Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 40:1
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
1 15 . Moses is instructed by Jehovah to set up the Tent of Meeting, and the Court, to arrange the sacred vessels in their places ( vv. 2 8), to consecrate the whole by anointing it ( vv. 9 11), to clothe the priests in their vestments, and to anoint them ( vv. 12 15). Most of these instructions have been given before; now that the time has come for carrying them out, they are summarily repeated (though not all that are necessary are given here; see vv. 17 ff.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 40:1-38
Set up the Tabernacle.
The primary and universal obligation to the worship of Jehovah; the proper means to its right performance, with their evidences and fruits
I. What is implied in the injunction in the text?
1. The worship of Jehovah, at whose command the Tabernacle was erected.
2. The setting up of the Tabernacle, at Gods command, implied that He required a specific worship; and the doing this at the seasons expressed in the text, that He called for especial homage at particular times, and in an express manner; and a compliance with the direction was an evidence of obedience to the will of Jehovah.
3. But further, this setting up of the Tabernacle at Gods command implied His sovereign rule and authority among the Jews.
4. Again, as the setting up of the Tabernacle at Gods command implied His sovereignty, so a compliance with the injunction or direction implied a disposition to serve Him.
II. How it may be carried into effect by us.
1. It may be done by our punctual and devout attendance on Divine worship.
2. If we would carry the injunction in the text into effect suitably, we must duly observe and keep all the ordinances of Gods house.
3. I observe that the spirit of the commandment before us will be carried into effect in a more especial manner by us if we make Christ the Alpha and Omega–the beginning and the ending of all our religious worship–the great object of faith and adoration in all our ceremonial observances.
4. Lastly, that your services may be suitable, acceptable, and efficient, seek the teaching and direction of the Holy Spirit.
III. The evidences which will prove that it has been done.
1. In the first place, if you have set up your Tabernacle; if you are resolved that, whatever others do, as for you and your household ye will serve the Lord; and if you are enabled to approach Him in a suitable disposition, and by a right faith; then you will enjoy in your own souls all the blessings of His house, and the blessedness of those whom He causes to come near unto Him.
2. If you have set up your Tabernacle, and are led by the Spirit to serve God with your spirit, then you will bring forth the fruits of the Spirit (Eph 5:9; Gal 5:22-23; 1Pe 4:11).
3. If we have set up our Tabernacle, and serve God in His Son, are led by His Spirit, and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, then we shall be prepared for the rewards of the righteous, and to stand before the Son of man at His appearing and His kingdom.
Lessons:
1. As the command for the erection of the Tabernacle is given us by God, and every direction respecting it comes from Him, what presumption is it in any man to go about the formation of a different Tabernacle after his own fancy!
2. As the setting up of the Tabernacle was to be done forthwith at Gods commandment, and for the whole congregation, what madness for any to think of postponing the duty to a more convenient season!
3. As the Tabernacle is erected for Gods service, was to be resorted to at stated times, and attendance upon it is designed for our greatest good–as a Bethel, a house of mercy, a Bethesda, from which we may derive healing, how should we prize seasons, and means, and opportunities, of attending it! (J. Allport.)
The setting up of the Tabernacle on New Years Day
Out of materials specially provided by Him who holds in His hands the springs of action in men, and by artizans inspired by an extraordinary skill, and according to the pattern given to Moses, the Tabernacle was prepared, every part made ready and stored up for the day of erection. But God named that day Himself, and Moses waited for it.
I. And now I would have you notice the special day which God selected. It was the first day of the first month–that is, New Years Day; and the reason of this choice is of course to be looked for in a benevolent regard to the religious good of the Jewish people. It would fix a suitable season for a commemorative festival of the great blessing vouchsafed to Israel by a Tabernacle for the Divine presence among them–a festival, be it remarked, that was not forgotten by them in after times, for we read that, in the revival of religion under Hezekiah, it was on the first day of the first month that the House of God was sanctified for the pious and pure worship of the Lord. Moreover, this selection would, I suppose, make New Years Day, in the Jewish calendar, a day of religious observance. Consider, first, that the Christians body and the Christians spirit are together the Tabernacle of God. He is an habitation of God through the Spirit. Know ye not, saith the apostle to the Corinthian Christians, that ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost? He that dwelleth in love, writes John, dwelleth in God, and God in him. And wherever this indwelling of God is, there and there only is there a Christian man or a Christian woman; wherever there is this indwelling of God, there and there only is the true antitype of the beautiful Tabernacle which was set up on the first day of the first month in the Jewish calendar. This is the true Tabernacle, too, in which God rests for ever, because He delights therein. Now mark: such a wonderful Tabernacle like that which was put up by Moses on the first day of the first month can only be made of materials which God has selected, and which God has gathered together for that work; for the light and the elements and the features and graces of the Christian character are His gift, such as holy trust, humble desire, love, meekness, gratefulness, praise, prayer, and joy in Christ. And again, those materials must be wrought up and combined according to the pattern which has been shown to us in the mount. Marvellous pattern! the living model of the character of Jesus, the true Tabernacle of the Father.
II. Israels obedience is exemplary to those who are already Christian men. There is some new work now for God to be done, or some old work for God to be done in a new spirit. For instance, responsibility of time to be more felt, and its management and use arranged with an increased Christian conscientiousness. The dedication of self to the Saviour has to be renewed, and everywhere and always remembered. Does not our work for Him who died for us want to be done secretly in the heart, openly in the family, and in the church, and in the world, with a new love, a new spirit, a new resoluteness, and a new will? Ah! a new year summons a Christian in a new manner of spirit unto obedience to his Divine Master. Let us, on such an occasion, listen to our Fathers voice, and on the first day of the first month set up our Tabernacle; and then be assured that through all the journeyings of the year, as upon the Tabernacle of Israel, shall the tokens of the Divine presence rest upon us.
III. For notice, in the next place, that on the first day of the first month, immediately the Tabernacle was set, the cloud of the Lord was upon it by day, and the fire of the Lord was upon it by night, and both continued to rest there through the journeyings of the people. Oh! it must have been a marvellous phenomenon, that under which the Almighty God thus certified His protection and guidance to the people. And it was a necessary phenomenon, too, under their novel circumstances. The desert was pathless, and they had no guide, and so by this they were conducted in their journeyings. It was adapted, too, to meet their wants: it was the pillar of cloud by day to screen them from the fierce sun, and it was the pillar of fire by night to light up the encampment and warm the chill air. And is not Christian life a pilgrimage? Are we not strangers upon earth, seeking a better, a heavenly Temple? Could we reach it without a Divine Guide? And though we have not the same sensible proofs of Gods presence which were granted to Israel, is it not most assuredly with us just as it was with them? (C. P. Eyre, M. A.)
Tabernacle foreshadowings
The Tabernacle, as a whole, is a finger-post directing me to that mystic Person in whom God in very deed dwelt with man upon the earth. Its white-robed priest is the shadow of Him who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and whom I recognize as my true High Priest. Its bleeding lamb laid upon the altar is the likeness of that Lamb of God by whose precious blood I have been redeemed from all iniquity; its innermost sanctuary is the type of that heaven into which He has entered to make atonement for my sin; and its outer apartment is the analogue of the present world, in which we are to serve Him with the incense of our devotions, the light of our characters, and the fruit of our lives. The incarnation in the person of Christ, the mediation and expiation of His priestly work, and the consequent obligation under which His redeemed people lie to honour Him with unceasing service and shining holiness–or, putting it all into four words, incarnation, mediation, expiation, consecration–these are the things of which the Tabernacle, with its furniture, services, and attendants, were the special types; and as thus we condense its teachings into their essence, we come to a larger and more comprehensive view of the doctrines of the gospel itself, and discover that we have been studying the same truths, only under a different form. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XL
Moses is commanded to set up the tabernacle, the first day of
the first month of the second year of their departure from
Egypt, 1, 2.
The ark to be put into it, 3.
The table and candlestick to be brought in also with the golden
altar, 4.5.
The altar of burnt-offering to be set up before the door, and
the laver between the tent and the altar, 6, 7.
The court to be set up, 8.
The tabernacle and its utensils to be anointed, 9-11.
Aaron and his sons to be washed, clothed, and anointed, 12-15.
All these things are done accordingly, 16.
The tabernacle is erected; and all its utensils, c., placed in
it on the first of the first month of the second year, 17-33.
The cloud covers the tent, and the glory of the Lord fills the
tabernacle, so that even Moses is not able to enter, 34, 35.
When they were to journey, the cloud was taken up when to
encamp, the cloud rested on the tabernacle, 36, 37.
A cloud by day and a fire by night was upon the tabernacle, in
the sight of all the Israelites, through the whole course of
the journeyings, 38.
NOTES ON CHAP. XL
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And the Lord spake unto Moses,…. When the tabernacle, and the work of it, were finished, and he had taken a survey of it, and everything belonging to it, which appeared to be done as was ordered:
saying; as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After the completion of all the works, the command was given by God to Moses to set up the dwelling of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month (see at Exo 19:1), sc., in the second year of the Exodus (see Exo 40:17), and to put all the vessels, both of the dwelling and court, in the places appointed by God; also to furnish the table of shew-bread with its fitting out ( = Exo 40:23), i.e., to arrange the bread upon it in the manner prescribed (Exo 40:4 cf. Lev 24:6-7), and to put water in the laver of the court (Exo 40:7). After that he was to anoint the dwelling and everything in it, also the altar of burnt-offering and laver, with the anointing oil, and to sanctify them (Exo 40:9-11); and to consecrate Aaron and his sons before the door of the tabernacle, and clothe them, anoint them, and sanctify them as priests (Exo 40:12-15). When we read here, however, that the dwelling and the vessels therein would be rendered “ holy ” through the anointing, but the altar of burnt-offering “ most holy, ” we are not to understand this as attributing a higher degree of holiness to the altar of burnt-offering than to the dwelling and its furniture; but the former is called “most holy” merely in the sense ascribed to it in Exo 30:10 namely, that every one who touched it was to become holy; in other words, the distinction has reference to the fact, that, standing as it did in the court, it was more exposed to contact from the people than the vessels in the dwelling, which no layman was allowed to enter. In this relative sense we find the same statement in Exo 30:29, with reference to the tabernacle and all the vessels therein, the dwelling as well as the court, that they would become most holy in consequence of the anointing (see the remarks on Exo 30:10). It is stated provisionally, in Exo 40:16, that this command was fulfilled by Moses. But from the further history we find that the consecration of the priests did not take place contemporaneously with the erection of the tabernacle, but somewhat later, or not till after the promulgation of the laws of sacrifice (cf. Lev 8 and Lev 1:1.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Rearing of the Tabernacle. | B. C. 1491. |
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3 And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4 And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5 And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. 6 And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 7 And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. 8 And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate. 9 And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy. 10 And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy. 11 And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. 12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. 13 And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 14 And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats: 15 And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
The materials and furniture of the tabernacle had been viewed severally and approved, and now they must be put together. 1. God here directs Moses to set up the tabernacle and the utensils of it in their places. Though the work of the tabernacle was finished, and every thing ready for rearing, and the people, no doubt, were very desirous to see it up, yet Moses will not erect it till he has express orders for doing so. It is good to see God going before us in every step, Ps. xxxvii. 23. The time for doing this is fixed to the first day of the first month (v. 2), which wanted but fourteen days of a year since they came out of Egypt; and a good year’s work there was done in it. Probably the work was made ready but just at the end of the year, so that the appointing of this day gave no delay, or next to none, to this good work. We must not put off any necessary duty under pretence of waiting for some remarkable day; the present season is the most convenient. But the tabernacle happening to be set up on the first day of the first month intimates that it is good to begin the year with some good work. Let him that is the first have the first; and let the things of his kingdom be first sought. In Hezekiah’s time we find they began to sanctify the temple on the first day of the first month, 2 Chron. xxix. 17. The new moon (which by their computation was the first day of every month) was observed by them with some solemnity; and therefore this first new moon of the year was thus made remarkable. Note, When a new year begins, we should think of serving God more and better than we did the year before. Moses is particularly ordered to set up the tabernacle itself first, in which God would dwell and would be served (v. 2), then to put the ark in its place, and draw the veil before it (v. 3), then to fix the table, and the candlestick, and the altar of incense, without the veil (Exo 40:4; Exo 40:5), and to fix the hanging of the door before the door. Then in the court he must place the altar of burnt offering, and the laver (Exo 40:6; Exo 40:7); and, lastly, he must set up the curtains of the court, and a hanging for a court-gate. And all this would be easily done in one day, many hands no doubt being employed in it under the direction of Moses. 2. He directs Moses, when he had set up the tabernacle and all the furniture of it, to consecrate it and them, by anointing them with the oil which was prepared for the purpose, ch. xxx. 25, c. It was there ordered that this should be done here it was ordered that it should be done now, v. 9-11. Observe, Every thing was sanctified when it was put in its proper place, and not till then, for till then it was not fit for the use to which it was to be sanctified. As every thing is beautiful in its season, so is every thing in its place. 3. He directs him to consecrate Aaron and his sons. When the goods were brought into God’s house, they were marked first, and then servants were hired to bear the vessels of the Lord; and those must be clean who were put into that office, v. 12-15. The law which was now ordered to be put in execution we had before, ch. xxix. Thus in the visible church, which is God’s tabernacle among men, it is requisite that there be ministers to keep the charge of the sanctuary, and that they receive the anointing.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
EXODUS – CHAPTER FORTY
Verses 1-11:
Bezaleel and his workmen had wrought well. And the work of the tabernacle was completed, and it had passed inspection.
Moses did not at once set up the completed tabernacle. He waited for a specific instruction from Jehovah. This was soon given.
Moses was to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month of the year, Abib or Nisan. When the walls and the tent and coverings were all in place, the ark of the testimony was placed in the holy of holies, and the veil separating this room from the sanctuary was hung in place.
Next, the table of shewbread was put in place, and the various articles pertaining to it were laid in order.
Then the golden lampstand was installed, the lamps filled with oil, and lighted.
The golden altar of incense came next. It was placed before the veil separating the holy of holies from the holy place.
The altar of burnt offering and the laver were next set in place, and the laver was filled with water.
When all was set in proper order, Jehovah instructed that Moses anoint the tabernacle and all its furniture with the holy anointing oil.
The text illustrates the institution of the Lord’s churEx The church was: 1) first established (Mt 4:18-22), 2) then its officers were set in order (1Co 12:28), 3) then it was commissioned (Mt 28:19, 20; Ac 1:8). When this was all completed, 4) then the Holy Spirit anointed the church with His presence and power (Acts 2).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Exo. 40:34. The glory of the Lord.] This was a sensuous manifestation by which the presence of Jehovah in the tabernacle was made known to the people of Israel, but this manifestation was not of the character of the glory of Jehovah as Moses desired to have it shown to him. (See Crit. Note on Exo. 33:18.)
Exo. 40:35. Not able = lo-yachol], i.e., he attempted to enter but could not effect an entrance, at the time, into the tabernacle: this fact goes to show that it was the purpose of Jehovah to impress upon the Israelites that He was Lord over His own house. In the worship of the tabernacle they were to regard Him who was the Lord over it, and not Moses the servant in it.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH
THE ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE
A. The Order for Erection
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle.Exo. 40:1-16.
The manufacture of the different parts of the Tabernacle having been completed, and everything necessary for the tabernacle service having been provided, instructions were at length issued for the election of the building. Observe:
I. The completeness of those instructions.
1. The time was specified for the performance of the work. On the first day of the first month (of the second year) shalt thou set up the Tabernacle of the tent of meeting. To everything there is a season, says the Royal Preacher, and a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to break down and a time to build up. Whether there was anything specially significant in the selection of the first day of the first month of the second year, cannot be determined. If, as is probable, the date of their arrival at Sinai was the first day of the third month of the first year, counting from the day of the Exodus, a period of nine months must have elapsed since their entering into covenant with God, during six of which they had been actively engaged in the preparation of the dwelling-place of God. But whatever was the reason for the selection of this date, it was the right date, as we know that Gods time is always the best time, and in particular that the time of the setting up of the Tabernacle of Christs body, was The Fulness of the Times. Everything in the lower kingdom of Nature has its appropriate season, and so has everything in the higher kingdom of Grace. Also, for every separate movement in the history of the Church of God, and for every onward step in the religious life of the individual Christian, there is a right time, which it is the part of wisdom to wait for, and to discern when it comes. On the circumstance that the time selected was the first day of the year, M. Henry has the following remarks:It is good to begin the year with some good work. Let Him that is the first have the first; and let the things of His kingdom be first sought When a new year begins, we should think of serving God more and better than we did before.
