To give some perspective as to its comparative magnitude, notice the size of Aaron the priest, standing at the front left of the tabernacle.
The Tabernacle was a structure built by the children of Israel under the supervision of Moses, around 1450 B.C. The layout of the Tabernacle and the materials of its construction were specified in great detail to Moses by God at Mount Sinai, a few weeks after the children of Israel had left hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt. The Tabernacle was a portable construction, made by wise, skilful workmen and transported by one tribe, the Levites, through the 40 years in the desert wilderness and on into the land of Canaan.
