2 Then Solomon [Sh'lomo] assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion.

"Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, she may forget, yet will I not forget thee."

In this response Yahweh declares that his affection for Zion is stronger than the strongest propensity of human nature.

The heart of woman has been steeled against her own offspring; for in the siege of Jerusalem,

"the hands of pitiful women have sodden their own children:"

but though they might forget to cherish their own flesh, Yahweh can neither finally forget nor forsake Zion, for

"they are beloved for the fathers' sake." "I will not forget thee,"

are the emphatic words of Zion's God. But He does not cease with this assurance for he goes on to say,—

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall hasten; thy destroyers and them that made thee waste shall go forth from thee."

This declaration is fatal to the permanent occupation of Jerusalem by the Ottoman or any other Gentile power. All Gentiles are to be expelled from that city...

Herald 01 /1855

5 And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

The Tabernacle

First of all, consider its position: the heart and centre of this numerous congregation of people—the centre, not only in a geographical sense, but in a spiritual and social sense; for, by reason of the law requiring every Israelite to offer sacrifice in the various contingencies of domestic and personal life, it laid hold of every person in the tribes and welded the whole mass into a compact national unity.

But what was this central tabernacle? We shall fail to estimate it truly if we think of it merely as an ingenious portable structure adapted to the necessities of a nation on its travels. We must consider it in the light of God's command to Moses about the making of it.

"Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8). "There will I meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory" (29:43).

Thus, the tabernacle in their midst was God in their midst—God, the centre of Israel's national life—the pivot upon which all their operations, public and private, turned. Who can fail to see the palpable lesson of this?—that God should be the centre and root of our lives.

Without God, life is barbarous and ephemeral. We see it in nations and individuals around us. They are moved and controlled by their wants, their fancies, their desires—"God is not in all their thoughts." They live without nobleness, and they die without hope.

The central position of the tabernacle tells us that God should be first in our knowledge, in our love, in our service, in prayer and hope, and continual confidence.

Then consider by whom and of what materials the tabernacle was made. It was not let down from heaven ready-made, though the pattern was shown to Moses, with strict injunctions that he should follow it in all particulars. It was made by the wise-hearted men and wise-hearted women in accordance with specifications supplied—the women doing the light work, and the men the heavy. God wanted the congregation to provide the materials of their own voluntary freewill.

"Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart, ye shall take my offering,"

gold, silver, brass, precious stones, blue, purple, scarlet, &c. (Exodus 25:1–7). The significance of this is obvious. God's final encampment upon the earth is to be in a tabernacle fabricated from materials supplied by the human race—living materials answering to the precious things offered by Israel: "gold, silver, and precious stones"—the good and honest-hearted constrained by the word of invitation—

"every man who giveth willingly with his heart." God has said, "Speak unto the Gentiles that they bring me an offering."

Let us offer ourselves. The offering must be according to specification. We must not bring what is not wanted. Faith in the testimony and obedience to the commandments is what is required. Men who hope to be accepted on other grounds, as many do, will find themselves mistaken.

The anti-typical tabernacle, like the Mosaic, is to be made according to divine pattern. The pattern is in the Scriptures. We must look there for what is pleasing to God. It was a complaint against Israel by God, through Ezekiel;

"Ye have not kept the charge of my holy things, but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves."

The Christadelphian, Jan 1890

14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Yahweh had filled the house of Elohim.

The cherubim set up in the tabernacle and first temple were enveloped in a cloud of thick darkness (2 Chron. 5:14; 6:1). At night, the cloud which was visible without the former, appeared like a blaze of fire, but in the day, it towered aloft as a pillar of cloud. Darkness and fire were frequent accompaniments of the divine presence; indeed, always so upon great occasions.

The presence of the Lord upon Mount Sinai was a magnificent and terrible example; and when Jesus expired in blood, Judea was veiled in darkness, and God looked upon it.

With the exception of the thunder, the earthquake, the tempest, and the flashing lightning, God's communing with Moses, and after him with the high priests, were conducted from between the cherubim, as upon Sinai -- "the Lord descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and God answered him by a voice" (Exod. 19:18, 19); so that the thick darkness became luminous and indicated His presence.

The illumination of the darkness without the voice would be sufficient to give assurance of acceptance. The priest having witnessed this on the great day of atonement, when he came out to the people, looking for Him with anxiety to know the result, would be enabled to report to them that the Lord had shined forth.

This was the sign to them of a typical salvation. Hence, Asaph prays, "give ear, O Shepherd of Israel; Thou that dwellest between the cherubim shine forth -- stir up Thy strength and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved" (Psalm 80:1-3)

Elpis Israel 1.5.