Shiloh, the sanctuary.
The choice of Shiloh as a resting place for the tabernacle was not left at Joshua's discretion: it was a matter of Divine appointment (Deuteronomy 12:10-12). At the same time it was not without its natural reason. The situation was both central and secluded; in the midst of the land, as the tabernacle had always been "in the midst of the camp" in the wilderness (Numbers 2:17), and yet removed from the main routes of the country's traffic. Its name, dating probably from this time, while expressive of the fact that God had now given His people rest from their enemies, was also suggestive of the deeper thought of His settled dwelling among them, and was in harmony with the retired and tranquil aspect of the scene. Shiloh, the sanctuary, the place of rest. In this establishment of the tabernacle at Shiloh the Israelites were performing the highest function of their life as a people. It was a devout recognition of God; the majesty of His being, His sovereignty over them, their dependence on Him as the living root of all their social order and prosperity, that testimony for Him which it was their high calling to present before the nations. The tabernacle at Shiloh stands as a type of all places where people assemble to pay their homage to the Supreme.
I. THE SANCTITY OF THE SCENE OF WORSHIP. The tabernacle was the centre and home of all devout thought and feeling. The highest acts of worship could alone be performed there. It represented the unity of the religious life of the people, as opposed to a scattered and divided worship. It was called "the tabernacle of witness" (Numbers 17:7; Acts 7:44). In several ways is every scene of worship, every "house of prayer," a witness.
1. As a symbol of the presence of God with His people. It bears witness to the fact of His spiritual nearness and accessibility. It could have no meaning if personal and "congregational" communion with God were not a blessed reality. The fundamental idea of the tabernacle was that it is the place where man "meets with God," and finds a gracious response to his seeking. "In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee" (Exodus 20:24). "There will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat" (Exodus 25:22). And Christ perpetuates and confirms the promise with a freer, richer grace: "Wheresoever two or three," etc. (Matthew 18:15). This gives sanctity to any place; makes it a true sanctuary. What other consecration can be needed than the realised presence of the living God?
2. As a memorial of the hallowed traditions of the past. The historic associations of the tabernacle were distinctive, wonderful, supernatural. Its origin: made "after the pattern shown to Moses in the mount" (Exodus 26:1-37); the "glory cloud" that rested upon it; its varying fortunes; the changing scenes through which it had passed—scenes of human shame, and fear, and sorrow, and scenes of joyous triumph and marvellous Divine interposition—all this invested it with extraordinary interest. Every true house of prayer has its hallowed memories. Some small chapter at least of the sacred story of the past is enshrined in it. It speaks to us of struggles for truth and liberty, purity of faith and worship, freedom of conscience, in former days. It represents the earnest thought and self-denying labour of devout men and women who have long, perhaps, been numbered with the dead. It has been the scene of many a solemn spiritual transaction: revelations of truth, searchings of heart, stirrings of sympathetic emotion, heavenly aspirations, visions of God. However lowly a place it may be, the memory of these lingering about it gives it an interest and a distinction that no outward charm can rival.
3. As a prophecy of the better future. The tabernacle, though it had come now to a resting place after all its wanderings, was still only a temporary provision, a preparation for something more substantial and enduring. The time came when "Ichabod" must be pronounced on Shiloh. The ark of God was taken, the sanctuary was desecrated, and the faded glory of the sacred tent was lost at last in the greater splendour of the temple; until that also should pass away, to be followed by a nobler shrine. So is it with all earthly scenes of worship. They are but temporary and provisional. They are expressive, after, all, of our human weakness—dimness of spiritual vision, imperfection of spiritual life. They remind us ever of the "vail that hangs between the saints and joys Divine." They "have no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth." They speak to us of the "more perfect tabernacle not made with hands." We see in them a prophecy of the nobler worship of the future, and learn through them to lift our longing eyes to that eternal city of God of which it is written, "I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (Revelation 21:22).
II. THE PEACEFUL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE SCENE OF WORSHIP. "Shiloh" is a name that becomes every place of prayer, every scene of Divine manifestation and communion. It ought to be a place of rest in the midst of earthly agitations, a quiet resort for the spirit from the traffic and turmoil of life, a refuge for the weak and weary, a sanctuary for those who are harassed by the contradictions and pursued by the animosities of a hostile world. Unhappily the house of God is too often connected in men's minds with far other ideas than those of tranquillity and peace. It is suggestive to them of division, and enmity, and bitter contention. The mischief done by those historic strifes about faith and worship that have raged around it, or those mean discords that have reigned within, can never be exaggerated. And yet wherever there is a place of Christian assembly there stands a testimony to the "one Lord, one faith," etc. Beneath these superficial distractions lies the bond of a true spiritual unity. Let that essential unity become manifest, then shall the "glory of the Lord" be again upon His tabernacle, and it shall attract the world to itself as a true sanctuary and place of rest.—W.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY