The Traveling Tabernacle, a life size replica of the ancient traveling tabernacle, has come to UVU as a part of an educational opportunity for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Located in the Utah Valley Institute parking lot, the Traveling Tabernacle has been traveling around the state to educate about the ancient tabernacle used by the Israelites to perform rituals in accordance with their faith.
“Taking a tour of a tabernacle replica is a great opportunity to bring our ‘Come, Follow Me’ study to life this year by learning about the symbolism and temple worship traditions,” said one columnist in LDSLiving.
Upon entering the Institute, volunteers direct you to sit and watch a video about the Old Testament Tabernacle. Afterwards, visitors are directed to the site where several stations are set up to explain the significance of the rituals performed there.
Through the help of volunteers, several replicas were built to represent where sacrifices were performed, anointings and washings, and the tabernacle itself.
“My husband and I recently took another tour of the tabernacle replica with some friends and four little kids,” LDSLiving column Jannalee Sandau stated within her experience in the tabernacle. “While we learned a lot and it was a great experience, we weren’t exactly sure how it was going to be set up and might have prepared a little differently if we had.”
Within the tabernacle itself, volunteers guide guests through the significance behind the different objects and veils themselves, including a replica of the Ark of The Covenant.
Afterwards, visitors are directed to an exhibit explaining the connections between the ancient tabernacles and modern day L.D.S. temples. Through the exhibit, connections are made between the warship that occurred in the ancient temples to the worship that occurs in L.D.S. temples.
“The tabernacle and temple can transform us,” stated Mike Harris, UV institute instructor during a devotional preluding to the tabernacle. In the L.D.S. Church, temple worship is key part of the doctrine, and considered some of the most sacred rites of the faith.
The Traveling Tabernacle is open to the public, and will be at UVU from Oct. 3-6, and is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.. Afterwards, the tabernacle will move to a new location. For more information on the traveling tabernacle and its locations, visit their website. For more information on the Utah Valley Institute, visit their website.
