At the Jerusalem Council of around 49 AD, in Ac.15:13-18 the apostle James quoted an Old Testament (OT) prophecy of God. “After these things I [God] will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David, which is fallen….” What was the tent of David? This is about the tent or tabernacle of David.
Two ‘tabernacles’ existed simultaneously in ancient Israel for around 40 years, from circa (c) 1030 BC to c 991 BC. (cf. 1Ch.15:1, 1Ch.16:37-40.) The tabernacle of Moses was at Gibeón, and the tabernacle or tent of David was at the “city of David” in Jerusalem during that time.
The tent enclosure David pitched in Jerusalem provided a home for the ark of God for those 40 years. Until his son Solomon completed the temple (c 991 BC), and the ark was brought into it (1Ki.7:51–8:1).
The ark of God was the most important object in God’s tabernacle Moses had built. Christ, the God and good Shepherd of Israel, ‘dwelt’ above the ark between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11). The ark resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years. From c 1611 BC – c 1102 BC (except when the Israelites took the ark with them into battle).
Then in the final days of Eli the high priest of Israel, c 1102 BC, the Philistines captured the ark of God (in battle) from Moses’ tabernacle at Shilóh, 1Sm.4:10-13, 18. It would never return to Moses’ tabernacle! The ark resided elsewhere, apart from Moses’ tabernacle, for 110 years (until c 991 BC). During those 110 years, the Holy of Holies compartment of Moses’ tabernacle was entirely empty!
After King David subdued the Philistines, he wanted God’s ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC). 1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zión] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.” That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel, Strongs h168. The Greek Septúagint term is skené g4633.
Unlike Moses’ tabernacle, the tent of David wasn’t a structure. So the tent of David is never referred to as a mishkán h4908, Hebrew, in the OT. David’s enclosure was just a tent. Whereas Moses’ tabernacle was a mishkan wooden frame structure (with curtains and a tent roof).
2Sm.6:17 “They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in the tent [h168, Septuagint g4633] David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt and peace offerings before the Lord.” Voluntarily. Other than these dedicatory offerings, David didn’t sacrifice animals at his tent on Mt Zion. No recurring animal sacrifices were done at David’s tent! Moses’ tabernacle was for animal sacrifice, 1Ch.16:39-40. Later, King Solomon did a one-time sacrifice at the tent of David and fed the people, 1Ki.3:15. No more there. (Solomon sacrificed at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon, and the Lord appeared to him, 1Ki.3:4-5.)
Ps.76:2 “His [God’s] abode [den/shelter h5520 soke] is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.” While David reigned in Jeru-Salem, Christ’s “abode” was above the cherubim of the ark in David’s tent on Mt Zion. David built his palace on Mt Zion. (see the topic, “Zion in the Bible”.) The ark represented the presence of God! However, for all of David’s reign, God’s tabernacle (mishkan) of Moses and its furnishings was at Gibeon, not Zion. (Note: Ps.76:2 may also apply to Mt Zion of the heavenly Jerusalem, cf. He.12:22 & Ga.4:26. And Ps.76:2 “Salem” can tie back to Melchisedek in Ge.14:18.)
In the tabernacle Moses erected, the innermost Holy of Holies place (behind the second veil) early-on contained three items: #1 the ark with the Decalogue law, God’s testimony on tablets, inside (Ex.25:21, Ex.31:18, De.4:13); #2 Aaron’s rod that budded (Nu.17:10); #3 a memorial jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34). ref He.9:1-5. Later, the Book of the Law was also placed beside the ark (De.31:26, 2Ch.34:14-15).
But David brought only the ark into the tent. The ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments…even during Solomon’s reign (1Ki.8:1, 9; 2Ch.5:10)! But gone from Moses’ Holy of Holies in Gibeon was Aaron’s rod that budded; it signified priestly Aaronide eminence in the Levitical order of ancient Israel. Gone was the memorial jar of manna from their wilderness experience. We may presume that Aaron’s rod and the jar of manna were lost when the Philistines captured the ark.
(Whenever…Christians are now God’s priesthood in the order of Melchisedek. Aaronite priests are obsolete. And Christ is our living bread of life. The church eats of the “hidden manna”, Re.2:17.)
Les McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.” After the Philistines sent back the ark (1Sm.6:21–7:1), it sat in Abinadáb’s house at Kiriáth-jearím for near 70 years (c 1101 – c 1030 BC). Until 1Ch.13:5-7.
