Squeezing Into Tight Spaces

When we moved from our house in Maryland to an apartment in Germany, we knew that we were downsizing, but at least for me (Chantal) the reality of the size difference was quite dramatic, and I mourned my large kitchen. We are now happily settled and have discovered that we have plenty of space. We have, however, begun looking at space differently. We realize that measurements are an extremely important part of buying furniture, and we need to plan exactly where a furniture item must go before we buy it, to make sure that it will fit comfortably.

Interestingly, when God’s Tabernacle was made, He seemed to have a different idea of space and furnishing. We are told that Moses was given the exact measurements for the courtyard and the Tabernacle itself, including the holy and most holy spaces. The most holy place contained the golden ark with its contents, its lid being the mercy seat with the golden cherubs hovering over it. It was here that God’s presence was visible.

Strangely this seems to have been a tight fit. The carrying poles used to transport the ark were inserted through golden rings attached to the ark. They were long. And, apparently, they remained on the ark (Ex. 25:15). The result: they protruded and pushed against the curtains. When the ark is moved to Solomon’s newly built temple, the author of Second Chronicles cryptically mentions that they could be seen from inside the next compartment of the temple (2 Chron. 5:9). Why the tight squeeze? Why didn’t God simply design the most holy place a little bigger or order the carrying poles to be made a little shorter?

The text does not implicitly tell us, but with all our furniture moving during the past year, we find this detail intriguing. Somehow it seems comforting to know that God has chosen to squeeze Himself into tight spaces. After all, the Incarnation is the mind-blowing feat of the God that unnumbered universes can’t contain choosing to limit Himself to a human form and be born as a baby. And as a human, Jesus experienced all the tight places that we experience. All those moments when life squeezes us into tight places. Places where we often feel that we are suffocating. Jesus knows what it’s like. His cry in Gethsemane vividly demonstrates this.

Perhaps those carrying poles of the ark that bulged out the curtain were meant to be comforting. Even for those who were not authorized to go into the most holy place, they could rest assured that the ark of the covenant was still there when they saw the bulging curtain. And perhaps they would take comfort in knowing that God did not choose to “live” in comfortable spaciousness but was ready and willing to squeeze into all the small places or the uncomfortable places of our lives, underlying the paradoxical fact that when we let God into our uncomfortable spaces, there is suddenly more than enough room to live what Jesus calls life “to the full” (John 10:10, NIV).