A review of Christ and the desert tabernacle by J.V. Fesko

Christ and the desert tabernacle by J.V. Fesko

Publishers description:

"Far from being boring or uninteresting, the Old Testament tabernacle, and later the temple in Solomon’s day, is a shadowy picture of Christ and the church. True, people are perhaps easily able to draw the connections between Jesus and the sacrificial animals, as Jesus is identified as the one and only true sacrifice who takes away our sins (e.g., Heb 8-10; 1 John 2.2). But beyond the obvious connections between Jesus and the sacrificial animals, the Old Testament tabernacle is literally an entire world of references, allusions, and foreshadows of Christ and the church."




I'm sure for most of us, reading about the tabernacle and understanding what you read isn't the easiest thing to do.  It isn't always easy to see the big picture, to see in the tabernacle the types and shadows that are brought to fulfillment in the finished work of Christ.  As Dr. Fesko states at the start of his book "when we read of the tabernacle, we are looking at a shadowy picture of Christ and the church".

From there Dr.Fesko takes us through the components of the tabernacle, explaining what they mean and then taking them from type and shadow to their fulfillment in Christ and His Church. I came away reminded once again of the unity of Scripture, the old testament fulfilled and explained in the new.  In this book we see the work of redemption moving toward it's ultimate fulfillment in Christ.  We see our inability to approach a holy God, and see God reach down to us in our sin to provide us a way to Him.

 This is a short book, and isn't your typical commentary or theological treatise.  The best theolgians are those who were pastors, men like Luther, Calvin, Owen, et al, come to mind.  They bring to the reader comfort and take theology to it's proper end, doxology.  If you've ever read Luther's commentary on Galatians you know what I mean (if not, I highly recommend it).

This book is an  example of true pastoral theology. Dr. Fesko is a seminary professor, but he was a pastor for many years and this book originated as a sermon series he did on Exodus.  To me this is the strength of  this book, because of the pastoral aspect of each chapter.  There is much to bring comfort and praise to God here and I highly recommend this book.  It's size and structure would make it an excellent small group resource as well.  Five stars!

I received a  copy of this book from Cross focused reviews in exchange for my review.