Session plan 90 min
- Series Introduction 5 min
- Opening — The Object 10 min
- Day 1 and the Tavnit 10 min
- The Three Furnishings 25 min
- The Four Reflection Questions 30 min
- Closing + Bridge to Week 2 10 min
The Sanctuary Series — Seven Weeks at a Glance
Josh Bossé reads the construction of the tabernacle (Mishkan, “dwelling place”) in Exodus alongside the seven days of creation in Genesis 1. One episode per day of creation, one week per episode. The central argument: the tabernacle mirrors creation so that God’s people can learn to participate in the same creative, ordering work. Each week pairs a day of creation with a section of the tabernacle, then turns that pairing into tangible spiritual practices.
| Week | Episode | Day | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 325 | Day 1 — Light & Darkness | Ark, Table & Menorah · Testimonies, bread, lamp |
| 2 | 326 | Day 2 — Separation of Waters | Curtains & Coverings · The door |
| 3 | 327 | Day 3 — Land & Vegetation | Altar & Courtyard · Community |
| 4 | 328 | Day 4 — Luminaries | Priestly Garments · Orientation |
| 5 | 329 | Day 5 — Birds & Sea Creatures | Ordination & Offerings · Presence |
| 6 | 330 | Day 6 — Humanity | Incense, Oil & Basin · Image & likeness |
| 7 | 331 | Day 7 — Sabbath | Sabbath Commands · Rest |
Day 1 establishes the template for all seven weeks. God hovers over chaos before speaking — presence precedes order. God speaks light — self-disclosure as creation’s first act. God orders light and darkness into a cycle — a dance humanity is invited to join. Josh’s four reflection questions from today (testimonies, bread, lamp, dance) thread through the entire series as a recurring personal inventory.
About This Episode
This first episode pairs Day 1 of Genesis 1 with the three furnishings of Exodus 25: the Ark of the Covenant, the Table of the Presence, and the Menorah. Each furnishing embodies one of Day 1’s three moves.
| Day 1 Move | God’s Action | Furnishing | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darkness | Hovering presence | The Ark | Testimonies held in the dark |
| Light | Speech / self-disclosure | The Menorah | Light carried outward |
| Cycle | Ordering / naming | The Table of the Presence | Nourishment from known presence |
The episode is not a lecture; it is an invitation to notice. Come ready to reflect personally, not just analytically.
Opening — The Object 10 min
Opening Question: Think of one physical object — something you own, something you have kept, something you could picture right now — that has functioned as a reminder that God was present in a moment you couldn’t feel it at the time. It doesn’t have to be religious. It just has to be yours. What is it, and what does it hold?
Day 1 and the Tavnit 10 min
Genesis 1:1–5:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.”
Q1: Josh reduces Day 1 to three moves: God hovers over darkness, God speaks light into existence, and God orders light and darkness into a cycle.1 The hovering precedes the speaking — God was already present in the chaos before anything was made. What does it mean that presence precedes order — that God doesn’t wait for things to be good before showing up?
Q2: Optional The Hebrew word tavnit — “pattern,” rooted in building — appears twice in Exodus 25, bracketing the chapter.2 Josh’s reading is not Platonic (an earthly copy of a heavenly original) but relational: the tavnit preserves the relationships between the functioning parts. The tabernacle is not a floor plan; it is a life-form. What is the difference between building to a blueprint and building to a relational pattern?
The Three Furnishings 25 min
The Ark — Darkness and Hovering Presence
Exodus 25:10–11, 16–22:
“Have them make an ark of acacia wood… Overlay it with pure gold… Put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law… There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”
Q3: The Ark holds “testimonies” — the literal Hebrew is closer to testimonies than law.3 Inside: manna (a Torah-test, preserved bread), Aaron’s budded staff (dead wood that produced life), and — most likely — the broken tablets from the first covenant. Not the restored ones. The broken ones. What does it mean that the place where God meets with Israel holds pieces of a covenant they had already broken? What kind of testimony is a broken tablet?
The Table of the Presence — Nourishment
Exodus 25:23–24, 30:
“Make a table of acacia wood… Overlay it with pure gold… Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.”
Q4: The Hebrew is lechem panim — literally “bread of faces” or “bread of the presence.” The word panim (face) runs throughout Genesis 1:2: “the face of the deep,” “the face of the waters.”4 Once you know — through testimonies — that God’s presence is there in the darkness, that presence itself becomes bread. Not doctrine about God’s presence; the experienced presence itself. Where in your life has knowing God was there — even retrospectively — actually nourished you? Not informed you; nourished you.
The Menorah — Light Facing Outward
Exodus 25:31–32, 37:
“Make a lampstand of pure gold… Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand… set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it.”
