Exodus 40 - Among Us
- Chad Werkhoven
- Feb 26
- 5 min read
If it's heavy, it's expensive.
SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF...
The LORD renewed His covenant with Israel after the golden calf, commanding them to tear down idols, keep His appointed feasts, and live as a distinct, holy people. Moses descends from Sinai with his face shining from having spoken with God.
The people then give generously for the tabernacle, and under the skilled leadership of craftsmen filled with the Spirit, they carefully construct the tent, its furnishings, and the priests’ garments exactly as the LORD commanded—so that at last everything is ready for His dwelling among them.
Exodus 40 (NIV)
40 Then the LORD said to Moses: 2 “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. 3 Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain.
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8 Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.
9 “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.
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12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” 16 Moses did everything just as the LORD commanded him.
17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. 18 When Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. 19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the LORD commanded him.
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34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.
Article 18, The Incarnation
We confess
that God fulfilled the promise
which he had made to the early fathers
by the mouth of his holy prophets
when he sent his only and eternal Son
into the world
at the time set by him.
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In this way he is truly our Immanuel—
that is: “God with us.”
Summary
By the time we reach this final chapter in the book of Exodus, God's people have been in the wilderness for just under a year. Eleven and a half months, to be exact.
We can know that with certainty because of the LORD's instruction to set the Tabernacle up on the first day of the first month. Back in chapter 12, we read that they'd been rescued through the Red Sea on the fifteenth day of the first month. Next time someone suggests to you that the exodus is just a myth or legend, ask them how many myths and legends contain exact dates.
There's upwards of two million people in this convoy - a massive logistical challenge even by modern standards. But the only solid - yet transportable - infrastructure project recorded in the book of Exodus is this Tabernacle. God's dwelling place among His people was of paramount concern. It would be the literal center of their existence, even as they set out whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle.
What a sight it must have been when the LORD moved into His dwelling place centered amongst His redeemed covenant people. The English translations all properly render the event with the words the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. The Hebrew word that lies behind that is kā·ḇôḏ, which means heaviness. Remember the famous line from Jurassic Park - "if it's heavy, it's expensive." God's heavy glory conveys His infinite value.
This same cloud borne heaviness that stood between these people and Pharoah's pursuing army had now settled in their midst.
Dig Deeper
The Hebrew word translated tabernacle simply means dwelling place. But what's so remarkable about the Tabernacle and the Jerusalem Temple that would later replace it was their inaccessibility. Their most striking features were their barriers.
These dwellings were shrouded with either thick, heavy curtains or imposing walls. With each new curtained layer, the amount of people who could enter the area was increasingly restricted. It all culminated in the most exclusive area: the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant law was to be kept. It could only be entered into once a year, under very tight constraints, with the high priest bearing the prescribed offering of atonement (payment).
It's important to understand the spatial relationships regarding the Tabernacle. The facility itself was located at the center of Israelite society, and at the center of this center were the two stone tablets containing God's covenant specifications - two exact copies: one for the people, and one for the LORD. God's presence amongst His people was predicated upon this covenant relationship.
This is exactly what has been fulfilled by our Savior, who became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14). Because He perfectly kept our end of this covenantal relationship with God, we look forward to the coming day when God's dwelling place [tabernacle] is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God (Revelation 21:3). The heavy curtains and imposing walls separating us and God will be gone.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God who came to dwell amongst His people;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that even though we no longer have a visible pillar of cloud to follow, that your life will be directed by pursuing God's glory;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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