SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

- How do the tiny details of your home tell the story of you and your family? What ways do the tiny details of God's dwelling place on earth (the tabernacle in Exodus 25, later the Temple) tell the story of God and his family?

- Why do you think the first thing one of the Children of Israel would see when entering the tabernacle was a sacrificial alter? What is important about sacrifice? What is its relationship to sin?

- In Exodus 27:21, God calls the tabernacle "the tent of meeting." What does this say about God's expectations for his family to gather?

- What was the function of the priests? Why was there an emphasis on things for the priests and this space, including garments and furniture, as being "holy to the Lord?" Why do you think God continued to desire to dwell with his people, even after they rejected him over and over again since the account in Genesis 2?

- In light of the importance of the physical and spiritual barriers described in Exodus 25-31 between God and man, what is the significance of the veil in the Temple being torn in two from top to bottom when Christ yeilded up his spirit in Matthew 27:51?