A tabernacle or sacrament house is a fixed, locked box in which the Eucharist (consecrated communion hosts) is stored as part of the "reserved sacrament" rite. A container for the same purpose, which is set directly into a wall, is called an aumbry.
Within Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and in some traditions of Anglicanism and Lutheranism, the tabernacle is a box-like or dome-like vessel for the exclusive reservation of the consecrated Eucharist. It is normally made from precious metals, stone or wood, and is lockable and secured to the altar or adjacent wall to prevent the consecrated elements within from being removed without authorization. These denominations believe that the Eucharist contains the real presence of Jesus, and thus use the term tabernacle, a word referring to the Old Testament tabernacle, which was the locus of God´s presence among the Jewish people.
en
