Numbers 1:50

the tabernacle of the testimony Better the dwelling, &c. The Heb. mishkân, denoting the place where Jehovah's presence dweltamong His people, is used in the Hexateuch by P only. The rendering -tabernacle" confuses it with "ôhel-tent." See note on Numbers 1:1.

The -testimony" or -witness" refers to the stone tablets of the decalogue, which were placed in the ark and were a testimony or witness to the ethical character of Israel's God and the ethical character which He desired to see in His people. Similar expressions are -the ark of the testimony" (Exodus 25:22), the -tablets of the testimony" (Exodus 31:18), the -veil of the testimony" (Leviticus 24:3). On the significance of the various names of the Tabernacle see the writer's Exodus, p. lxxxvii.