Tabernacle returns to Portales

A life-sized interactive reproduction of Moses' tabernacle of the wilderness is in Portales for a return engagement after being experienced by more than 3,000 locals when it was here in 2015.

Central Christian Church at 1528 S. Main St. in Portales is hosting the multi-day event that continues through Sunday, according to Senior Pastor Don Thomas.

He said the idea of bringing "The Tabernacle Experience" back to eastern New Mexico was an easier sell this time than it was eight years ago.

"Only five people in my church had even heard of it," Thomas said, when he had first introduced the idea of bringing the Biblically authentic recreation to Portales after he and his wife had seen it in Midland, Texas, in 2012.

This time, "when I mentioned bringing it back, the whole board wanted it," Thomas said. "They said, 'Just find a date.'"

Not only did he find a date, but Jeanne Whittaker, the founder and self-described "guardian" of The Tabernacle Experience, was able to be here last week for set-up and the opening day.

If you've driven down Main Street in the last several days, you've likely already spied the courtyard lined by linen panels surrounding a replica of the tent that housed the ark of the covenant described in the Old Testament book of Exodus.

Whittaker, who lives in Dana Point, Calif., was inspired to create this traveling replica after her first trip to Israel in 1996, she said.

"We went to Shiloh, where the tabernacle first rested," she told me last week. "I had an impression that there was something ahead - I wasn't sure what."

A couple of years later, Whittaker said she was preparing for an upcoming women's retreat for her church when a retreat co-leader suggested to Whittaker that she should "bring Israel to the retreat" since it had made such an impression on her.

"We were only four weeks out," Whittaker recalled, but in what can only be considered a divine effort, she and a dedicated crew made the first version of the tabernacle.

Well, actually the second.

The first, Whittaker recalled with a smile, was a model crafted from "place mats and chopsticks."

Two years later - in 2000 - the Tabernacle Experience was on the road, Whittaker said, allowing visitors to trace the steps and actions an Old Testament priest would have taken in the tabernacle.

Participants in the modern-day version are guided by audio narration that is available in English or Spanish, Whittaker said.

There is also a youth adaptation that shares the exhibit through the eyes of a child at that time, as well as an historical narration that describes the tabernacle from a rabbi's perspective.

The Tabernacle Experience "crosses all denominational lines," according to Whittaker. Thomas confirmed that the 3,313 people who visited in 2015 included folks from many different area churches as well as plenty of non-churchgoers.

Whittaker said that over the past 23 years more than 300,000 people have passed through The Tabernacle Experience at dozens of locations in 13 states, but her desire for each visitor remains the same: "I hope they are drawn closer to the heart of the Lord."

The Tabernacle Experience continues from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (last entrance is at 7 p.m.) daily through Sunday, Thomas said. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for students, with a maximum fee of $30 per family. Visitors may bring their own earbuds or headsets, if they prefer.

Reservations are encouraged but not required (although it may save you some waiting time) and may be made online at:

centralwired.org

Additional volunteer opportunities also remain, Thomas said, with signups available on the same website. Volunteering requires only three to five minutes of training; no costumes and special skills are needed.

Thomas is also available by cell phone at 575-760-1843 for those who would like to sign up but face technology challenges.

Whittaker joked that the elaborate set up of the Tabernacle Experience "often brings rain" to a community.

If she pulls that off, she may have to become a more regular visitor.

Betty Williamson loves history and hopes for rain. Reach her at:

[email protected]