THE TABERNACLE 🏛️
This is the eight-word verse in Exodus 25 where God explains exactly why He wanted Israel to build the tabernacle.
What is "that I may dwell among them"?
In Moses 5:6-7, an angel explained to Adam that animal sacrifice was this — a symbol pointing forward to the Son of God.
What is a similitude?
This is the number of covenants we make as part of the temple endowment.
What is five?
The unicorn was thrilled to learn that the tabernacle had a candlestick, because the unicorn already has one of these on its head and considered itself highly qualified for the job.
What is a horn?
The tabernacle had one Ark of the Covenant. The Holy of Holies had zero windows. A square has four sides. Phineas and Ferb have one sister named Candace. How many items were inside the Ark of the Covenant?
What is three? (The square and Candace had absolutely nothing to do with it.)
Phineas's famous line every single morning to Ferb that kicks off their summer adventures — four words that seminary teachers understand deeply at 6am.
What is "I know what we're gonna do today"?
This object in the tabernacle was the very first thing you encountered when you walked through the entrance, and it pointed directly to Christ's atoning sacrifice.
What is the brazen altar?
The sacrificial animal had to be free of any flaw or imperfection. This pointed to the one quality that made Christ the only one qualified to atone for our sins.
What is being sinless, or without blemish?
Elder Renlund taught that each covenant we make with God does this — using a word that means to connect or tie together.
What is adds a bond, or draws us closer to God?
The unicorn studied the requirements for the sacrificial animal very carefully. It passed the "without blemish" test, the "clean" test, and the "firstborn" test. It failed this requirement, which it considered deeply unfair.
What is male? (The unicorn identifies as mystical.)
The veil of the temple was torn in two pieces. There are 40 chapters in Exodus. Gravity Falls ran for two seasons. Dipper Pines has one twin sister. Multiply the seasons by the pieces of veil. Divide by the number of twins. What is the one thing the torn veil means?
What is access to God's presence is now open to everyone through Christ? (The answer is two. We do not know what to do with it.)
This is Candace's one goal in every single Phineas and Ferb episode, and it never works, which is a good lesson in accepting that you cannot control everything.
What is busting her brothers, or telling on Phineas and Ferb to their mom?
The only light source inside the Holy Place, it burned continuously and pointed to Christ who declared "I am the light of the world."
What is the menorah, or the candlestick?
This Book of Mormon verse teaches that Christ's sacrifice had to be infinite and eternal — something no animal sacrifice could ever actually be.
What is Alma 34:10?
According to John 14:15, keeping God's commandments is ultimately an expression of this, not just rule-following.
What is love?
The unicorn tried to enter the tabernacle through the veil to see the Ark of the Covenant. It was turned away because only the high priest could enter. The unicorn argued it was basically a high priest because of this feature it possesses.
What is a horn? We'll accept magic sparkles or anything remotely close.
Phineas and Ferb built 104 inventions across their summer. The tabernacle had five covenants in the endowment. A unicorn has one horn. There are seven requirements for a sacrificial animal. Add all the numbers. What does the law of sacrifice ask us to offer God today?
What is a broken heart and a contrite spirit? (The sum is 117. It will not appear on the test.)
Dipper and Mabel Pines spend their summer in this fictional Oregon town full of mysteries, which honestly sounds like how the Israelites felt wandering the wilderness.
What is Gravity Falls?
Inside the Ark of the Covenant were three items: a jar of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and these — which represented the law Christ came to fulfill.
What are the stone tablets, or the Ten Commandments?
After Christ's death, He told the Nephites He would no longer accept burnt offerings. He asked for this instead, which Elder Christofferson described as "the gift of yourself."
What is a broken heart and a contrite spirit?
Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that the real act of personal sacrifice is not placing an animal on the altar but placing this on the altar instead.
What is the animal that is in us, or our own selfish nature?
The unicorn was excited to make a covenant of obedience in the temple — until it read the fine print, which required giving up this, the unicorn's most prized and heavily scheduled activity.
What is doing whatever it wants? We will also accept - galloping through meadows, being sparkly, or avoiding rules.
Elder Renlund used three elastic bands to show how covenants bind us to God. Grunkle Stan ran the Mystery Shack for approximately 30 years. The Leviticus burnt offering required the whole animal. Brother King has been to Germany, which is 5,716 miles from Utah. Divide 5,716 by 3 bands. Round to the nearest covenant. What is the lesson about trees and roots trying to teach us?
What is covenants keep us rooted to God so life's storms cannot uproot us? (The answer is 1,905.3. We left it out of the lesson for a reason.)
In Gravity Falls, this grumpy but secretly soft-hearted character ran the Mystery Shack and turned out to be hiding a much bigger secret all along — much like the tabernacle, which looked plain on the outside but held something sacred within.
Who is Grunkle Stan?
This event happened at the exact moment Christ died on the cross and symbolized that access to God's presence was now open to everyone.
What is the veil of the temple being rent in twain from top to bottom?
The sacrificial animal had to meet seven specific requirements. Name three of them.
What is any three of the following — without blemish, voluntary, firstborn, male, clean, domesticated, anointed by laying on of hands?
Like trees planted close together whose roots intertwine underground, this is what our covenants do for us when life's storms arrive.
What is hold us up, keep us rooted to God, or make us harder to uproot? (Accept reasonable answers.)
The unicorn attended the seminary lesson on sacrifice and was deeply moved. It offered a broken heart and contrite spirit to the Lord. The Lord accepted it, then gently pointed out that the unicorn had also left this behind on the classroom floor.
What is glitter? Brother King was NOT amused.
Phineas and Ferb's summer has 104 days. Gravity Falls has 40 episodes. The tabernacle had 6 symbolic objects we studied. A unicorn attended seminary 0 times and still has opinions. There are 5 temple endowment covenants. Add everything. Subtract the unicorn's attendance. Multiply by the number of things inside the Ark of the Covenant. What is the entire point of every lesson we studied this week?
What is everything points to Jesus Christ? (The math answer is 465. That is between you and your calculator.)
Phineas and Ferb's nemesis Dr. Doofenshmirtz always explains his backstory before being defeated. Name the semi-aquatic mammal secret agent who stops him every time, and explain in one sentence what that has to do with making covenants.
Who is Perry the Platypus? (Covenants tie us to someone who will always show up for us. I will accept any creative answer connecting loyalty and commitment to God.)