In | Workbook: The Garden of Eden and the Tabernacle

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

In some ways the Tabernacle was a larger version of everybody’s tent. It was the same type of structure and had things like lamps and a table, which were typical of any dwelling place. But following the similarities in the language of the creation and construction accounts, many scholars believe there is a deeper symbolism involved. 

The Tabernacle represented a recovery of God’s indwelling presence last known by humanity in the Garden of Eden. While it’s important not to impose meaning on the text that isn’t there, it’s worthwhile to acknowledge some of the connections that scholars have made. Do you find the suggestion that there is a correlation between God’s design of Eden and his design of the Tabernacle convincing? Or do you find it a bit of a stretch?

Consider the following evidence.

1. Both Eden and the Tabernacle were likely entered from the East.

2. In Genesis 3:24 cherubim were placed at the entrance to the Garden. The next time cherubim appear in the Bible story is on the cover of the Ark in Exodus 25. 

3. Some scholars connect the Tree of Life in the Garden with the golden menorah in the Tabernacle, which is described as having “branches” and “cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms.”

4. The Garden provides food for Adam and Eve in the presence of God. The Tabernacle presents food on the Table of the Presence.

5. Adam is said in Genesis 2:15 to be responsible for “working” and “keeping” the Garden. These same words are used together in Numbers 3:7-8, 8:26 and 18:5-6 where they describe the responsibility of priests at the Tabernacle. 

6. God clothed Adam and Eve with tunics in Eden and ordered the clothing of priests with tunics in Exodus 28:40-41, 29:8, and 40:14. 

7. In Genesis 3:6 the tree of knowledge of good and evil is said to be “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.” In Psalm 19 the law that is stored in the Ark in the Tabernacle is said to be, “sweeter than honey,” “giving light to the eyes” and “making wise the simple.”

3. It is noteworthy that the Garden of Eden is never referred to in Genesis as a sanctuary. In the absence of an explicit connection, do you think it’s responsible to consider Eden a prototype for the Tabernacle, or the Tabernacle a re-creation of Eden? Explain your answer in no more than three or four sentences.