The film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring dramatizes all the heroes, one by one, lining up to assist Frodo in his quest to destroy the deadly ring of power.[1] Representing the people of Gondor, Boromir steps up and crystalizes the crux of the quest: “You carry the fate of us all, little one.”[2] Frodo’s success or failure in this venture is not only the hobbit’s concern; while he initially sets out to protect his own little shire, it quickly alights upon him that the survival of the whole world rests in his hands. If he succeeds, all Middle Earth will be saved. If he fails, everyone is doomed. And the fact that Boromir calls him “little one” is no slight. That Frodo, the halfling, is the only one who can carry this enormous weight adds to the precariousness of the mission.
1. Content adapted from Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People by Nicholas G. Piotrowski, ©2025. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, crossway.org.
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson (New Line Cinema and WingNut Films, 2001).
In this fictional detail lies an intriguing parallel to Israel’s role in God’s purposes for the world. In the exodus a huge responsibility is placed on Israel, the fulfillment of which will spell salvation not only for themselves but also for the nations: they are made a “kingdom of priest” (Exod. 19:6). More specifically, it is Israel’s high priest who bears the biggest burden, whose ministry carries the fate of us all. Once per year, Israel’s high priest representatively carries all humanity into the Most Holy Place, the tabernacle’s inner sanctum where God himself dwells, and liturgically enacts humanity’s return to the garden of Eden—all of which forecasts a true end-times homecoming for image-bearers everywhere. And, like Frodo, Israel is little (Deut. 7:7), and therefore never lacking for danger in lands far from home.
In this essay I want to demonstrate how Israel’s Day of Atonement is set up to remember Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden, and also to forecast humanity’s future return to the Edenic presence of God. The tabernacle is intentionally made to emulate Eden, and the high priest and Israel are intentionally commissioned as emissaries for humanity’s end-times entrance into a new creation to dwell with God forever.
The Tabernacle: An Architectural Eden
Israel’s rescue from Egypt through signs and wonders constitutes God’s paradigmatic work of redemption. In the exodus, Israel is both rescued from the land of slavery and idolatry, and also comes to meet God at Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:16‒20). For such was always the goal of the exodus: not only to get out, but also to get in—into the presence of God (Exod. 3:13).[3] “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,” in Exodus 5:1, “‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” As such, Israel is deputized as the Lord’s “treasured possession among all peoples” and “a kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:5‒6). This means that the nation as a whole has a mediatory role between God and the peoples of the earth.[4]
3. This is emphasized from the moment the Lord calls Moses on “the mountain of God” (Exod. 3:1). When he sees the burning bush and turns to inspect it, the Lord tells Moses he is standing on “holy ground” (3:5). It is holy because God is there. The Lord then tells Moses, “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (3:12). That term for “serve” is ʿabad. It often means “worship,” and it is the same word used of Adam in Genesis 2:15 (rendered “work” in the English Standard Version [ESV]). Thus, God’s intent in the exodus is to bring his people to his temporary dwelling on Mount Sinai so they can worship him there. The specific reason the Lord visits his people is to bring them to himself so they can “serve/worship” in his presence, as God originally intended with Adam.
4. David S. Schrock, The Royal Priesthood and the Glory of God, Short Studies in Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022), 21, 50–51.
But there is a problem with Israel’s arrival at the mountain of the Lord. Israel, like all humanity, is sinful, and the Lord is holy. And human sin prohibits the reentrance of God’s image-bearers into the divine presence. The building of the tabernacle will redress this impasse.
Simply put, what is sometimes termed Israel’s tabernacle is an entire structural complex, with outer walls, gates/doors, furniture, an altar, and the tent of meeting on the west end. The latter’s name alone tells us its significance—God and man will meet there! Inside the tent of meeting are two rooms. One is called the Holy Place where priests minister regularly. The other one, on the far west end, is called the “Most Holy Place” (in some translations, the “Holy of Holies”). That is the specific place where God dwells above the ark of the covenant (Exod. 25:22). Greg Beale and Mitch Kim explain that “since the ark was the footstool of God’s heavenly throne (1 Chron. 28:2; Ps. 99:5; 132:7–8; Isa. 66:1; Lam. 2:1), the Holy of Holies was the bottom part to where the heavenly throne room extended.”[5] Thus, God is in heaven and on earth at the same time, but only in this one spot. To put it another way, heaven and earth converge within the Most Holy Place inside the tent of meeting.
