Tabernacle of the Old Testament

TRAINING IDEAS

So… What is the Tabernacle?

3 Minute Walk-Through

www.tabernacleutah.com

If you haven’t yet, attend the Tabernacle in person down in Provo!

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Tabernacle Layout

9 Tour Stations

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1.Camp of Israel

2. The Brazen Serpent

3. The Gate

4. The Altar of Sacrifice

5. The Laver of Water

6. Tabernacle Coverings

7. The Holy Place

8. The Holy of Holies

9. Priest’s Clothing (in Visitors’ Center)

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Study Materials | Tabernacle of the Old Testament (ottabernacle2022.wixsite.com)

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Tabernacle Vision

“The Vision is to bring Young Adults and Youth in the Utah Area closer to their Savior by preparing them to make and keep sacred covenants, encouraging them to stay on the covenant path, helping them become deliberate disciples of Jesus Christ who work to gather Israel on both sides of the veil, and empowering them to fulfill their divine potentials as teachers and leaders in the Lord’s restored church.”

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9 Year Old’s Request

Help them become deliberate disciples of Jesus Christ who work to gather Israel on both sides of the veil

Prepare them to make and keep sacred covenants

Tabernacle Training Objectives

Get the youth excited for their tabernacle experience

Teach ancient symbolism in an interactive and spirit-filled environment

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How will my team train the youth?

• It will be a mutual effort between your team and the home stake.
• The purpose of counsels is to gather scattered revelation, so we invite the home stakes and your team to pow wow to make sure everyone agrees on how the training should be.
• Example training formats:

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YSA Trainers | TabernacleExperience (tabernacleutah.com)

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Potential Types of Activities or Training Events

Family Home Evening

Youth Training Activity or Devotional

Primary Activity

Adult, Youth, or Primary Sunday School Class

Ideas to Make Training More Memorable & Interactive

• Ask questions that can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no” answer; then call on youth to respond
• Incorporate the following into your training:
• roleplay & skits
• games and activities
• group discussions and sharing
• writing
• object lessons
• audience volunteers
• music
• audiovisual elements
• assignments & invitations
• TESTIMONIES
• Use scriptures and call on youth to read throughout your training

Roleplay & Skits

• Model & then practice
• Act out different events or processes (where appropriate)
• Pass out props
• Use props & volunteers

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Games & Activities

• Matching Game
• Words & Definitions
• Symbols of Christ & What they represent
• Tabernacle Related Pictures & Descriptions
• Jeopardy
• Pyramid
• Pictionary
• Never Have I Ever - Tabernacle Edition (“Never have I ever heard of the tabernacle…”)
• Etc.

Group Discussions & Sharing

• Divide youth into tribes and have them work together to study a specific station for X minutes and then share what they learned with the group
• Pair & Share
• Small Group Sharing
• Case Studies
• See One, Do One, Teach One tour station practice

Writing

• Rewrite in your own words
• Draw
• Write your thoughts/feelings & then pass & share
• Journal thoughts/feelings
• Tabernacle activity book
• Write, Pass, & Add

Music

• Musical number(s)
• Congregational hymns - stand and sing
• Background music for videos & quite activities
• Play uplifting music videos while youth enter the training

Audio Visual Elements

• YouTube Clips from Messages of Christ
• Other educational video clips
• Powerpoint Presentations

Assignments & Invitations

• Ask youth to read tabernacle scriptures before the training & have them share with the group what they learned that they didn’t know
• Ask youth to come prepared to answer a specific question when they come to the training
• Ex. What symbol of Christ most impresses you?

Testimonies

• Tell related stories
• Share personal experiences
• TESTIFY OF JESUS CHRIST & ask others to as well - this is the most important thing that can happen at your trainings!!!!

