Perry Stone is a prophetic teacher who looks for patterns in the bible. After listening to Perry teach this, I am convinced that God works in patterns and that we need to pay attention to that. Ecclesiastes 1:9 seems to concur. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

The first mention of patterns in the bible is in Exodus 25:9 where God said to Moses “According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.”

Exodus 25:40 “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”

Exodus 26:30 “And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.”

In these two chapters, God repeats himself three times. I think it was important.

Numbers 8:4 uses the expression again, saying “Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.”

So during the time that Moses spent on the mountain, God was showing him things. And He was most emphatic that Moses make sure that what he built on earth followed that pattern exactly. When Noah set out to build the ark that would eventually save mankind  and animals from total extinction, again, God was very specific about how to build it. (See Genesis 6-7) I am certain that Noah was probably a builder already, but most likely had never built anything as huge as the ark and, since there had not ever been a flood on the earth, had also had no experience with something that could withstand the enormous waters of the flood. He would need supernatural insight into this project.

The instructions for the tabernacle were different. The instructions Moses received were for building the place where God’s presence would actually DWELL with the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness and beyond. It was to be built according to the pattern God had shown him on the mountain. The holy God would actually be able to dwell there without harming sinful man because of Moses’ obedience to these instructions.

Hebrews Chapter 8, verse 5 says the earthly priests “serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'” So the earthly tabernacle with its priests are a “picture” of the heavenly things.

I believe the Old Testament paints a picture of the heavenly kingdom through the lives of the Old Testament saints, while the New Testament reveals the spiritual realities, revealing in plain English the message of God’s love and salvation extended to mankind. The Old Testament is called a type and shadow of the New Testament. Man could not actually be born again until Jesus came, but there were men in the Old Testament who had the Spirit upon them and could actually hear from God. In the New Testament, EVERY man can have the indwelling Holy Spirit (be a tabernacle) and hear from God for himself.

My husband and I have a large framed print of the wilderness tabernacle on our wall. It is a beautiful print showing the shekinah glory of God descending on the inner court of the wilderness tabernacle. It speaks to me of how great God’s desire was and is to dwell with men. All of the effort that went into building this tent tabernacle, which would eventually be packed up and moved to the next camping spot and reassembled, speaks of this great desire, and the Israelites’ dependency on the tabernacle. It is a foreshadowing of the future when Jesus would come, and the same Holy Spirit of God would actually come inside the hearts of men instead of a tent.

I know this post has been long and I haven’t yet arrived at my premise, but I am attempting to lay a foundation through examples and scriptures for the idea that there are patterns in the Bible. This post will give you some things to ponder!  Look for Part 2 to come.