tabernacle
Definition
In the Old Testament, the tabernacle is the portable tent in which God’s presence dwelt among Israel (Ex. 25-27). This earthly tabernacle was a type (prefigurement) of the heavenly tabernacle, the reality to which all the priestly ordinances pointed (Heb. 9:11-12, Rev. 4-5). Tabernacle-theology in George Warnock’s pneumatic thought forms a comprehensive framework for understanding God’s ongoing work through the Holy Spirit: the earthly tabernacle structure, furnished with the mercy seat and the lampstand, corresponds to the heavenly reality where Christ serves as High Priest and the Seven Spirits of God’s fullness proceed.
Author Variants
George Warnock
Warnock integrates tabernacle-typology into his pneumatic theology. He connects the earthly tabernacle institutions (priestly service, offerings, mercy seat) to the heavenly liturgy of Rev. 4-5. The lampstand (menorah) of Ex. 25 functions as a type of the church in its witnessing function:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” [b8, Zech. 4:6]
Warnock also examines the heavenly tabernacle in Revelation: the throne of God (Ex. 25:17-22 as type of the mercy seat in heaven) is the center of heavenly reality where Christ exercises his priestly ministry and the Holy Spirit in full fullness (the Seven Spirits) operates. The specification of the tabernacle in the incarnation of Christ and the church is, for Warnock, the key to understanding God’s end-times plan:
“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” [b8, Gal. 5:14]
The tabernacle is reconstituted in the church as the body of Christ, in which the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Cor. 6:19-20, Eph. 2:19-22).