A separate census was conducted for the Levitical families specifying their encampments and responsibilities. Add this material to what you have already read in Exodus and Leviticus about Tabernacle worship and what you will read in the balance of Numbers and the Book of Deuteronomy and you have a massive amount of Scripture regarding the Tabernacle. We would have a quick read through the Pentateuch if all the discussions of the Tabernacle were removed. Why such a heavy emphasis? Well, aside from the typical significance of the Tabernacle which we have often pointed out, the volume of God-breathed words about the Tabernacle serve as an early reminder in the Bible of the priority of worship.
The Bible is a book about worship. In fact, the Bible is the book about worship. It reveals the Father [Who] wants…people to worship Him (Jhn. 4: 23). God seeks us that we may seek Him. We are won to worship! Can there be a higher calling to which we answer today than the ministry of praise?
The very existence of the Levites recalled God’s ownership of the nation in general and the firstborn in particular ( 3: 13). What was this claim on their life for? It was to insure that the corporate worship of Israel was a seamless, spiritual experience. Perhaps some of their assignments strike you as less than exciting. If the Levites looked at their assignments as nothing more than tedious details that is all they would be. If, on the other hand, they saw themselves as the very guardians of the holiness of God (3: 8) theirs was an enviable task. The Levites would later learn to sing, Better a day in Your courts than a thousand [anywhere else]. I would rather be at the door of the house of my God than to live in the tents of the wicked (Ps. 84: 10). In other words the lowliest task in worship excels the highest assignment anywhere else in life. It’s all about worship.