Interpretation of the Tabernacle account begins with Philo of Alexandria, the first century Jewish philosopher. Philo is the earliest known figure to have developed and recorded a sustained interpretation of the Bible. He was an educated member of Greek society, and was therefore immersed in Greek culture, Greek literature, and most importantly Greek philosophy. To Philo, the Tabernacle served as an allegory for the cosmology of Plato. Every element of the physical abode signified a Divine reality.

Clear indeed is the literal meaning, for the shrine is spoken of as the archetype of a sort of shrine, namely as the tent. But as for the deeper meaning, God always appears in His work, which is most sacred; by this I mean the world. . . For the beginning and end of happiness is to be able to see God. But this cannot happen to him who has not made his soul . . . a sanctuary and altogether a shrine of God. (Questions and Answers on Exodus, n. 51)

According to Philo's allegorical interpretation, the Tabernacle displays the two realms of existence. The holy of holies signifies the realm of the Divine, the realm of unchanging and perfect truth, the intelligible world as he calls it. The exact makeup and arrangement of the ark, mercy seat and cherubim in the holy of holies signifies various aspects of this realm, and more specifically, of God.

The other two areas, the holy place and the courtyard, together represent the corporeal world, the world of human experience. First, the holy place, with its lamp, table and altar of incense represents the heaven of this corporeal world, and second, the courtyard, with the basin and altar of sacrifices, represent its earth.

Philo gives every detail a specific allegorical meaning. For example: the two cherubim represent the two forces of God–the power to create and the power to rule; the seven lamps on the menorah represent the seven planets in heaven; the boards and curtains of the Tabernacle represent the "sublunary things"; and the four colors of woven threads represent the four elements of the corporeal world–earth, water, fire and air.

There is another first century text that uses the method of allegory to interpret the Tabernacle, namely the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. While using the same philosophical methods, the content of Hebrews is very different from Philo's work. Here, the Tabernacle becomes a vehicle for understanding the ministry of Christ. Jesus is the true high priest, and heaven his true Tabernacle:

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is not of this creation) He entered once and for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. . . (Hebrews 9:11-12).

While these methods, borrowed from Greek philosophy, did not immediately impact rabbinic Judaism, the first centuries of Christianity were inundated with such interpretations. Early Christians, such as Origin and Clement, used both Philo and the book of Hebrews to create their own elaborate allegories for the Tabernacle. Basing themselves almost entirely on these two sources, the church fathers then made their own innovations: the sanctuary became a symbol for the soul of the individual or for the body of the church, and the Tabernacle's function to unite humanity with God became a symbol for the union of the human and Divine in Christ.

Thus, interpretation of the Tabernacle in late antiquity was decidedly Greek. The method of allegorical interpretation began in the 4th century BCE with the interpretations of Homer's epics, and became so pervasive that for many it is a familiar way of reading the Bible even today. But it was during these first centuries of the Common Era that allegory truly flourished as a method for interpreting the Bible. By linking details of the Biblical stories with higher philosophical and spiritual concepts, Jews and Christians were able to incorporate their religion with the intellectual culture of the time.

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