Mary and the Tent of Meeting: What Is the Relationship?
What is the relationship between the Tent of Meeting (Ex 40) and Mary (Lk 1)?
Ex 40:34a: Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting
Lk 1:35a: The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
Ex 40:35a: Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained upon it
Lk 1:35b: the power of the Most High will spread its shadow over you
Ex 40:35b: And the glory of the Lord filled the dwelling
Lk 1:35c: For the One who will be born will be called Holy, Son of God
God comes down to dwell in the midst of His people. He asks them to build a sanctuary to be the dwelling of God, where they will place an Ark: a visible sign of the presence of God, who lives and walks in the midst of the People. Now, in Luke, God Himself comes down, incarnate, to be one with His people.
Relating Mary to the Ark of the Covenant evokes this whole long biblical tradition, but it also reveals something very relevant today. The Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us, as John states in the prologue of his Gospel. The Christian of today is the one in whom God pitches His tent and walks in the midst of His people, the one who has been faithful in his own surroundings: at work, in the family, in society. The Lord has pitched His tent within each baptized person; now it is time to walk in the midst of the people with Him.
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