If yesterday we walked in the footsteps of Paul, today we traced the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness. This is because our adventures took us from Be’er Sheva to Eilat, the southernmost point of the country of Israel, where Israel meets Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia at the Red Sea.

The Israelites journeyed from Egypt, miraculously through the Red Sea, to Mount Sinai. After constructing the tabernacle at Sinai, they traveled northward to Ezion-geber (near Eilat, where we were today). Then they did a big loop in the Wilderness of Zin before ending up in Ezion-geber a second time, after which they journeyed north on the other side of the Dead Sea and crossed into the promised land near the place where Jesus was later baptized. In all, they stayed about 40 places or so in the 40 years they were wandering.

You might be thinking, “How are you talking about Israel journeying to the promised land? Aren’t you already in the promised land when you’re in Israel?” But a majority of their journey took place in the land that Israel now occupies. They were just further south. If you google a map of the wilderness wandering you’ll see what I mean. And you’ll be able to see better the places I’m describing.

Now, when I say we traced the journey of the Israelites, we didn’t do this exactly in every instance, but sometimes we followed them symbolically. For instance, we didn’t actually go into Egypt. In better times we could have. But if a military strike were to happen they would close the border and we would be stuck on the other side. So we turned around at the border crossing and waved at the guards. That was our flight out of Egypt.

We didn’t cross the Red Sea, either. And it didn’t part for us. But we did enjoy some fun snorkeling there!

Snorkeling is one of the most popular activities in the Red Sea, in fact. Right off the shoreline there are coral heads with many intricate designs, full of life in and around them. We were amazed at the many different kinds of colorful fish—whole schools of them at times that we were swimming with. Various species of surgeonfish, sergeant fish, puffers, butterflyfish, wrasse, and many others—even a lion fish. We also saw an eel and Judah said he saw a huge stingray, but Bryan and I couldn’t find it. The water was very clear. The depth was about 20 or 30 feet where we were, but about 100 yards out there was a drop-off where the sea floor turned from white sand to a deep, deep blue and we could see nothing. That’s when I turned back. There was something unnerving about being in the sea and not being able to see the bottom in clear water. But I think I could float in the water watching those colorful fish every day and not grow tired of it.

The Israelites made their way from the Red Sea, after celebrating God’s victory over their enemies, and ended up at Mt. Sinai, where God gave them the law and the blueprints for the tabernacle.

Part of our journey this day led us to a national park in Timna, where one of the options was a tour of the wilderness tabernacle built to scale.

We spent over 2 hours there talking with an engaging believer named Marco who gives tours of the tabernacle and uses the talk to share the gospel. He has to be careful about what he says. If he directly shares the gospel with a Jewish child, for instance, as if he is trying to go against the parents, he could go to jail. But the gospel is on full display in this place as he tells the history of the tabernacle and explains the significance of it.

Well, as you may be able to imagine already, our conversation with him went on for quite a bit longer than his normal talk. He was a walking encyclopedia of everything Jewish tabernacle and temple and we were peppering him with questions and discussing his views about various statements in Scripture about this place of worship literally from Genesis to Revelation. In fact, we felt a little bad for the two other visitors who were there because they graciously excused themselves before we were finished, not expecting to be there that long.

After talking about the tabernacle in general outside (in the shade; it was 103 degrees and we were in the desert), we went inside the courtyard, and had a conversation about every piece of furniture, from the copper altar and laver (large wash basin), to the tabernacle proper, the large tent that held the table with the show bread, the menorah, the alter of incense, and finally the most holy place with the ark of the covenant. Each piece was designed specifically after the biblical instructions. In fact, Marco was very adamant that they only followed exactly what was in the text when there was any measurement given, as much as they could understand.

Timna was where the Egyptians mined copper going back thousands of years. So there was copper in abundance in that area, supplying the material for the altar and laver.

Here are a few takeaways from this experience that stand out to me as I look back now.

First, I was surprised that the tabernacle is as small as it was. Normally it seems much bigger in the artist renditions. But I was reminded that the people bringing their sacrifices were not allowed in the courtyard like they were in the temple that Solomon later built. They had to get in line outside with their offering or sacrifice, confess their sins or their reason for coming, and leave it with the priest. So there was always a mystery about what went on in the tabernacle, and most of the Israelites, besides the Levite priests, could only imagine what was taking place based on the word that God had spoken.