5. G. K. Beale and Mitchell Kim, God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014), 53.
To further demonstrate this, the tent of meeting is specifically designed to commemorate the garden of Eden.[6] It is full of gold (Exod. 25:11–13, 17–18, 24–29, 38; cf. Gen. 2:11–12) and decorated with ecological images of trees and flowers (Exod. 25:31–36; cf. Gen. 1:11–12). The colors on the curtain represent the sky (Exod. 26:1, 31, 36; cf. Gen. 1:6–8).[7] The lampstand is described like the “lights” of creation (Exod. 25:37; Gen. 1:14–18).[8] There are cherubim embroidered into the curtain/veil that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Exod. 26:1, 31). This carries the clear connotation of Genesis 3:24, when Adam and Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden and the cherubim were set “to guard the way to the tree of life.”[9] The implication is that on the other side of the curtain lay the garden of Eden in some sense. Moreover, Moses is constantly reminded to make the tabernacle after the pattern he is shown of heaven (cf. esp. Exod. 25:40 and Heb. 8:5; Ps. 78:69). The tabernacle is, therefore, a commemorative Eden and an earthly copy of heaven.[10]
6. T. Desmond Alexander, The City of God and the Goal of Creation, Short Studies in Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 18–21.
7. Gregory K. Beale, “Eden, the Temple, and the Church’s Mission in the New Creation,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48, no. 1 (2005): 16.
8. Beale and Kim, God Dwells, 55.
9. See Sandra L. Richter, The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 119–24.
10. See esp. G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, New Studies in Biblical Theology 17 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004), 66–80.
The final aim of both Eden and the tabernacle also align: in both cases the goal is rest (cf. Gen. 2:1–3 and Exod. 33:14).[11] And once the tabernacle is fully built, the climax to the entire book of Exodus comes:
11. Beale and Kim, God Dwells, 60–63.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. (Exod. 40:34–38)
This is the true goal of both Eden and the exodus: that humanity would worship again in the presence of God. The coming of the Lord into the tabernacle restores that Edenic experience—the Creator living among humanity. The tabernacle complex is always set up in the middle of Israel’s camp (Numbers 2). It is thus the means through which the Lord “walks in the midst” of Israel (Deut. 23:14), a clear echo of his “walking” with Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen. 3:8). As Stephen Dempster puts it, “The goal of Exodus is thus the building of the Edenic sanctuary so that the Lord can dwell with his people, just as he once was Yahweh Elohim to the first human beings.”[12]
12. Stephen G. Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible, New Studies in Biblical Theology 15 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003), 100.
Moreover, the filling of the tabernacle with the fire and the cloud is also a prophetic act that forecasts a day when the glorious presence of God will fill the whole earth as originally intended before Genesis 3.[13] Just as the ecological decorations of the tabernacle represent Eden and God’s purposes for the earth, so filling this Eden-like tabernacle with God’s glory adumbrates the creation-wide filling with God’s glory—a full reconnection of heaven and earth. Thus, the final words of the book of Exodus both remember Eden and forecast a return to it.
13. See Bryan D. Estelle, Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018), 105, 318–22.
The High Priest: A Universal Representative
Yet, “the tabernacle is both a barrier and an avenue.”[14] To have it in Israel’s camp is one thing; to enter into it is another—as the cherubim fearfully represent. We come now to the vital role of Israel’s high priest. Only he gets to go in, only once per year, only from the east, and only with a substitutionary sacrifice of atonement. In this manner he typologically enacts a cosmic return to Eden.