2. The order was appointed in which the work should be done. First the Holy of Holies was to be constructed and its furniture arranged. Then the Holy Place and its furniture. After that the outer court and its furniture. Next the whole building, with its vessels, was to be consecrated by anointing with the holy oil. And, finally, Aaron and his sons were to be brought to the door of the Tabernacle, and there washed, sanctified with oil, and clothed. As there is a proper time for Gods work, so likewise is there a proper order, and that order mostly is from the more important to the less important.
3. Nothing was omitted that was needful for the successful execution of the work. There is not here the same minuteness that there was in ordering the manufacture of the different articles and items of which the tabernacle was composed, because that was now unnecessary; but there is as much minuteness as is sufficient. Every separate article is mentioned, its situation described, and what is to be done with it stated. So in the instructions which God has given in the Bible for the erecting of the Tabernacle of His Church, and for the building up of the religious character of the individual saint, nothing is omitted that is needful for the efficient discharge of both of these tasks. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (2Ti. 3:16). God hath set in the Church some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ, &c. (Eph. 4:11-13).
II. The fulfilment of those instructions: Thus did Moses: according to all that Jehovah commanded him, so did he.
1. The exact time was kept. it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the Tabernacle was reared up. As Moses would not take a step towards the erection of the Tabernacle till he was enjoined by God, so neither when he was enjoined would he deviate a single iota from his instructions. In the matter of time he felt it was not open to him either to anticipate or delay the hour which God had fixed. And so should we feel. It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in His own power, said Christ to His disciples before ascending: see Act. 1:7. His meaning was, that not only all the great eras of Church history, but likewise all the little moments of Christian experience, were to be prearranged by the Father; and that the duty of both Church and individual saint was to wait till God in His providence should show that the hour for movement had struck, and then to move.
2. The appointed order was observed: see next section. As Gods time, so Gods order, is ever the best. And as God allows no room for the Churchs or the individuals originality in the matter of determining the times and seasons, so neither does He afford scope for the talent of either the one or the other in improving the arrangement which He fixes for the greater movements of Church history or the lesser movements of individual experience. The proper business of both Church and saint is to carry out what He originates, remembering that God is a God of order and not of confusion, and believing that what Supreme Wisdom has arranged is little likely to be improved by the suggestions of ignorance.
3. Nothing was omitted from the programme, unless it be what is stated in Exo. 40:9-15, about the anointing of the holy places and things, and of Aaron and his sons. Lev. 8:1-13 contains a minute account of what took place at the consecration of Aaron and his sons. It is not absolutely certain, however, that the transaction recorded in Leviticus 8 did not actually take place on the day of the erection of the Tabernacle, although not recorded till after a statement has been given of the sacrificial laws. If it was delayed, it must have been because of the impossibility of carrying it out on that day with befitting solemnity; which reminds us that Gods instructions are not always to be interpreted with literal exactness, but sometimes with an enlightened spiritual freedom. Literal exactness was the sin of the Pharisees of a later day. Let us learn to imitate Moses, who was faithful to God in all
His house; or, better still, Him who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was (Heb. 3:2).
B. The Erection of the Building
And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the Tabernacle was reared up.Exo. 40:17-33.
I. A brief survey of the finished structure. When finished, the Tabernacle had the appearance of a wooden box or chest, 30 cubits long, 10 cubits broad, and 10 cubits high, protected by four rich coverings, of which the innermost was of fine linen or cotton, the second of goats hair or cashmere, the third of rams skins dyed red or morocco, and the outermost, or weather covering of badgers, or rather of seals skins, and standing in the middle of an open court, 100 cubits long and 50 cubits broad, which was enclosed by curtains. The exact position of the wooden box or Tabernacle proper is not stated, although the suggestion of Kurtz is as probable as any that it stood at equal distances from the N. W. and S. sides, thus leaving an open space of 50 cubits square in front between the dwelling and the eastern curtain of the court. The disposition of the four curtains has likewise been omitted to be stated with such precision as to prevent discussion. For opinions as to their adjustment, Kittos Cyclopaedia, art. Tabernacle, and Lange on Exo. 26:1-30, may be consulted. The dwelling was divided into two parts, the Holy of Holies, and the Holy Place. Each part, along with the surrounding court, had its appropriate furniture. Entering the court from the east, the first object that met the gaze was the Altar of Burnt-offering, standing near the door: behind that and before the dwelling, probably a little to the side, was the Laver. Passing in through the Vail to the Holy Place, on the right hand towards the north, stood the table of shew-bread, with its two rows of loaves; and on the left hand, towards the south, the candlestick, with its rich mellow light; while in front of the second or inner Vail (V2) was the Altar of Incense (I), with its fragrant smoke rising up before the Holy of Holies. In the Holy of Holies, concealed behind the second Vail, was set the Ark, containing the two tables of stone, with its golden mercy-seat and overshadowing cherubim. Into the outer court alone were the people allowed to come with their offerings: into the Holy Place only the priests of the nation were admitted; while the Holy of Holies could be entered by the high priest alone, and that only once a year on the great day of Atonement: all which was significant, as will appear.
II. The meaning of the names applied to the Tabernacle.
(1.) The Sanctuary (Exo. 25:8); The word (Mikdash), denotes something consecrated to God, and was applied to the Tabernacle to signify that the entire structure was set apart and dedicated to the worship of Jehovah, and was accordingly to be regarded as a holy place.
(2.) The Dwelling place () (Exo. 25:9; Exo. 40:21), So called to indicate that Gods presence was to dwell within that Holy Place, and, dwelling there, was to dwell amongst them as a people.
(3.) The Tent of Meeting ( ) (Exo. 40:22). The import of this name is given in Exo. 25:22, And there will I meet with thee and commune with thee (Cf. Exo. 29:42-46). Of course, it was included in this idea that the Tabernacle was the meeting-place for the congregation of Israel in all their united acts of worship (see Lev. 8:3). When Aaron and his sons were consecrated, the assembly was gathered together by Divine command unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation.
4. The Tent of Witness ( ) (Num. 17:7-8). Used in connection with the blossoming of Aarons rod, when it and all the other rods were laid up in the Tabernacle before the Lord, by which God showed that He had chosen the house of Levi, with Aaron as its head, to be His priests to minister before Him, just as He had previously testified by the terrible judgment on Korah and his children that He had not chosen them. It was the tent where God bore witness to Himself, to the gracious character of His covenant, and the qualifications that were required of those who would serve Him. It is not difficult, to perceive that every one of these names and titles applies with even greater force to the True Tabernacle of the Human Nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, and likewise indirectly to the Christian Church.
III. The interpretation of its symbolical significance. Without entering too minutely into this department, the following statements, it is hoped, will give at once a concise and comprehensive exhibition of the teaching of the Tabernacle as a whole. Generally viewed, it was meant to embody in a materialistic form the spiritual transaction which had taken place between God and Israel at Sinaito be, as it were, an illuminated text-book from which Israel might be able to read and understand the sublime spiritual ideas which were contained in the covenant of Sinai. Then, as that covenant was itself designed to be a pictorial exhibition of the grand scheme of grace, which now lies unfolded in the Gospelwas, in fact, intended to be a preaching of the Gospel to them in the only way perhaps in which they could understand itthe Tabernacle, with its Holy Places and sacred vessels, was a material and visible presentation of the Gospel. Observe, the main facts which took place at Sinai were these:
(1.) God, in the sovereignty of His grace, elected Israel to be His people, and solemnly covenanted with them to be their God, bestowing upon them the right to come near to Him and serve Him, or, in other words, salvation, and promising, in token of His favour and reconciliation towards them, to dwell amongst them.
(2.) When God proposed to come down and talk with them on Sinai, they felt themselves unable, through a consciousness of sin, to avail themselves of the priestly privilege conferred upon them, and so entreated Moses to act as mediator. In due course, the duties of mediation were transferred to Aaron and his sons.
(3.) A system of sacrifice was appointed, through which the sinful nation could still realise their priestly character, if not immediately in their own proper persons, at least mediately in the persons of the priests. Hence the main ideas that required to be presented before the minds of the people were these:
1. The fact that God was graciously pleased to dwell among them, and take them into covenant with Himself. This was done by the setting up amongst them of a Tabernacle in which His symbolic presence might continually reside.
2. The fact that they through sin were unfit to appear in Gods presence and enjoy His favour. This was done by concealing Gods presence within the second veil, and shutting off the entire congregation from any access to the dwelling except through the medium of the priesthood.
3. The fact that before any approach to God could be made, the guilt of sin must be expiated, and the pollution of sin removed. This was done by the presence of the altar of burnt offering and the laver in the outer court.
4. The fact that when sin has been expiated and cleansed, a sinful being passes into a state of acceptance with God, in which He enjoys certain privileges of enliglitenment and sustenance (both spiritual), and is enabled to perform certain duties. This was taught by the entrance of the priest as the representative of the pardoned and renewed worshipper into the Holy Place, where he walked in the light of the golden candlestick, and partook of the shew-bread, and offered up incense upon the altar.
5. The fact that a distance still intervened between the enjoyment of the Divine favour and serving in the immediate presence of God. This was signified by excluding even the common priesthood from the Holy of Holies.
6. The fact that Gods continued presence in the midst of them depended on the great atoning sacrifice of the everliving high priest. This was pointed at by the entrance once a year into the Holy of Holies of the high priest with his official robes and the blood of sprinkling wherewith to sprinkle the Mercy-Seat. Now these are the fundamental ideas of the Gospel scheme; so that practically the Hebrew worshipper had a Gospel sermon preached to him every time that he approached the Tabernacle.
(1.) Being shut out from the Tabernacle, he was practically told that he was a sinner, and that God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and that evil shall not dwell with Him.
(2.) Seeing the Tabernacle before him, he was visibly reminded that, sinful though he was, God was yet waiting to be gracious.
(3.) Approaching the Tabernacle, and finding that he could not advance a step without the service of a priest, he was as good as informed that no man can come to God without a mediator, a truth of which Christ reminds us when He says, No man can come unto the Father but by Me.
(4.) Beholding the altar of burnt-offering immediately he crossed the threshold of the court, the altar said to him, Without shedding of blood there is no remission.
(5.) Advancing towards the laver, he was directed to the truths that, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God, and without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
(6.) Entering the holy place, in the person of his representative, he learnt that they whose sins are forgiven, and whose hearts are renewed, enjoy a twofold privilege, viz., of spiritual enlightenment and spiritual provision, and have one all embracing duty to perform, that of transforming their whole lives into a savour of a sweet smell unto God.
(7.) Gazing on the solemn ceremony of the great day of atonement, when the high priest passed into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the warm blood of the slain victim on the Mercy-Seat, he was taught that the salvation of Gods people depended on the services of One who, with His own blood, should enter into Gods immediate presence, there to make intercession for them. Thus the main elements of gospel truth were exhibited before them, and were doubtless in some feeble measure apprehended at least by the spiritually-minded among the community. With the advantage possessed by us of studying the symbolism of the Tabernacle in the light of the gospel, many things are clear to us which were comparatively dark to them. We can see, for instance, that the outer court was a type of the Israelitish theocracy, in which the worshipper was not able personally to enter upon the functions of his priesthood, but could only perform them by deputy, that the holy place was a type of the Christian Church, in which every worshipper is a priest unto God, offering up the incense of prayer and praise, enjoying spiritual illumination, and nourishing his soul upon the Bread of Life; and that the Holy of Holies was a a type of heaven, in which all Gods people will ultimately attain to the immediate vision of God.See Kurtzs Sacrificial Worship.
C. The Consecration of the Building
Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Exo. 40:34-38.
To consecrate the sanctuary, which had been finished and erected as His dwelling, and to give to the people a visible proof that He had chosen it for His dwelling, Jehovah filled the dwelling in both its parts with the cloud which shadowed forth His presence, so that Moses was unable to enter it. This cloud afterwards drew back into the Most Holy Place, to dwell there, above the outspread wings of the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant; so that Moses and (at a later period) the priests were able to enter the Holy Place, and perform the required service there, without seeing the sign of the gracious presence of God, which was hidden by the curtain of the Most Holy Place. So long as the Israelites were on their journey to Canaan, the presence of Jehovah was manifested outwardly and visibly by the cloud, which settled upon the Ark when they came to a halt, and rose up from it when they were to travel onward.Keil. A distinction appears to be drawn between the glory of the Lord which filled the Tabernacle, and the cloud which rested on the tent of the congregation. Turning, however, to Lev. 16:2, we find that above the Mercy-Seat, within the Holy of Holies, the glory of the Lord was revealed in a cloud; and looking to Exo. 40:38 in this section, we see that in the pillar of cloud there was a fire or glory which flashed forth by night above the tent of Israel. The probability is, therefore, that we have here a double sided emblem of the Divine presence, with a twofold manifestation, one within the Tabernacle, in which the bright side predominated, and the other without the Tabernacle, in which the dark or obscure side predominated.
I. The double-sided symbol of Jehovahs presence. No man hath seen God at any time. His glorious presence, therefore, has always been manifested mediatelylatterly through Jesus Christ; under the Old Testament economy through material symbols. Here there are two terms used a cloud, and glory, translated by the LXX. , which two things were almost invariably united in manifestations of the Divine presence. To Abraham the Divine presence appeared as a smoking furnace and a burning lamp (Gen. 15:17). Here were the fire and cloud. At the Red Sea the pillar which stood between Israel and the hosts of Pharaoh was double-sided, light towards Israel, dark towards their foes (Exo. 13:21; Exo. 14:19-20). On Sinai, when God came down to talk with Israel, there were again the gloom of cloud and the light of fire shining through it (Exo. 19:16-18). Similarly when Isaiah beholds Jehovahs presence there are the glory and cloud (Isa. 6:4 compared with Joh. 12:41). Ezekiels vision had the like characteristics, a great cloud and a fire infolding itself (Exo. 1:4). Putting these and other Scripture notices together, we can gather that the material symbol of Gods presence was a cloud infolding a fire which, when the fire predominated, and as it were etherealised the cloud, shone forth as a brilliant light called the glory of the Lord, but which, when the cloud predominated, deepened down into a dark, dull, burning red fire, which symbolised the devouring wrath of God. There was thus taught the three well-known New Testament ideas, that God is invisible to mortal eye, that God is light, and that God is a consuming fire; that is to say, while this all-glorious essence is to us enveloped in a cloud of darkness, in Himself He is light, and in Him is no darkness at allwhich light, however, may be either the light of love or the fire of wrath. So in Christthe latest manifestation of the Divine presencethere was the cloud of His material body concealing the glory of His Godhead within; which at times shone out in a brilliant light of love and truth upon His believing peopleI am the light of the world; but at other times, as upon the Pharisees, gleamed forth in terrible denunciations of wrathI am come to send fire upon the earth.
II. The twofold manifestation of the Divine presence.
1. Within the dwelling as a glory. The dwelling having been designed as a symbol of heaven, where the glory of God shines forth undimmed and unobscured, the cloud was, so to speak, etherealised, licked up, and the pure light shone forth between the Cherubim, which were emblems of Perfected Humanity. It is probable, although this is only a conjecture, that the glory paled its lustre when the high priest entered, so that to him it always seemed encircled with a thin white cloud, for the reason that, though he was symbolically holy, he was not in reality so. But to all intents and purposes it was a cloudless light which burned between the Cherubim, which seemed to symbolise the two truths with which we are so familiar;
(1) that God is light, all spirituality, purity, intelligence, in His essence; and
(2) that heaven is a region in which the pardoned soul shall walk in the clear light of Gods love and truth (Rev. 21:23-24).
