The tabernacle

Exodus 40:17 - So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year.

When the Israelites left Egypt, God told them to count that month as the first month of their year from then on. So this "second year" was one whole year since they had left Egypt.

A large portion of that time seems to have been spent at or near Mt. Sinai. Moses spent over 2 months on the mountain himself getting the laws from God. Then, when he returned the second time, he ordered the construction of the tabernacle, a portable temple or church, to begin. I wonder how long it took to build.

Even though it was obviously not designed to be a permanent structure, I wonder if some of the people thought it might turn into one. They still had many miles to go to reach Canaan. Would they ever really get there or would they "set up shop" here by Sinai instead?

The Israelites had the advantage of knowing where they were going, where their earthly journey would end -- even if it did sometimes feel like they'd never get there. I wonder how many times the children asked, "Are we there yet?" The reply: "No, and if you don't cut that out, I'm going to turn this camel around...."

We don't usually have the same advantage of knowing where the next or final stop is on our earthly journey. I'm a member of a small, but growing, congregation that does not yet have a permanent structure of its own in which to worship God. We have a type of tabernacle of our own. On Sunday we set it up and take it down and move on to the next week to do the same thing all over again. I wonder where our "temple" will be and when we'll get to it. I hope we get to it soon.

The Israelites did too.