Tabernacle of Testimony

“ In this respect the chapter which I have read from this book is of priceless worth; its value cannot be estimated by anything that is known among men upon which value is fixed. If we did not have this book, and it could be given to us with the testimony that we now have as to its authenticity and its divine origin, I suppose there are hundreds to-day in this Tabernacle who, if they could not get it in any other way, would be willing to give all that they have in the world to possess a copy of it. ”

“ It was introduced to point to this real tabernacle of ours, which, after it was fallen down to corruption through the transgression of the law, and broken up by sin, God promised to put together again, and to raise up in incorruptibility, in order that we may truly celebrate in His honour the great and renowned Feast of Tabernacles at the resurrection; when our tabernacles are put together in the perfect order of immortality and harmony, and raised up from the dust in incorruption ”

“ The beveled window openings through these thick walls are like embrasures of a fort; and the many small rooms in which it is to be divided, will cause the structure to seem more like a prison than a religious temple. In fact it is not designed as a house of worship,—the Tabernacle remains for that—but is intended as a sacred edifice within which various ordinances of the Church, closely allied to those of Masonry, now performed in the Endowment House, shall be celebrated. ”

“ The “Sacred Host” is always in the tabernacle; but on these days, when the altar is decorated out so finely, the Host is put into a Monstrance, and enthroned amidst lighted tapers, flowers, jewels, and clouds of incense, and at the sound of sweet music and singing (in Latin) bottles of Eau de Cologne are poured over the altar, to be, as he frequently said, “wasted on Jesus,” like Mary’s alabaster box of ointment. The tabernacle is of exquisite beauty and workmanship, with crimson velvet curtains, looped up with massive gold chains, over which is a real diamond cross. ”

“ And yet when a greater and more perfect tabernacle is in building, not planned of mortal thought, and whose stones were too heavy to be moved by mortal hands, how little reference there is to the plan of the Founder, how few that are desirous of living according to the counsel and will of God, and to see in that will, not a mere legal skeleton of the structure, but a pattern, good and acceptable and perfect, with no detail wanting for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. ”

“ The burning of the offering, or of certain specified parts of it, upon the altar, whereby its odor ascended up to heaven, was a natural expression of dedication to God. Compare Gen. 8:21, Lev. 1:9, etc.
16. We have seen the typical import of the furniture of the tabernacle (Nos. 8 and 9 above) . That the tabernacle itself, considered generally, had also a typical meaning, is admitted by all who believe in revelation. But when we come to the consideration of details, we encounter diversities of interpretation which cannot be here considered. ”

“ I can, I can make as good tabernacles as any other man, if you do not believe it go and look at my children, therefore that saying is nonsense. We form the tabernacle for the eternal spirit or life that comes from God. ”

“ They shall dwell in Thy Tabernacle and rest upon Thy holy hill. They shall be denizens of Thy courts with Thee, whose roots shine above gold and precious stones. Blessed are they who believe in the triune God, and will to know His ways. ”

“ The crowded condition of the Tabernacle this morning, and the reflection that there is a number of persons outside who are so unlucky as to be too late to obtain admittance, reminds us forcibly of the necessity there exists for a vigorous prosecution of the work upon the new Tabernacle, that we may be prepared to accommodate the brethren and sisters with seats, especially during Conference. ”

“ And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and rain." All this is necessary to observe here, as this quotation is, that what the prophet here describes is to take place when the tabernacle of God is with men; and we have already seen that the tabernacle of God is to be with men when Christ reigns on earth a thousand years, or one day with the Lord. ”

“ Often have we seen this vast building crowded with worshippers, with delight have we occupied its pulpit, and with devout gratitude do we record, that never for a moment has the frown of heaven rested upon it. Thousands will ever bless God for its erection.
Not unfrequently has the question been discussed, to what denomination of Christians does the Tabernacle really belong? In answer to this question, we give a legal document which may also show what is done in reference to houses of worship in England, under the laws for the maintenance of religious toleration. ”

“ The mercy of God to them, that, when they dwelt in tabernacles, God not only set up a tabernacle for himself among them, but, with the utmost care and tenderness imaginable, hung a canopy over them, even the cloud that sheltered them from the heat of the sun. God's former mercies to us and our fathers ought to be kept in everlasting remembrance. ”

“ To all who were privileged to enter the hallowed inclosure, nothing was visible save "the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and fine twined linen," the varied yet combined exhibition of the virtues and excellencies of that divine Tabernacle in which God dwelt within the vail—that is, of Christ, through whose flesh, the antitype of all these, the beams of the divine nature shone so delicately that the sinner could behold without being overwhelmed by their dazzling brightness. ”

“ This tabernacle, like the temple, was a type of the human nature of the Lord Jesus; that was a shrine not made with hands, formed by God himself, and worthy of that fullness of the Deity that dwelt in it.
It is scarcely possible to form an adequate opinion of the riches, costly workmanship, and splendor of the tabernacle; and who can adequately conceive the glory and excellence of that human nature in which the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelt? ”

“ The tabernacles are spacious; and behind that which is on the north side is a door admitting to the Book Treasury, whence you go out behind the church, into a court that opens into the street. This is so contrived, in order that when the priests are suddenly visited by any natural want, they may satisfy it, without going cut in face of the people. On the arch of the south tabernacle are painted the figures of Abraham and Melchisedee. ”

