He was learning woodwork and he wanted to make a present for his grandad. Grandma suggested he make a wooden footstool exactly like the one she used. She said grandad would like it and he would use it all the time.
Carefully they drew up a plan of the measurements, the type of wood he should use and the decorations. Grandma showed him the original in the lounge room where her footstool was a large part of her life. She and grandad spent long evenings sitting by the fire and her footstool gave her great comfort. She wanted grandad to have the same comfort she enjoyed.
The lad used his tools skillfully and felt inspired to make the footstool a perfect replica of the original.
Many, many years later, family members still talked about the perfect footstool the lad had made and how it was made according to the plan and the pattern he had been shown.
It was a method the Lord used when he gave his people the very best they could have in lifestyle and comfort.
He said to Moses, ‘Make it exactly according to the design I show you, the design for the tabernacle and all its furniture,’ and he showed Moses the original tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. Exodus 25:8-22. The Ark housed the two tables of stone the Lord himself had written on.
Then He gave Moses precise measurements, told him the type of wood and gave detailed instructions about the decorations. Like grandad’s footstool, it was central to the comfort and lifestyle of the Lord’s people.
Long after the death of the Saviour, John the Revelator on the Isle of Patmos, saw ‘God’s sanctuary in heaven was opened, and within his sanctuary was seen the ark of his covenant.’ Revelation 11:19.
The Lord gives us the best in lifestyle and comfort and it begins with the peace and stability of the instructions he wrote on stone.
We do not know what became of the replica Moses built but John shares the original with all who follow Christ.
Elizabeth Price