Acacia in the Desert

So far, I’ve told the story of the tabernacle in two ways.  The first time was to a group of third graders.   I essentially used the story from Young Children and Worship.  I like the emphasis on becoming ready to get close to God, and how each line of the story builds on the previous.

Now the priest could go through the sweet-smelling incense and smoke to the Ark and be close to God.  But this still wasn’t enough to come close to something so precious.  So they made a special table called the Table of Shewbread.  … Now the priest could walk between the Table of Shewbread and the Menorah through the sweet-smelling incense and smoke to the Ark and be close to God.

I did make some changes.

• The main change I made was telling the story in reverse order, going from the outside-in.  I started the priest figures outside the fence, and gradually moved them in, adding each piece to the table as it was mentioned in the story.

• Given that the best way to learn a new vocabulary word is hearing it in context, and given that the essential meaning of this story is the holiness of God — I didn’t use the word “precious.”  I said, “this still wasn’t enough to come close to something so holy.”

• I emphasized exclusion.  Only the Jews could enter the tabernacle.  Only the priests use the bronze laver and go past it.  Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies.  Only once a year could he do so.  God is holy.  We are not.

The second time was to a group of four-year-olds.  Attention span = 10 seconds.  That’s two sentences per piece of furniture.  So all the pieces were placed in a cloth bag, and we went around the circle.  Each child got a turn to draw out a piece and place it where I instructed — sort of a non-chronological storytelling approach.  To read the report of that lesson, see Of Torn Curtains, and Other Joyful Thoughts.

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• “Once Upon a Time” Is Not An Appropriate Bible Story Beginning
• Tabernacle Art Project #3
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Otherwise entitled How To Get Awesome Materials for a Tabernacle Story

Worship Woodworks sells a wooden tabernacle set designed for use with the Young Children and Worship book.  Church Publishing sells a similar set for use with the Godly Play curriculum.  Both are gorgeous wooden sets, and both induce sticker shock.

So instead of buying either of those, I purchased a far cheaper (yet far more detailed) set from The Tabernacle Place.

The  picture is how the plastic looks when it has been painted.  Being a perfectionist, I spent a weekend painting my pieces until the set looked roughly like the one above.  Explaining to myself that we do not live under the law, but under grace, I did do a few things differently than what was described in Exodus.

The fence posts were supposed to be painted bronze, as well as the washbowl.  Most of the other items were to be painted gold.  I bought a solo can of gold spray paint, and decided no one knows the difference between bronze and gold anyway.

Each fence post should have a silver top.  This would mean hand painting every last one.  I didn’t.

Twelve separately colored jewels on the breastplate of the high priest?  That thing is less than an inch tall!!  No. Way.

I wanted to be able to easily remove the tent covering, so I didn’t lace the elastic through the edge or screw in those hooks.

The fence posts stay up just fine without the thread ‘n’ hooks, so I left those off.  In my opinion, leaving out the hooks makes the set look less cluttered.

I am especially glad I used the can of textured spray paint for the base, and that I painted the sashes and robes of the priests.   Those two things alone changed the look from ordinary to exotic.

Related Posts

• How to Build a Kid-Sized Tabernacle
• Tabernacle Art Project #3
• Tabernacle Art Project #2
• Tabernacle Art Project #1