“ The pictures of these bizarre cottages, with the family and friends seated in front, show very serious groups. One of the Tabernacle—a vast iron hood or dome erected over rows of benches that will seat two or three thousand people—represents the building when it is packed with an audience intent upon the preacher. Most of the faces are of a grave, severe type, plain and good, of the sort of people ready to die for a notion. ”

“ Free as the air we breathe, and the grass we tread upon, twice a week throughout the year, save only the winter months. Really, for semi-barbarians, this is doing very well. When we see this great Tabernacle filled on a Sabbath afternoon and hear the charm of five hundred voices added to that of the organ, and listen to the straightforward addresses of several unsalaried "Saints," our thoughts go back to the half empty churches of the East, and we feel that we have come upon at least one mystery. ”

“ For since it is the function of a tabernacle to overshadow him who is in it, and to shelter him, and the bright cloud overshadowed them, God made, as it were, a diviner tabernacle, inasmuch as it was bright, that it might be to them a pattern of the resurrection to come; for a bright cloud overshadows the just, who are at once protected and illuminated and shone upon by it. ”

“ Churches which have the Blessed Sacrament should be open at least a few hours daily to the faithful. It is not lawful to reserve the Sacrament habitually on more than one altar of the church, and that altar should be the one that is most honorable or most suited for worship, and it should be suitably decorated. The tabernacle should be as precious as possible and be carefully guarded, and the Hosts should be reserved inside in a solid pyx or ciborium. ”

“ The short sentence, "Do right," embraces a great deal, and extends over the period of man's life, embracing all his daily duties. It is right for us to build that Tabernacle; it is a work which all the people of the Saints in these mountains are engaged in; and the more faithful we are in paying our tithing, these public works will progress the more vigorously. ”

“ Thousands unable to gain admittance to the Tabernacle thronged and pressed around the entrances and walls in hope of hearing a word of sound from the hallowed precincts within, that would touch a sympathetic chord in their responsive hearts, while thousands more lingered for hours under the kindly shelter of the numerous trees that ornament the spacious grounds within the square, that they might, when opportunity arrived, join in the procession to the grave. ”

“ What a relief it was to find no coro blocking up the nave! The eye could wander over the whole of this lofty interior—could follow the beautiful open work of the triforium and rest on the stained glass of the clerestory windows. The aisles are very shadowy, all the light being concentrated in the nave and the crossing, and the vision, with a great sense of good effect, is led up to the white tabernacle on the High Altar and the immense retablo beyond. ”

“ I am thankful for the opportunity of meeting with the Latter-day Saints in this Tabernacle, and I trust that our assembling together will not be in vain, but be profitable to all of us. I have been called upon to address the congregation. I desire to do so under the influence of that Spirit which guides into all truth, and which makes plain the things of God to the minds of men. ”

“ As I have said once before in this Tabernacle, we may be heralded through the earth as famous; but unless we conquer ourselves it is in vain that our names are known and that our deeds resound through the earth. ”

“ The blessed apostle Paul, discoursing of this heavenly treasure of the grace of the Spirit, and declaring the exceeding greatness of that tribulation, and at the same indicating what each of us ought to strive to attain in this life, says, We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ”

“ This tabernacle, after it was erected, and before this was erected, the old tabernacle, and before that was erected, the bowery, opened to preachers of every denomination, men of every creed united to proclaim their tenets, to give us their views; women protected throughout this land with such sacredness that they, old or young, beautiful or homely, could traverse every valley and pass through every town north and south, night or day, without hearing a word that would be improper, without ever witnessing a gesture that would annoy them ”

“ One reason why I have not of late addressed you oftener is because I wish other brethren to have an equal opportunity to speak to the people. I often regret when we call upon the Elders to speak in this Tabernacle, to hear them say that they have been in the Church ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, or more years, and have not before had the privilege of speaking to the Saints in their large assemblies, apparently casting a reflection upon me or upon my brethren because we have not invited them to preach. ”

“ The people followed her in and lined the aisles through which they knew she would walk on leaving the cathedral. She knelt for a moment before the high carved tabernacle, with a lovely miniature spire, quite in a separate corner from the altar—you have seen those tabernacles of ours in old Catholic churches in other parts of Germany, mein Herr?—and then she turned slowly back. There was no hurry, no anxiety nor expectancy, in her manner; still Engelbrecht had not been seen. ”

“ There was not a noble looking woman, or an intelligent appearing man among them. This description may not hold good of the whole congregation, for there were probably five thousand present, the Tabernacle being about half full, but it is a fair estimate of those in the front part of the house as I sat facing them. ”

“ Let us honour our tabernacles; let us honour the earth, and let us honour the heavens, that we may enjoy the blessings that flow therefrom; for the man who dishonours his tabernacle and the earth upon which we dwell will not inhabit them again for some time to come. It will be with them as President Young was talking this morning about a certain class of individuals: there will be a dissolution, not only of the tabernacles, but of the spirits: for the body is not accountable to the spirit, but it is rendered accountable for the acts of the person that dwells in it—that is, to some extent. ”

“ There is much reasoning about inspiration to-day that appear at first sight very learned, but that will not bear much scrutiny or candid comparison with the teachings of the Word of God. There is nothing in the Bible more inspired than the tabernacle, and if the destructive critics would study the tabernacle more carefully and thoroughly they would be led to give up their ingenious but untenable theories, not only about the construction of the tabernacle, but about many other things as well. ”