tabernacles

Noun

tabernacle (plural tabernacles)

1. Any temporary dwelling; a hut, tent, or booth.
   • The tabernacles of robbers proſper, and they that prouoke God are ſecure, into whoſe hand God bringeth abundantly.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 12:6, column 1
2. The portable tent used before the construction of the temple, where the shekinah (presence of God) was believed to dwell.
   • […]ſo Moſes finiſhed the worke. Then a cloud couered the Tent of the Congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. And Moſes was not able to enter into the Tent of the Congregation, becauſe the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. And when the cloud...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 40:33–38, column 2
3. (broadly) The Jewish Temple at Jerusalem (as continuing the functions of the earlier tabernacle).
4. Any portable shrine used in heathen or idolatrous worship.
5. A sukkah, the booth or 'tabernacle' used during the Jewish Feast of Sukkot.
6. A small ornamented cupboard or box used for the reserved sacrament of the Eucharist, normally located in an especially prominent place in a church.
   • The tabernacle is to be situated "in churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honor." The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should foster adoration before the Lord really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.1997, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part II, Section 1183

See all 15 meanings of tabernacle