From the East

The next thing that is so amazing about the Cross in the desert is its position. Every time the Israelites set up camp, the tabernacle was to be placed with its only entrance point facing east. Then, the tribe of Judah, who would have arrived first, was to set up their standard and their camp to the east of the entrance.

Since the Lord does not add such details to His Word without reason, what kernels can we glean from this information?  Where else is God’s word specific about the use of east to west?

There is the good news of our sins being removed from us “as far as the east is from the west.”

We see the Lord in Genesis 3:24 take the following action after sending Adam and Eve out of the Garden: “He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” In other words, the garden and the tree of life were approached from east to west.

In Joshua we find that when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they entered from east of the Jordon westward into Canaan. Coincidence? Why would the Lord take them all the way around to the east side?

When Jesus was born the wise men came from the east and followed the star to the west to find the Son of God.

The God who created the universe deemed that the sun should rise in the east and set in the west.

“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:7)

In Revelation 7:1-3, we are told “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Very interesting…