2. Without the dwelling as a cloud. Outside the dwelling was not Gods immediate presence. Hence outside His glory was vailed. So it was when Christ came to earth. So it is in the Church and the world. Still the two things were therethe cloud and the glory; and the vailed presence of the all-glorious Jehovah is still with His Church, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, and with them for the same purposes,
(1) to guide, which the pillar did to Israel, the cloud shutting in the fire by day, and the fire piercing through the cloud by night;
(2) to protect, which again the pillar did to Israel. Doubtless during night the light which shone upon the tents of Israel was soft and mellow, while that which gleamed forth through the darkness upon all the outlying world was fierce and dark. All which Christ is to His Church: a guide, going before her and ever saying Follow Me (Luk. 9:59): a protector, saying, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3:10). As Israel followed the cloud, so ought the Church, both collectively and individually, to follow Christ: not advancing in any line of action till Christ, by His Word and Providence, clearly and emphatically points the way; but the moment such indication is given, advancing promptly, courageously, continuously, till Christ again indicates that the time has come to rest. So, following her Divine Guide, the Church of Christ, like Israel, will enjoy the help of her Divine Protector: and this protection will be like that vouchsafed to Israel:
(1) efficaciousupon the tabernacle sat the cloud and fire, conveying the idea of complete security:
(2) seasonableby day the cloud: by night the fire, suggesting the idea that the succour will be always suited to the Churchs need:
(3) visiblein the sight of all the house of Israel. When Christ interposes to protect the Church, the Church shall be conscious of it, and the world shall see it:
(4) perpetualthroughout all their journeys. So Christ says to His people, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Bible-Firmament. Exo. 40:1 to Exo. 33:1. The grandeur and majestic beauty of the starry heavens appeal to the senses of a blind man in vain. But if his eyes are opened, the full glory of that dazzling sight would burst upon his astonished gaze, when his face was turned towards the sky. Brown well says, If that man presently looks through a telescope, his quickened sight would pierce still further into the depths of space, and myriads of bright stars, till then unsuspected and unknown, would become visible to him. And returning night after night to the contemplation of this entrancing night, the astronomer, penetrating still further into its heavenly depths, and pondering deeply over the pleasing discoveries, begins in a measure to apprehend the order and arrangement of its parts.
2. Even so with the Bible firmament. The natural man is blindhe cannot see the revolving worlds of truth-light. But when the Holy Spirit opens his eyes to behold the wondrous star-beauties in the love of God, then he is filled with awe and rapture. With the glass of faith, he daily surveys this firmament of truth. Its glories become visible to him. Its general beauties are discernible by him. Each survey adds to his store of knowledge, as well as his source of happiness. He begins to see exquisite arrangement, order, and system. Portions of a gigantic plan begin to unfold themselves before his entranced and admiring gaze. He catches glimpses of beauteous and harmonious systems, all exquisitely balanced, and all revolving in wondrous unity and sublimity of purposedrawing forth the exultant symphony
When all Thy wonders, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view,
Im lost In wonder, love, and praise.
Tabernacle versus Churches! Exo. 40:1. There was but one place of worship for the Jew; there are many for the Christian. Farrar says, it is one of the great blessings of our country that there is not a town or village which is left without its house of God. In most places, these places of worship are the chief centres of reverence and interest, and have stood unchanged amid a thousand changes for immemorial years. Generations have gone to rest under the shadow of their elms; and their spire, whose silent finger points to heaven, has been the last sight that the village boy has seen. A thousand memories make them dear to us. It is there that we have learned to regard ourselves as children of our Heavenly Father. It is there that the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, has fallen like the dew of Hermon. It is there that we have heard the still small voice, whose calmness is louder than the thunders of Sinai.
And tis for this they stand,
The old gray churches of our native land!
To keep our spirits lowly,
To set within our hearts sweet thoughts and holy!London.
Church-Consercation! Exo. 40:2. The first memorial church at Ambatonakanga! Patience and hope had to be exercised. The workmen were dull, but, dull as they were, to save a little trouble, they would scamp the work, and put in rubbish-material with an ingenuity that only constant inspection could detect. Moses had no such difficulties to contend with. But, at the end of three years, it was finished. The day of opening (22d January 1867) was made an occasion of great rejoicing by the Christian part of the community, and numbers even of the heathen inhabitants pressed into the building at the dedicatory services. Doubtless many of the Egyptian and Amalekite camp followers stood around Israels host on the first day of the first month. Dr. Ellis remarks it is difficult to describe the varied emotions of those who joined in the services of that glad day. It was impossible not to feelwhat hath God wrought. It was impossible not to exclaim, This is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
Oh then, with hymns of praise
These hallowd courts shall ring;
Our voices we will raise
The Three in One to sing.
Chandler.
Tabernacle-Unity! Exo. 40:8-33. The saintly Leighton says, Be not sudden. Take Gods work together, and do not judge of it by parcels. There are the ark and the table, the altar and the laver, the lamp and the curtains, &c.; and each of them is wisdom and righteousness. But we shall best discern the beauty of it when we look on it in the frame, when it shall be fully finished, and our eyes are enlightened to take a clearer view of it than we can have here. What endless wondering will it then command! All the parts of the tabernacle of God, of the mystery of redemption, will then present one harmonious whole. And as, when looking on a far-stretching landscape of surpassing unity of loveliness, the spectator exclaims, It wants but the glory of the sun to lighten it, so, when surveying the outspread, upreared structure of grace, your soul will be ready to exclaim, It wants but the glory of the Sun of Righteousness. And even as you cry, lo! the Sun will arise and shine, and a voice will sound, Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
Oer the gloomy hills of darkness,
Look my soul, be still and gaze;
All the promises do travail
With a glorious day of grace.
Blessed jubilee!
Let thy glorious morning dawn!
Williams.
Olive-Tree! Exo. 40:9. When the Jews entered the Holy Land, they would find abundant supplies of oil in the extensive and fertile oliveyards, which had been well tilled by the aboriginal inhabitants. Bernard says that almost every village in Palestine has its olive-grove at this day. There are health and vigour in the fresh look of a flourishing olive-tree, but especially when a grove of them is seen together, and the sun shining on their glossy leaves. The foliage is of a deep and peculiar green; and, under a passing breeze, the uppermost leaves twine round and show a fine silvery hue. MCheyne asks, Where could we find a better emblem of the Church in a flourishing condition than just such a grove of olives, with the peaceful notes of the turtle poured forth in the midst, and the suns living light over all, like the Sun of Righteousness shining over His peaceful Church! As the sun
Doth spread his radiance through the fields of air,
And kindle in revolving stars his blaze,
He pours upon His Church the brightness of His rays.
Upham.
Exodus-Emblems! Exo. 40:16-23. Judaism was, so to speak, a pictorial Bible. How often in families, on Sunday afternoons, has the pious father or mother opened the volume before the children. They have not been able to understand clearly the reading, but when the picture has been set clear before their eyes, what an insight is thus furnished to the little students! And the written law and visible types formed such a pictorial Bible. They had the written word in the parchment rolls which the scribes and scholars could read; and they had another blazing on Aarons breastplate, curling up in the smoke of the altar and hovering over the mercy-seat. This was a Bible which the runner could read, and which the unlettered peasant and untutored infant could spell. If he read about Jehovahs majesty, or sin-excluding sanctity, that God was greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, Who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? most likely only a faint impression would be made. But when he saw the picture, i.e., when he went up to the house of God, descried afar off the mystic curtain, and remembered that within that was the Shekinah, his spirit would be subdued to reverence. This explains the anxiety of Moses to paint the pictures exactly as God commanded him.
What hast thou here? A book; but what a book!
Another such, nor hath been, nor shall be;
Of universal love th epitome:
The oracles the Everlasting spoke.
Ark-Testimony! Exo. 40:20. Atwater says the fact that the ark was designed for the safe keeping of the two tablets on which the decalogue was written, is one of many indications that these tablets were regarded as very precious. If one observes that the ten words were inscribed on stone for the sake of permanence, that this durable record was preserved in a chest specially constructed for the purposethat this depository of the inscription was the sole furniture of that department in the tabernacle, which is not merely the holiest of all, but accessible only through the outer chamber and the courtthat the tabernacle itself was the centre of the encampment, he must conclude that, as its kernel is the most valuable part of the nut, or as the soul is the most precious part of man, so the words inscribed on the tablets of testimony were more important than the successive shells and caskets by which they were protected and preserved.
O Father! hath it such undying force
When unrevealed, and left without attest
Of miracle from Thee, and unconquered
By man; and shall not Thine own WOLD go forth,
In all its fulness, through these times unblest!
Cranch.
Christ and the Law! Exo. 40:20-21. There was, says Sibree, a certain officer, a rich man, in a distant part of the country of Madagascar, who, when dying, ordered his friends to observe the following ceremonies after his death. His coffin was to be filled with money, to be surrounded with soldiers and by his family, and to hold his body with outstretched open hand. All this was done, and while some wondered, others said, See, the man wishes to show us that all his money cannot purchase life, that all his soldiers cannot protect him from death, and that all his weeping relatives cannot prolong his existence. See, he stretches out his hand, and asks for something more now. Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God, and so shall the dead Jewish nation. There it lies, like the army of bones in Ezekiels Valley of Vision. All its wealth of privileges have not satisfied; all its sentinel host of laws and ceremonies have not preserved it from national decay; and all its weeping descendants around the stones of the Place of Wailing have no life-giving virtue. Israel, as a nation, rests to-day in its coffin with empty open hand; but soon another hand shall grasp it, as it did the hand of the maid, or of the widows son: I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. I am the Resurrection and the Life.
The veil of darkness rend in twain,
Which hides their Shilohs glorious light;
The severd olive branch again
To its own parent stock unite.
Joyce.
Lamp-Light! Exo. 40:25. It has been said that the Church, like the moon, shines only with a borrowed light. She has no resources of her own. All depends upon the central Sun of Righteousness, not only for illumination, but for every other kind or degree of influence.
1. God uses human instruments, and rarely, if ever, works independently of them, but when they effect their aim, the power comes from above. A sailing vessel, perfectly appointed and manned, cannot move in a calm. The apostles were held fast in Jerusalem until the Spirit lit their lamp.
2. Whether in the conversion of the individual, or in mighty movements among races and nations, the effect is due to a supernatural cause. In the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, that brilliant lamp, Luther, had no light in himself; he was non-light-giring, until the Mediator lit the flame of grace in his soul.
3. The lamp of the Spirit lightens this Gospel dispensation,this outer court, or vestibule of heaven, where are the table of shewbread and incense altar. But there was no light in the HOLIEST, until the pillar-cloud slowly swept in majesty Divine from the summit of Sinai; for the Lord God and the Lamb are the LIGHT thereof.
From what pure well
Of milky light, whose soft, oerflowing urn,
Are all these lamps so filled! these friendly lamps,
For ever streaming oer lifes troubled deep,
To point our path, and light us to our home.
Barbauld.
Altar and Incense. Exo. 40:27. This was the daily offering of the incense by the ministering priest, morning and evening. Standing by the great brazen altar, and placing, by means of a silver shovel, some live coals in his censer, carrying at the same time a handful of frankincense, he advanced to the golden altar in front of the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The whole of the congregation during these solemn moments preserved a profound silence. They remained outside engaged in devout prayer (Luk. 1:10); while the priest, at an appointed signal, after laying the censer on the golden altar, cast the incense on the fire, and the fragrant cloud ascended. Here we have a figure of the continual intercession, day by day, of the Lord Jesus in heaven.
With boldness, therefore, at the throne,
Let us make all our sorrows known;
And ask the aids of heavenly power
To help us in the evil hour.
Bruce.
Incense-Fire! Exo. 40:27.
1. Law says that the Spirit has selected incense as a type of prayer in Psa. 141:2, and we have here a graphic image of the prayer of prayers,the intercession of the King-priest Jesus. Mark whence the kindly fire was brought. It came not from a human hearth. The outer altar gave the supply. It was the very fire from heaven. It was the very fire which consumed each offering.
2. Thus the victim-altar feeds the incense-altar. The prayer of Christ receives its life, its power, its vigour from His blood-stained cross. The argument which prevails is drawn from justice satisfiedpayment made, wrath appeased, law fulfilled, curse endured, covenant discharged. Christs intercession rests upon His DEATH.
See, He lifts His hands above;
See, He shows the prints of love;
Hark! His gracious lips bestow
Blessings on His Church below;
Still for us His death He pleads;
Prevalent He intercedes.
Wesley.
House of Prayer! Exo. 40:29.
1. It is true that the sincere worshipper may anywhere worship the Father in spirit and in truth,may everywhere and in every place lift up holy hands, without wrath or doubting,in the home or by the roadside, in the secret chamber as in the crowded street. Yet, undoubtedly, the associations of worship do tend to hallow and solemnise our souls. Doubtless this was one of the many objects which Jehovah had in view when He originated the one tabernacle and its services. These, Farrar well says, tend to exclude dreams of self-interest and images of sin. They inspire, by imperceptible influence, the vast conceptions of death, judgment, and eternity.
2. And so with the many Christian houses of prayer. It is a happy and beautiful thing in such structures for worship, as are the splendid legacy to ages of faithfulness from an age of faith, in the many-coloured light that streams from painted windows, and under the cool, fretted aisles, among silent and scattered worshippers, to kneel downthe happy to thank God and make melody in their hearts, the unhappy to implore Him, Make haste, O Lord, to deliver me.
How beautiful they stand,
Those ancient altars of our native land!
Amid the pasture-fields and dark green woods,
Amid the mountains cloudy solitudes,
Landon.
Israel-Initiation! Exo. 40:34-38. Kalisch has admirably remarked that, at the beginning of Exodus, we found the descendants of Jacob a multitude of ill-treated and idolatrous slaves. At its end, we leave them a free nation, the guaidians of eternal truth, the witnesses of overwhelming miracles. Released from the vain and busy worldliness of Egypt, they encamp in the silent desert,in isolated and solemn solitude,holding converse only with their thoughts and with their God, Before them stood the visible habitation of Him whom they acknowledged and adored as their rescuer from Egyptian thraldom. The mysterious structure disclosed to them many profound ideas of their new religion. They respected the priests as their representatives and mediators. Between God and His people communion was opened; life had its aim, and virtue its guide.
Is this the way, my Father! Tis, my child;
Thou must pass through this mazy, dreary wild,
If thou wouldst reach the Canaan undefiled,
The happy land above.
Divine-Dwelling! Exo. 40:34-35. The tabernacle was a peripatetic shrine, a cathedral that could be carried about, a temple of canvass and tapestry which accompanied Israel in their wanderings. It sufficed, says Hamilton, as a visible centre of worship, till such time as the waving tapestry solidified into carvings of cedar, and the badger skins were replaced by tall arcades of marble, and the tent had grown to a temple. And that New Years day, when Aaron and his sons came forth in the gorgeous garments which they now for the first time put on, and when over the dedicated shrine the cloud descended, and such a glory filled the tabernacle, that Moses and the attendant ministers were forced to withdraw, devotion must have felt somewhat like what, on a similar occasion, Solomon expressed, Will God in very deed dwell with man upon earth!
But will, indeed, Jehovah deign
Here to abide, no transient guest?
Here will the worlds Redeemer reign?
And here the Holy Spirit rest?
Montgomery.
Tabernacle-Truth! Exo. 40:34. Thomson says that the tabernacle was intended mainly to furnish the machinery for the regular ongoing and visible outworking of the Mosaic institutions, and was, therefore, the natural centre of the Old Testament economy. It may have been designedly so arranged as to admit of more than one interpretation; but the main end and aim, was to localise the Divine Presence. Such is mans nature, that what is far off and out of sight produces but a feeble impression. It was, therefore, necessary to give a local habitation to this awful presence. Going up to the tabernacle, the pious Hebrews came consciously before the heart-searching God, who could not be deceived. This felt presence gave tone, solemnity, and intensity to the verbal formulas of public worship. Indeed, the whole costume of the devotional and poetic portions of the Bible has been coloured by this vivid consciousness of Gods presence. In the least,
As well as in the greatest of His words,
Is ever manifest a present God,
As in the systems of revolving suns,
Through time revolving in unbounded space.
Wilcox.
Mosaic-Revelation! Exo. 40:34. When Noah, the worlds second father, received the truth from God, it was all in heavens own currency, full weight and without a flaw. But as soon as it began to circulate, it began to deteriorate. Consigned to no written record, when entrusted to the memory of man, with all his prejudices and bad propensities, they were like shillings dropped into the tide. When next you see them, you can hardly recognise them, crusted over with such uncouth or monstrous additions, and changed into a substance so remote from the bright original No obviate this difficulty to some extent, a written revelation in the tables of stone, as well as a symbolic revelation in the tabernacle of witness, were furnished to Israel. And to complete the revelationto let Israel understand that it was more than earthly in its origin, object, and ostensible culmination& cloud covered the tent of the congregation. Yet not a cloud of natures forming, but the cloud of God.
Whence but from HEAVEN could men, unskilled in arts,
In several ages born, in several parts,
Weave such agreeing truths!
Dryden.