14. Edmund P. Clowney, “The Final Temple,” Westminster Theological Journal 35, no. 2 (1973): 161.
The house of Aaron is set aside to serve as the high priestly class (Exod. 28:1), to mediate—to bear up and represent—for Israel before God. This bearing up and representation of Israel is symbolized in the high priest’s clothing, especially the ephod and breastpiece (Exod. 28:2–43). The two main materials that go into the ephod are gold and onyx (Exod. 28:6, 9), again commemorating Eden (cf. Gen. 2:12). The onyx stones are inscribed with the names of the tribes of Israel and set on the shoulder straps (Exod. 28:9–12). The breastpiece is also made of gold, and twelve stones of precious jewels are set into it, “each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes” (Exod. 28:21). In this way, “Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel . . . to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord” (Exod. 28:28). Thus, as Israel’s high priest ministers before the presence of the Lord, all Israel is representatively there as well (cf. Lev. 8:6–9).
It is important also to note that the tabernacle complex is always set up with the entry gate facing east (Exod. 27:13–14; Num. 3:38). Thus, the only way the priests can enter is to pass through the gate heading westward. As priests continue westward, they must pass by the altar of sacrifice. Once per year, the high priest presses even farther westward into the Most Holy Place, which is “guarded” by the embroidered cherubim on the veil (Exod. 25:18–22; 26:31; cf. 1 Kings 6:23–29; 2 Chron. 3:14).
All this recalls and reverses Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden in Genesis 3:24. They were expelled specifically to the east, and their way back is prevented by the cherubim. “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24).
In light of what we have seen of the Edenic symbols in the tabernacle and its set-up necessitating westward movement through the complex, ultimately moving past embroidered cherubim to the inner sanctum, the high priest typologically enacts a return to Eden each time he enters the Most Holy Place, liturgically bearing all Israel before the Lord.
Furthermore, since Israel as a whole is a holy kingdom of priests (Exod. 19:5–6), the high priest actually represents all humanity coming back into the dwelling place of its Maker. The high priest is thus the vanguard of a new humanity, and all creation hangs in the balance of his ceremonial performance.
Leviticus 16 describes the precise time and manner that Israel’s high priest is able to enter this commemorative Eden. One day each year he must make an offering for himself, for he too is a sinner and in need of atonement. He then takes a censor producing smoke/cloud inside the veil. There he sprinkles the blood of his sacrifice on the east side in front of the ark. He then repeats that action with another sacrifice, this time on behalf of all Israel. Thus, substitutionary animals die for the people (Lev. 16:15–16). Following the sacrifices are confession and bathing ceremonies. All of this purifies the tabernacle and “make[s] atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly . . . because of all their sins” (Lev. 16:33–34). The whole process is called the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27), a “divinely revealed ceremony [that] dramatize[s] the reversal of humanity’s ultimate exile.”[15] It is designed to address the problem cited above: sin. Entering into the holy presence of God requires this substitutionary death and atonement ritual. If sin results in exile from Eden and death, then a substitutionary death for sin is necessary for a return to the Edenic presence of God and the enjoyment of true life.
15. L. Michael Morales, Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption, Essential Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2020), 98.
As mentioned above, such worship in the presence of God is the end-goal of the exodus. Now with the tabernacle built and God’s glory dwelling with the people, the Leviticus 16 liturgy marks the crowing point of the exodus journey. Thus, the Day of Atonement “signifies the goal of the entire journey of the promise: entrance, once and for all, into the immediate presence of God.”[16] The tabernacle precinct looks back to the way creation once was and is intended someday to be again, as a liturgical return to the Garden of Eden is enacted every Day of Atonement.
16. Jon C. Laansma, The Letter to the Hebrews: A Commentary for Preaching, Teaching, and Bible Study (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017), 32.
