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Worship - framework and resources
buildontherock
2021-04-272022-01-28

Worship in ancient Israel was built on a framework instituted at Sinai. The basic framework was always going to exist but the Law, including prescribed tithes and offerings, was added because of transgression, i.e. it was a reaction to the behaviour of the people. The key parts of the framework are:

Worship - framework and resources

Within that framework are supporting resources that assist with picturing our relationship with God. I discuss the supporting resources here but I am devoting a separate article to each of the key resources listed above. just follow the links above to find details on the subject.

THE TABERNACLE

If a man had servants in ancient times they would live with him at his home. A person's home can be separated into various areas with the courtyard being outermost. The whole point of a Tabernacle or tent is that it is place to live or rest or remain. In that way it is closely related to the Sabbath because that is when God rested. We are also supposed to enter that rest at different stages.

Hebrews 4:1-10 (KJV) Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

In reading about the King James version we need to be careful about the context in which the word is used. By and large it includes the courtyard but sometimes it just means the tent. In Hebrews the word 'sanctuary' is used and appears to mean the building and not the courtyard. In the courtyard there is one type of rest, in the Holy Place another and finally the ultimate rest in the Most Holy Place as indicated in verse 9. A connection is similarly made with the Garden of Eden. It was the rest that Adam and Eve lost and that humanity is barred from. This must be borne in mind when examining the parts of the Tabernacle.

THE CENSER

By referring to the topic censer from the Jewish Encyclopedia, which was originally published between 1901-1906 https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4169-censer by By: Bernard Drachman, Emil G. Hirsch combined with my own investigation, there are two words for censer in the Old Testament. The Hebrew miqtereth is used only twice: Once in 2 Chronicles 26:19 speaking of Uzziah and the other in Ezekiel 8:11 where Ezekiel is being shown in vision the abominations done in God's Temple. The other Hebrew word for censer, machtah is used everywhere else. I gather that the word used for censer by Moses (Hebrew machtah) was actually used for various implements employed in the service of the tabernacle for handling things too hot for bare hands. It is identified by Strong's H4289 and I found it in nineteen verses but 22 times because it exists four times in Numbers 16:17. It was translated in KJV as censer, firepan, or snuffdish but there is no distinction in the Hebrew. It appears that it has no predefined shape, but was whatever best suited the function. One of the difficulties with identifying it as the censer used in other cultures arises in Leviticus 16. Apparently the priest had to have both hands full of incense while carrying the coals in the censer. He put the coals on the altar and added the incense, which sent up a cloud of smoke, filling the room with fragrance. This is going to be difficult if you have the censer on a chain because you need both hands to haul it up and they are already full of incense.

Leviticus 16:12-14 [KJV] And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: 13And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: 14And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

There must have been some device that he could carry, perhaps resting on his forearm, so that he could have his hands free for incense, or some other contrivance designed for his specific needs. The patera is such a device, a shallow or flat rim with a  bowl shaped recess in the centre.

Numbers 16:46 [KJV] And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.

An atonement could only be done with an offering of blood and so I presume that he made an offering and used the incense as part of it. The next passage is peaking of use of a censer on the Day of Atonement.

Leviticus 4:13-21 (KJV) And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; 14 When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. 15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. 16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: 17 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail. 18 And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 19 And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. 20 And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. 21 And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.

The censers in daily use were very plentiful and may have been given to each priest. Notice that it says his censer.

Numbers 16:16-17 [KJV] And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: 17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
Leviticus 10:1 [KJV] And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.

They were made of brass.

Numbers 16:39 [KJV] And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar

It appears that the censers used on the Day of Atonement were made of gold.

THE GOLDEN CENSER

For certain everything that was used inside of the Temple was made of gold in the time of Solomon.

I Kings 7:48-50 [KJV] And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, 49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, 50 And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.
II Chronicles 4:19-22 [KJV] And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set; 20 Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold; 21 And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold; 22 And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

So in the case of the Golden Censer after the time of Solomon, it had to be of gold if it was used inside the Temple. It is not so clear before that time but it is also likely that the censer used by Aaron in the tabernacle was made of gold, however the evidence for that comes from Hebrews 9. Paul said that the Golden Censer was for the Tabernacle or tent.

