According to the 

Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (Hebrew: ‫מְִׁש ַּכן‬, mishkān, meaning

"residence" or "dwelling place"), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( ‫֣א ֹהֶל‬
‫מֹו ֵע ֩ד‬ ’ōhel mō‘êḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), was the portable earthly dwelling place
of Yahweh (the God of Israel) used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest
of Canaan. Moses was instructed at Mount Sinai to construct and transport the
tabernacle[1] with the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness and their
subsequent conquest of the Promised Land. After 440 years, Solomon's
Temple in Jerusalem superseded it as the dwelling-place of God.

Model of the tabernacle in Timna Valley Park, Israel

The tabernacle, engraving from Robert Arnauld d'Andilly's 1683 translation of Josephus.

The main source describing the tabernacle is the biblical Book of Exodus, specifically
Exodus 25–31 and 35–40. Those passages describe an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies,
created by the veil suspended by four pillars. This sanctuary contained the Ark of the
Covenant, with its cherubim-covered mercy seat. An outer sanctuary (the "Holy Place")
contained a gold lamp-stand or candlestick. On the north side stood a table, on which
lay the showbread. On the south side was the Menorah, holding seven oil lamps to give
light. On the west side, just before the veil, was the golden altar of incense.[2] It was
constructed of 4 woven layers of curtains and 48 15-foot tall standing wood boards
overlaid in gold and held in place by its bars and silver sockets and was richly furnished
with valuable materials taken from Egypt at God's command.
This description is generally identified as part of the Priestly source ("P"),[2] written in the
sixth or fifth century BCE. However, while the first Priestly source takes the form of
instructions, the second is largely a repetition of the first in the past tense, i.e., it
describes the execution of the instructions.[3] Many scholars contend that it is of a far
later date than the time of Moses, and that the description reflects the structure of
Solomon's Temple, while some hold that the description derives from memories of a
real pre-monarchic shrine, perhaps the sanctuary at Shiloh.[2] Traditional scholars contend
that it describes an actual tabernacle used in the time of Moses and thereafter.
[4] According to historical criticism, an earlier, pre-exilic source, the Elohist ("E"), describes
the tabernacle as a simple tent-sanctuary. [2