Q5: The Menorah is a golden almond tree with fire on its branches that does not consume it — a deliberate echo of the burning bush.5 God’s sign to Moses at the bush: “You will come back and worship at this mountain.” Moses receives the Menorah instructions while standing on that mountain, living out that sign. The odd instruction — “light the space in front of it” — points the light outward toward others. When Moses eventually descends, his face shines; the mountain came with him. Who in your life has carried a mountain to you — whose face or presence has given you something you did not get directly from the source?
The Four Reflection Questions 30 min
These questions are not designed to have tidy answers. They are a spiritual inventory — a way of asking where you currently stand in relation to the rhythm the tabernacle is describing. Take each one slowly. Sit with it for 30 seconds before responding.
Reflection 1 — Testimonies:
What physical objects, places, or practices remind you of the felt reality of God’s presence — even in dark seasons when you couldn’t feel it at the time? These are your testimonies. What is in your Ark?6
Reflection 2 — Bread:
What tangible actions, spaces, or people genuinely nourish your spirit — not just inform it or inspire it, but actually feed you? Where do you experience God’s presence as bread rather than as an idea about bread?7
Reflection 3 — Lamp:
How are you currently turning your testimonies and your nourishment outward — carrying light to the faces of others? Is there a specific person or group of people your light is meant to face right now?8
Reflection 4 — Dance:
How do these — testimonies, nourishment, and giving light — fit together into a rhythm for you right now? Where is the rhythm healthy, where has it broken down, and what would it look like to restore it?9
Closing 10 min
“The tabernacle is not a building God wanted constructed for its own sake. It is a pattern for living — a tavnit for how God’s presence moves in human life. Today was Day 1: God already present in the darkness before speaking; the Ark as the place that holds testimonies even when you can’t see the gold. God’s first self-revelation as light; the Menorah as the call to carry that light outward. And the whole thing cycling — evening and morning, inward and outward, receiving and giving. That rhythm is the series. Every week from here adds a new day, a new section of the tabernacle, and a new dimension to the same question: how do you live in the presence of God?”
Closing Question: One sentence per person —
“The piece of this rhythm I most need to attend to right now is ___.”
Looking Ahead — Week 2: Day 2 and the Curtains
Ep. 326 — Sanctuary: Entering the Mishkan (1:11:53)
Week 2 moves to Day 2 of creation and the curtains, coverings, and veils of Exodus 26.10
Day 2 is the only day of the six not called “good.” God separates water from water — the same substance from itself — and the rabbis read this as an image of loneliness. The expanse God creates is not a wall; rain proves it is a door. God names it shamayim (heavens), placing God not at the top of the hierarchy but in the middle — at the meeting point between those above and those below.
In the tabernacle, this becomes Exodus 26’s layered curtains, joined by gold clasps “so that the tabernacle will become one” — echad. The episode ends with a sharp critique of hurried evangelism: there is no shortcut through the door God is building.
Before Week 2, read Luke 16:19–31 (the rich man and Lazarus) in a single sitting. Hold one question:
Where is the door in this story — and who is refusing to walk through it?
Bring your answer.
References
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Marty Solomon, Brent Billings, and Josh Bossé. “Sanctuary — Waking Up in the Mishkan.” BEMA Discipleship Podcast, Episode 325. bemadiscipleship.com. Episode notes: bema-podcast-notes.github.io/ep/325. ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. Tavnit appears in Exodus 25:9 and 25:40, bracketing all three furnishing instructions. Josh’s reading follows David Fohrman’s description of the tabernacle as a body or life-form rather than an architectural blueprint. ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. The Hebrew edut (testimonies) debate over the Ark’s contents draws on Talmudic tradition (Bava Batra 14b); the broken tablets as the theologically richer testimony — God did not abandon a covenant Israel had already broken. ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. Panim (face) connects the table’s name (lechem panim) to the creation account’s surface-to-surface intimacy; Marty connects merachefet (hovering) to a rabbinic reading of the word as a “kiss between faces.” ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. The Menorah’s almond imagery (Exodus 25:33–34) connects to Aaron’s budded almond staff (Numbers 17:8) and the burning bush (Exodus 3:2–4). ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. Josh’s first reflection question. Biblical precedent: matzevot (standing stones) — physical markers erected to say “God was here” (Genesis 28:18, Joshua 4:5–7). ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. Josh’s second reflection question. The yada (experiential knowing) distinction: God’s presence known relationally, not merely affirmed theologically. ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. Josh’s third reflection question. Textual anchor: Exodus 25:37, “light the space in front of it.” ↩
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Ep. 325 notes. Josh’s fourth reflection question. The evening-and-morning cycle of Day 1 as the template for the dance. ↩
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Marty Solomon, Brent Billings, and Josh Bossé. “Sanctuary — Entering the Mishkan.” BEMA Discipleship Podcast, Episode 326. bemadiscipleship.com. Episode notes: bema-podcast-notes.github.io/ep/326. ↩
This discussion guide was developed using these notes and is aligned with the content and approach of the BEMA Discipleship Podcast (opens in a new tab) by Marty Solomon and Brent Billings.