In Joshua 18:1 – 19:51 it seems as if the Spirit wants to draw our attention to Shiloh and the tent of meeting. This is confirmed by the way in which the chapters begin and end (see Joshua 18:1 and Joshua 19:51). What then is so important about this place and this tent?

Before the people of Israel assembled together at this city, they were at another place called Gilgal, about 35 kilometres south-east, near the city of Jericho. Now Gilgal was the main battle camp during the invasion of Canaan. So it was quite a significant and important location and that makes us wander why they wanted to move up to Shiloh. If the allotment of Judah and Joseph could take place at Gilgal, why not the allotment for the rest of the tribes as well?

Shiloh is much more central than Gilgal—it is in the territory of Ephraim, right in the middle of the land. Having the tent of meeting at this new location will make it easier for all the tribes to come and worship God. Now that the land had been subdued and they were getting ready to live in it, the time has come for the tent to move to a better location. And the tabernacle would actually remain at Shiloh for the next 350 years until the time of King Saul and David.

Under the old covenant sacrificial system, this tent of meeting enabled Israel to enjoy real fellowship with God. Admittedly it was a limited fellowship because access to the holy of holies was prevented by a thick curtain, but it did allow God to dwell in their midst without them being destroyed on account of their sin. Ultimately it served as a picture of what would come later—a promise of the incarnation when the Son would take on flesh and make his dwelling among men (John 1:14).

Until the coming of Christ, the tent of meeting (and later the temple) visibly showed God’s people that the Lord wants to enjoy fellowship with them. The desire of God’s heart is to enjoy relationship with the people that he has created—he is not uninterested, distant, or apathetic. He made human beings for relationship, he adopted and redeemed Israel for relationship, he sent his Son to suffer and die in order to ensure that there will be fellowship with his people for all eternity.

This pattern of regularly meeting with God would thus be essential for Israel’s life in the land and when we come to the new covenant we find exactly the same. God’s church gathers weekly to meet with him so that we can be strengthened for service in this world. In the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:19–25), the writer tells us that when we gather for worship, we enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. Later he would go on to say how we come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God: that is, when we gather for worship we come into God’s presence in order to meet with him. We do not gather for worship in order to provide an audience for our minister or stroke his ego—we have come to meet with God. We come to have our desires, our thoughts, and our attitudes changed by time in God’s presence.