Tabernacle: Earthly Copy of Heavenly Reality

The tabernacle was not only where God lived. It was also his throne room.
That is why the furniture makes the sense it does. The ark is a footstool with cherubim above it, and the picture behind it is Yahweh enthroned, sitting above the circle of the earth with his feet resting on the ground.
The tent is a small model of something far larger - the heavens themselves understood as God's dwelling. Bethel works the same way: Jacob sees a stairway, calls the place the house of God, and sets up a pillar to mark it.
Scripture links:
- Isaiah 40:22 - he sits above the circle of the earth.
- Genesis 28:10-22 - the stairway, the house of God, and the pillar.
- Judges 20:27 - the ark of the covenant at Bethel.
A tent in the desert was never the point. It was a scale drawing of the universe.