Tabernacle

views updated

Tabernacle (Heb., mishkan). The portable sanctuary constructed by the Hebrew people in the wilderness. Exodus 25–31 and 35–40 describe the construction of the tabernacle, and Numbers 3. 25 ff. and 4. 4 ff. discuss its furnishings and the duties of the Levites (see LEVI).

In Christianity the word was originally applied to a variety of canopied structures in a church building, but most usually refers to an ornamental receptacle or cupboard for the reserved sacrament.

More From encyclopedia.com