Tent of Meeting

Biblical Text and Content

The name "tent of meeting" first appears in Exodus 27:21. It then occurs frequently in the latter part of Exodus and in Leviticus and Numbers. The tent of meeting appears in two main forms.

• The tent of meeting outside the camp: Exodus 33:7-11 recounts events following the golden calf incident. Moses pitched a tent far outside the camp and called it the tent of meeting. Whenever Moses entered it, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door, and God spoke with Moses "as a man speaketh unto his friend." The young Joshua is said never to have departed from the tent.
• The tent of meeting as the tabernacle: The tabernacle, whose instructions and construction are recorded in Exodus 25-40, is also called the tent of meeting. Exodus 31:7 lists the tent of meeting first among the things that Bezalel and Oholiab were to make. When it was completed, the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle, so that even Moses could not enter (Exodus 40:34-35). Thereafter God called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting (Leviticus 1:1), and Moses heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the ark of the testimony (Numbers 7:89).

The tent of meeting is the setting for many events. The seventy elders gathered around it (Numbers 11), Aaron and Miriam were summoned before it (Numbers 12), and Joshua received his commission there (Deuteronomy 31:14-15). After the settlement in Canaan it was set up at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1). In the time of Solomon it is recorded as being at Gibeon (2 Chronicles 1:3), and when the temple was completed it was brought up into the temple (1 Kings 8:4).

Meaning and Background of the Name

Ohel means "tent." Mo'ed carries the senses of "an appointed time or place" and "meeting." God's words in Exodus 29:42-43, "where I will meet you," reveal the meaning of the name. Whereas mishkan, the word for tabernacle, emphasizes "a dwelling place," the name "tent of meeting" emphasizes "a place of meeting." The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, rendered the term as "the tent of testimony."

Significance Across Scripture

The tent of meeting was the center where God was present among His people and spoke to them, and where Old Testament sacrifices were offered through the priests and Levites. The New Testament scarcely uses the term "tent of meeting," but the themes of the tabernacle and the divine presence continue.

• In Acts 7:44 Stephen refers to "the tabernacle of witness."
• In John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," the word translated "dwelt" means "to pitch a tent." For this reason, the interpretation that reads the Incarnation as the fulfillment of the tabernacle is widely known.
• Hebrews 8-9 presents the earthly tabernacle as a shadow of the true tabernacle in heaven.
• Revelation 21:3 depicts the last day: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men."

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Interpreters differ on the relationship between the tent of meeting outside the camp (Exodus 33) and the tabernacle set up in the midst of the camp. Conservative interpreters regard the former as a temporary tent used before the tabernacle was completed. Critical scholarship sometimes regards the two accounts as distinct traditions preserved side by side.

There is also a typological interpretation that matches each of the materials, colors, and furnishings of the tent of meeting and the tabernacle to Christ or to stages of the life of faith. This approach is widely used in sermons and study materials. By contrast, some interpreters, including those in the Reformed tradition, urge caution about reading symbolic meaning into details that the text itself does not explain. What the text itself emphasizes is God's presence, His meeting with His people, and holiness.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church the tent of meeting is generally treated as synonymous with the tabernacle. It is often explained alongside the tabernacle in expository sermon series and seminars on the tabernacle, and some churches and organizations display tabernacle models for teaching purposes. In preaching, the scene in Exodus 33 is frequently cited to illustrate personal prayer and intimate fellowship with God.