Glory Glimpses! Exo. 40:34; Exo. 35:1. The natural eye is too weak to contemplate unvaried, dazzling whiteness for any lengthened period without suffering. And in the snewy regions of Tartary and Thibet, travellers have to provide themselves with hair spectacles, to protect their eyes from the dazzling whiteness of the snow. Huc, a Roman missionary, in his Travels, says that in traversing the plateau of Wa-ho, throughout the day the sky was pure and serene, with not the faintest film of vapours flecking its brilliant azure-blue. But this excess of fine weather was a source of suffering. The glare of the sun was so intensely dazzling that his hair spectacles were of little use in averting inflammation.
2. So brilliant was the effulgent glory of God, that Moses, who beheld the cloud-glories of God on Sinai, could not endure the ineffable brightness of the Shekinah, and had to withdraw. Yet is there a time coming when the saints shall see the face of God and live; when the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and God shall dwell with them, and when from His glory the redeemed shall draw a ceaseless fount of light and gladness, for light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
The Sun shall then he face to face behold
In all His robes, with all His glory on,
Seated sublime on His eternal throne.
Prior.
Tabernacle-Teaching! Exo. 40:33-35. We are all more or less familiar with Object-Lessons. Any one entering a school must have observed, and probably may have heard, teachers giving instruction to the children from objects before them. The tabernacle was designed to give such an object-lesson. It was the planetarium, which astronomers use in their class-rooms to explain to students heavenly things. In Heb. 9:23, St. Paul, speaking by the Spirit, says that it was a pattern of things in the heavens. Its respective parts were symbolsobject-lessons to Jewish childhoodof the deep things of God,those heavenly mysteries eternal in the heavens.
Friendly their Teacher stood, the bright
Angel of Light there among them,
And to His children explained He the holy,
the highest in type-words,
Striking, yet simple and clear, for sublimity always is simple.
Longfellow.
Cloud-Pillar! Exo. 40:36 to Exo. 38:1. Supernatural! Because it was always
(1) upright; see Heb. 9:12; and
(2) unique. Ordinary clouds are seen in all kinds of form, and change every moment. It was always distinctly recognisable from every other cloud.
2. Sacramental! This significance is brought out in 1Co. 10:1.
(1.) Reviving: Pauls language justifies the impression that it was surcharged with a grateful moisture, which it shed upon the people.
(2.) Refreshing: as a baptism of refreshment amid the desert sun glare.
3. Symbolical! The typical signification of the cloud appears in Isa. 4:5the presence of God with His Church.
(1.) Guidance: most (a) certain, and most (b) constant.
(2.) Governance: (a) shrouding from foes, and (b) sheltering from fierce heat. He who knows the voice of Christ will not follow any other voice; and he who depends on the Divine protection need fear no evil.
Jesus, still lead on,
Till our rest be won;
And, although the way be cheerless,
We will follow, calm and fearless.
Guide us by Thy hand
To our fatherland.
Zimendorf.
Jew-Journeyings! Exo. 40:36. The cloud gave them a light, by which night-journeys became as safe and easy as those in the day-time could be.
1. Doubtless the night was often chosen by God as the season of His peoples travel, as it is still chosen by the caravans which have to cross the Arabian deserts. After the sun has set, a cool breeze is wont to blow,the air becomes less stifling, and the sandy soil less hot, so that wayfarers are able to accomplish twice the distance by night that they would travel with great difficulty during the day.
2. In such night-journeys modern caravans are commonly preceded by a large fire signal borne aloft upon a pole,an iron basketful of blazing pitch and resinous woods and rags steeped in oil. By keeping his eye fixed upon that beacon-light, a pilgrim can save himself from being lost even in the darkness. But how much better was the light by night for Israel 1 And how true an emblem of the light of truth, which the spirit of Jesus sheds upon our way!
Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom;
I do not ask to see
The distant way; one steps enough for me.
Cloud-Covering! Exo. 40:37.
1. A company of Covenanters had been pursued by their persecutors until their strength was exhausted. Their leader stopped in his flight, and called upon them to join in prayer. As he lifted up his voice in supplication that Jehovah would wrap His cloak around them, a mist rose up about the hill, and shrouded them from the pursuers, who failed to discover their refuge. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
2. When the brave Arnaud and his little band of Vaudois peasants were in despair of escaping unseen from the ruined entrenchments of Balsille to the ridge of Guigenevert, a cloud of mist came rolling down the valley, so that, enveloped in its sable curtain, they were able to descend undiscovered by the foe, who, at dawn of day, when the fogs rolled off, were astonished to see their prey perched like the eagle beyond their reach.
3. When pursued by Pharaoh, the cloud-covering hid them from their enemies, and also prevented them from perceiving the terrors which menaced them. Who shall Bay how often the host of Israel was thus shielded from wild, marauding hordes, during the up and down wanderings in silence for forty years! Such an ample protection, too, has the believer in the presence of God, not only from the enemy who thirsts to regain him as his prey, but also from all enemies whatsoever.
THOU whisperest some loving word,
I catch the much-loved tone;
I feel Thee near, my gracious Lord!
I know Thou keepest watch and ward,
So all my fears are gone.
Cloud-Canopy! Exo. 40:38. As Rooke remarks, it was really a pillar of fire, i.e., a lofty column of fiery light surrounded by a fleecy cloud, which in the daytime prevented the cloud being seen, just as any artificial light of our own can easily be hidden when the sun is shining, if we cover it round with a screen of muslin or of gauze-like paper. So in the daytime Israel saw the symbol of Jehovahs presence in the semblance of a white cloud, and nothing more. But at night, when darkness had succeeded to the glare of sunlight, the fiery core of the pillar shone out through the mist-like veil, and shed a moony radiance over all the wilderness,a clear, yet soft and mellowed light, which did not, like the moon, wax and wane, but continued always the same. Image of Him in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead, softened and subdued by the veil of His stainless humanity.
A thin, pure veil of filmy mist and vapour,
Scarcely less subtle than the luminous hair
Dishevelld, streaming from a comets brow,
Through which the faintest star shines on-dimd.
Finis! Exo. 40:33-38. Behold, I make all things new! How that voice rolled melodiously over the sunset crimson waves of the gean Sea. And as the Patmos seer looked, he saw not the clouds piled up and around the western sun as confused cumuli; but the holy city, the heavenly temple, the Divine tabernacle. The city and bouse of God not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, was bathed in a flood of everlasting brightness. All the costliest materials gold and crystal, and every stone of priceless value, from the jasper to the amethyst, were employed to symbolise a glory which cannot otherwise be translated into human language. As the Evangelist gazes, his ears catch other strains, It is finished. He knows the voice, though it rolls sublimely far and wide. It is the voice of Him who on the cross cried, It is finished; who in the banquet hall said, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. Behold (Revelation 21) the tabernacle of God is with men. Twice over in one verse it is said, He will dwell with them. The last stone has been placed,the last jewel has been clustered in the magnificent structure of ransomed humanity, by the Divine Mediator and Builder, and on that imperishable pile rests the glory of the Divine presence.
His foundation is in the holy mountains!
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glowing things are spoken of thee, thou House of God!
When the Lord shall build up Zion
He shall appear in His glory!
Psa. 87:1; Psa. 102:10.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE TEXT OF EXODUS
TRANSLATION
40 And Je-ho-vah spake unto Mo-ses, saying, (2) On the first day of the first month shalt thou rear up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. (3) And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and thou shalt screen the ark with the veil. (4) And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. (5) And thou shalt set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. (6) And thou shalt set the altar of burnt-offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. (7) And thou shalt set the Iaver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water therein. (8) And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court. (9) And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the furniture thereof: and it shall be holy. (10) And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt-offering, and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the altar shall be most holy. (11) And thou shalt anoint the laver and its base, and sanctify it. (12) And thou shalt bring Aar-on and his sons unto the door of the tent of meeting, and shalt wash them with water. (13) And thou shalt put upon Aar-on the holy garments; and thou shalt anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister unto me in the priests office. (14) And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them; (15) and thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priests office: and their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations. (16) Thus did Mo-ses: according to all that Je-ho-vah commanded him, so did he.
(17) And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. (18) And Mo-ses reared up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up its pillars. (19) And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it, as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses. (20) And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy-seat above upon the ark: (21) and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses. (22) And he put the table in the tent of meeting, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil. (23) And he set the bread in order upon it before Je-ho-vah; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses. (24) And he put the candlestick in the tent of meeting, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. (25) And he lighted the lamps before Je-ho-vah; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses. (26) And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil: (27) and he burnt thereon incense of sweet spices; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses. (28) And he put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. (29) And he set the altar of burnt-offering at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meal-offering; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses. (30) And he set the Iaver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, wherewith to wash. (31) And Mo-ses and Aar-on and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat; (32) when they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as Je-ho-vah commanded Mo-ses. (33) And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Mo-ses finished the work.
(34) Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Je-ho-vah filled the tabernacle. (35) And Mo-ses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Je-ho-vah filled the tabernacle. (36) And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Is-ra-el went onward, throughout all their journeys: (37) but if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. (38) For the cloud of Je-ho-vah was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Is-ra-el, throughout all their journeys.
EXPLORING EXODUS: CHAPTER FORTY
QUESTIONS ANSWERABLE FROM THE BIBLE
1.
After careful reading, propose a brief title or topic for the chapter.
2.
Who designated the day for the setting up of the tabernacle? (Exo. 40:1-2)
3.
On what day was it to be set up? (Exo. 40:2; Exo. 40:17). How long had it been since Israel left Egypt? (Exo. 12:6-8; Exo. 12:29-33)
4.
By what name is the ark called in Exo. 40:3?
5.
Where was the altar of burnt-offering placed? (Exo. 40:6; Exo. 40:29)
6.
Where was the laver placed? (Exo. 40:7; Exo. 40:30)
7.
What was the anointing to cause the tabernacle to be? (Exo. 40:9)
8.
What was to be done to Aaron and his sons? (Exo. 40:12-15). Is this the same ritual described in Exo. 29:1-37 and Lev. chapter eight?
9.
Who set up the tabernacle? (Exo. 40:18)
10.
What did Moses put into the ark? (Exo. 40:20; Compare Deu. 10:4-5.)
11.
On which side of the Tent of meeting was the table placed? (Exo. 40:22)
12.
Who performed the first priestly work of setting bread in order, lighting lamps, and burning incense? (Exo. 40:22-29)
13.
Who washed at the laver? (Exo. 40:31) What parts of their bodies were washed?
14.
What covered the tent of meeting when the tabernacle was finished? (Exo. 40:34; Compare 1Ki. 8:10-11.)
15.
What is the glory of Jehovah? (Exo. 40:34; Exo. 24:17; Num. 16:43; Luk. 2:9; Rev. 21:23)
16.
Why could not Moses enter the tent of meeting for a time? (Exo. 40:35)
17.
How did the cloud signal for Israel to prepare to move? How did the cloud direct their journeys? (Exo. 40:36-37; Num. 9:15-23)
18.
How did the cloud appear by day and by night? (Exo. 40:38)
19.
Who could see the cloud? When? (Exo. 40:38)
EXODUS FORTY: TABERNACLE SET UP! GLORY OF THE LORD!
1.
Command to set up the tabernacle; Exo. 40:1-15.
2.
Compliance of Moses; Exo. 40:17-33.
3.
Cloud of glory! Exo. 40:34-38.
GODS INVOLVEMENT IN HIS SANCTUARY (Exo. 40:1-16; Exo. 40:34)
1.
He determines who sets it up. (Exo. 40:2)
2.
He determines when it is set up. (Exo. 40:2)
3.
He directs the arrangement of all parts. (Exo. 40:3-8)
4.
He commands the anointing of all parts. (Exo. 40:9-11)
5.
He requires the consecration of its priests. (Exo. 40:12-15)
6.
He covers the tent with glory. (Exo. 40:34)
As THE LORD COMMANDED! (Exo. 40:16-33)
An overview of obedience! A chronicle of compliance!
See Exo. 40:16; Exo. 40:19; Exo. 40:21; Exo. 40:23; Exo. 40:25; Exo. 40:27; Exo. 40:29; Exo. 40:32 eight statements of obedience!
THE GLORY OF THE LORD! (Exo. 40:34-38)
A.
At the tabernacle.
1.
Filled Gods house; Exo. 40:34; 2Ch. 7:1; Eze. 43:5.
2.
Kept men at a distance; Exo. 40:35; 2Ch. 7:2.
3.
Directed Gods people; Exo. 40:36-37.
4.
Was visible to all! Exo. 40:38.
B.
At other places and times.
1.
Indicated Gods presence when the law was given; Exo. 24:16-17.
2.
Indicated Gods presence in anger; Num. 16:19; Num. 16:42; Num. 14:10; Num. 20:6; Exo. 16:7; Exo. 16:10.
3.
Indicated Gods presence in blessing; Lev. 9:23; Lev. 9:6.
4.
Revealed to Moses; Exo. 33:18; Exo. 33:22.
5.
Revealed to Ezekiel; Eze. 1:28; Eze. 3:23; Eze. 9:3; Eze. 43:4-5.
6.
Shone the night Christ was born; Luk. 2:9.
7.
The glory of the Lord is upon his people; Isa. 60:1-2.
8.
Christians behold it as in a mirror; 2Co. 3:18.
9.
Will lighten the New Jerusalem. Rev. 21:23.
Let the glory of Jehovah endure for ever! (Psa. 104:31)
EXPLORING EXODUS: NOTES ON CHAPTER FORTY
1.
What is in Exodus 40?
The chapter deals with the setting up of the tabernacle. It tells Gods commands about how it was to be set up (Exo. 40:1-15), and tells of Moses compliance (Exo. 40:16-33). The chapter closes excitingly with information about the cloud of Gods glory filling the tabernacle and leading Israel through their journeys.
Note that eight times in the chapter the statement is made that Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.
The chapter is composed in accordance with the technique frequently used in various Biblical sections, and in general with the literary tradition of the Ancient East: one paragraph tells of the divine command, and the next records its implementation. (See Cassuto, op. cit., p. 478.) Skeptical critics accuse it of being made of three parallel literary layers (Exo. 40:1-38), each written separately, and all being additions to P. (See Martin Noth, op. cit., pp. 282283.)
2.
When was the tabernacle to be set up? By whom? (Exo. 40:1-2; Exo. 40:17)
It was to be set up by Moses on the first day of the first month of the second year after their departure from Egypt. It had been eleven and a half months since they left Egypt. nine months since they arrived at Mt. Sinai, and less than six months since Moses came down from Sinai after his second forty-day stay. Compare Exo. 12:2; Exo. 12:6.
3.
What was to screen (or cover) the ark? (Exo. 40:3; Exo. 40:21)
The VEIL was to screen the ark. The other screen at the entrance of the Holy Place is referred to in Exo. 40:5. Although the Hebrew verb translated screen (sakak) may mean cover, it does not here indicate that the veil lay over the ark like a cover. The mercy-seat did that. But the veil did screen the ark from view from the Holy Place.
4.
What did Moses set on the table? (Exo. 40:4; Exo. 40:23)
He set the showbread in order upon it. Compare Exo. 25:30. It surely appears that the instructions about the showbread in Lev. 24:5-9 are here presupposed, and must have been issued before the tabernacle was set up.
Exo. 40:4 reads literally, And thou shalt arrange its arrangement (referring to the showbread).
5.
Where were the altar of burnt-offering and the laver located? (Exo. 40:6-7)
The altar was in the court, in front of the entrance to the tent of meeting (the Holy Place). The laver was between the altar and the tent of meeting. Note that the laver had water in it; but there is no indication that water was in its base. Compare Exo. 30:17-18. The translation water therein appears to be a little too definite; the Hebrew just says You shall put water there. Note the separate anointing of the laver and its base (Exo. 40:11).
6.
What effect was the anointing to have on the tabernacle and its furniture? (Exo. 40:9-10)
It was to make it holy. The it in Exo. 40:9 refers to the tabernacle and all its equipment. On anointing, see Exo. 30:26-28.
Exo. 40:10 says that the altar of burnt-offering would be MOST holy after its anointing. Because all of the tabernacle equipment is said to be most holy in Exo. 30:29, we suppose that in Exo. 40:9-10 holy and most holy are parallel terms and not distinctions.
7.
Does Exo. 40:12-15 refer to the consecration ritual of the priests?