The golden censer was used only by the High Priest and perhaps only at Atonement? There is no mention of how many there were of where they were kept but Hebrews 9:4 in KJV indicates that it was (or they were) kept in the Most Holy Place.

Hebrews 9:1-7 (KJV) Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

You will notice the word sanctuary used in the explanation. The Hebrew word translated sanctuary and the Greek word translated as the same do not actually have the same meaning. This can lead to confusion about the meaning of sanctuary. From the context of Hebrews 9:2, the intended meaning here appears to be the Holy tent (before Solomon) or Temple building in later years. Another concern is that some believe this passage to be a mistranslation and that Paul was only claiming that the censer was used in conjunction with the other items, but not that it was kept there. Aaron (or the High Priest) offered incense on the Golden Altar every day and after Solomon he would have had to use a golden censer, but before that it could have been brass. On the question of the passage being mistranslated I do not find any clear evidence for that. As it is written It seems to me that Paul is saying that there was always a Golden Censer (even from the time of the Tabernacle) that was used when Aaron went into the Most Holy Place.

Twice a day incense burned on the Golden Altar except for on Atonement/Yom Kippur. On that day the High Priest went into the the Holy of Holies carrying a pan of burning coals (the Golden Censer) and incense. Some rabbis claim that the coals were in his right hand and a ladle of incense in his left. Some say that he scooped up some of the incense from the ladle with his hand, but he would have to put something down in order to do that, so he either had no ladle at all or poured it from the ladle if he had one. In my opinion he had no ladle when he went into the Most Holy place because the Bible speaks of none. In my opinion the Bible also shows that both hands were full of coals while he was carrying the censer. He placed the incense over the coals, then waited for the room to fill with the smoke from the incense. some say that after the ritual was over he then swiftly backed out of the room.

Leviticus 16:12-14 (KJV) And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:13And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:14And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
Hebrews 9:6-8 [KJV] Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

So the High Priest first made an offering for Himself to act as Christ and then made an offering for the people. Having been purified by the blood of the lamb, then the intercessory prayers of incense could be offered for mercy on us all.

On the Day of Atonement the coals were brought from the altar of burnt offering but were not placed on the Golden Altar. The Golden Censer was probably not very heavy so that it could easily be managed by an aged High Priest. The incense was put to the coals on the Golden Censer. Incense may be classified as direct-burning incense or indirect-burning incense. Direct-burning incense has a combustible base as part of the compound and when lit it continues to burn on its own. Indirect-burning incense requires a heat source like coal. The tabernacle used indirect-burning incense.

Easton's Bible Dictionary - Censer
Censer [N] [S]
the vessel in which incense was presented on "the golden altar" before the Lord in the temple ( Exodus 30:1-9 ). The priest filled the censer with live coal from the sacred fire on the altar of burnt-offering, and having carried it into the sanctuary, there threw upon the burning coals the sweet incense ( Leviticus 16:12 Leviticus 16:13 ), which sent up a cloud of smoke, filling the apartment with fragrance. The censers in daily use were of brass ( Numbers 16:39 ), and were designated by a different Hebrew name, miktereth ( 2 Chronicles 26:19 ; Ezekiel 8:11 ): while those used on the day of Atonement were of gold, and were denoted by a word (mahtah) meaning "something to take fire with;" LXX. pureion = a fire-pan. Solomon prepared for the temple censers of pure gold ( 1 Kings 7:50 ; 2 Chr 4:22 ). The angel in the Apocalypse is represented with a golden censer ( Revelation 8:3 Revelation 8:5 ). Paul speaks of the golden censer as belonging to the tabernacle ( Hebrews 9:4 ). The Greek word thumiaterion, here rendered "censer," may more appropriately denote, as in the margin of Revised Version, "the altar of incense." Paul does not here say that the thumiaterion was in the holiest, for it was in the holy place, but that the holiest had it, i.e., that it belonged to the holiest ( 1 Kings 6:22 ). It was intimately connected with the high priest's service in the holiest.

The manner in which the censer is to be used is described in Numbers 4:14 and Leviticus 16:12.

COAL

Coal is used in the brazen altar to maintain a perpetual fire. Some of this coal is moved to the altar of incense (Golden Altar) to burn incense before the Lord. The coal appears to somehow purify what is being communicated.

Isaiah 6:5-7 [KJV] Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

The association of fire with the word of God is made several places in the Bible.

