directly experience the presence of God (Exod. 24:2)” (A New Testament Biblical Theology, 608).

[4] Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem, 33.

[5] Ibid., 34.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Dumbrell, The End in the Beginning, 35.

[8] See T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land, 206-215.

[9] Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem, 37; This view is also taken by Levenson, “Temple and the World,” 283-298; Barker, Gate of Heaven, 104-132; Beale, Temple and the Church’s Mission, 48.

[10] Beale, “Eden, the Temple,” 16.

[11] Middleton, The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1, 87.

[12] Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem, 41. “With the book of Exodus Israel enters into the cosmic plan which Yahweh laid out at the beginning of the world” (M.S. Smith, Pilgrimage Pattern in Exodus, 117).

[13] Beale, “Eden, the Temple,” 18.

Where can I find joy that is full and pleasures that are everlasting? This is the one great pursuit of men in every age. In the words of Pascal, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception.” Because this is true we immediately recognize a problem. While I may experience some joy in this world, I have never experienced a fullness of joy on level with, say, the fullness I’ve felt after a Thanksgiving meal. I might say, “That’s enough turkey.” But I’ve never found myself saying, “That’s enough joy.” And to compound the problem, not only does this world fail to max out my capacity for joy, but the occasional pleasures I do experience quickly dissipate so that the dullness of life settles in… again. So not just any joy will do and not just any pleasure will do. I am after a joy that is full and pleasures that are everlasting—where can I find them?

The psalmist answers our heart cry for full and everlasting happiness in his praise to the one true God: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). In God’s glorious presence there is a joy that is unbounded by space and time, one that is bursting with fullness and untouched by temporal decay. Fullness—like pouring a thousand oceans into a single bucket. Forevermore—like the ancient mountains withstanding the test of time from age to age.

We exist to experience this, and every lesser pleasure will leave us unsatisfied and longing for more. “You have made us for yourself,” Augustine prays to God, “and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” Similarly C.S. Lewis remarked,

It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

The Westminster divines also knew that joy wasn’t merely optional for us: “man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Twice Paul refers to God as “blessed” or “happy” (μακάριος; 1 Tim. 1:11; 6:15). We have been created in the image of the supremely happy God whose dwelling is charged with fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

What we come to marvel at in Scripture is that God reveals himself to be fiercely committed and desirous to dwell with his people in unhindered communion so that we might enjoy him forever. Here is the very heart of God as he has expressed it in his covenant: “I will be your God and you will be my people.” This is what drives the biblical story from its conception to its consummation. Playing off the words of Psalm 16, we can say that the theme of God dwelling with his people in joy-full fellowship is a vital vein that runs throughout the single story of the Bible stretching from Genesis to Revelation.

We have already begun to trace this theme as it is first set forth in blueprint form in the Garden and then, following the entrance of sin into the world, the period of the patriarchs. In our next article we’ll consider the advancements that the tabernacle made toward this end of joy-full fellowship. We consider these Old Testament realities with our eyes looking forward to the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 16:11 in and by Jesus Christ who will graciously confer it upon his church—but more on that later.

The theme of God dwelling with his people in joy-full (Ps. 16:11) fellowship is a vital vein that runs throughout the single story of the Bible stretching from Genesis to Revelation. We can simply refer to this theme as the Immanuel Principle—God with us. While the Bible is a large book written over the course of hundreds of years with many different genres and styles, by tracing this principle throughout Scripture we can begin to see its big picture (some people like to call this its meta-story). We can begin to see what God has done and is doing in the world, and where we fit in all of this. The Bible isn’t just a book filled with timeless truths and proverbial wisdom; it is, as Vos put it, “a historical book full of dramatic interest.” And the Immanuel Principle is the driving force of that drama.

In Revelation 21-22 John is shown a climactic vision of the new heaven and new earth descending as the final dwelling place of God with his people. He hears an accompanying royal proclamation from the throne knighting this new creation: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Rev. 21:3). While you’re not going to read about this in any newspaper or hear about it on the evening news, the truth is that history has been and continues to move toward this appointed end: the maximal enjoyment of union and communion between the triune God and the church forever.

In fact, this consummative picture at the end of the Bible is the fulfillment of the purpose given to the creation and the mission given to Adam at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1-2. There it is laid out in blueprint form that God’s image bearers would expand Eden (God’s dwelling place) by being fruitful and multiplying until they filled and subdued the whole earth (Gen. 1:28). Everything was “very good” in these opening chapters, but nothing had yet been perfected—a higher, escalated life of union and communion with God in a holy and glorified realm had not yet been reached (see 1 Cor. 15:42-49). Even though sin appears to fatally puncture this Immanuel vein in Genesis 3, God continues his pursuit of creation’s goal, restoring what sin ruined unto its consummation, according to the riches of his grace.

