Tabernacle

The tabernacle is the portable sacred structure described in the Torah as accompanying the Israelites during their time in the wilderness. It was designed as a tent-based sanctuary that could be assembled, dismantled, and transported as the community moved. The tabernacle served as the central location for ritual activity and as the symbolic dwelling place of God among the people. Its layout, furnishings, and procedures are described in detailed and structured terms, emphasizing order, separation, and access. In later tradition, the tabernacle functions as the conceptual predecessor to the Jerusalem temple and as a model for how sacred space was understood before permanent religious institutions were established.