A full-scale model of the ancient Hebrew tabernacle built in the wilderness by the Hebrew nation will be on exhibition and available for tours, free of charge, at the Standifer Gap Family Center, 8304 Standifer Gap Road, Chattanooga, on Sept. 28-Oct. 6.
Travel back more than 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Israel where two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. Each element in the tabernacle had deep significant meaning to the Hebrew people, and will be explained in the tour.
Tours will run daily from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. with specially-arranged group tours starting at 8:30 a.m. The Messiah’s Mansion exhibit consists of five sections lasting about 15 minutes each.
The colorful, tent-like walls surrounding Messiah’s Mansion suggest lighthearted play, but once inside the walls, visitors soon learn the tabernacle was very serious business. The creators of Messiah's Mansion tried to include models of every item in the original tabernacle. The model tabernacle is built to scale and is intended to look just like the Old Testament tabernacle did to the Hebrews.
“Messiah’s Mansion will give a real opportunity for each of us to see the gospel in living form as it was given to the children of Israel, in symbol, several thousand years ago," said local pastor Dale Tunnell, Messiah’s Mansion Chattanooga coordinator. "It is an incredible learning experience for the entire family to realize what God has done, is doing, and what God will do.”
Operated by the staff and students of Oklahoma Academy, in Harrah, Ok, Messiah’s Mansion has been in operation since 2003 and is transported across the U.S. nearly a dozen times a year. Students along with many volunteers have completed more than 50 exhibits in 15 states, Canada and Jamaica. Just to set up the model tabernacle in Chattanooga will require 300 local volunteers and 700 man-hours of labor after its arrival on the Academy’s semi.
For more information, visit www.messiahsmansionchatt.org or call 423 954-0174 to arrange a group tour.