Scripture Daily

Context No. 4138 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 4:7-11: in context

7“On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it. 8They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles. 9“They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. 10They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame. 11“On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

As the tabernacle is prepared for transport through the wilderness, God gives careful instructions for how the sacred furniture, the table of the bread, the lampstand, the golden altar, is to be handled. Each is to be covered with cloths, wrapped, and carried with its poles, never touched carelessly or exposed to common view.

There is a quiet lesson in this careful handling. The sacred objects were not treated as ordinary furniture to be hauled about however was convenient; they were covered, protected, and carried with reverence, even in the mundane task of transport. God's holiness extended even to the logistics of moving his dwelling. It is possible to become so familiar with sacred things, God's word, worship, the practices of faith, that we handle them carelessly, as ordinary. But what is holy remains holy, and calls for reverence, even in the ordinary and routine handling of it. The care taken with the covered furniture reminds us not to grow casual with what is sacred.

Do I handle the things of God, his word, his worship, the practices of faith, with reverence even in the routine and familiar, rather than growing so casual with what is sacred that I treat the holy as ordinary?

Sources