Although both this passage and the passages about the priests consecration mention washing, robing, and anointing the priests, it still does not seem that Exo. 40:12-15 refers to the consecration ritual described in detail in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8. There is no allusion in Exodus 40 to the elaborate program of sacrifices described in the other passages, nor to the application of the blood, nor to the seven-day stay at the tabernacle. Also it seems that Nadab and Abihu died during the consecration ritual (Leviticus 10). There is no hint of such an event in Exodus 40. The consecration of Exo. 40:12-15 must have been preparatory and preliminary to the full ritual.
Concerning the everlasting priesthood (literally, priesthood of eternity), see Exo. 29:9 and Num. 25:13.
8.
How fully did Moses carry out the instructions about setting up the tabernacle? (Exo. 40:16-17)
He obeyed in all points. The order in which his acts of obedience are listed (in Exo. 40:17-33) corresponds to that of the directions, in accordance with usual ancient literary practice. (Cassuto, op. cit., p. 481)
9.
What did Moses place in the ark? (Exo. 40:20)
He placed the testimony in the ark, the tablets of the ten commandments. This verse seems to indicate that the pot of manna (Exo. 16:33) and Aarons budded rod (Num. 17:10) were not actually inside the ark, but were kept beside it. Compare Heb. 9:4. In the time of Solomon nothing was in the ark except the ten commandments (1Ki. 8:9).
10.
What did Moses do with the lamps? (Exo. 40:25)
He lighted the lamps before Jehovah. Some translations (A.S.V. margin) have rendered this to mean he set up the lamps. But the verb used here refers to lighting the lamps in Num. 8:3 and Lev. 24:2, and probably means that here.
Needless to say, the lighting was not done the instant the lampstand was set in place, but after the erection and anointing of the tabernacle.
11.
What sacrifices did Moses offer? (Exo. 40:29)
He offered the burnt-offering and the meal-offering. Compare Exo. 20:24; Exo. 29:39-41. Moses himself performed the first priestly ceremonies in the tabernacle. After that the priests (the family of Aaron) and the Levites performed these functions. Observe that Moses offered incense (Exo. 40:27), another priestly function.
12.
Who washed at the lover? (Exo. 40:30-32)
Moses, Aaron, and Aarons sons. Compare Exo. 30:19-21. The detail of Moses washing is not given in Exo. 30:19.
13.
What command and what promise were fulfilled when Moses finished the work? (Exo. 40:33)
The words of Exo. 25:8 were fulfilled: Let them make a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
See notes on Exo. 39:32 concerning the expression finished. See the outline on the Glory of the Lord near the start of the notes on this chapter.
14.
What covered the tent of meeting and the tabernacle? (Exo. 40:34)
The cloud of the glory of the Lord covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
This verse is quite poetic in wording (in Hebrew), and the two clauses show parallelism. (The second line repeats the thought of the first in slightly different words.)
The presence of the cloud was a fulfillment of the promise in Exo. 29:43; Exo. 29:45. God showed His approval of the Tent by descending in a cloud of glory. Gods approval was based on what the tabernacle showed about the hearts of the people and about Himself, rather than on the material magnificence of the building.
Gods glory had previously descended on Mt. Sinai (Exo. 24:15-16). In a similar way the glory came upon the tabernacle. As Mt. Sinai had been a holy place where Israel met God, the tabernacle was to be a portable holy place (a portable Mt. Sinai!) where they would meet with God wherever they might be.
15.
Why could not Moses enter the tabernacle? (Exo. 40:35)
LATER HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE
1.
It was probably set up at Gilgal after Israel crossed the Jordan into the promised land. (Jos. 4:19; Jos. 5:10; Jos. 9:6; Jos. 10:6; Jos. 10:43).
2.
It was erected at Shiloh in the center of the land, and remained there through the period of judges. (Jos. 18:1; Jos. 19:51; 1Sa. 1:3; 1Sa. 4:3; 1Sa. 4:12).
While at Shiloh, it was altered so as to have doors (1Sa. 3:15); and it came to be called the temple. (1Sa. 1:9; 1Sa. 3:3).
3.
The ark was captured by the Philistines (1Sa. 4:10-11), but was returned to Israel to Kiriath-Jearim west of Jerusalem. (1Sa. 7:1).
Shiloh seems to have been destroyed about 1050 B.C., possibly in the time of Samuel and Eli. (Jer. 7:12-14)
4.
After the time of Eli it was removed to Nob (probably just north of Jerusalem). (1Sa. 21:1-9) The ark remained at Kiriath-Jearim till the time of David. (1Sa. 7:1-2; 1Ch. 13:5-6)
5.
By the time of David (about 1000 B.C.) the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and the altar of burnt-offering had been moved to Gibeon, located five miles northwest of Jerusalem. (1Ch. 21:29; 1Ch. 16:39-40; 2Ch. 1:3; 1Ki. 3:4; 1Ki. 9:2)
6.
David brought the ark to Jerusalem, where he had prepared a new tent for it. (2Sa. 6:17; 1Ch. 16:1)
7.
Solomon built the temple, and replaced every part of the tabernacle except the ark of the covenant, which he placed in the Oracle (Holy of Holies) of the temple. (1Ki. 8:4; 1Ki. 8:6)
8.
Solomons temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. After this we hear no more of the ark of the covenant. It was not replaced in the second temple by Zerubbabel (516 B.C.) 2Ma. 2:4-8 has a fanciful tale about how the prophet Jeremiah hid the ark of the covenant and the altar of incense in a cavern on Mt. Sinai.
Because the glory cloud filled it for a time. Compare 1Ki. 8:10-11. In a somewhat similar fashion, Moses did not immediately enter the cloud on Mt. Sinai (Exo. 24:16-18).
16.
What guided the Israelites in their journeys? (Exo. 40:36-37)
The cloud. See Num. 9:15-23; Num. 10:11. The lifting up of the cloud was a signal for Israel to pack for moving. The people followed the cloud as it moved slowly in the direction God desired. When the cloud descended, they camped again.
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar,
Lead me all my journey through.
(From Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah)
The statement about the leading of the cloud presupposes that at least this part of Exodus was written late in their wilderness journeyings.
The verb form went onward (or moved) indicates frequentative, repeated movements.
17.
How constant was the presence of the cloud? (Exo. 40:38)
It was always there, as a cloud by day and a fire by night. It was visible to all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. God never forsook them.
Exo. 40:38 ends with the same words as Exo. 40:36. The words reverberate like a final echo of what was narrated previously in Exo. 13:21-22.
The book of Exodus ends with a confident look ahead toward Israels journey to Canaan. This confidence belongs to the people of God in every age.
The book of Exodus ends with the house of God full of glory! May the house of God always be filled with the glory of God. Jehovah will create over the whole habitation of mount Zion, and over all her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be spread for a covering. (Isa. 4:5)
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XL.
THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE UPREARING OF THE TABERNACLE.
(1-8) Though the work was now complete, and all the parts of the Tabernacle made ready, Moses did not at once proceed to erect it. As when he first went up into Sinai (Exo. 24:16), so now, he waited for a Divine summons, a distinct command fixing the time for him to do that which he knew that he had to do. There is an importance and a fitness in times and seasons, which the Great Father often reserves it to Himself to determine (Act. 1:7). Moses felt this, and waited, till after a time the summons came. God fixed for the erection the first day of the first month (Exo. 40:2)i.e., the New Years Day of the first year of freedom. At the same time He gave directions fixing the order in which all should be done, and determining the position of the various articles of furniture which the Tabernacle and its court were to contain (Exo. 40:4-8).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE ORDER TO SET UP THE TABERNACLE, Exo 40:1-16.
The formality of this command to erect the sanctuary involves an incidental repetition of what has already been described. After the due consecration of all its parts, the tabernacle and all its vessels were to be regarded as “most holy.” Comp. Exo 30:29. In Exo 40:10 of this chapter it is said that after its anointing the altar of burnt offerings should be a holy of holies, as if some special sanctity attached to that . Its central position and importance in the order of holy services made it a sort of counterpart, among the vessels of the sanctuary, of what the holy of holies was among the relatively sacred places of the same .
15. An everlasting priesthood To be perpetuated throughout their generations, until superseded by the office and work of the Priest “after the order of Melchizedek . ” See notes on Hebrews 7. Moses proceeded to perform all the commandments here given, (Exo 40:16,) but the consecration of the priests and special legislation touching the various kinds of sacrifices must have followed the erection of the tabernacle, and is recorded in the Book of Leviticus.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Dwellingplace Is Set Up ( Exo 40:1-8 ).
We note again that the order goes from the most holy (the Ark) to the least holy (the hangings of the court) as is customary when dealing with the details of the Dwellingplace.
Exo 40:1
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “On the first day of the first month shall you raise up the Dwellingplace of the Tent of Meeting. And you shall put in it the Ark of the Testimony, and you shall screen the Ark with the veil. And you shall bring in the Table, and set in order the things that are on it; and you shall bring in the Lampstand, and light its lamps. And you shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the entrance to the Dwellingplace. And you shall set the altar of burnt-offering before the entrance of the Dwellingplace of the Tent of Meeting. And you shall set the laver between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and shall put water in it. And you shall set up the court round about, and hang up the screen of the entrance of the court.’
“ On the first day of the first month.” That is on the month of Abib (Nisan) round about March or April. It was the official New Years day.
Moses is now commanded to set up the Dwellingplace, and place the furniture in it, commencing with the Most Holy Place. The Ark of the Testimony is placed in it, containing within it the covenant tablets, and the veil is then to be put in place immediately, to screen the Ark. Moving to the Holy Place, the Table, Lampstand and altar of incense are to be put in place, and the showbread placed in order on the Table, and the lamps lit on that first evening. The screen for the Sanctuary is then to be set up. And finally, moving into the court, the bronze altar and the laver, the latter filled with water, are to be put in place. Then the outer screens are to be erected, together with the entrance screen.
So even before all is sanctified great care is taken to preserve the holiness of each section in descending order.
It will be noted that the altar of incense is to be placed ‘before the Ark of the Testimony’, that is in as close proximity to it as the veil will allow, and probably as we have seen between the ends of the two bearer-poles for carrying the Ark, which protrude into the Holy Place (1Ki 8:8). It is noteworthy that this altar is always mentioned last of the furniture in the Holy Place, and this in spite of its prominent position. That is because it deals with a man’s approach to God rather than God’s approach to man. That is why when it was first introduced it was only dealt with after all those things which covered God’s approach to man. The text is consistent.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Tabernacle Set Up
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 2. On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the Tabernacle of the Tent of the Congregation. v. 3. And thou shalt put therein the Ark of the Testimony, v. 4. And thou shalt bring in the table v. 5. And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the Ark of the Testimony, v. 6. And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the Tabernacle of the Tent of the Congregation, v. 7. And thou shalt set the laver between the Tent of the Congregation and the altar, and shalt. put water therein, v. 8. And thou shalt set up the court round about, v. 9. And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the Tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it and all the vessels thereof; and it shall be holy, v. 10. And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar v. 11. And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot and sanctify it, v. 12. And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and wash them with water, v. 13. And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
v. 14. And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats, v. 15. and thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office; for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations. v. 16. Thus did Moses; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Exo 40:1-33
THE COMMAND TO SET UP THE TABERNACLE, AND ITS PERFORMANCE. All was now ready. Bezaleel and Aholiab had completed their task. The work for the tabernacle had been given in, and had been approved Moses did not however at once set it up. He waited for a command from God. After a short interval, the command came. He was ordered to select the first day of the ensuing yearthe first day of the first year of freedomfor the operation. Directions were given him, which fixed the order in which the various parts were to be set up, and assigned to the various articles of furniture their proper places (Exo 40:1-8). When he had arranged the whole as directed, he was to anoint the various parts (Exo 40:9-11). He was then to wash and dress Aaron, and his sons; to invest them with their robes of office (Exo 40:12-14), and to anoint them to be priests (Exo 40:15). The orders given were executed, except (as it would seem) those concerning the investiture of the priests and the anointing, which were deferred. (See Le Exo 8:6-30.) In one day the sanctuary was completely set up (Exo 40:18-33).
Exo 40:1-8
The directions to set up the tabernacle.
Exo 40:2
On the first day of the first month. The first of Abib, or Nisan, the “New Year’s Day” of Israel, coinciding nearly with the opening of the vernal equinox, a very suitable day for the inauguration of a place of worship. The tabernacle was to be set up first of all; then the tent was to be placed over it. See Exo 40:18, Exo 40:19.
Exo 40:3
The first thing to be placed within the tabernacle was the ark of the testimony, as containing the foundation of the covenant between God and Israel, and being the special token of God’s presence with his people. See the comment on Exo 25:10. The “two tables” were placed within the ark before it was brought into the tabernacle (Exo 25:20, Exo 25:21). Cover the ark with the veili.e; “hang up the veil in front of the ark, so as to cover or conceal it.”
Exo 40:4
Thou shalt bring in the tablei.e; “the table of shew-bread” (Exo 25:23-30; Exo 37:10-16). And set in order the things, etc. It has been observed with reason that the directions of Le Exo 24:5-7 must have been already given, though not recorded till so much later. Bread and frankincense were to be “set in order” on the table in a particular way. The candlestick. The seven. branched candelabrum (Exo 25:31-39; Exo 37:17-24). And thou shalt light the lamps. The lamps would have to be lighted on the first day at even (Exo 27:21; Exo 30:8).
Exo 40:5
The altar of gold. See Exo 30:1-10; Exo 37:25-28. Before the ark of the testimonyi.e; “before the veil, opposite the ark of the testimony,” not within the veil. See the comment on Exo 30:6. The hanging of the doori.e; “the curtain which closed the front or eastern end of the tabernacle.” (See Exo 26:36; Exo 36:37.)
Exo 40:6
The altar of burnt-offering. See Exo 27:1-8; Exo 38:1-7. Before the door of the tabernacle. In the court, directly in front of the entrance, but not close to it, since the place of the laver was between the entrance and the altar. See the next verse.
Exo 40:7
The laver. See Exo 30:18; Exo 38:8. Put water therein. The water was required:
1. For the ablution of the priests (Exo 30:19-21; Exo 40:12, Exo 40:31; Le Exo 8:6), and
2. For washing the victims (Le Exo 8:21).
Exo 40:8
The court. See Exo 27:9-18; Exo 38:9-20. The hanging at the court gatei.e; the curtain at the entrance of the court (Exo 27:16; Exo 38:18).
Exo 40:9-16
The directions to anoint, etc.
It does not appear that these directions were carried out at this time. Probably, there would not have been time to go through all the ceremonies enjoined (Exo 29:1-34) on the same day with the erection of the sanctuary. They were consequently deferred, either till the next day, or possibly to a later date. (See Lev 8:1-36.) The anointing of the tabernacle is recorded in Exo 40:10; of the vessels in Exo 40:11; of the altar and laver in the same. The washing of Aaron and his sons in Exo 40:6; their investiture in Exo 40:7-9; the anointing of Aaron in Exo 40:12; and a further anointing of Aaron together with his sons in Exo 40:30.
Exo 40:10
An altar most holy. Not really more holy than the rest of the tabernacle and its contents, which are all pronounced” most holy” in Exo 30:29; but requiring more to have its holiness continually borne in mind, since “it was more exposed to contact with the people” than the tabernacle and its vessels (Keil).
Exo 40:12
Unto the door of the tabernaclei.e; to the place where the laver was situated (Exo 40:7).
Exo 40:14
Coats. Rather, “tunics.” They were to be “of fine linen, woven work” (Exo 39:27).
Exo 40:15
Thou shalt anoint them as thou didst anoint their father. The mode of anointing does not seem to have been identical in the two cases. The oil was first poured upon Aaron’s head (Le Exo 8:12; Psa 133:2), and afterwards sprinkled upon him (Le Exo 8:30). It was, apparently, only sprinkled upon the priests (ib,). This was a lower form of anointing; and hence the high priest was sometimes called “the anointed priest” (Le Exo 4:5, Exo 4:16; Exo 6:22; Exo 16:32, etc.). Their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood. The Rabbinical commentators maintain that these words apply to the ordinary priests only, and on the strength of them establish a difference between the ordinary priests and the high priests. The latter were in every ease to be anointed to their office. A single anointing sainted for the former. It is scarcely necessary to say that there is no Scriptural ground for this distinction. The natural sense of the words is, rather, that as long as the anointing continued, the priesthood should continue.
Exo 40:17-33
The actual setting up of the tabernacle.
Exo 40:17
On the first day the tabernacle was reared up. Being constructed after the fashion of a tent, it was quite possible to rear up and also to take down, the tabernacle in less than a day.
