The tabernacle in the wilderness was both a recollection of what God originally created and a foreshadowing of what is to come. 
It reminded the Israelites of the original earth tabernacle with its tent-like firmament overarching it. This is especially true if Andy Hoy’s theory is correct that the tent of meeting was actually dome-shaped. The wilderness tabernacle consisted of an altar, a basin, an 
outer court, and inner court, and a Holy of Holies which housed the Ark, symbolic of God’s manifest presence. The top diagram above is a rendering based on the common conception of how this tabernacle appeared. The dome structure is Hoy’s model. Hoy’s dome structure would have contained what is pictured above in the first tabernacle diagram.
A model of the Hebrew (biblical) conception of the earth shows a similar construction.
The earth would be the outer court. Just beneath the firmament represented the inner court, and atop the firmament was God’s throne, the Holy of Holies. The solid firmament is the separator, represented by the curtain in the tabernacle.
This curtain in the tabernacle in the wilderness was decorated with winged cherubim.
You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. Exodus 26:31 (NASB95)
Cherubim were also next to the firmament in Ezekiel’s vision from beneath looking upward toward God’s throne.
And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. Ezekiel 10:1 (NKJV)
The veil in the tabernacle was supported by pillars, as is the firmament.
You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. 32 “You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four sockets of silver. Exodus 26:31–32 (NASB95) The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke. Job 26:11 (NASB95) Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. 2 Samuel 22:8 (NKJV)
A candelabrum lighted the inner court, just as stars light the firmament. The bread of the presence in the same area perhaps signified the manna that fell from heaven (Psalm 78:24) for the sustenance of the Israelites on the desert journey. The true bread, of course, is our Lord Jesus (John 6:51). The altar of incense represented the prayers of God’s people (Revelation 5:8) that penetrate the firmament and come into God’s presence. The Ark represented God’s throne in heaven, the mercy seat where all those who put their faith and allegiance in Christ have the privilege of complete access.
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, Hebrews 10:19–21 (NKJV)
Through his death, resurrection, and ascension, our high priest, Jesus, entered through the veil into God’s presence once for all giving us access to God.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:11–15 (NASB95)
It is important to understand that the heavens and earth are one unit.
The earth serves as a foundation for heaven. What happens on earth affects heaven, and vice versa. Both have been defiled to some degree by Satan, who has now been cast down to the earth (Revelation 12:9, Luke 10:18), and both will be destroyed and replaced at the end.
Just as the curtain prevented anyone but the high priest from entering once a year, the firmament acts as a separator between the third heaven and the earth. The people alive at the time of the tower of Babel tried to penetrate the firmament into God’s realm. Tradition says that Nimrod wished to ascend into heaven and shoot God with his arrows, but just as God thwarted Satan’s coup attempt, he crushed the Babelic one, too.
Man continues his quest to leave our assigned earthly habitation and pierce the realm reserved by God.
Now we do it by launching rockets to try to penetrate the firmament. In 1962, the US was audacious enough to launch and detonate atomic bombs in the heavens, apparently to test the strength of the firmament.
Those that go straight up invariably strike the firmament.
Most however appear to take a curved arc into the ocean. The Bermuda Triangle mystery began about the same time we began our missile launches. If the Bible is correct, and it is, what is called outer space is imaginary. The only 
thing comparable in Scripture is “outer darkness,” a place of judgment.
My opinion is that Satan has so duped mankind that we have joined him in his rebellion against the true God and wish to go with him to the place of judgment.
The complete irony of it all is that so many Christians passionately defend the heliocentric deception rather than believe the clear words of the Bible. We have been programmed from early childhood to believe that the earth is a “planet,” which in Greek means wanderer or deceiver. All the other so-called planets or wandering stars, as the Bible calls them, are named after pagan gods, which is no accident, as are NASA’s space missions. We have been taught to believe that the earth, the stable, motionless habitation created by God for man, is now wandering in outer space at incredible speeds toward an unknown destination.
We have joined Satan’s fallen angels in wandering away from God and his plan for us.
...wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Jude 13 (NKJV)
My prayer is that the church will awaken to this blasphemy and repent for believing the occult religion of heliocentrism that teaches us that mankind and the earth are nothing special.
After Jesus arose from the dead, he ascended into heaven, passing through the firmament into God’s presence where he is now enthroned at God’s right hand. Heaven is a real, physical location where Jesus’ resurrected body dwells. Occasionally God opens the heavens and gives people a glimpse of this glorious scene. The Book of Acts records the following as Stephen preached his last sermon just prior to being stoned to death at the hands of the Jews.
But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. Acts 7:55–57 (NASB95)
Heaven is a real place created along with the earth during those six days recorded in Genesis Chapter One. It is separated from earth by the firmament, above which sits God’s throne. The tabernacle in the wilderness modeled this reality. God foresaw man’s fall and constructed the original tabernacle of the heaven and earth with this dividing barrier. That was never God’s final intent, as we shall see at the end of this series.
