Exodus 26

And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was showed thee in the mount.
(Exo 26:30)


Curtains, coverings, boards, bars, pillars, hooks and veils… The instructions contained in these chapters are to the SMALLEST DETAIL. All was to be done according to the pattern that the Lord showed to Moses on the mount. And what was that pattern? It was the true tabernacle, (or temple) that exists in the heavenly realm. The details are here because God wanted an accurate representation of heaven on earth.

I don’t think it would be shocking to any of you to hear that I am not a details kind of guy; I am naturally more of a “big picture” guy. Sometimes I get these huge ideas, and I get all excited about them, but I never really work out the little details. Sometimes those “little details” cause BIG PROBLEMS. I remember a perfect example of how this happened in my everyday life… A brisk fall day it was, the wind was blowing the leaves to and fro in the street, and traffic seemed to be doing the same thing… people buzzing this way and that, honking, yelling, and giving me dirty looks. Why were they doing this? I had run out of gas on Route 7 by Tysons Corner during rush hour… bad idea. How this happened is quite simple. I was in the work delivery van, (Frank Parsons Paper Company) finishing up a very large delivery run. I wasn’t typically the delivery boy… at this point I was the assistant manager of our express division. Because of this, whenever I ran deliveries, I would turn them into sales calls. I’d look around the shop I was delivering, asking them where else they were getting supplies, seeing if there was anything we could do to et more of their business etc… In short, I was always thinking about the BIG picture (how can we better serve these clients/how can I make them aware of all we offer) and often not paying particularly close attention to the little details. Because of this I failed to notice the little fuel light that was on, and the gauge that had dropped dangerously below zero. Little detail, big problem… I got the van off the road and had to walk about ½ a mile to a gas station, buy a small gas can, and fill it with gas. Then I had to tell my boss. Not my favorite memory!!!

I say all of that to drive home one important point: God cares about the details! You might think, “Who cares what type of fabric and wood they used, and how big the pieces were… as long as God gets his house things are okay, right?” WRONG! I have often heard people excuse poor decisions in they make, or spiritual laziness by saying, “details, details, as long as I love Jesus it’s OK right?” This is not the way the Lord wants us to live! Just as the tabernacle was a representation of the kingdom of heaven here on earth, so we are representatives of Christ here on earth! The Lord wants an accurate representation, not a sloppy substitute! It’s in the details, the details of daily living… It’s just a small lie, it’s only little compromise, and it’s nothing compared to what the OTHER people are doing… Little details can equal big problems. Jesus is our example, He is our pattern, and we should seek to become as much like Him as we possible can… we do this by simply listening to the Spirit, and doing what He says! It is His power that changes us… all He wants is for us to have a heart willing to obey… even in the little details.