In a previous post I summarized the biblical-theological case for Eden being a temple-garden. Within it the Lord placed man with the mission of working and keeping it (Gen. 2:15). This man, Adam, was invested as the Lord’s priest-king, and as such was commissioned to extend the boundaries of the garden, so that God’s dwelling place would encompass the whole earth. This is most clearly seen in the dominion mandate: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). God’s goal for creation is made known in blueprint form in the creation account, namely that Eden would expand and the whole world would become his dwelling place. “This would be accomplished especially by Adam’s progeny born in his image and thus reflecting God’s image and the light of his presence, as they continued to obey the mandate given to their parents and went out to subdue the outer country until the Eden sanctuary covered the earth.”[1] From this we can understand why the new heaven and new earth is described in Revelation 21-22 with terms reminiscent of Eden. The eschatological goal of creation is pictured as completed with the earth having become a fit dwelling place for God. But how does it get there?

It does get there, Scripture assures us of that, but the path it takes is at times complicated and mysterious[2] because of the entrance of sin. “The biblical meta-story reveals that the process from blueprint to final reality is suddenly interrupted with tragic consequences for the whole of creation.”[3] Rather than guarding the garden-temple as God’s vice-regent and casting out the unholy serpent that opposed his word, Adam submitted himself and the entire human race whom he represented to the serpent.[4] Adam failed to bring about God’s eschatological goal for creation as he had been commissioned.[5] The holiness of the garden-sanctuary was compromised, it was not longer a fit dwelling place for the Lord. Subsequently, Adam was stripped of his priestly status and expelled from the sanctuary complex. His immediate access to God was lost and God’s blueprint was jeopardized, for “the very ones meant to extend God’s dwelling place throughout the earth are excluded from his presence.”[6]

So has God’s plan failed because of Adam’s disobedience? Has the Immanuel principle been forever lost? The Lord comes in judgment to pronounce curses upon the three guilty parties: the serpent, Eve and Adam. But in cursing the serpent he also holds out the prospect of hope, declaring the first gospel message, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). In the end, the serpent’s plot will not prevail; the Lord will see to it that his eschatological goal is one day realized. So begins the drama of redemption. God will restore what sin has ruined and bring it to its appointed end through a Savior. All hope now rests on this promised seed of the woman who will set things straight and bring the Immanuel principle to his fullest realization for the people of God.

But this promised seed does not immediately come. The rest of the Old Testament is occupied with preparing the way for his arrival through types and shadows, including the tabernacle and temple. It’s within this drama and new context of sin that the tabernacle narrative is to be understood as it uniquely contributes to the progressively unfolding plan of God to dwell with his people in union and communion forever. Beale writes, “The tabernacle sets the dwelling place of God in a sinful context.”[7] So we are left with both puzzlement (how can a holy God dwell with a sinful people in a sin-cursed world?) and hope (the seed of the woman will conquer) as man moves westward from God’s presence.

In our next article we’ll continue the story with a look at the Immanuel Principle in the patriarchal period.

[1] G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 622.

[2] See Beale, Hidden But Now Revealed: A Biblical Theology of Mystery.

[3] T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology, 26.

[4] Note the corporate language of Adam’s fault in Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 7 and 9.

[5] “When Adam failed to guard the temple by sinning and letting in a foul serpent to defile the sanctuary, he lost his priestly role, and the cherubim took over the responsibility of ‘guarding’ the Garden temple: God ‘stationed the cherubim… to guard the way to the tree of life’ (so Gen. 3:24; see also Ezek. 28:14, 16)” (Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 70).

[6] Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem, 27.

[7] Beale, God Dwells Among Us, 52.

