“Some Assembly Required” is a sign I avoid like the plague. I’m not good at putting things together. I always have parts left over and I usually end up with the wrong side facing out on at least one panel. It has something to do with my attitude towards instructions.
In chapter 39 the Israelites had completed making all the items for the tabernacle and they had followed the instructions perfectly. 10 times it says that the people constructed the parts of the tabernacle exactly “as the Lord commanded.” They were great at following instructions.
Then in chapter 40 God said, “on the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle.” It was time to put it together. God told Moses how to put everything together and where to put it. He followed a deliberate order, working from the inside out. First Moses was to erect the tabernacle. Then he was to set up the furniture that went inside. This was followed by the furniture that went outside, and finally by the fence that went around the perimeter.
If we want to erect a place for God to dwell today, some assembly is required. We have all the parts, and the scriptures give us the instructions. They too require that we start from the inside and work out. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment he told the experts of external religion that the first instruction God has given us is that the work begins on the inside. “You must love God with your whole heart…” Paul prays for us all in Ephesians 3:17. His prayer is that we will follow the instructions. He says, “I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love.”