TABERNACLES OF TIN

Bible references are to the King James Version

AFFECTIONATELY DUBBED ‘tin tabernacles’, small corrugated iron buildings may be seen in towns and villages and in city suburban areas throughout Britain. In various states of preservation or decay, the presence of a cross or other religious symbol on the structure denotes its use as a place of worship.

In the 19th century, corrugated iron flat-pack buildings shades of today’s Ikea were a proud product of the Industrial Revolution. In 1828 the British civil engineer, Henry Robinson Palmer (1795–1844), inventor of the monorail, devised a method of corrugating wrought iron. The material was then coated with ‘galvanic’ (zinc) paint, a process developed by French engineer, Stanislas Sorel (1803-1871) in 1837. The resulting product was lightweight, strong, corrosion-resistant and transportable on goods trains. Strictly speaking, it was not ‘tin’, but it was cheap and practical, and was rapidly adopted as a building material, one which workers of average skill could assemble. These flat-packs were exported worldwide and used in the construction of pigsties and cattle sheds, factories and workshops, schools and residences. They were also fashioned into houses of Christian worship, from the modest little chapel to the imposing edifice of a cathedral.

Meeting the Need

The half-century or so preceding the Great War of 1914-18 witnessed large movements of the British population. The rapid growth of new communities in remote areas presented new challenges. As well as the obvious demand for homes and workplaces, there was a pressing need for churches, chapels and schools, and these corrugated structures offered a quick and inexpensive solution.

It could be said that these ‘tin tabernacles’ sometimes called ‘corrugated iron mission halls’ were a Godsend. That the sturdy little buildings were welcomed in the new communities reflects the level of Christian zeal at that period of history not merely in Britain, but throughout the civilised world. The missionary work of various nonconformist groups created a particular demand for unpretentious meeting places, and the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches were quick to provide similarly for their more orthodox congregations.

These metal buildings were intended to be a short-term provision. Many eventually rusted away, but some have endured and are still used as churches, cared for by affectionate congregations. One such survivor is the Anglican church of St. Paul’s in the village of Strines, High Peak, Derbyshire. [Links at foot of article.] Founded by paternalistic employers in 1880, when most people in the village were employed at the local calico printing works, its story reflects the social changes of the passing years. The print works closed, and now most of the congregation come from farther afield. Visitors to the white corrugated iron building are invariably surprised by the atmosphere of dignity and reverence, and the charm of its timber-lined sanctuary and the two-manual (keyboards) pipe organ. The parishioners have cherished their special little church for many years, donating their time, talents and money to keep it in good order.

A Holy Place of Meeting

From the Latin tabernaculum, a tent, and taberna, a hut, the historical tabernacle was a semi-portable sanctuary which housed the Ark of the Covenant. It was revered by the people of Israel as the dwelling place of the Divine presence (Exodus 25: 8, 9). Constructed at Mount Sinai in the year after the Exodus, it survived until superseded by the Temple in Jerusalem, built early in King Solomon’s reign.

The Tabernacle accompanied the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness. It was no simple structure. Its walls were made of timber boards overlaid with gold, set on end into sockets of silver, all firmly fastened together by bars of the same gold-plated wood. Its roof was formed by a large white linen cloth, embroidered with cherubim in blue, purple and scarlet. Drawn tight over this were three successive layers of animal skins. The structure was divided into two apartments: The Holy (the larger of the two) and The Most Holy (in which was kept the gold-plated Ark of the Covenant). These two chambers constituted this ‘tabernacle in the wilderness’. The open Court area, walled in by a high twined linen curtain, enclosed the building. In this space animal sacrifices were offered by the appointed Priests and their assistants, the Levites. At a respectful distance the whole was surrounded by the Camp, where the Israelite families lived in their tents. The community of Israel itself was thus in a tabernacle condition, frequently on the move. (Specifications for the basic construction of the Tabernacle structure are given in Exodus, chapters 25 to 27.)

To the Glory of God?

Many Christians express misgivings about the extravagant display of wealth and worldly influence of some denominations. Such concerns are long-standing: New Testament teaching never supported the creation of a prosperous hierarchy to live in palaces during the Gospel age of sacrificial discipleship. On the other hand, the many magnificent religious edifices scattered throughout our fair land may be regarded as testimonies to the profound love and devotion of generations who regarded their erection as a communal response to the goodness God lavished upon them through salvation in Christ, and as reflecting their own assurance of eternal life.

Indeed, the Old Testament could be seen to endorse the human impulse toward a degree of opulent display. Israel’s Tabernacle was built according to the exact instructions given to Moses at Mount Sinai (Hebrews 8: 5: ‘according to the pattern . . .’). That the enterprise prompted the people to offer gifts of gold and silver, the skills of their artisans and the co-operation of the entire nation, indicates their approval of the project. The congregation’s response set a seal on their relationship to the Tabernacle and its services.

A Foreshadowing

Fascinating as the Hebrew record may be in its detailed accounts of God’s desert habitation among His chosen people, Israel, the New Testament spotlights the reality, the substance, that the Israelitish Tabernacle predicted by its architecture and services (Hebrews 10: 1; chapter 9: 11, 12):

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Our Temporary Dwelling

The Apostles Paul and Peter allude to their earthly bodies as a sort of tabernacle, a temporary abode. But both are confident in their expectation of a perfect and permanent dwelling place when raised from death to be with their Lord in His Kingdom:

Paul (2 Corinthians 5: 1, 4):

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle [Greek, literally, ‘tent’ or ‘booth’] were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Peter (2 Peter 1: 13, 14):

Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

The Eternal Inheritance

Like those buildings of corrugated iron, which will rust away, so our fleshly bodies decay and die. But in God’s own time, when the work of reconciliation is completed, the long-awaited resurrection in Christ’s kingdom on earth will come. God will establish a permanent meeting place with mankind for their blessing, and all will acknowledge Him. Revelation 21: 3 draws the scene:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

In the meantime, each Christian congregation which assembles to praise and glorify God, be it in a tabernacle of corrugated tin, a church of stone, or an ordinary living room, represents an Israel in miniature, sending up a sweet savour of incense to their Heavenly Father. With such an offering He is well pleased.

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NOTES

St.Paul’s Church:

For a gallery of photographs of this church. http://www.marpleparish.co.uk/ResourcesLinks/StPaulsStrines/AboutStPauls/tabid/2304/Default.aspx>

For more information on tin tabernacles in general, follow these links:

< http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/tin-tabernacles/tin-tabernacles.html>

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