Exo 40:18
Fastened his sockets. Rather, “placed its sockets.” The “sockets” or “bases” appear to have been simply laid on the flat sand of the desert, not “fastened” to it in any way. They were heavy masses of metal and would remain where they were placed. His pillars. The pillars that supported the “veil,” and also those at the east end, where the entrance was.
Exo 40:19
He spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle. The entire distinctness of the tent (‘ohel) from the tabernacle (mishkan) is here very strongly marked. The “tent” was the goats’ hair covering, with the framework of wood that supported it. The covering. The outer covering of rams’ skins and seals’ skins. (See Exo 26:14.)
Exo 40:20
The testimonyi.e; the two tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments (Exo 25:16; Exo 31:18). Set the staves on the ark. “Put the staves,” that is, “into the rings, and left them there” (Exo 25:14). Put the mercy seat above upon the ark. See Exo 25:21.
Exo 40:21
Set up the veil of the coveringi.e; hung the veil on the four pillars between the holy place and the holy of holies, and thus coveredi.e; concealed from sight, the ark of the testimony. (See the comment on Exo 40:3)
Exo 40:22
Upon the side of the tabernacle northward. Upon the right hand, as one faced the veil. No direction had been given upon this point, but Moses probably knew the right position from the pattern which he had seen upon the mount.
Exo 40:23
He set the bread in order upon it. Upon the subject of this “order,” see Le Exo 24:6-8, and compare the comment on Exo 24:4.
Exo 40:24
Over against the tablei.e; exactly opposite to the table, on the left as one faced the veil.
Exo 40:25
When evening came, he lighted the lamps. (See the comment on Exo 40:4) Whatever the priests ordinarily had to do was on this occasion done by Moses.
Exo 40:26
The golden altar, or “altar of incense,” was placed before the veili.e; outside it, in the holy place, midway between the table of shew-bread and the golden candlestick.
Exo 40:28
He set up the hanging at the door. He hung on the five pillars at the entrance to the tabernacle the “hanging” or ‘: curtain,” which had been made for the purpose (Exo 36:37).
Exo 40:29
He put the altar of burnt-offering by the door of the tabernacle. See the comment on Exo 40:6. And offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat-offeringi.e; in his priestly character inaugurated the altar by offering upon it the first evening sacrifice. (See Exo 29:38-41.)
Exo 40:30
He set the laver. As directed in Exo 40:7. For the position of the laver, see Exo 30:18.
Exo 40:31, Exo 40:32
Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands. This is not a part of the narrative of what was done at this time, but a parenthetic statement of the purpose to which the laver was subsequently applied. On the importance attached to these ablutions, see Exo 30:20, Exo 30:21.
Exo 40:33
He reared up the court, etc; as directed in Exo 40:8. So Moses finished the work. With the hanging of the curtain at the entrance to the court, the erection of the tabernacle was complete. It was probably not till after this that Moses performed the acts of worship mentioned in the course of the narrativeput water in the laver (Exo 40:30), offered sacrifice (Exo 40:29), lighted the lamps (Exo 40:25), and burnt incense on the golden altar (Exo 40:26).
HOMILETICS
Exo 40:1-33
The erection of the tabernacle.
At last the work of preparation was over. The work for which God had begun to give instructions more than nine months previously (Exo 25:1) was completed. All the parts of the structure, pillars, curtains, boards, sockets, bars, taches, hooks, pins; and all the furniture, ark, altars, table, candlestick, laver, vessels, censers, tongs, ash-panswere finished and ready. All had been inspected by Moses, and approved (Exo 39:43); they answered to the pattern which had been shown him in the mount (Exo 25:40). Still, however, Moses waited until he received from God:
1. The order for erection.
2. Instructions as to details.
I. THE ORDER FOR ERECTION. “On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation” (Exo 40:2). The order included:
1. The act. “Set up the tabernacle.”
2. The agent. “Thou”i.e; Moses.
3. The time.
“The first day of the first month.” Concerning the act there is nothing to be said. It was implied in the first order given, and lay at the root of every subsequent direction. The tabernacle could only have been devised in order to be set up. But concerning the agent and the time there was room for doubt. As to the agent: Bezaleel, the master craftsman, might have been chosen to erect what he had constructed; or Aaron might have been deputed to arrange the temple of which he was to be chief minister; or Moses and Aaron and Bezaleel might have been constituted a commission to carry out the work conjointly. But it pleased God to appoint Moses alone. For every enterprise it is best to have one directing mind, one ultimate authority. Otherwise there will be conflicting views, waste of time and energy, and commonly an inharmonious result. And Moses, who had alone seen “the pattern on the mount,” was beyond all doubt the fittest director that could have been selected. As to the time: any day that was not a Sabbath would have been fairly suitable; but there seems an especial appropriateness in the selection of the first day of a new year. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecc 7:1). A new year should begin with a good work. What better work for such a day than the opening of a Bethela house of Goda “tent of meeting,” where God himself was to be met 9 God, who is the first, should have the first. First fruits of all things should be given to him. Thus, New Year’s-day is a natural holy day. It opens the year. It is thus the most appropriate for openings.
II. INSTRUCTIONS AS TO DETAILS. A certain order had to be observed. God determined the order. First, the tabernacle itself was to be erected (Exo 40:2); then the ark was to be brought in and placed in the holy of holies (Exo 40:3); then the veil was to be hung up (ib,). After this the furniture of the holy place was to be brought inthe table of shewbread (Exo 40:4), the candlestick (ib,), and the altar of incense (Exo 40:5). Next, the hanging at the entrance to the tabernacle was to be put up (ib,) Lastly, the outer court and its furniture were to be taken in hand. The laver and altar of burnt offering were to be set in their places (Exo 40:6, Exo 40:7); the pillars and hangings which enclosed the court were to be arranged, and the curtain hung at the entrance to it (Exo 40:8). The general law which pervades the whole is the precedence of the more important over the less important. We do not know what time intervened between the delivery of these instructions to Moses and “the first day of the second year”; but probably the interval was not long. Moses would employ it in selecting a site, and in preparing the artificers and others for the day’s proceedings. When the appointed day arrived, he applied himself to the work (Exo 40:17). First, he stretched, by means of cords and tent-pins, probably on a light wooden framework, the tabernacle cloth of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen (Exo 26:1-6). Then he laid down the “sockets” of silver in their places, fitted the boards into them by means of their “tenons,” put in the bars which kept the boards together, and reared up the pillars for the veil (Exo 40:18). After this he stretched the goats’-hair covering, which constituted the tent, outside and above the tabernacle cloth, and placed over the goats’-hair covering the rams’ skins and the seals’ skins (Exo 40:19). So much constituted the erection of the tabernacle proper. Next he proceeded to the furniture; he brought in the ark and mercy seat, and, having placed them in the holy of holies (Exo 40:21), set up the vail; thus completing it, and isolating it from the holy place. After this, he brought in the furniture of the holy placethe table, the candlestick, and the golden altarand arranged it (Exo 40:22-26). He then, and not till then, according to the direction given to him (Exo 40:5), put up the hanging which separated the tabernacle from the court (Exo 40:28). Finally, he proceeded to set in order the court. He put the altar of burnt offering and the laver into their places (Exo 40:29, Exo 40:30), carried the hangings alongside the court’s four sides, and arranged the curtain at the entrance (Exo 40:33). So, with a minute observance of the directions given, “Moses finished the work.” Note the exactitude with which Moses followed all the directions given him, together with the liberty which he claimed and exercised:
1. To determine the time of their execution.
2. To fill up particulars with respect to which no directions had been given.
1. Of the first, the deferring of the consecration by anointment of the tabernacle and its furniture, and of the consecration of Aaron and his sons (Exo 40:9-15), is the crucial instance. It has been said that these may have taken place on the same day as the erection of the tabernacle; but the mode in which the narrative of the consecration is introduced in Le Exo 8:1-5, no less than the separation of the narrative from that of the present chapter, implies an interval between the two events. Probably, by the time of the completion of the court, the day was far advanced, and it would have been impossible to perform all the ceremonies commanded (Exo 29:1-36) in the remaining space.
2. Of the second, the emplacement of the table and the candlestick (Exo 8:22, Exo 8:24), the burning of incense (Exo 8:27), and the offering upon the altar of burnt offering (Exo 8:29) are specimens. Evidently Moses considered that “God’s instructions were not always to be carried out with literal exactness, but sometimes with an enlightened spiritual freedom.”
Exo 40:18-33
The sanctification of material things.
Objections are raised to the entire idea of a holiness in things. Holiness, it is said, being a personal quality, cannot reside in things, or be communicated to them, or be rightly predicated of them. God is holy; angels are holy; some men are holy; but nothing else. To imagine a holiness in things is superstition. This is to effect a complete severance of matter from spiritto dig an abyss between themto regard them as asymptotes, which cannot ever touch one the other. But if God became incarnate, if “the Word was made flesh” (Joh 1:14), then that matter which constituted the body of Christ, most certainly became holy. And if that matter, why not other matter? Why not the food which he “blessed and brake, and gave to his disciples”? Why not the drink which he called “his blood”? If there is a contact between matter and spirit, and some spirits are holy, then it is readily intelligible that the matter which comes into contact with them may be, in a certain sense, holy also. And this is, beyond all doubt, the language of the Scriptures. We hear of “holy ground” (Exo 3:5), “holy places” (Exo 26:33), “holy garments” (Exo 28:2), “holy oil” (Exo 30:31), “a holy perfume” (Exo 30:35), etc. Things material may become holy in various ways, e.g.
I. BY BEING TAKEN INTO GOD. Christ took our nature upon him, joined for ever the Manhood to the Eternal Godhead, and so gave to his own body an eternal sanctification of the highest possible kind, which renders it most holy.
II. BY BEING BROUGHT INTO CONTACT WITH HIM. The Cross of Christ, the crown of thorns, the nails, the soldier’s spear, the raiment, the vesture, the napkin which was about his head when in the grave, became hallowed by association with him, and must ever be regarded by all Christians as holy. If the garment shown at Treves were indeed what it professes to be a garment once worn by Christit would well deserve the name, by which it is commonly called, of the “holy coat.” As it is, we have no sufficient evidence of any existing piece of matter, that it ever came into contact with our Lord’s blessed body; but, if we had, any such piece of matter would be “holy.”
III. BY DESIGNATION FOR A HOLY PURPOSE. It is in this way especially that buildings, garments, vessels, cloths, and the like, are “holy.” They are intended for and serve a holy purposeare employed in the worship or service of Almighty God. It is felt on all hands that such things ought to be set apart from secular uses, reserved for the sacred end to which they have been designated, and applied to that only. Now, in cases of this kind, it does not appear to be inappropriate that the designation should be by a material act; and certainly no more significant act than anointing with oil is possible. For oil is symbolical of the Holy Spirit; ,and as it is by the Holy Spirit that individuals are sanctified, not only personally but officially, so as to be media of grace to others, so it may well be conceived that even inanimate things may become channels of grace and blessing to men, through an effluence from the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not disdain all contact with matter. At the beginning of creation he “moved,” or rather brooded, “upon the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2). At the baptism of Jesus, the Spirit was seen “descending like a dove, and lighting on him” (Mat 4:16). At Pentecost he showed himself in the form of “tongues of fire” (Act 2:3). In every consecration it is quite possible that he may bear a part, though in general he shrouds himself, and does not let his presence be perceived.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
Exo 40:1-33
The erection of the tabernacle.
I. THE TIME.
1. It reminded them of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage; “this month shall be unto you the beginning of months” (Exo 12:2). God’s dwelling-place is ever erected amid the adoring remembrance of his redemption. “The love of Christ constraineth us.”
2. It was a consecration of the year upon which they were entering. It struck the key-note of the after time. The joy of the new year was to rise into the greater joy of the new life. The joy which hallows all time is that of reconciliation to, and union with, God.
II. THE ORDER OF CONSTRUCTION.
1. The tabernacle was first erected in which God was to be served. The duty to serve God is confessed before the power is attained or the way understood.
(1) The emblem of the law in its strength and weakness.
(2) The story of all the saved.
2. The tabernacle is next furnished, and the altar and laver and outer court set up. The means are given of reconciliation and service. It is not enough to be convinced of duty. God must be waited upon for power. His way must be taken. “No other foundation can any man lay.”
3. All things are anointed with the holy oil. The spirit hallows and energizes all the means of grace which God has given.
4. The priests also are anointed; we, too, must be so in order to serve, and we shall be if we come, as they did, into the midst of what God has provided and sanctified for man’s redemption.
III. THE ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE WAS FOLLOWED BY ITS IMMEDIATE USE. So soon as the shew-bread table was placed, the bread was set in order upon it. The lamps were immediately lighted. He burnt sweet incense upon the altar before the veil. On the altar of sacrifice he offered burnt offering and meat offering. At the laver “Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their feet.” Belief should follow fast upon the heels of knowledge. God has sent forth his salvation, not to be the subject of intellectual interest and theological speculation, but to touch and change the heart. The bread of life has been given to feed the perishing, not merely to be examined, weighed, analysed.U.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Exo 40:10
The altar most holy.
There is a difference at once perceptible between the words of sanctifying in Exo 40:9, and the words of sanctifying in Exo 40:10. Whereas the tabernacle and all therein are declared as holy, a special sanctity is somehow attached to the altar of burnt offering. “It shall be an altar most holy.” The reasonable explanation of this is, not that there was any special sanctity in the altar of burnt offering itself, but that from its exterior position it was in great danger of being treated thoughtlessly, and therefore needed special attention to be called to it. Hence we are led to note the existence of a similar distinction among such things as we are bound to treat in a reverent and careful manner. Certain persons, things, and places are of such a kind as to be their own protection. Perhaps it is still true to some extent, though doubtless it was much more felt in former times, that there is a divinity which doth hedge a king. Men of coarse and scandalous tongues manage to put a check on them selves in the presence of women and children. Some are still alive who remember the horror and indignation excited by the resurrection-men of fifty or sixty years ago, and how little watch-houses were built in some churchyards, and men took it in turns to guard by night the resting-places of their beloved dead. But those who would shrink with loathing from the bare possibility that they could be guilty of such desecration are nevertheless found treating great realities of holiness with indifference, if not with contempt. Remember with what profaning hands the Holy One of God was abused; he who spake concerning the temple of his body; he who was holy, not by any mere association, not for the purposes of some temporary economy, but essentially holy. Are there not those who, thoughtless enough of all the evil they are doing, crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame? (Heb 6:6.) What a fearful outlook is indicated for those who tread underfoot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant, wherewith they are sanctified, an unholy thing, and do despite unto the spirit of grace! (Heb 10:29.) The very same thing may in one way be hallowed, and in another be desecrated. There is a great semblance of hallowing in the huge family Bibles so often seen in English houses, rich, and not unfrequently tawdry, in their binding and gilding; but after all they may only be there as part of a reputation for respectability. The true hallowing is in the dog’s-eared, well-worn book, poorly printed it may be, and on common paper, and with that indefinable appearance about it which tells of constant use. It is only too easy a thing to put superstition in the place of an intelligent, diligent, profound, and practical reverence. Even Christians are strangely negligent concerning the holiness inherent in them if they are really born again. Very unobservant are they of the persistent references in the New Testament to the holiness of a Christian’s personality. How much is done, as a matter of course, that is inconsistent, yea, scarcely compatible with being, indeed, a living sacrifice!Y.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 40:1-33
The tabernacle set up.
The sanctuary did not take long in making. When hearts are wilting, gifts liberal, and hands active, work is soon accomplished. Everything was ready by the first day of the new year after leaving Egypt. The new year was inaugurated by the setting up of the finished dwelling. How suitable an employment for the new year, to consecrate our hearts anew as dwelling-places for Jehovah! The section conveys lessons as to
I. ORDER IN THE SANCTUARY. Every thing was done with order and deliberation. “Set the bread in order” (Exo 40:4, Exo 40:23). “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1Co 15:40).
II. BEAUTY IN THE SANCTUARY. God’s house, when completed, was a beautiful house. Cf. Isa 9:18.
III. HOLINESS IN THE SANCTUARY. The place was holy. Moses consecrated it by anointing (Isa 9:9-12). Those who served in it were to be holy. This is signified by the wearing of “holy garments” (Isa 9:13), and by washing in the laver (verse 31). Holiness becomes God’s house (Psa 93:5). His servants are to serve him in “beauties of holiness” (Psa 110:1-7 :8).