David & Uzzáh attempted to retrieve the ark of God from Abinadab’s house. That attempt was aborted because the ark wasn’t transported in the manner the Lord had prescribed (2Sm.6:1-12, 1Ch.15:11-15). Then the ark resided in Obéd-edóm’s house for 3 months. The Lord blessed Obed-edom’s household while the ark was there, before David brought it up to Jerusalem (1030 BC)! The concept of God’s ark being at a person’s home wasn’t new with David. (also see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)
Why didn’t David just return the ark to God’s tabernacle at Gibeon, rather than bringing it to his palace on Mt Zion? Zadók the priest served at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon (1Ch.16:39); but the ark upon which to sprinkle blood on the annual Day of Atonement was gone. Yet David and the leaders of Israel all agreed to bring the ark up to the “city of David” at Jerusalem (1Ch.13:1-4, 12-13), not to Gibeon.
Following are 8 possible reasons why King David set up the “tent of David” at his palace on Zion:
#1 The priesthood had become corrupt in the days of Eli the high priest & his sons (1Sm.2:12-17, 22-26, 4:10-22), when Moses’ tabernacle was at Shiloh in the territory of the tribe of Ephráim, c 1102 BC. David wanted the ark of God and His Presence in Jerusalem, but without the priestly corruption which had existed at Moses’ tabernacle in Shiloh (back when Samuel the prophet was in his 30s).
#2 David wanted to safeguard the ark by locating it farther away from Philistine territory. Abinadab’s town of Kiriath-jearim or Baaláh (Jsh.15:9) was west of Jerusalem, on the border of Judah, near the tribal areas allotted to Benjamin & Dan. Dr. Ralph Wilson David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem “Another reason may have been that since the Israelites had destroyed the Philistines’ idols [2Sm.5:21-22], David wanted to protect the ark, lodged only a few miles from their territory, from a reprisal.”
#3 Prior to Gibeon (but after Shiloh), Moses’ tabernacle had been at the priestly town of Nob…before David became king, when King Saul was chasing him. David escaped to Nob (and ate of the priests’ showbread from the Holy Place), 1Sm.21–22. Saul later had the residents of Nob killed! 1Sm.22:22 David felt responsible or guilty for their deaths, and avoided more association with Moses’ tabernacle.
#4 David wanted to increase knowledge of God in the Land among the people. So he allowed for two sets of priests at two places of worship…at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon and at the tent/ark in Jerusalem.
#5 Again, the ark had recently been in a personal dwelling (for 70 years!), not in Moses’ tabernacle. During the lifetime of David, the ark had never been with Moses’ tabernacle! David wanted the blessing that had come to the household of Obed-edom to come to him and the people in Jerusalem!
#6 The Lord had had David build a sacrificial altar on Mt Moriáh at the threshing floor of Ornán (or Araunáh) the Jebusite (1Ch.21:18, 26-30; 2Ch.3:1). Since God accepted David’s burnt offerings at that altar and ended the pestilence, David felt no need to go to the great altar at Gibeon to seek the Lord.
#7 God told David that his son Solomon would build a temple/house for God (1Ch.22:5-10). David received the revelation of the pattern for Solomon’s temple (1Ch.28:11-21, 29:1-25), and began the preparations. But the Lord didn’t permit David to construct the temple (1Ch.22:5-10). Since Solomon would erect a stationary building for the ark (on nearby Mt Moriah, 2Ch.3:1), David saw no need to temporarily return the ark to Moses’ portable tabernacle at Gibeon. (ref the internet article, “The Movement of the Ark and the Tent of God”.)
#8 After Saul’s demise, David as king saw it necessary to further unite the 12 tribes of Israel. The ark of God was the most revered object from the days of Moses. Bringing the ark to David’s palace on Mt Zion would make Jerusalem both the government capital and the religious center of the Holy Land.
{Sidelight: Some Bible readers speculate that David’s birth was illegitimate, that he wasn’t authorized to fully participate at Moses’ tabernacle. So David didn’t want the ark in Gibeon. Verses they use as backup: 1Sm.16:1-11 Jesse omitted his son David from Samuel’s important sacrifice; De.23:2-3 none illegitimate nor Ammonites could enter the assembly of the Lord; Jg.11:1-2 Jephtháh; 1Ch.2:13-17 & 2Sm.17:25 David’s two sisters had an Ammonite father, Nahásh (not Jesse); Ps.51:5 “In sin did my mother conceive me”; Ps.22:6-10, Ps.69:7-8, 19-20 his reproach was possibly due to his mother’s sin.