Second, the point was made how unadorned and unimpressive the outside of the tabernacle was. It was just a tent. And the covering for the holy place on the inside was just animal skins. The altar and laver were not gold. Only in the holy place did you find gold, because the closer you came to the holiness of God the more expensive the materials became. But this is because it was not supposed to be a beautiful place on the outside, Marco explained. In fact, Marco said it was an “ugly” place on the outside because it was about sin and death. Animals were being slaughtered and burned all day long. The blood was flowing out. And it was hot. And it smelled. It was a picture of how ugly our sin is and what it causes.

Hebrews 10:11–14 kept coming to mind: “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

Third, Marco kept making the point that the most important thing was not that he and the people at this tabernacle display got the furniture dimensions and design exactly correct from the OT. (Some of the instructions in Exodus are difficult for us to discern.) He reminded us that it was the significance of the furniture that was important. The altar and laver were for work, the work of sacrifice. The menorah was only to hold the oil so that the light could shine—the point was the light, just as we are only vessels for the Lord’s use, holding his glorious light. And so forth.

He makes this point, he said, after the other two visitors had left, because many people especially from a Catholic background come to this tabernacle display and they bow before their reconstructed ark of the covenant and they kiss the ark. And he wants to tell them, “No! This is not the point. This is an empty box. It was only pointing to someone much greater to come.” In fact, that may be one of the reasons God did not want everyone looking upon the objects that pointed forward, these “shadows,” as Hebrews calls them, cast from a greater reality. God did not want the objects themselves to be venerated. The idea of the Israelites to take the ark and use it as a weapon against the Philistines, for instance, missed the whole point, and failed them when they misused it like that.

Well, as I said, I could go on and on about this. Bryan could discuss a lot more things that stood out to him. And we got to talk to Marco some more later on when we were eating lunch in the little café nearby and he joined us. We ought to pray for him and for his ministry of the gospel in this unique location.

Continuing our journey with the Israelites, after Mt. Sinai, they journeyed northward and crossed over the places we drove to yesterday. We would not have wanted to walk through where they did because we would have not survived. But it did make us wonder at how God protected them during these years. It was easy to see, for instance, how they would be desperate for water! We read the stories where they complained about water and we want to think how disbelieving they were. Why can’t they just trust God?! But when you are in this hot, arid, place you recognize how harsh the conditions are.

In fact, we looked down upon the Israel national trail, which goes through the wilderness in places where the Israelites journeyed to come into the promised land. Judah said that if you choose to hike this trail, as many do, you usually pay a company to do water drops and supplies for you because you use up your water and rations so quickly hiking this terrain.

I’ll just end with some images and comments about our journey through this barren land. We drove along the mountain pass near Ezion-geber where the Israelites would have crossed over and journeyed northward along the vast plains.

Solomon built a large port here in his time and there is still a port here today.

In Timna there are impressive rock formations that are called “Solomon’s Pillars.” (See those in the title picture.)

Here there is also an ancient temple to Hathor built only 100 to 200 years after the Israelites had journeyed through this area. At that time it was controlled by the Egyptians who mined copper there. Hathor is the goddess of mining.

We also enjoyed many encounters with a long-horned animal that roams all over the wilderness, the ibex (plural, ibex or ibexes). These are the “wild goats” that the Bible mentions in several places like Psalm 104:18a, “The high mountains are for the wilds goats.” In Hebrew, the word for ibex is ya’el, which means “to climb up.” And that’s what we saw these wild goats doing everywhere, climbing up high places.

Most of the ibexes we saw were small, but we saw a few large ones also. The horn of the large ibex is what they use to make the Hebrew shofar that was blown to announce the beginning of feast days and to signal war. The word shofar means, of course, “horn.” I got really close to some big ones and Bryan was warning that they might charge me. But, as I told him, “Well, shofar, sho good.” (Hehe, just a little Hebrew joke for you. That’s the kind of thing we do over here.)

So the day became quite a journey through the wilderness where God’s people wandered, where he led them, provided for them, disciplined them, rescued them, and ultimately brought them to the land he had promised.

Looking back over the past few days, what a privilege it has been to have followed the steps of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea and into the wilderness where they were tested, and to also have followed Jesus through the water of the Jordan and into the wilderness where he was also tested! And what a salvation we have in Jesus, the ultimate Israelite, who succeeded in the wilderness where his ancestors had failed.