Tabernacle Research & Restoration
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Tabernacle Research & Restoration
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Asking questions is often the first and best place to start.
Since introducing the rediscovered round Hebrew Tabernacle several years ago, I have entertained a number of different questions from all walks of life, which include people who are Christians, Jews, Muslims,
agnostics, and even atheists. While the knowledge base, understanding, and belief system of each individual is particular and unique, the questions which many people pose about the Tabernacle often overlap,
regardless as to whether they are rooted in curiosity, enthusiasm, ignorance, or skepticism. I have tried to capture the essence of many of these questions in the frequently asked questions section below.
FAQ
#1
Q: Why does the Tabernacle matter?
A: Because God says it does.
The Tabernacle is of great significance not only because it was God’s dwelling place, but also as it is the only “dwelling place” that God ever commanded his people to build. Throughout the entire Bible narrative, the commandment to build the Tabernacle has never been rescinded, replaced, or superseded. God gave Israel plans to his dwelling place so that he might dwell among his people, and so that we might better understand how “draw near” to him.
FAQ
#2
Q: What is the Tabernacle?
A: The “Tabernacle” is God’s dwelling place.
Used almost exclusively in Biblical contexts, the word “Tabernacle” is generally associated with the tent that the ancient Hebrews built in the wilderness. The “Tabernacle” term comes from the Latin word Taberna,
which refers to a shack; however, the original Hebrew Bible term “Mishkan” is not describing a shack but is rather better translated as “dwelling place”. The “Tabernacle” is also referred to as the “Tent
of Meeting” in the Bible, as it was where God came to dwell among the Israelites after the Egyptian Exodus and for centuries after they moved into the land of Israel.
Unfortunately, the linguistic disconnects
between Hebrew and non-Hebrew renditions of the Bible create significant gaps in understanding, no matter how insignificant they may be perceived to those who only read the Bible in translation. Not only
do such translations demote God's holy abode from a "dwelling place" to a "shack" in the minds of readers, but there is a multitude of inequities between the language of the Hebrew Bible and the vocabulary used
in translations which are bound leave the people misdirected with a host of incorrect images forever pitched in their imagination.
FAQ
#3
Q: Why is the shape of the Tabernacle important?
A: We can come to a better understanding of God by understanding his “house”.
The Tabernacle pattern is rich with divine revelation and typology. In fact, the Tabernacle was built in the days of Moses by a man named “Betzalel” (Exodus 31:2), which in Hebrew refers to a “house in God’s image”. Thus, the Tabernacle is more than “God’s Residence”, it is a pattern which is representative of many aspects of God, and also of many things in nature—particularly being representative of human anatomy, as mankind is made in God’s image and the pinnacle of his creation.
FAQ
#4
Q: How was the design for the ancient and round Tabernacle rediscovered?
A: The dimensions of the Tabernacle curtains (Exodus 26:7-13) were discovered to sum to a length of 314, which is a near perfect multiple of the π constant (3.14159…), which expresses the ratio between a circle’s circumference and its diameter.
The round Tabernacle discovery was not made as a result of archaeological or literary findings from Dead Sea Scroll fragments. Instead, it was made possible by in-depth study of the Hebrew Exodus texts (particularly Exodus 26-27) and application of simple engineering principles, it becomes obvious that once the rectangular-to-circular paradigm shift is made (as suggested by the rediscovery of the PI constant) that the design can be readily deduced from the Bible texts themselves, with no supplementary commentary or instructions or records required. In other words, the design for the entire tent has always been “hidden in plain sight” within Moses’ Hebrew Exodus revelation.
FAQ
#5
Q: How could the true Tabernacle design elude millions or billions of people for thousands of years?
A: Tradition, religious propaganda, ignorance, and translations.
The power of tradition and propaganda can be relentless, especially if people surrender their intellects and refrain from critical thinking and never research things personally. I say this from personal experience, as I never made a point to actually study the Exodus Tabernacle myself for decades, and was willing to accept images that I saw until I discovered the PI constant—by means of “providential accident”.
FAQ
#6
Q: Isn’t the round Exodus Tabernacle arrangement just an unproven “theory”, a product of “creative thinking”, or perhaps a figment of your overactive engineering imagination?
A: No, every aspect of the round Tabernacle design has been established by a hyper-literal word-by-word Hebrew Bible exegesis.
