Rose Guide to the Tabernacle
By Rose Publishing
Synopsis: This book is a pictorial tour of the ancient Tabernacle, complete with beautiful and full-colored illustrations, diagrams, charts, and tables on every single page. It also has plastic overlays that the reader can peel away to see behind layers into the structure of the Tabernacle. The book explains the function and meaning (in a Protestant Christian context) of every important element and feature of the Tabernacle, including explanations of the sacred Feasts, the sacrifices, the duties of the priests and Levites, the arrangement of the camp of Israel, their travel history, the travel itinerary of the Ark of the Covenant, and each object located both without and within the Tabernacle. It is printed on glossy paper, and ring bound, yet with a binder-like hard cover. This book is part of a series of Rose Guides.
Strong Points: This book has a definite objective: Give the reader a clear understanding of everything about the Tabernacle. In this objective, it has remarkable success. The reader will not be disappointed with the quality of the diagrams and illustrations and will be very pleased with the range of topics covered in this short book. The book is also surprising in its abundance of incredibly profound and fascinating insights into the symbols of the Tabernacle and ancient observances, and their connection to Christ. If someone is looking for literature that will explain everything they need to know about the Tabernacle, they really need look no further.
Weak Points: One thing that will be troubling for the Latter-day Saint is the book’s use of the unfamiliar New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, instead of the authorized King James Version with its beautiful poetic rendering of the text. It seems to detract from an otherwise beautiful presentation. Also, the book sometimes seems to be written a little too simply sometimes, but I suppose if they want to appeal to junior high and high school kids as part of their audience, this may be the reason why. Despite this, there were some points where I thought additional explanation would have been helpful, and I sometimes had unanswered questions. There were a few typos, which marred the presentation of the book, but not too many. Of course, the biggest problem with the book is that it was written from a Protestant Christian perspective, and not a Latter-day Saint perspective, which resulted in some doctrinal inaccuracies in certain places.
Interesting: 5/5
Must Read: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5
Pages: 115
Selected Quote: “When Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, God expelled them from the garden and placed cherubim to guard the entrance. God’s presence was in the garden. Because of sin, humans had become contaminated, impure. The cherubim guarded God’s holiness and the tree of life. Humans no longer had access to the garden.
“The Tabernacle tent had two rooms: the larger, the Holy Place, was the place of worship, guidance, and covenant. The smaller room was the Most Holy Place – also known as the Holy of Holies. It was in this room that God’s presence dwelt.
“A veil divided the two rooms. Although priests ministered daily in the Holy Place, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement. The veil was a large curtain made of the finest twisted linen in costly blue, scarlet, and purple dye. It was skillfully crafted with representations of cherubim upon it….
“God’s special presence was no longer in the garden – rather, it was in the Tabernacle itself! The Most Holy Place, then, represented a memory of what humans lost because of sin, and a hope for what humans could expect with God’s plan: living in the presence of God as the Creator intended from the beginning.” (p. 72).