People who love each other hate to be separated, even for a short time. During a time of separation, they keep some reminder of the other, a picture or a gift. This reminder is a way of making the loved one present in affection though absent in body.

The tent or tabernacle mentioned in the first reading was the place of God's invisible presence among His people. It was also called the meeting tent because there God met His people. The ark, a small box, was placed within the tent. It contained the two tablets of the law, God's gift to His people. The whole arrangement was a way of making God present to His people in a symbolic and affection manner.

We have given to an object in our churches the name, tabernacle. Within it is not a symbol of God's presence, but the very body of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist must be understood to be primarily the sacrament of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is first and fundamentally an action, the reality of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And this same Jesus Christ is truly present in our tabernacles.

Jesus is present specifically as the victim given up in sacrifice to effect our union with the Father. The ark was a sign of God's covenant with His people. The Eucharist is the means of the new covenant of God with us, a union more profound and complete than that enjoyed by the chosen of the Old Testament.