In the book of Exodus, God gives Moses extremely specific instructions for building a tent in the desert called the Tabernacle. Most Christians hit these chapters and quit.

The measurements. The materials. The colors of the curtains. The dimensions of the furniture. It reads like an ancient construction manual. Boring. Dense. Irrelevant.

Except it is not irrelevant. It is the most important blueprint in the entire Bible. Because when you walk through the Tabernacle from the entrance to the innermost room, you walk through the entire plan of salvation. Step by step. In exact order. Built in the desert fifteen hundred years before Jesus was born.

Here is what the Tabernacle actually contains:

There is one entrance. Only one. It faces east. There is no back door, no side gate, no alternative way in. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." One entrance. One way in.

The first thing you encounter inside is the Bronze Altar. This is where the sacrifice was killed and burned. You cannot go deeper into God's presence without passing the place of sacrifice first. The cross.

Next is the Bronze Laver. A massive basin of water where the priests washed themselves before going further. You cannot approach the holy place with the dirt of the world still on you. Baptism. Cleansing. Being washed clean.

Then you step inside the covered structure — the Holy Place. And inside you find three pieces of furniture. On the left is the Golden Lampstand. Seven branches burning with oil. The only source of light in the room. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."

On the right is the Table of Showbread. Twelve loaves set before God's presence continually. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life."

Straight ahead is the Altar of Incense. Fragrant smoke rising day and night toward heaven. The prayers of the saints ascending to God.

And then you reach the Veil. A massive curtain — sixty feet tall, thirty feet wide, four inches thick. It separated the Holy Place from the one room on earth where God's presence physically dwelled inside.

The Holy of Holies. Only one person was allowed to pass through that veil. The High Priest. Once a year. Carrying the blood of a spotless sacrifice. With a rope tied to his ankle in case he died in God's presence and had to be dragged out. And when Jesus died on the cross, that veil tore in two. From top to bottom. Not bottom to top, as if a man had ripped it. Top to bottom. As if God Himself reached down and tore the barrier open. Access to God's presence went from one man, one day a year, to every human being on earth. Permanently.

One entrance. Sacrifice. Cleansing. Light. Bread. Prayer. The veil torn open. God's presence made available to all.

That is the gospel. Laid out in physical form. In a tent. In a desert. Fifteen hundred years before Bethlehem.