Have you ever noticed the very first words of the book of Leviticus?
“The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting” (Leviticus 1:1).
Don’t miss that important preposition “from.”
Why is Moses still outside the tent? Why isn’t he inside talking to God?
Moses and the people followed the instructions for the tabernacle (Exodus 24-31) and built it exactly how God said. Now that it’s all complete, why doesn’t Moses go in?
Because he can’t.
The holiness of God forbids it. Anyone who would enter God’s space while impure would certainly be consumed by God’s pure goodness.
That’s why the book of Leviticus was so important for Israel. It gave instructions for the people to access God’s presence without dying.
It wasn’t until Moses received God’s instructions for rituals, priestly functions, and purity laws in Leviticus that he was able to enter.
That’s why the first words in the next book (Numbers) are so amazing.
“The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt” (Numbers 1:1).
God made a way for Israel (Abraham’s family) to begin to enjoy what was lost in Eden. God made a way for them to enjoy His presence. He made a way to live among them.
And, as good as this was for the people of Israel, it is only a shadow of what we now have in Jesus of Nazareth.
The sacrificial death of Jesus fulfills all the ritual sacrifices once for all. Jesus completes all the priestly functions as our high priest before God. And the blood of Jesus brings the purity necessary for us to stand before God and enjoy His presence anywhere and at any time.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).