I won’t detail this line of thinking, but refer you to the following articles: What About David’s Mother; Ryan Johnson Overcoming An Illegitimate Identity; Professor Who Was King David An Illegitimate Son Of Jesse?; bjorkbloggen King David Said In Sin Did My Mother Conceive Me; Dean Smith King David’s Big Dark Secret and Why Did King David Set Up the Tabernacle of David?
However, David did enter Moses’ tabernacle at Nob! And in hunger he and his men ate the priests’ showbread which had been in the Holy Place (1Sm.21:1-6). So it seems David didn’t consider himself forbidden, at least not from the premises of Moses’ tabernacle. Jesus said of David in Mt.12:3-4, “He entered the house [tabernacle] of God, and they ate the consecrated bread which wasn’t lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him”. Interpret the questionable view of David’s illegitimate birth as you will.}
Above are 8 (or 9) possible reasons why David pitched a tent on Mt Zion for the ark of God. Perhaps several are applicable. It was in David’s heart to later build a permanent structure in Jerusalem for the ark (1Ch.17:1-ff). However, the Lord said Solomon would build the temple (in Jerusalem, 2Ch.3:1).
But was it God’s will for David to first pitch a tent for the ark in Jerusalem? David had consulted with all the leaders about bringing the ark from Kiriath-jearim. 1Ch.13:1-3 “David said to all the assembly of Israel. ‘If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we didn’t seek it in the days of Saul.” R. Wilson op. cit. “Bringing back the ark becomes a national event.” But was the “tent of David” idea “from the Lord”?
Ps.78:68 “He [the Lord] chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He [the Lord] loved.” This Psalm 78 was written by Asáph, who ministered before the ark at David’s tent on Mt Zion (1Ch.16:4-5, 37). Mt Zion and the tent/tabernacle of David on it was God’s choice! Pulpit Commentary Ps.78:68 “God, no doubt, inspired David with the thought of fixing his residence in ‘the stronghold of Zion’ (2Sam 5:9), and of bringing up the ark of the covenant into it (2Sam 6:12-17).”
The physical tent David pitched disappeared from history (after 991 BC). David’s united kingdom of Israel was eventually divided, in the days of Solomon’s son Rehoboám. The two nations of Israel and Judah would later both go into captivity, to Assyria and Babylon respectively. But before captivity….
Approximately 240 years after Solomon moved the ark from David’s tent (and moved Moses’ tabernacle from Gibeon, 2Ch.5:5) into the finished temple of Solomon on Mt Moriah (c 991 BC)…the Lord gave Amos a remarkable prophecy to the house of Israel.
Am.9:11-12 Septuagint/LXX “In that day I [the Lord] will raise up the tent [skene g4633] of David that is fallen, and will rebuild it.” (Here the Hebrew text term is sukkáh h5521, booth. A booth was a temporary dwelling, not intended for reuse in other locations.) The Lord said the day would come when He would again raise-up a “tent of David”, which David’s physical tent foreshadowed.
The tent David pitched for the ark…the Lord associated it with the future. So David’s special tent, housing the ark with the mercy seat (2Sm.6:2) and the Decalogue, must have been according to God’s will! The Lord approved. (That is, as long as they transported the ark to the tent in God’s rightful manner. Again, 2Sm.6:3-11 is the account of David’s initial failed attempt, transporting it incorrectly.)
Furthermore, not long after Amos, Isaiah also prophesied about the tent of David. Is.16:5 LXX “A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent [skene g4633] of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.” (The Hebrew here for “tent” is ohel h168.)
This verse too applied to the future…to Christ and His church and His government! Benson Commentary Is.16:5 “He [Isaiah] was carried forward to a contemplation of the kingdom of Christ.” JFB Commentary “Language so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days’ under King Messiah.” Gill Exposition “This was typical of the church of God, where Christ sits and reigns as King, see Amos 9:11.” Bob Sorge Why Sion Is So Important “Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.” The typological tent of David was pitched on Zion.
This topic is continued and concluded in “Tent/Tabernacle of David (2)”. There we’ll look in the New Testament at the realization of the OT type.
Bible Topic Exposition 