IV. WORSHIP IN THE SANCTUARY. Moses set the bread in order on the table, lighted the lamps, burnt incense, etc. He offered burnt offerings and meat offerings on the altar (verse 39). The tabernacle was a picture Gospel.J.O.
Exo 40:33
The two finishings.
“So Moses finished the work.” Cf. Exo 39:32“Thus was all the work of the tabernacle finished.” View the tabernacle as a type of the spiritual housethe Church. This tabernacle is being made. A time is coming when, in a more special sense, it will be reared,the “day of Christ”the day of “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom 8:19. Cf. Rev 21:2, Rev 21:3).
I. THE TABERNACLE WAS NOT REARED TILL ALL THE LABOURS IN CONNECTION WITH THE MAKING OF IT HAD BEEN FINISHED.
1. The tabernacle was made with a view to its being reared. This was the end. So the calling, saving, and perfecting of individuals for the kingdom of God has always reference to their ultimate manifestation with Christ in glory (Rom 8:17-26; 2Co 4:15-18; 2Co 5:1-11; Eph 5:25-28; Php 1:6, Php 1:10; Col 3:1-4, etc.).
2. The labours of making were entirely finished, before the rearing was begun. The rearing was but the bringing into visibility of an already finished work.
(1) All the parts of the tabernacle were made.
(2) All the furniture of the tabernacle was made.
(3) The dress of the servants of the tabernacle was made.
Not till all this was done was the command given to rear. So the day of the manifestation of believers will not arrive till all labours preparatory to the setting up of the kingdom of God in glory have been concluded. The Gospel preached through all the world (Mat 24:14), the “elect” (Exo 39:31) gathered in, the last soul saved, believer’s; sanctified, avery “living stone” (1Pe 2:4) shaped and fashioned for the place it is ultimately to occupy In the heavenly building, etc.
3. These labours having been concluded, the rearing was proceeded with without delay. The rearing included
(1) the putting of the parts of the tabernacle together.
(2) The arrangement of its furniture.
(3) The ordering of its service.
So, when once the preparatory labours in connection with the kingdom of God have been finished, no time will be lost in setting it up in its final glory. Christ will appear, and his people will appear with him (Col 3:4). He and they will be glorified together (Rom 8:17).
4. The rearing of the tabernacle was the setting of it in visible glory before the eyes of the Israelites. So will Christ come to be “glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe” (2Th 1:10).
5. The rearing of the tabernacle completed the preparation of it as a sanctuary for Jehovah. The same will be true of the glorification of the Church (Rev 21:3, Rev 21:4).
II. THE TABERNACLE, MADE BY THE PEOPLE, WAS REARED BY MOSES.
1. Christ admits us to be fellow-workers with himself in the labours of his Church. These are carried on by human agency (2Co 6:1).
2. He alone has to do with the glorification of his Church.
III. WHEN THE TABERNACLE WAS REARED, IT WAS FOUND THAT NOTHING WAS WANTING TO ITS PERFECTION AS A SANCTUARY. So will the glorification of the Church make manifest the beauty, symmetry, completeness, and perfection of the spiritual structure. It will be found to be “a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph 5:27); complete as a place of habitation for Jehovah; a unity, and a perfect one.J.O.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Sixth Section
The Erection of the Tabernacle and its Dedication as the Place of the Revelation of the Glory of Jehovah. (Analogies: Abrahams Grove at Mamre; Jacobs Bethel; Solomons Temple; Zerubbabels Temple; Temple Dedication of Judas Maccabeus; Christ in the Temple.)
Exo 40:1-38
A.The command
Exo 40:1-15
1, And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation [of meeting]. 3And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the veil. 4And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it [set it in order]; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light 5[set up] the lamps thereof. And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense [golden altar of incense] before the ark of the testimony, and put [set up] the hanging [screen] of the door to [of] the tabernacle. 6And thou shalt set the altar of the [of] burnt-offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation 7[of meeting]. And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation 8[of meeting] and the altar, and shalt put water therein. And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court-gate [put upthe screen of the gate of the court]. 9And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels furniture] thereof: and it shall be holy. 10And thou shalt anoint the altar of the [of] burnt-offering, and all his vessels [its utensils], and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy [and the altar shall be most holy]. 11And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot [its base], and sanctify it. 12And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation [tent of meeting], and wash them with water. 13And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and [garments; and thou shalt] anoint him, and sanctify him: that [him, that] he may minister unto me in the priests office [be priest unto me]. 14And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats: 15And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priests office [be priests unto me]: for [and] their anointing shall surely be [shall be to them for] an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
B.The Erection of the building (not the consecration of it)
Exo 40:16-33
16Thus did Moses: according to all that Jehovah commanded him, so did he. 17And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared [set] up. 18And Moses reared [set] up the tabernacle, and fastened his [its] sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared [set] up his [its] pillars. 19And he spread abroad [spread] the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 20And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy-seat above upon the ark: 21And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the covering, and covered [screened] the ark of the testimony; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 22And he put the table in the tent of the congregation [of meeting], upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil. 23And he set the bread in order upon it before Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. 24And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation [of meeting], over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. 25And he lighted [set up] the lamps before Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 26And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation 27[of meeting] before the veil: And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 28And he set up the hanging at [put up the screen of] the door of the tabernacle. 29And he put the altar of burnt-offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation [of meeting], and offered upon it the burnt-offering, and the meat-offering [meal-offering]; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 30And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation [of meeting] and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal. 31And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat [therefrom]: 32When they went into the tent of the congregation [of meeting], and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 33And he reared [set] up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging [screen] of the court-gate. So Moses finished the work.
C.The divine dedication of the tabernacle anterior to the human dedication
Exo 40:34-38
34Then a [the] cloud covered the tent of the congregation [of meeting], and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 35And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation [of meeting], because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 36And when the cloud was taken up from 37over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if [whenever] the cloud were [was] not taken up then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 38For the cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on [in] it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
a. The Command to Erect the Building
Exo 40:1-15
Exo 40:1. Though Moses knows that the tabernacle is to be erected, yet he must receive Jehovahs command in reference to the time and order of the arrangement of the parts. As to the time, the first day of the first month, Nisan (of the second year of the exodus) is selected, as if in order that it might be ready for the first Passover festival in the middle of Nisan.
Exo 40:3. The ark of the testimony is the real soul of the sanctuary. It represents the presence of Jehovah. Next to it the veil is the most important, since it expresses the unapproachableness of Jehovah, and protects the ark from profanation, but still more protects from the sentence of destruction those who approach without authority.
Exo 40:4. Next comes the table. With the table Jehovah comes, in a limited degree, out of the Holy of holies into the holy place. By this symbolic communion with the priests He discloses to the people the hope of fellowship with Him, the fellowship of His Spirit, of His blessings. Then the lamps are lighted as if for a feast; for enlightenment is dependent on the communion of the heart with God.
Exo 40:5. As Jehovah comes, with the table, in a sense into the holy place, so the priesthood of Israel on its part comes in a sense into the Holy of holies with the altar of incense which symbolizes prayer. These holy things, too, which denote and illustrate communion with Jehovah, must be screened by the curtain of the holy place.
Exo 40:6. As the altar of incense bears a relation to the door of the Holy of holies, so the altar of burnt-offering to the door of the holy place. The laver stands nearer the holy place than the altar does, because it is for the priests, and contains, in the water, the means of purification for the sacrificial servicein which circumstance is disclosed an adumbration of the N. T. baptism, which separates animal offerings from the temple.
Exo 40:8. The court also has its screen, for the court, too, is an enclosed vestibule of the holy place, as contrasted with the profane heathen world and defiled Israelites, or even such as approach with empty hands.
Exo 40:9. The anointing of the dwelling and all of its individual parts expresses the truth, that all the worship in this house depends on the life of the spiritis from the spirit and for the spirit. But in what sense is the altar of burnt-offering, standing as it does in the court, most holy, [literally, holy of holies]? Because the offering of sacrifice, and the self-surrender which consists in trustful obedience, and which underlies the offering, are the fundamental condition of the genuineness of the whole ritual worship. According to Keil, the phrase designates the fact that the altar is not to be approached by the people who offer sacrifices.1
Exo 40:15. Aarons sons also are anointed together with him, because they represent the hereditary perpetuity of the priesthood. Keil holds that the consecration of the priests was not contemporaneous with the erection of the tabernacle, but took place later. But here too only the command is first given, and then the erection of the tabernacle precedes its execution. Knobel says: The statement [of Exo 40:16] anticipates Leviticus 8 If we distinguish between command and execution, the anticipation is only seeming, or at least only grows out of the summariness of the narrative.
b. The Erection of the Building. Exo 40:16-33
Exo 40:17. And it came to pass.Inasmuch as from the arrival of the Israelites at Sinai in the third month after the exodus (Exo 19:1) until the first day of the second year, when the work was delivered to Moses complete, not quite nine months elapsed, all the work of the building was done in less than half a year (Keil).2
Exo 40:19. He spread the tent over the tabernacle.By the tent here Keil correctly understands the two principal coverings; by the covering, the two outer coverings.
Exo 40:20. The testimony.The tables of the law, as records which were to bear perpetual witness to the divine will orally revealed to the people. Knobel refers it to the whole revelation so far as then existentwhich Keil rightly disputes.
Exo 40:23. On the arrangement of the twelve loaves in two rows, vid. Lev 24:6.
Exo 40:30. Between the tent of meeting and the altar.Probably more to one side, so that the priests did not need to go around the altar (Keil.).
The offering of sacrifice, Exo 40:20, and the burning of incense, Exo 40:27, are to be regarded as extraordinary acts of Moses, the founder of the system of worship, and not belonging to the ordinary worship of the people, which presupposed the anointing of the sanctuary, and which began with a sin-offering, whereas here only burnt-offerings and meal-offerings are spoken of.
Exo 40:33. The court was not only a court; it enclosed the tabernacle. According to Josephus (Antiq. III. 6, 3) the tabernacle stood in the middle of the court.
c. The Divine Dedication of the Building Anterior to the Human Dedication. Exo 40:34-38
Exo 40:34. If anything is fitted to exhibit the Levitical ritual as a transitory one, as an educational institution designed for the training of the people up to the time of their maturity, it is the fact that the completed tabernacle forms the conclusion of Exodus, not the beginning of Leviticus; that Moses offered sacrifices and burned incense in it before Aaron the priest did; but especially that Jehovah Himself consecrated the sanctuary by His manifestation of Himself in the sacred cloud before it was consecrated by the priesthood. In the Middle Ages it was a saying that a church was consecrated by angels in the night before it was going to be consecrated by priests. Perhaps the saying was a reminiscence of the mystery here recorded. For Jehovahs manifestation of Himself is something very mysterious, a holy token, viewed only by the eyes of faith. Above the tabernacle the cloud appears, and covers it, in order to remove the glory of Jehovah, which fills the dwelling, from the view of all, even of Moses. It is not said that this condition became a permanent one; on the contrary, the tabernacle soon afterwards became accessible, except as regards the regulations concerning the Holy of holies. But up to that time it was unapproachable, locked up, as it were, and had to be unlocked by sacerdotal expiations according to the Levitical rites.
At the close is given a general statement concerning the future of the tabernacle, which, however, also discloses the design of it. The Future verbs designate the action as a repeated and perpetual one (Knobel). It was designed as a divine token for the people on their march. When the cloud rose up from the tabernacle, this was the signal for startingan expressive signal; for the divine token then visibly separated itself from the sacerdotal dwelling; Jehovah seemed to abandon it, as He in truth in the strictest sense did leave the temple in the Jewish war. It was the signal for the people to break camp and move onward. But the cloud only showed the way, in order, at a new stopping-place, to rest down again on the tabernacle, and thus to order a halt. Thus the book closes with the profoundest thought concerning the history of the kingdom of God, expressed in a symbolic form and so graphically as to be apprehensible by a child. The pillar of cloud above the tabernacle by day; the fiery brightness in it by nightbefore the eyes of all Israel;thus was made sensible to the people that presence of their covenant-God which accompanied them in all their journeyings. Comp. the consecration of the temple, 1 Kings 8. and Eze 43:4; Num 9:15.
Footnotes:
[1][I. e., as being, on account of its position, more exposed to the contact of laymen than the other sac ed objects, which were where no layman was allowed to come at all.Tr].
[2][This is made out by deducting from the nine months the eighty days (Exo 24:18; Exo 34:28) spent by Moses on the mountain, the time spent in preparation for the giving of the law, and in the ratification of the covenant (Exo 19:1 to Exo 24:11), and the interval between Moses first and his second stay on the mountain (Exodus 32, 33).Tr].
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 117
THE TABERNACLE SERVICE COMMENCED
Exo 40:1-2. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
THE beginning of a new year is, not without reason, considered by Christians in general as a fit occasion for more than ordinary attention to religious duties. I say not, indeed, that the generality of Christians actually so employ that hallowed time; for, in fact, the whole season wherein we commemorate the incarnation of our blessed Lord is by the generality made rather a time for carnal mirth. But still, this is acknowledged by all to be rather an abuse of our religious privileges than a suitable improvement of them. There is in the minds of all a consciousness, that to review our past errors with penitence, and to prepare for a more diligent performance of our duty in future, is the proper employment of that period, when we are entering, as it were, upon a new scene of things. In my text, the first day of the first month was appointed by God himself as the time for commencing the services of the tabernacle, after the Israelites had abode in the wilderness nearly a whole year. Doubtless, both Moses and the various artificers had used great diligence to get every vessel ready for the service which it was destined to perform: and great exertion must have been made on the day here spoken of, wherein the tabernacle and all the vessels of it were not only got ready for their destined use, but were employed in the very service for which they had been formed. But the command of Jehovah animated the people on this occasion: and, I hope, their conduct will encourage us also to prosecute with becoming earnestness the labours which this season calls for at our hands.
For the advancement of this blessed object, I will set before you,
I.
The work here assigned to Moses
He was ordered now to set up the tabernacle with every thing belonging to it, and to commence the service of it. A pattern of every part of it had been shewn to him on Mount Sinai, and according to that pattern had every thing been formed. No less than eight times in this one chapter is it said, that he did every thing as the Lord had commanded him For all this care, both in relation to the pattern given him, and to the execution of it by himself and all under his command, there was, no doubt, a very important reason. The very injunction given him at the time of shewing to him the pattern, See thou make all things according to the pattern shewn to thee in the mount [Note: Exo 25:40.], strongly marked, that, in the divine mind, there was some very important end to be accomplished by it. What that end was we are informed in the Epistle to the Hebrews: The tabernacle itself, and all its vessels, were intended to be an example and shadow of heavenly things, that is, of the things revealed to us under the Christian dispensation. In a word, the law and its ordinances were intended to give a just representation of the Gospel and its mysteries; and the two were to accord with each other in every the minutest part, even as an impression with the seal by which it was made [Note: Heb 8:5.]. Behold, then, here was the work assigned to Moses, namely, to give to the Jewish people such an exhibition of the Gospel and its mysteries as should suffice for them under that shadowy dispensation, and prepare them for that fuller manifestation which should be vouchsafed to the Church by the ministry of Christ and of his holy Apostles.
[The tabernacle itself was a representation of Christ, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily [Note: Col 2:9.], and who in his incarnate state dwelt (tabernacled) amongst us [Note: Joh 1:14 ]. The priests, the altar, and the sacrifices, shadowed him forth as the Great High-Priest, through whom alone we can come to God [Note: Heb 10:19-22.] ; and who, being himself the altar that sanctified the gift [Note: Heb 13:10.], offered himself a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world [Note: Heb 10:12.], even an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet smelling savour [Note: Eph 5:2.]. The altar of incense also designated that same divine Saviour as ever living to make intercession for us [Note: Heb 9:24.]. The candlestick also, and the table of shewbread, represented him as the light of the world [Note: Joh 8:12.], and as the bread of life, of which whosoever eats shall live for ever [Note: Joh 6:48; Joh 6:58.]. The lavers too represented him as the fountain opened for sin [Note: Zec 13:1.], in which every one who washeth is cleansed from all sin [Note: Rev 1:5.]. The same may be said of every the minutest vessel in the sanctuary: they all shadowed forth the Lord Jesus in some part of his Mediatorial office. But I must by no means omit to mention the ark, in which the tables of the Law were placed, and which was covered by the mercy-seat of precisely the same dimensions, and which represented him as fulfilling the Law for us [Note: Rom 10:4.], and as obtaining mercy for all who should come to God by him [Note: Heb 7:25.]. Now all of these, whether the vessels, or the persons who officiated in the use of them, were anointed with oil [Note:, 1315.], to shew, that even Christ himself, being anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows [Note: Psa 45:7.], had the Spirit given to him without measure for the performance of his work [Note: Joh 3:34.] ; and that no person or service can ever be acceptable to God, unless it be sanctified by the Holy Ghost [Note: Rom 15:16.].]