2 Samuel 22:9 [KJV] There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
Jeremiah 5:14 [KJV] Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Coal and incense are what connected the altars. One of the two altars was earthly and the other heavenly. The coals from the earthly altar were taken to the heavenly altar. Christ makes a statement that seems to be a fulfillment of this.

Matthew 10:32-33 [KJV] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

So the work in the courtyard is connected to that in the Tabernacle/Temple building by the coals and incense and the priest who assists with the transfer.

INCENSE

As I see it Incense actually represents sweetness in the prayers of saints not the prayers themselves. There is no question that the cause of the sweetness in these vials is from incense, but is the prayer itself incense?

Revelation 5:8 [KJV] And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

So the odour from the incense is the sweet prayer, not the incense itself. Incense is solid and does not float but the prayers go up. The fragrance does as it is carried by the smoke. The heat from the coals are needed to activate the fragrance in the incense. This could tell us something about why fiery trials dot the landscape of our lives.

Incense consisted of four ingredients beaten small (Exodus 30:34-36). It may be that the best prayers come from people who suffer being beaten small i.e. pounded into humility. If the incense varied from these specifications it was called strange incense (Exodus 30:9). Incense was offered daily on the golden altar in the holy place and also with every meat offering. On Atonement it was burnt by the high priest in the Most Holy Place (Exodus 30:7-8). It was the symbol of sweet prayer (Psalm 141:1-2; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4).

Psalm 141:1-2 [KJV] A Psalm of David.Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 2Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Revelation 5:8 [KJV] And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Revelation 8:3-4 [KJV] And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

The smoke appears to be the actual prayers but sweetened is because of incense. This suggests that the prayers of saints all contain the same special identifying agent or ingredients, since all incense is made identically.

Romans 8:26 [KJV] Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

The incense causes the coals to smoke. The smoke carries the incense fragrance.

There are four things that you find in any piece of wood:
* Water - Freshly cut wood contains a lot of water (sometimes more than half of its weight is water). Seasoned wood (wood that has been allowed to sit for a year or two) or kiln-dried wood contains a lot less water, but it still contains some.
* Volatile organic compounds - When the tree was alive, it contained sap and a wide variety of volatile hydrocarbons in its cells. If you have read How Food Works, you know that cellulose (a chief component of wood) is a carbohydrate, meaning it is made of glucose. A compound is "volatile" if it evaporates when heated. These compounds are all combustible (gasoline and alcohol are, after all, hydrocarbons -- the volatile hydrocarbons in wood burn the same way).
* Carbon
* Ash - Ash is the non-burnable minerals in the tree's cells, like calcium, potassium and magnesium. When you put the fresh piece of wood or paper on a hot fire, the smoke you see is those volatile hydrocarbons evaporating from the wood. They start vaporizing at a temperature of about 300 degrees F (149 degrees Celsius). If the temperature gets high enough, these compounds burst into flame. Once they start burning, there is no smoke because the hydrocarbons are turned into carbon dioxide and water (both invisible) when they burn.
This explains why you see no smoke from a charcoal fire (or a fire that has burned down to embers). Charcoal is created by heating wood to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. That is, you take wood and put it in a sealed box of steel or clay and you heat it to about 1,000 degrees F (538 C). This process drives off all of the volatile organic compounds and leaves behind the carbon and the minerals (ash). When you light the charcoal, what is burning is the pure carbon. It combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, and what is left at the end of the fire is the ash - the minerals...howstuffworks How StuffWorks Why does smoke come from a fire?howstuffworks https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question43.htm2021-04-28

ASHES

Ashes are minerals that do not burn. People sometimes feel that the whole sacrifice was always consumed on the altar but in fact only a portion was for most sacrifices. As a matter of fact, since it was only just over 7 feet square (Exodus 27:1–8; 5 cubits in length and in breadth, and 3 cubits in height) it could only accommodate one  large animal. The animals were always slaughtered there but in some cases most of it was taken to a special place outside the camp and burned there. For more on this see the article on Sacrifices.

The ashes were always east of the altar i.e. in the direction of the gate and as far from God as possible.

Leviticus 1:16 [KJV] And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes:

Since the front of the tabernacle was the east end this would mean towards the gate. This could be an indication that these ashes are something that God wants as far away from Him as possible.

