Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;
- KJV Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
- NKJV “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,
- NASB “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.
- NLT “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel had the tabernacle of testimony, built exactly as God instructed Moses. True worship followed God's own pattern, not human invention.
Overview
Stephen shifts to the tabernacle, made according to the pattern God showed Moses (Exodus 25:40). This stresses that acceptable worship is defined by God, not by human preference. It also begins his answer to the charge about the temple: God's dwelling among His people was first a movable tent, ordained by God Himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Exod 25:40See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
- Exod 38:21This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
- Heb 8:5The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
- Num 18:2But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.
- Josh 18:1Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,
- Exod 25:8–9And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
- Num 1:50–53Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.
- Num 17:7–8Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.
- 1 Chr 28:11Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, storehouses, upper rooms, inner rooms, and the room for the mercy seat.
- Num 10:11On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony,
- Heb 8:2and who ministers in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.
- 2 Chr 24:6So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”
- 1 Chr 28:19“All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the LORD has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”
- Exod 26:30So you are to set up the tabernacle according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
- Num 9:15On the day that the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it and appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning.
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 7:44 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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