The Tabernacle for Kids with a Tabernacle Model Kit

I want to thank Christian Focus Publications for providing me with a copy of God’s Special Tent by Jean Stapleton in return for my honest opinion.

Have you ever noticed how much of the Old Testament is devoted to the planning, building and use of the tabernacle?

2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Even the long, detailed sections about the tabernacle.

The Tabernacle for Kids

The tabernacle, and the temple after it, were just a shadow of a promise God later fulfilled through the coming of Christ and the New Covenant.

I found a short article about that at Ligonier Ministries. You can read “The True Tabernacle” by Douglas Kelly for a little perspective on the importance of this tent God had the Israelites build.

Long story short, if we’re going to teach our children about the Bible, we need to teach them the story of the tabernacle and the priestly system. That can be a daunting task. A tabernacle activity book written by Jean Stapleton, God’s Special Tent (Christian Focus Publications, 2013) can help. Written for ages 8-12, God’s Special Tent is a 44-page activity book.

The book contains plenty of writing (it is intended for the middle grades, and it delivers). Twenty-four sections tell about some aspect of the tabernacle, such as ‘The Mountain Where God Spoke’, ‘The Priests’, and ‘The Tent at Jerusalem’.

Read in order, the sections tell:

• The story of the tabernacle
• An abridged version of the story of the temple
• The triumphant fulfillment of the shadow the tabernacle represents.
• Christ fulfills the promise of the priesthood, sacrificial system, and the tent.
• We, the people of God, have become living stones in the house of God.

It doesn’t get any better than that!

Tabernacle Model Kit and Activities

Each section of God’s Special Tent has pictures to color (they are pictures worthy of middle grade colored-pencil work), and a ‘Find Outs?’ section with three short Scripture references which help children find out more about the subject they are studying.

Just a note:  There are no pictures of Christ. I believe that is an area that Christian Focus Publications is particularly careful of.

The last aspect of this activity book was one which particularly excited me. Ms. Stapleton has included the blueprints to make a cardstock tabernacle. There are 3 pullout pages to help you construct the tabernacle itself, the furnishings, and the pillars and curtains. The boys and I were delighted to spend a week working on tabernacle models.

I know you really want to know what they look like!

Here’s the completed product… we used cloth for the covering curtains and cardstock for the rest.

Here’s a picture of the inside with all of the furnishings.

I found God’s Special Tent to be a delightfully helpful resource. Not only were we able to learn about the tabernacle as a type or shadow, to learn about the story of the tabernacle and its design, we were also able to construct our own tabernacles.

My boys colored the pictures in the activity book for quite a while during our history read-alouds. (I had to pry the book out of their hands a number of times just to finish reading it to them!)

In fact, I loved this book so much, I added it as a resource for the Recommended Resources for the Lower Grammar and Upper Grammar levels of Bible Road Trip™.

Purchase God’s Special Tent at

God’s Special Tent: The Story of the Tabernacle and What Came After (Activity)

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Christian History Matters for Our Kids.

History matters. Now, more than ever, we see how important it is for our children to know and understand history and the Bible.

Here’s why:

• God is the sovereign ruler of all things. It’s important for our kids to see his hand in the history of nations and in the lives of both peasants and kings. 
• Christian history is the story of our family history. Our kids get to see how people who love Jesus follow him.
• Understanding history can help our kids learn historic and biblical theology. They learn what the Bible says and what that means for us. They also see when the study of Scripture has taken important turns that have changed the Church.   
• Reading Christian biographies and history can be a wonderful way for kids to think outside their own time and culture. God’s Church spans centuries and includes people from every nation.    
• Christian biographies help kids consider their own faith, walk with Jesus, and the impact their witness may one day have on others–and on history. 

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