Leviticus 6:10-11 [KJV] And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11 And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.

Only the priest dealt with the ashes and he only handled them in his ceremonial garb while he was before the altar. To take them outside he had to remove the ceremonial clothes. Notice the second indication that these ashes are undesirable: they were taken outside the gate i.e. away from God's presence. The death of God's Son also took place outside the gate. Christ was condemned in the city but was crucified outside (maybe this is the clean place).

Does God want the ashes?

Numbers 4:13-15 [KJV] And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:14 And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers skins, and put to the staves of it.15 And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

In the case of precious metals, the dross is the same as ashes. It is the minerals that do not burn but are not precious. They are removed to get the true lustre of the metal.

Proverbs 25:4-7 (KJV) Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. 5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. 6 Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: 7 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

On the other hand the red heifer was used as purification for sin.

Numbers 19:18-19 [KJV] And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

The whole of it was burned outside the camp in the clean place.

Numbers 19:9-10 [KJV] And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

Everything that was not life (blood drained at the altar) was consumed by the fire in the same clean place outside the camp. The body is considered sin but the blood is life.

Ashes seem to indicate completely dead, lifeless and therefore without God but yet it is used to make the water of purification.

Normally grief, suffering and debasement was indicated by some ashes on the head but in the Bible we find that there is also a symbolism of the actual coals and fire

Proverbs 25:21-22 [KJV] If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink::22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
Romans 12:20 [KJV] Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

The coals are what caused the sacrifice to burn to ash

Song of Solomon 8:6 [KJV] Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love [is] strong as death; jealousy [is] cruel as the grave: the coals thereof [are] coals of fire, [which hath a] most vehement flame.
Malachi 4:1-3 [KJV] For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

Coals and ashes are very different. Coals burn but contribute nothing to the smoke that we see because coal is carbon and carbon burns by turning into carbon dioxide which is invisible. Ashes are minerals that do not burn.

Sin was to be taken away from God's presence like ashes.

1 Kings 21:13 (KJV) And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
Acts 7:54-58 (KJV) When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

As a religious metaphor ashes are essential but the meaning could be very complex. It seems to be what is unwanted but it may be that very quality that makes it so appropriate to depict christ who became sin and was hated and rejected for our sake (Isa 53:2-6, Matt 27:46).

Acacia Wood

Almost everything of significance in the Tabernacle was made of Acacia/Shittim wood. The following items were made of acacia wood: the ark and its poles, the table of showbread and its poles, the brazen altar and its poles, the incense altar and its poles, the poles [horizontal bars] for the hanging of the curtains and the support posts [boards standing up] for those poles. All of the structural features of the Tabernacle were made of shittim wood and almost all of the significant items were made of shittim wood. The exceptions were the candlestick and mercy seat of gold and the laver of brass only. 

Exodus 25:10 [KJV] And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
Exodus 25:13-14 [KJV] And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.  [14] And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
Exodus 25:23 [KJV] Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
Exodus 26:15 [KJV] And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.
Exodus 26:26-28 [KJV] And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,  27 And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.  28 And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end.
Exodus 26:31-32 [KJV] And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:  32 And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.
Exodus 26:36-37 [KJV] And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.  37 And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them. 
Exodus 37:10 [KJV] And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof:(Exodus 30:1 [KJV]) And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
Exodus 26:15 [KJV] And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.
Exodus 26:37 [KJV] And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.
Exodus 27:1-2 [KJV] And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.  2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
Exodus 27:6-7 [KJV] And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.  7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.
Exodus 35:5-7 [KJV] Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,  6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,  7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,

God did not just say wood but specified Acacia wood.  Technical details of acacia wood http://ww2.odu.edu/~lmusselm/plant/bible/acacia.php  .

Acacia wood was about the only wood available in the desert and this made it possible for everyone to contribute. The Tabernacle was unified and nobody could claim that they were better than anyone else based on what they gave. It is also true that the wood was strong, hard and enduring which is what we need to be since we form the structure. The other thing of significance is the connection with the Garden of Eden and the two trees in the middle of it. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are brought out in the elements of the tabernacle, Its structure is supported by wood and its functions are built on elements constructed of wood. The argument can be made that there is only one tree in the tabernacle (the tree of life) and that is why only the Acacia tree is used.