Willingly with his heart. The tabernacle was funded by voluntary giving, not by taxation. God can build His house only from what is offered freely.

Paul applies the same principle in 2 Corinthians 9:7 — not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. Coerced giving builds nothing for God; willing giving builds everything.

The whole purpose of the tabernacle stated in nine words. That I may dwell among them. God's deepest desire is not their service or their sacrifice but their company.

The trajectory of the whole Bible is set here. From Eden where God walked with man, through the tabernacle, the temple, Christ's incarnation (the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, John 1:14), the indwelling Spirit (your body is the temple, 1 Corinthians 6:19), to the New Jerusalem (the tabernacle of God is with men, Revelation 21:3). God's purpose throughout is to dwell with His people.

The pattern. Moses saw a heavenly original (Hebrews 8:5). The earthly tabernacle was a copy of something already existing in heaven. Every detail had heavenly significance.

Hebrews 8:5 — who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle. The tabernacle is heavenly truth in earthly materials.

Mercy seat — Hebrew kapporeth, the covering. Greek translation hilasterion, the same word Paul uses in Romans 3:25 of Christ as the propitiation through faith in his blood.

Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:14-15). Above the mercy seat, between the cherubim, God's presence dwelt. Where law and presence met, blood always came between. Christ Himself is the mercy seat where the broken law and the holy God meet.

There I will meet with thee. God specifies the meeting place — the mercy seat. He could meet anywhere, but He chose to meet at the place of blood and atonement.

For the believer the principle holds. Christ is the appointed meeting place. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). Prayer that bypasses the mercy seat does not reach God in covenant fellowship.

Shewbread — literally bread of the Presence. Twelve loaves, one for each tribe, set fresh every Sabbath. Christ in John 6 calls Himself the bread of life. The table of showbread anticipates Him.

Only the priests could eat the showbread (Leviticus 24:9). When David, hungry, ate it (1 Samuel 21:6), Jesus used the incident to teach that mercy and human need have precedence even over ceremonial law (Matthew 12:3-7).

Of beaten work. The candlestick was hammered into shape from a single piece of gold. Beaten gold — a picture of Christ in Isaiah 53, struck and crushed for our iniquity, who became the light of the world.

Seven lamps on one shaft. Jesus walks among seven candlesticks in Revelation 1:13. The lampstand in the Holy Place lights the priestly service; Christ in the midst of the candlesticks lights His church.