E25-10: How the Tabernacle’s 3 zones of holiness can also be seen at Mount Sinai

Today I want to show you an awesome connection between the Tabernacle and Mount Sinai.

The Tabernacle was divided into three zones of varying degrees of holiness as follows:

1st ZONE: The Holiest of Holies

2nd ZONE: The Holy Place

3rd Zone: The Outer courtyard

Now the mind-blowing point is this: the geographical area of Mount Sinai was also laid out in the same way!

What I’m saying is that the entirety of Mount Sinai equated to the Tabernacle right down to the two connected rooms we call the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

Let’s start with the summit of Mountain Sinai where the Spirit of the Lord rested.

It is here where the Lord burned like a raging fire in the cloud.

And ONLY Moses was allowed to enter into this place when He was summoned to do so by the Lord.

The summit of Mount Sinai was equivalent to the Holy of Holies.

As Moses was the ONLY ONE who could go to the very top of the mountain per the Lord’s command, it was ONLY the High Priest who could enter the Holiest of Holies per the Lord’s command.

Next, the mountain slope was equivalent to the 2nd zone of holiness or the Holy Place in the Tabernacle’s tent sanctuary.

This is where the Lord called Moses, the 70 elders, and Aaron and his two sons to come and partake of a covenant meal before Him.

Remember there was a stone fence boundary marker at the base of the mountain separating the holy mountain from the valley floor below.

The 70 elders, and Aaron and his two sons had to cross over this barrier but before they could so so, recall that they had to be sprinkled by the blood from the animal that was sacrificed on the altar.

This sealed the covenant and only after being sprinkled by this blood could these 74 representatives of Israel enter the 2nd zone of holiness, which was the mountain slope.

However, they could go no further than the mountain slope.

And we find the exact same pattern with the common Levitical priests.

While they could enter the Holy Place, they were ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED under any circumstances into the Holiest of Holies.

Finally, we come to the valley floor of the mountain.

This area could also be aptly titled the Zone of Humanity.

But don’t misunderstand me here.

I’m talking about only born-again, redeemed or set apart humanity.

An unbeliever was NOT allowed here.

The valley floor is also the area where the Lord commanded Moses to build a stone altar.

This valley floor area is equivalent to the Outer Court area of the Wilderness Tabernacle and true to pattern, this area is where the sacrificial bronze Altar was erected.

This is the area where the redeemed people of God could come to offer their sacrifices.

Here’s a quick snapshot review.

FIRST ZONE 
Holiest of Holies=Summit of Mount Sinai
(Only Moses or the High Priest is allowed here)

SECOND ZONE
Holy Place=Slope of Mount Sinai
(At Mt. Sinai, only the 70 elders and
Aaron and his sons were allowed here.
At the Tabernacle,
only common Levite priests were allowed here.)

THIRD ZONE 
Outer courtyard=Valley floor of Mount Sinai
(Only redeemed Israel, whether native-born Hebrew or
the mixed multitude were allowed here.)

To close, remember how in my last post I stated that the Tabernacle was a prototype physical reflection of God’s dwelling place in the heavens.

Well, we will see this same 3-zones of holiness pattern manifest itself wherever God’s presence dwells.

We saw it at Mount Sinai, we are now seeing it with the Wilderness Tabernacle, and we will see it when Solomon’s Temple is built.

And I betcha the same pattern can also be found in the Garden of Eden when God dwelled with Adam and Eve there.