Stripling gave us a tour of the site and took us to perhaps their most significant discovery. “This is where you came to connect with God,” Stripling said, while walking through the site. “This is where the Ark was housed. The Tabernacle is here, and this where you came to connect with God.” We asked Stripling if he believed they’ve actually found the Tabernacle.
He answered, “I’m not ready to say I know for certain, but I’ll tell you what we do have is a building that is matching the dimensions of the Tabernacle. It’s from the Iron One period, which is the Tabernacle period of Eli and Samuel, and you’re actually standing right now, Chris, on this wall right here. So this entire area is this massive, monumental building. (It) orients east – west and it’s divided on 2 to 1 ratio, like the Tabernacle was,” Stripling explained. He showed us the locations for the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant would have been if the archaeologists are correct in their theory.
He responded, “Well, the Bible tells us that Eli (the high priest at the time) is in the gate of Shiloh when he gets the news that the Ark of the Covenant has been captured, that his sons have been killed. He falls over backward and dies in the gate. So it's a function that's mentioned in the Bible, so we were very curious if we would come across it.”
Shiloh is not only where Eli lived and died, but also the place where Joshua divided the Promised Land between Israel's 12 tribes, where Hannah prayed for a son who became the prophet Samuel, and where the Tabernacle of the Lord stood for nearly 400 years.
Stripling gave us a tour of the site and took us to perhaps their most significant discovery.
“This is where you came to connect with God,” Stripling said while walking through the site.
He continued, “Jerusalem remains a pagan city for another three hundred years. The Ark is here. The Tabernacle is here, and this is where you came to connect with God.”
We asked Stripling if he believed they'd actually found the Tabernacle. He answered, “I'm not ready to say I know for certain, but I'll tell you what we do have is a building that is matching the dimensions of the Tabernacle. It's from the Iron One period, which is the Tabernacle period of Eli and Samuel, and you're actually standing right now, Chris, on this wall right here.”