The garden of Eden was not just some Mesopotamian farmland, but an archetypal sanctuary or a temple-garden.[1] Though we often speak of “the Garden of Eden” as a single place, a close reading of the text reveals that Eden and the garden are distinct. Note especially Genesis 2:8, “The LORD God planted a garden in Eden.” It’s been suggested that the garden is attached to Eden, with Eden itself being the temple since “a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden” (Gen. 2:10).[2]

However, Genesis 1-3 does not explicitly state that Eden has an architectural structure, nor does it even use the word “temple” or “sanctuary” to describe it. So how do we know that it was a temple? Numerous scholars have argued for this understanding of Eden based on the many parallels that exist between the garden and later Israelite sanctuaries.[3] Here are twelve of those arguments in summary form.[4]

1. Just as the temple was the place of God’s unique presence experienced by the priests, so Eden was the place where God walked with Adam. G.K. Beale notes, “The same Hebrew verbal form (Hithpael) used for God’s “walking back and forth” in the garden (Gen. 3:8) also describes God’s presence in the tabernacle (Lev. 26:12; Deut. 23:14 [23:15 MT]; 2 Sam. 7:6-7; Ezek. 28:14).”[6]
2. Adam is depicted as a priest with respect to his task, namely, “to work” (עָבְדָ֖) and “to keep” (שָׁמְרָֽ) the garden, which is the priest’s task in the temple (Num. 3:7-8; 8:25-26; 18:5-6; 1 Chron. 23:32; Ezek. 44:14).[7] Adam also donned priestly attire (Ezek. 28:13ff.).
3. The cherubim assumed Adam’s function to guard the tree of life (Gen. 3:24), which became memorialized in the tabernacle (cf. Exod. 25:18-22).
4. The “tree of life” (Gen. 2:9) was probably a model of the lampstand in the tabernacle (Exod. 25:31ff).[8]
5. Israel’s tabernacle and temple had wood carvings that gave it a garden-like ambiance (1 Kings 6:18, 29, 32, 35; 7:18-20).
6. Just as the entrance to Israel’s later temple was to face east and be on a mountain, and just as the end-time temple of Ezekiel was to face east (Ezek. 40:6) and be on a mountain (Ezek. 40:2; 43:12), so the entrance to Eden faced east (Gen. 3:24) and was situated on a mountain (Ezek. 28:14-16).
7. The ark, which contained the law, in the Holy of Holies echoed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as both lead to wisdom.
8. As a river flowed out from Eden (Gen. 2:10), so a river flows from the eschatological temple (Ezek. 47:1-12; Rev. 21:1-2; cf. Ps. 36:8-9; Rev. 22:1-2).
9. Just as gold and onyx are in the garden (Gen. 2:11-12), so they are used to decorate the later sanctuaries and priestly garments (Exod. 25:7, 11, 17, 31).
10. Just as the temple had a tripartite structure of concentric circles of holiness (Holy of Holies > Holy Place > Courtyard), so the garden of Eden had the same (Eden > Garden > Outer World).
11. Ezekiel refers to “Eden, the garden of God… the holy mountain of God” and also alludes to it containing “sanctuaries” (28:18; cf. 7:24; Lev. 21:23; Jer. 51:51).
12. Just as the climax and purpose of creation was rest (Gen. 2:1-3), so the construction of the tabernacle culminates with rest (Exod. 31:12-17).

[1] G.J. Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies 9 (1986), 19.

[2] J.H. Walton, “Eden, Garden Of.” In T.D. Alexander and D.W. Baker (eds.), Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2003), 202. The same idea is presented by G.K. Beale in God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014), 22, which includes a helpful figure.

[3] The following arguments are indebted to G.J. Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” 19-25 and G.K. Beale, New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 617-22; cf. Beale, G.K. “The Final Vision of the Apocalypse and its Implications for Biblical Theology of the Temple.” In Heaven on Earth: The Temple in Biblical Theology, eds. Alexander, T.D. and S. Gathercole (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2004), 197-199; idem., The Temple and the Church’s Mission (Downers Grove, IL: Apollos IVP, 2004), 66-80; idem., “Eden, the Temple, and the Church’s Mission in the New Creation,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48 (2005), 7-10. For an argument against viewing Eden as a temple see Daniel Block, “Eden: A Temple? A Reassessment of the Biblical Evidence.” In From Creation to New Creation: Biblical Theology and Exegesis, eds. Daniel M. Gurtner and Benjamin L. Gladd (Peabody MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2013). While I do not find Block’s essay persuasive, it does call for more caution in connecting the garden and the tabernacle/temple.

[4] For more detail see Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 617ff. and Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism,” 19-25.

[5] Beale, God Dwells Among Us, 51.

[6] Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 59.

[7] See Meredith Kline, Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview, 54.

[8] See Meyers, Carol L. The Tabernacle Menorah: A Synthetic Study of a Symbol from the Biblical Cult (ASORDS 2: Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1976), 180.