Action Items

• Assign tabernacle tour stations to training team members to study

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• Schedule & coordinate training planning meeting with your YSA training team and assigned home stake representatives.
• Invite home stake reps to your full team training.
• Try and do the training no later than March 17th if possible. What are your team leads earliest known training date? For the Pioneer YSA Stake they have one on March 29th.
• Use excel sheet to enter in training dates and times. Unless, are you using another method? Whatever works best for your stake. We trust you so if you prefer another method feel free to use it and we’ll be in touch to help out in any way if needed.
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Station Specific Interactive Ideas

Tabernacle Stations

Camp of Israel

Gate

Altar of Sacrifice

Laver of Water

Holy Place

Holy of Holies

Tabernacle Coverings

Priest Clothing

Symbols

Angels

Blood

Bread

Holy Places & Perspectives

Lambs

Oil

Oil Press

Olive Crusher

Prayer

Priesthood

Light

Symbols

Temples Today

Tree of Life

Water

The Camp of Israel - Interactive Ideas

• Stand & sing verse 3 of Israel, Israel, God is Calling

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• Have a volunteer blow a shofar & talk about the priests role as a warning voice

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• Organize youth into Israelite tribes & place them in order around a small tabernacle replica & talk about Christ as the center of their lives

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• Have a youth follow a paper cut out of a cloud & pillar of fire & talk about God guiding the travel of the Israelites

The Gate - Interactive Ideas

• Color Symbolism Matching - have youth match colored paper squares to the correct symbolism description

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• Have youth stand and walk east a few steps; talk about how Adam & Eve left the Garden of Eden (& therefore the presence of God west to east) - then have them turn around and walk west a few steps; talk about how the Israelites symbolically walked back towards the presence of God as they entered the tabernacle east to west

The Altar of Sacrifice - Interactive Ideas

• Dress one of the youth up as a lamb and talk about the Savior as the Lamb of God

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• Assign volunteer youth different roles & walk through the steps of animal sacrifice & the symbolism at each step

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• Split the youth into groups & assign them each a different type of sacrifice to study in the scriptures & then have the groups share back what they learned after 5 minutes

The Laver of Water - Interactive Ideas

• Ask the youth to shout out what they use water for in their daily lives

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• Divide the youth into groups & ask them to look up scriptures about water & discuss how water is used as a symbol; report back to the group

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• Ask the youth where they see water used at church & what it means in each situation

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• Show the youth a mirror and explain that the laver of water was made out of the brass mirrors of the Israelite women; ask them to share what that might symbolize

Tabernacle Coverings

• Drape blankets or fabric representing the various layers of the tabernacle coverings on the shoulders of a youth volunteer; as you lay each layer on talk about what each one is and ask the group to discuss what they might represent

The Holy Place & Veil

• Hand out pieces of pita bread to every youth & talk about bread as a symbol in the scriptures & specifically the significance of unleavened bread; then explain the role of bread in the tabernacle at the table of shewbread

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• Show the youth a video of how olive oil is made & ask them to point out what it reminds them of in the gospel
• Put a slide up on the board with the word “shewbread”; take a poll to see how many think it is pronounced “show bread” and how many think it is pronounced “shoe bread”; clarify that it is “show bread”

The Holy of Holies

• Ask youth what they know about the ark of the covenant

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• Talk about the ark of the covenant & mention the 3 items inside, then split the youth into 3 groups & assign each group one of the items to discuss; report back to the group

High Priest’s Clothing

• Ask youth to share with the group why they wear clothes (ask them about the styles they choose, the brands they choose, etc.)

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• Ask youth to share where they see important clothing in the church & discuss why

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• Bring a replica of the priests clothing & have a volunteer youth put it on piece-by-piece; as each piece is being put on, talk about what it represents, who wore it, and why it is important

I wasn't excited that our youth conference was going to center on the Old Testament Tabernacle, but as I have learned about it I am looking forward to being a guide there. I have learned so much about the ancient tabernacle and how it was given to the Israelites through the power of God. Even though I could testify of so many things pertaining to this tabernacle the most clear is God’s hand in it. They centered the tabernacle in Jesus Christ just like our lives should be rooted in him. If you valiantly study and turn to Heavenly Father. You will truly see so many connections to your life and modern day temples. I can truly testify that everything in this tabernacle made a full circle back to the atonement of Jesus Christ and the divine plan of salvation. We should learn all we can about Jesus Christ and valiantly prepare for the second coming, just like the Tabernacle and the temples point to Jesus Christ.

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Kenedy Bird (age 16)