Explain the function of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant it contained and why was this portable shrine also called the tent of meeting?

Answer 1

The Tabernacle's function was to provide a portable place of worship. According to the fullest descriptions of it, it contained an outer chamber and an inner shrine (containing the Ark), a golden menorah, a table for showbread which was offered to G-d and an altar for burning incense (however, many scholars argue that the description these details are taken from actually refers to the Temple of Solomon. The Hebrew termfor the Tabernacle משכן, mishkan, comes from the same root as שכינה, Shekhina, used to denote the presence of G-d especially when in reference to the Temple at Jerusalem - further evidence that the Tabernacle was a place of worship.

The Ark itself is a far more mysterious object which has puzzled historians and researchers both Jewish and otherwise for many centuries. According to The Bible, it contained the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed, the Rod of Aaron (Aaron, Moses' brother, had a staff known as the Rod which possessed miraculous powers according to the Bible) and manna, the mysterious and sweet-tasting food that appeared on the ground six mornings out of every seven that the ancient Hebrews spent in the desert following their escape from slavery in Egypt. The Ark is said to have had two models of cherubim (angels) on its cover, through which G-d would communicate with the people (which has, perhaps inevitably, led certain modern writers to put forward the theory that it contained a radio allowing communication between the Hebrews and an alien race that they referred to as "god").

The term Tent of Meeting is just an alternative name for the Tabernacle and reflects its purpose as a place where people came together, or met, in order to worship. A similar term is still used today by Quakers, or Religious Society of Friends, an egalitarian and pacifist Christian group that holds meetings for worship (non-preprogrammed events, unlike most forms of gathered worship) at locations known as Friends' Meeting Houses.