A round Exodus Tabernacle arrangement isn’t just “another possible solution” to the interpretation of Bible texts; it is the only and exclusive way to interpret the Tabernacle instructions. The Exodus record, after all, is not a vague description; it is a very exact set of specifications and non-negotiable commandments. Moreover, the round Exodus Tabernacle model is more than just the logical and theoretical outworking of the Exodus instructions; the round model has been proven by calculation and physically modeled in multiple scales to demonstrate structural viability.
FAQ
#7
Q: How can you say that the Tabernacle is round, when my Bible, specialized commentary, pastor, priest, or rabbi says that the Tabernacle has “corners” and made with south, north, and west “sides”?
A: Because careful examination of the Hebrew text reveals that your sources have been mistranslated, misinterpreted and / or influenced by unsustainable claims, dogmatic traditions, and preconceived biases.
Most witnesses testifying or expressing opinions about the Tabernacle configuration have been borrowing them from non-Hebrew sources. Unfortunately, even Jewish sources many centuries old are rooted more deeply in tradition than they are in Hebrew etymology or physics, which always begin with a simple paradigm that is incorrect. Historically, most scholars have focused on tent frame arrangements detail while paying little attention to the tent curtain arrangement, not realizing that the fabric detail is trivialized or mishandled, the rest of the tent fabrication narrative makes little or no sense from a tent fabrication standpoint.
FAQ
#8
Q: How can you say that the Tabernacle courtyard is round, when my Bible says that the courtyard has south, north, west, and east “sides” and is described with rectangular dimensions?
A: A compass is considered to have four "sides", yet is understood to be round nevertheless. As is the case today, cardinal compass points can be used for both hardware arrangement and orientation.
The courtyard is made of two “sides”, being north and south halves of a circle, which measure 100 cubits in length (which corresponds with a 314 circular perimeter). Both the north and south courtyard halves have east and west “sides”, making the width of each half of the courtyard measure 50 cubits, which corresponds with the cylindrical courtyard’s radius.
FAQ
#9
Q: How could the ancient Hebrew nomads erect a tent frame and structure that weighed tens of thousands of pounds six stories tall in the wilderness without the advantage of modern cranes and tools?
A: Intelligence, ingenuity, brute manpower, and “antiquitech”.
Being residents and workers in Egypt for centuries, the Israelites would no doubt have acquired some of the knowledge of the Egyptians, and may have even been instrumental in developing aspects of their construction technology and methods. To this day, the exact construction methods used to build Egypt’s great pyramids remain a mystery, and the amount of work required to accomplish the equivalent to the pyramid projects has not been repeated in modern architecture—even with the advent of massive cranes, trucks, and specialty construction tools. Basic calculations reveal that the Tabernacle could have been easily erected by a crew of less than 5,000 thousand men (whereas Israel’s Levitical Tabernacle workforce was in excess of 20,000 men).
FAQ
#10
Q: For what purpose has this Tabernacle design been revealed or rediscovered at this point in history after having been dismantled three thousand years ago?
A: The Tabernacle itself contains prophetic patterns, and it seems that the restoration of the fallen tent has connections to a return to a messianic age.
Most Christian and Jewish eschatology presumes the restoration of a Temple in Jerusalem as being a benchmark and perhaps a trigger to prompt other events. However, the book of Ezekiel mentions a time (before the description of a third temple) whereby the “two sticks” of Judah and Ephraim are rejoined, which are frequently described as “two houses” of Israel. Understanding that the Tabernacle is a dwelling place that is constructed in two halves, i.e., a south and a north half, and that ancient Israel was divided into two kingdoms, including Ephraim (represented by ten tribes but also known as Israel) and Judah, it would appear that the restoration of the Tabernacle may well coincide with the restoration or reunification of the 12-tribe nation of Israel.
For obvious reasons, it is not practical to list every question that has been presented over the course of several years; nevertheless, the concise compilation of questions listed above—which might represent
about half of the questions received while promoting the Tabernacle projects—will hopefully be useful in addressing your questions.
However, it is also fitting to point out that most the the
questions that are presented during my engagements with others about the Tabernacle remain unanswered. Why not? Because the vast majority of unanswered questions are not the questions that are
directed towards me, but rather they are questions that I have in response for those who interview or interrogate me. Over the course of many exchanges, I have made a point to challenge others by providing
an explanation for their beliefs. Unfortunately, more often than not, people remain unable to answer my frequently asked questions—perhaps because peoples' unfamiliarity or lack of command of
the Tabernacle subject matter and/or the Hebrew Bible. For a point of reference, these questions are summarized at the end of the Schooling the Experts section. Those with additional questions are welcome to Contact Us and complete the form as applicable.