40
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 📚“On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.40:2 It took several months to construct the tabernacle and its furnishings. See v 17 and 19:1.⚜
3 📚And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony 📖, and screen the ark with the veil. 4 📚And you shall bring in the table, and arrange the things that belong on it. And you shall bring in the lampstand, and light its lamps. 5 📚And you shall set the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door of the tabernacle.
6 📚“And you shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 7 📚And you shall set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shall put water in it. 8 📚And you shall set up the surrounding courtyard, and hang up the hanging at the courtyard gate.
9 📚“And you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is in it, and shall consecrate it, and all its articles, and it shall be holy. 10 📚And you shall anoint the altar of burnt offering, and all its articles, and sanctify the altar, and the altar will be most holy. 11 And you shall anoint the laver and its base and sanctify it.
12 📚“And you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. 13 📚And you shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him, and sanctify him, so that he may serve as priest. 14 📚And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. 15 📚And you shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, so that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing will be for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations”.
40:15 Note on priest at Ex 28:1.⚜
16 📚And Moses did so. He did according to all that the LORD commanded him.
17 📚And it came about on the first month in the second year 📖, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was erected. 18 📚And Moses erected the tabernacle, and fastened its sockets, and set up its boards, and put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. 19 📚And he spread out the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
20 📚And he took the testimony and put it in the ark, and attached the poles to the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. 21 📚And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the screening veil, and screened the ark of the testimony, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
22 📚And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. 23 📚And he arranged the bread on it before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 24 📚And he put the lampstand in the tent of the congregation opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. 25 📚And he lighted the lamps before the LORD, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
26 📚And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil, 27 📚and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the LORD commanded Moses. 28 📚And he put up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.
29 📚And he put the altar of burnt offering near the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered the burnt offering and the food offering on it, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
30 📚And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there for washing. 31 📚And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet there. 32 📚They washed whenever they went into the tent of the congregation, and whenever they came near the altar, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
40:31-32 Ex 30:19-20. Moses was the great leader through whom the law was given. He spoke with God face to face. But he needed to wash in the laver just as the most ordinary priests (1 John 1:8-10).⚜
33 📚And he set up the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the courtyard gate. So Moses finished the work.
God’s glory fills the tabernacle
34 📚Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
40:34 1 Kings 8:11; Ezek 43:4-5; Rev 15:8. God came in glory to the tabernacle that He might live among His people. The glory of God filled Christ the Son of God, God’s spiritual tabernacle for the same purpose (John 1:14, 18; Matt 17:2; 2 Pet 1:16-17; 2 Cor 4:4, 6; Col 1:19; Heb 1:3; Rev 1:13-18; 21:23).⚜
35 📚And Moses was not able to go into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud remained on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36 📚And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went forward on all their journeys, 37 📚but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not travel until the day that it was taken up. 38 📚For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire 📖 was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
40:36-38 Ex 13:21-22; Num 9:16-23; Neh 9:19; Ps 78:14. God knows just where His people should be, how long they should stay there, and where they should go when it is time to move, and He will infallibly guide those who trust and obey Him (Ps 32:8; 48:14; 73:24; Isa 58:11; John 10:2-5).⚜