tabernaculum

Tabernaculum is a term of Latin origin, from tabernaculum meaning tent or dwelling, used in religious, historical, and scientific contexts to denote a shelter, sanctuary, or protective container.

In religious and biblical usage, tabernaculum refers to the portable sanctuary described in the Hebrew Bible that accompanied the Israelites during their wanderings. Built under divine instruction during the Exodus, it functioned as a mobile sacred precinct. It consisted of an outer court with the altar for burnt offerings, a main sanctuary (the Holy Place) containing sacred furnishings, and the inner Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and which was separated by a veil. The Tabernacle traveled with the Israelite camp and was carried by the Levites as the people moved. It served as the focus of worship and sacrifice until the construction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. The concept of the tabernaculum continued to hold theological significance in later Jewish and Christian thought.

In science and medicine, tabernaculum is a less standardized term that has been used historically to describe small, tent-like or sheltering structures within organisms or tissues. It is not a consistently defined anatomical term in modern nomenclature, and its exact meaning is highly context-dependent, varying by author and field. When encountered in contemporary literature, the term is typically superseded by more specific terminology and used chiefly in historical or descriptive contexts.

See also: Tabernacle, Ark of the Covenant, Sanctuary.