10 And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded;

11 The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,

12 The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering,

13 The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,

14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,

15 And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,

Moses speeds through each of the elements required for the tabernacle. Seeing how long this takes to summarize highlights how involved of a project this is going to be. Today we are only looking at the first half of the list, which includes the body of the tabernacle itself and all of its interior.

What stands out to me is just how much grander the vision of God is than that of man. When Israel longed for objects of worship, they were willing to content themselves with a single golden calf. Now look at how much more structure, and effort, and riches, and beauty there is in God’s vision for where they would worship! A mercy seat, a house for it to rest in, two altars, a golden lampstand, a table, an outer courtyard, priestly robes, incense and perfume!

Today I believe this pattern continues when consider the objects of our devotion. When we choose our own, we settle for relatively cheap and easy things. Money, fame, social acceptance, and hedonistic pleasure. These are paltry when compared to the deep and abiding ambitions of the godly life: family, dignity, eternal purpose, and contentment of the soul. What the Lord has in store for us doesn’t come cheap. It asks so much more of us, but also it gives us so much more.