Your family will love learning about Bible history for kids in this fun, illustrated book for 7-12 year olds, What Was the Tabernacle?.
Hebrews 9:23-24, ESV, tells us:
Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
In order for our children to read the Bible well, they must understand biblical types–also called figures or shadows. The tabernacle here on earth was designed by God to represent important heavenly truths. Those truths are explained to us in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.
What Was the Tabernacle?
In the beginning, before there were lakes with fish, mountains with trees, or deserts full of sand, there was God. Our God, Yahweh–whose name means I AM WHO I AM–has always been. Yahweh is. Yahweh always will be.
What Was the Tabernacle?, Danika Cooley (Christian Focus Publications, 2024), page 7
The tabernacle was a portable worship center, designed by God to teach us to worship him.
Not only does the tabernacle teach us how to worship God, the tabernacle points forward to who Jesus is and why we need a Savior. What Was the Tabernacle? will help your children understand God’s object lesson to us by taking them through Leviticus, parts of the Gospel of John, and Hebrews chapters 8-10 alongside Exodus chapters 25-40. The book is fun and engaging, synthesizing multiple parts of Scripture in a narrative that even young children can understand.
The Tabernacle and Moses
Your kids need to be able to answer the question: What Was the Tabernacle?. The tabernacle–and later, the temple–presented a system of worship designed by God to point us to important spiritual truths.
Take a look at a few aspects of the impact the tabernacle has on our faith:
- Under the Old Covenant–a legal treaty between God and his people–sin was forgiven through the continual sacrifice of animals. Jesus instituted a New Covenant when he gave his life to save his people from their sins, and then rose again.
- The Israelites gave generously to the Lord in order to construct the tabernacle. Today, we give to the Lord cheerfully and God makes us abound in every good work.
- God instituted offerings and feasts in the Old Testament to help us better understand God, our worship of him, and his salvation of us. Under the New Covenant, those offerings and feasts are celebrated in a new way.
- Each piece of furniture and worship ritual of the tabernacle was meticulously designed by God to point forward to Jesus. When Jesus taught the Israelites who he is, they understood because they understood the function of the tabernacle and their relationship to God.
The tabernacle is an important lesson in our relationship to God. Because the New Testament teaching on the tabernacle comes later, and because the story of the tabernacle is spread over many chapters of the Pentateuch, it’s helpful for children to be able to read the story of the tabernacle, how it functioned in worship, and what God says about this traveling temple devoted to worshiping him.
As they learn about the tabernacle, our kids can better understand who God is, why we need a Savior, how Jesus saved us, and how we are commanded to worship him.
Learn more about the Who What Why series and get your FREE Reformation Lapbooks here.
The Tabernacle for Kids
In a fun and engaging tone, the narrative Christian history book What Was the Tabernacle? will help your kids learn how God taught his people to worship him.
What Was the Tabernacle? chapters:
- Introduction: A People for God
- Chapter One: Worship in the Desert
- Chapter Two: People Giving to Yahweh
- Chapter Three: The Outer Courtyard
- Chapter Four: Artists Gifted by God
- Chapter Five: The Holy Place
- Chapter Six: Priests to the Lord
- Chapter Seven: The Most Holy Place
- Chapter Eight: We Worship God’s Way
- Timeline
Now, God does not really live in a cloud. God is actually everywhere all the time. And, though God dwells–or lives–with us, he is not at all confined to one place or even one time in history. But, he helped us understand that he is with us by showing his glory through his presence in the pillar of cloud and fire.
What Was the Tabernacle?, Danika Cooley (Christian Focus Publications, 2021), page 17
Fabulously illustrated by Martyn Smith, the Who What Why series books are each 95 pages long with 8-9 chapters, perfect for your middle grade (ages 7-12) readers. The fun narrative makes each book an engaging family read aloud, but kids will love, too, that they can read the books on their own.
In fun sidebars, your kids will also learn about Old Testament worship, and how it ties to New Testament worship today:
- The Stain of Sin
- A Shadow of the Truth
- Five Offerings
- The Passover and the Feast
- The Feast of Firstfruits
- The Feast of Weeks
- The Feast of Trumpets
- The Day of Atonement
- The Feast of Tabernacles
What Was the Tabernacle? is a fun way for kids to learn about how God taught his people to worship him–and how we worship God now that Jesus has died and was raised for our salvation.
Purchase What Was the Tabernacle?
Learn more about the Who What Why series and get your FREE Exodus Lapbooks here.
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Christian Biographies for Kids | Christian History for Kids | Theology for Kids
Christian History Matters for Our Kids.
History matters. Now, more than ever, we see how important it is for our children to know and understand history and the Bible.
Here’s why:
- God is the sovereign ruler of all things. It’s important for our kids to see his hand in the history of nations and in the lives of both peasants and kings.
- Christian history is the story of our family history. Our kids get to see how people who love Jesus follow him.
- Understanding history can help our kids learn historic and biblical theology. They learn what the Bible says and what that means for us. They also see when the study of Scripture has taken important turns that have changed the Church.
- Reading Christian biographies and history can be a wonderful way for kids to think outside their own time and culture. God’s Church spans centuries and includes people from every nation.
- Christian biographies help kids consider their own faith, walk with Jesus, and the impact their witness may one day have on others–and on history.
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