Exodus 25:8-9

God commands the Israelites to build the tabernacle - a space where He can once again dwell with his people.

The tabernacle pointed to Jesus - God in flesh - who came to dwell among us. 

Jesus promises to return one day and bring heaven down with Him to dwell with us face to face. 

In the meantime, God dwells on the earth through His church. We are his new tabernacle, his new temple. 

And so our unity with each other is extremely important.

In other words, unity for unity's sake is not God's goal. 

Expanding God's presence throughout the world is His goal. 

Our divisions with each other oppose mission. We need to deal with them.