Jesus Christ: The Great High Priest in the Heavenly Places
However, as emphasized throughout Leviticus, only one man gets to enter the Most Holy Place, only once per year, and only through repeating that entire ceremony. The tabernacle therefore provides access to God but not regular or enduring access (cf. Heb. 9:25), and the limited nature of the Day of Atonement (and thus its necessary annual repetition) anticipates a future climactic re-entrance to the presence of God. The annual reenactment keeps the memory of Eden alive and reinforces the hope of a true and ultimate return through one man’s atoning sacrifice that will finally carry his people back into the Creator’s sacred abode. That atonement is, of course, the self-giving sacrifice of the great high priest Jesus Christ.
The book of Hebrews uses much from Israel’s sacrificial system to explicate Jesus’s high priestly status and his greater self-sacrifice (e.g., Heb. 2:17), but chief among such images is the Day of Atonement.[17] In Hebrews 9:12, we are told that Jesus “entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” The result is that, just as we saw with the Day of Atonement, Jesus the great high priest bears his people back into God’s sacred presence (Heb. 1:3; 4:14; 6:19–20; 8:1; 10:19). Jon Laansma puts it just right:
17. Laansma, Hebrews, 23, 172, 204–6.
For Hebrews, the Day of Atonement represents the ultimate destination of Israel’s journey in faith, which, in accordance with the promises of the new covenant, takes the people of God into the immediate presence of God, that is, into his resting place (Heb. 3:7–4:11). In one stroke—the single, once-for-all bodily self-offering of the Son—that covenant has been both inaugurated and consummated (Heb. 9:11–28).[18]
18. Laansma, Hebrews, 196.
Moreover, Jesus did not go into an earthly tabernacle to present his sacrifice, for the tabernacle was a shadow and copy of the true sanctuary (Heb. 8:3–5). Instead, he was “seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man” (Heb. 8:1–2). Thus, he “entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). Again, Hebrews says that “Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Heb. 9:24). He represents his international people and advocates for them in God’s immediate heavenly presence, that sacred divine abode of which the tabernacle was only an earthly shadow!
And so now Christians “have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever” (Heb. 6:19–20; cf. also 10:20). Through such representation Christians have
come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Heb. 12:22–24)
Conclusion
Ultimately, it was worship in the presence of God that Adam and Eve lost with their expulsion from Eden. Understanding that helps us see more clearly the significance of Israel’s tabernacle and priesthood. Both are specifically set up to echo those lost purposes of Eden and induce hope that someday humanity can fully return to the abode of God. Humanity will someday come home.
Since sin got us ejected from the presence of God and death is the sure result, it is perfectly fitting that substitutionary sacrifice paves the way back in. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest leaves the evil and death of the world and goes with a sin-atoning sacrifice into typological Eden. And there he stands face to face with the gracious Creator God who invited him in! It is like he is being resurrected and, through him, the people he represents. All of this is prismatic of the future and permanent return from exile through the great high priest in the latter days.
Jesus Christ is just that great high priest that Hebrews tells us about. By his own self-sacrifice he has become the climactic and only means of atonement and eternal redemption. Now, by virtue of his resurrection, he has permanently entered into God’s true sanctuary to minister on our behalf. He has come home to God! He has reversed the expulsion from Eden. And he is pulling us up with him there!
And here is a critical point: this is all by the Lord’s design. The tabernacle and the Day of Atonement liturgy are not man-made. This is all through God’s initiative and sustaining will, a “divinely revealed ceremony [that] dramatize[s] the reversal of humanity’s ultimate exile.”[19] He invites sinful exiled humanity back into his sacred dwelling, and he himself provides the way to do so. Never more so than through the death and resurrection of his Son!
19. Morales, Exodus, 98.
No illustration is perfect. There are differences between Frodo’s quest and the high priest’s ministry. The most obvious one is that Frodo is going into danger to stop evil from spreading over all Middle Earth. Conversely, the high priest goes into the safest place in the entire cosmos (provided he has the prescribed sacrifice). He leaves the evil of the world and goes with a sin-atoning sacrifice into typological Eden! And there he does not face the vile Sauron. Rather he stands face to face with the gracious Creator God who invited him in! All of this is a prism through which to see the future and permanent return to Eden through the great high priest in these latter days.