Let us next turn our attention to,
II.
The corresponding work that is now called for at our hands
We are now called, every one of us,
1.
To realize in our minds the things here shadowed forth
[The wonders of Redemption should occupy our attention every day: but on this day especially should we be coming to God in that new and living way which Christ has opened for us through the veil. We should go to the Lord Jesus Christ as our sacrifice, and as the altar that sanctifies that sacrifice, and as the priest that offers it. Under all the characters that have been before contemplated concerning him, we should apply to him receiving every thing out of his fulness [Note: Joh 1:16.]. From day to day, as long as the Jewish polity existed, were the various sacrifices and services of the Mosaic ritual renewed: and as long as the world shall stand, must we look to Jesus as here shadowed forth, feeding on him as our bread, washing in him as our laver, and living altogether by faith on him [Note: Gal 2:20.]. Would to God that every one of you would this very day begin these services, if you have hitherto been strangers to them; or prosecute them with redoubled ardour, if you have already entered on this life of faith! ]
2.
To get them spiritually wrought within our own souls
[We have said that Christ was mystically shadowed forth in all the services of that day. And this is true. But it is also true that the life of God in our own souls was spiritually represented. Yes, Brethren, we are temples of the Holy Ghost [Note: 1Co 6:19.] ; and God will come down and dwell in us [Note: 2Co 6:16.] ; yea, Christ will dwell in our hearts by faith [Note: Eph 3:17.]. And in us are the sacrifices of prayer and praise to be offered to him continually [Note: Heb 13:15.]. In truth, we ourselves are to be living sacrifices to him [Note: Rom 12:1.] ; and, as an holy priesthood, we are to be offering ourselves to him [Note: 1Pe 2:5.]. Every faculty of our souls is to be sanctified to his service by the Holy Spirit, lightened by his light, and nourished by his grace. We are, in fact, to be lights in this dark world [Note: Php 2:15.], and witnesses for Jehovah, that he alone is God [Note: Isa 43:12.]. My dear Brethren, this conformity to Christ is at once our duty and our privilege: and to grow up into him in all things as our living Head, is the work of every day throughout our whole lives [Note: Eph 4:15.]. Now, then, I call you to commence this work, if it be not yet begun; or to proceed in it with augmented ardour, if, through the grace of God, it be already begun in your souls. And for your encouragement, I will venture to affirm, that the tokens of Gods approbation which were vouchsafed to Moses, shall as really, if not so sensibly, be renewed to you; for the glory of the Lord shall fill your souls, and the most signal manifestations of his love shall abide with you, both in this world, and in the world to come [Note: 4, 35.] ]
And now I appeal to you, whether this will not be a good employment for the season on which we have just entered?
[Who does not regret that he has lost so much time already? Moses, considering how many months had been consumed in the wilderness before he began his work, could not have well completed it before. But who amongst you might not have begun long before, and been now both serving and enjoying God in a tenfold greater degree, if he had duly improved his time, and prosecuted his work with unremitting care? Well; let it then be your endeavour now to redeem the time; that, if this be the destined period that is to put an end to your earthly existence, you may enter with joy into the presence of your Lord, and be for ever happy in the bosom of your God.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
CONTENTS
The tabernacle being all finished, is now, at the command of God, to be set up in its place: then consecrated: Aaron and his sons to be sanctified. The command is executed. And the Lord gives the symbol of his taking possession of it by the token of a cloud covering it. These are the contents of this Chapter, with which the Book of Exodus concludes.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 7:1 . It was just one year, wanting only 14 days, from the time of the people’s coming out of Egypt, to the consecration of the tabernacle. Memorable providences demand suitable memorandums. 2Ch 29:17 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 40:2
What makes worship impressive is just its publicity, its external manifestation, its sound, its splendour, its observance universally and visibly, holding its sway through all the details both of our outward and of our inward life.
Joubert.
All the charm of ritual and ceremonial in worship has for Pater an indefinable and constant attraction. He is for ever recurring to it, because it seems to him to interpret and express an emotion, a need of the human spirit, whose concern is to comprehend if it can what is the shadowy figure, the mysterious will, that moves behind the world of sight and sense.
A. C. Benson, Pater, p. 216.
Exo 40:13
This very Aaron, whose infirmity had yielded to so foul an idolatry, is chosen by God to be a priest to himself. As the light is best seen in darkness, the mercy of God is most magnified in our unworthiness.
Bishop Hall.
Abraham Lincoln once used this passage to defend his appointment to a high position of some official who had wronged and opposed him. He argued from God’s magnanimity. ‘I have scriptural authority for appointing him. You remember that when the Lord was on Mount Sinai getting out a commission for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the mountain making a false god for the people to worship. Yet Aaron got his commission, you know.’
Exo 40:16
I lighted in the Journal on a very appreciative notice of Faraday, whose death I was grieved to observe. It is by one who signs himself A. de la Rive, and I am sure you will be gratified by the close of it. After describing his scientific career, and speaking of the failing health of latter years, he says, ‘… Sa fin a t aussi douce que sa vie; on peut dire de lui qu’il s’est endormi au Seigneur. J’ai rarement vu un chrtien plus convaincu et plus consquent .’ That word consquent I like one who follows it up into all its consequences.
Dr. John Ker, Letters, pp. 40-41.
Exo 40:33
It is more of this quality of will that is needed this faithful, loyal temperament that cannot put its hand to the plough and afterwards lightly turn back. A persistent will patient and unfaltering above all things it is well to nurse this quality in children faithfulness to the work once taken in hand, be it ever so trivial. Faithfulness is the backbone of faith, and without faith enthusiasm will fade or flicker, after which virtue will be very moderate indeed. And faithfulness implies a sense of duty, a habit of taking conduct as a series of acts that ought to be done, or as pledges that ought to be fulfilled a sense of responsibility for the accurate and thorough fulfilment of every piece of work.
Dr. Sophie Bryant, Studies in Character, p. 170.
Exo 40:37
All our troubles come from impatience, from not trusting God. It is like moving, when the cloud is still.
General Gordon, Letters, p. 268.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
XXVII
THE TABERNACLE
Exodus 25-31; Exodus 35-40
This chapter covers thirteen chapters of Exodus, and, of course, I can only touch them in places. These chapters are 25-31; 35-40.
1. Was there a temporary tent before this tabernacle was built?
Ans. You will find in Exo 33:7-11 , that there was a temporary tent and on one occasion it was moved outside of the camp.
2. What were the names of the tabernacle and the reasons therefore?
Ans. First, the “tabernacle of testimony, or witness,” Exo 38:21 ; Num 17:7-8 . Those two names mean the same thing. The tabernacle of testimony, or of witness; and the reason of this is that this tent was the depository of the testimonials; anything that was to be kept for a testimony was to be kept in this tent; for example, in it were the tables of testimony or God’s autograph on the two tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments. That copy was kept as a witness; then in it was the book of the covenant, that is, those chapters, Exo 19:1-24:9 . That part is called the book of the covenant. That was in Moses’ handwriting. Then there were the records made by Moses, that is, the Pentateuch, the entire Pentateuch was put in the tent and kept in there; then Aaron’s rod that budded was put in there and a pot of the manna and later the brazen serpent that Moses erected. All of these were memorials. Now the tent that held these testimonials was called the tabernacle of the witness, or the testimony. That accounts for one of its names.
Next name, it is called the “temple of the Lord.” You will find this name in 1Sa 1:9 , and 1Sa 3:3 ; the reason of that name is that there God was approached and propitiated and worshiped and that gave the name “temple.”
The third name is the “house of the Lord,” because he occupied it. He was the dweller in it. As a Shekinah he dwelt in there symbolically between the Cherubim on the mercy seat and hence it was called the “house of the Lord.”
The fourth name is “sanctuary,” that is on account of its holiness. It was holy unto God; the most holy place, the holy place and the whole ground, or campus, was set apart to sacred purposes, hence, the sanctuary.
The fifth name for it was the “holy oracles”; that applied, of course, only to what is called the “most holy place”; that is very frequently in the Bible called the oracle of the temple, the most holy place. It is so called in Psa 28:2 , and in 1Ki 6:5 . Now, it obtained this name because there God spoke. An oracle is to give an answer to questions propounded. There God spoke, and it was also called the oracle, because in it were kept the written words of God, the place of the oracle; the book of the Pentateuch was kept in there. Now, the references here are very numerous on this oracle question. In 2Sa 16:23 ; in Act 7:38 , and in Rom 3:2 are some references to this most holy place as the oracle: “What advantage then hath the Jew? Much every way, but chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God.” There the oracles mean the same thing as the Bible, that is, as their Bible grew in volume it was kept in that place; that was the oracle for their Bible.
Now, I repeat the names of this tabernacle: (1) The tabernacle of the testimony, or witness; (2) the temple of the Lord; (3) the tabernacle is called the house of the Lord; (4) the sanctuary; (5) the oracle.
3. What can you say about the pattern of this tabernacle?
Ans. It was God’s pattern, copy, shadow, or type of a true sanctuary in heaven, that is, there is in heaven a true sanctuary, a true holy place, a most holy place, and as the poet Campbell says, “Coming events cast their shadows before,” so that reality in heaven casts its shadow before in the form of this copy or type. And when the real thing came of course the shadow disappeared. Anyone walking from a light casts his shadow before him, and the shadow will get to an object first; now when the substance gets there, the shadow is gone. I give you some very particular references on this word pattern, what it means and about God’s being the author of it. He furnishes the complete plan and every detail of the specifications. Not only for this sanctuary but for its successor, the Temple, and for the Temple’s successor, the church on earth, and for its successor, the church in glory. I give you some scriptures in point: Exo 25:40 ; Exo 26:33 ; Exo 27:9 ; Exo 39:32 ; Act 7:44 ; Heb 8:2 ; Heb 8:5 ; Heb 10:1 .
All of those refer to this sanctuary that Moses built as having been made according to a pattern which God furnished. Moses was commanded to see to it that everything be made according to the pattern. Now to give you an illustration that will come more nearly home to you, I got an architect to draw me a plan of a house to live in near the Seminary in Fort Worth. He drew four floors, that is, four floor plans; two side elevations, a front and a rear elevation; then a long list of specifications as to material, how that material was to be used, and the bill of the lumber, and of the brick and of the stone, and everything in it was put down. Now when I went to let that contract the contractor entered into a contract to build it according to the plans and specifications. If he had varied a hair’s breadth from what that architect put down, I could have held him liable.
I make this remark to you in order to correct some loose thoughts. People that insist upon sticking to God’s plans and specifications on the tabernacle and on the Temple, will deny that he has any plans and specifications on their successor, the church, and that nearly anything will do for a church, and that they can put things in nearly any sort of an order; they can commence with communion on the outside before a man is ever converted, and as a means to conversion; they can baptize him before he is converted, or they can dispense with it altogether. It is one of the most appalling signs of the times, that there is such looseness with reference to God’s positive institutions. It is a thousand times more important that the church be strictly continued and followed in all God’s plans and specifications than it was with this tabernacle, and yet there was not one-eighth of an inch variation in the measurements of this tabernacle. You may settle it that God is a God of order and not of confusion. This tells us here about certain tables and it tells us how those tables were to be constructed, and what was to go on them, and just where they must put them and just how they were to use them. Some people take the table of the church and put it outdoors and just call up Tom) Dick, and Harry to come and partake; a thing that you wouldn’t dare to do in my house; you couldn’t say where my table should be put. I do that. We certainly ought to allow God the same privilege about his table. You could not invite guests to my house, to dine; I must do that. We ought to allow God that privilege. You are the judge of what you put on your table, and we should let the Lord tell us what to put on his table. Then don’t go and invent a hundred things to tack onto what God has specified.
4. What were the materials of this sanctuary and their value?
Ans. There are eight kinds of materials specified. I will commence with the costliest. There are quite a number of very precious stones, jewels, some of them of exceeding great value and beauty. They are enumerated. The next was gold. The pattern tells you just exactly what gold must be put in it. Some of it was simply threads of gold. The gold must be beaten out very thin and then cut into the finest threads of gold and work these threads into the cloth. And the plans must not be varied from by one single thread of that battered gold.
Then the next material used was silver. It specifies in every particular where that silver was to be used. And the next was brass, and then it tells just what should be made of brass, whether the outside mold, or the brazen altar, or some brazen socket in which a pole or post rested.
The fifth material was the acacia wood, very common in that wilderness, and it was a very hard wood, hence exceedingly durable for building purposes of any kind. Now, it is a notable fact that this old tent had a good deal of acacia wood in it in certain places; it was existing up to the time that Solomon built the Temple, all the posts around it, all of acacia wood. When I read about it I am reminded of what a little boy in North Texas said with reference to bois d’arc. He said a bois d’arc fence would last through two eternities; that he and his daddy had tried it several times. In other words, it doesn’t wear out at all and it doesn’t rot. I know a bois d’arc fence now that is ninety-one years old, and it is just as sound as a silver dollar. So that acacia was the kind of wood to be used. The wood that went into the ark of the covenant consisted of a base of wood and then there was a covering of gold, and the wooden base of that ark was there in that Temple nearly a thousand years later when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple. I mention that to show you how much better it was for those people to follow God’s specifications about the wood. Suppose they had put in something that would have rotted in about two years.
The sixth element of material was the various kinds of cloth. This cloth would either be what is called fine twined linen, finished linen made out of the flax, or it was a coarse cloth made of goat’s hair or it was woolen cloth, or it was made out of skins what is called badgers’ skins, though probably not badgers’. It was more likely to have been the skins of sea animals and that skin was impervious to water when the animal was in the water, and remained impervious to water. They needed cloths for all things, for the girdles, and for the different classes of garments that are specified and for the veils. The seventh element of material was olive oil, pure beaten olive oil. That was to be for the lamps, and the eighth and last specification of the material was spices, perfumes that were to be for anointing. For instance he gives a prescription of the holy anointing oil, with olive oil as a base, and his directions will tell you just what spices to put in it and precisely what proportion; so many parts of one and so many parts of another. And they are not only commanded not to vary from that but they were never to make that holy anointing oil to be used for any secular purpose whatever. A king on his throne couldn’t have as much made as would stick to his little finger.
The question says, give the materials and their value. Unfortunately we have no means of valuing all the materials that were used. There is one place in your lesson that gives you the weight, troy weight, of the gold, silver, and brass, and I can tell you what that was: 3,350 pounds, troy weight, of pure gold; 11,526 pounds, troy weight, of pure silver; 8,112 pounds of brass. The measure is given. A shekel was a weight or measure as well as a piece of money. They give it in shekels and these shekels converted into pounds, troy weight, and you can convert these pounds, troy weight, into dollars and cents so far as gold and silver are concerned, into the present worth.
5. How was this vast amount of materials obtained?
Ans. Every bit of it was by voluntary contribution. Chapter 25 commences with the word of God to Moses to call upon the people to make an offering for the sanctuary. But God declines to take any offering unless it is a free will offering; it must be on the part of the willing heart. And when you turn over to read about how David got the material for erecting the Temple it is a most thrilling part of the Old Testament; the biggest contribution the world ever saw was collected. It is a fine thing to preach on, and a good suggestion to preachers when building a sanctuary for the Lord to take contributions from the willing heart.
6. Who were the artificers that made all these things, and how were they qualified to make them?
Ans. Some of the work was very delicate and required the greatest possible skill and nicety in construction. Exo 31:2 : “And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiad the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee.” Only two of them are mentioned by name.
7. What arts were implied in building this tabernacle?
Ans. Well, you can see that they couldn’t have cloths unless there were weavers and they would not have different cloths unless they had industries, and that precious stones couldn’t be cut unless there was lapidaries; and wood couldn’t be carved so beautifully unless there were skilled men in wood carving, and the structure couldn’t be planned and carried out unless there were architects. Then there bad to be the most exquisite work on the high priest’s garment there was to be on the bottom or border a row of pomegranates and bells, a pomegranate and a little bell, then a pomegranate and a bell, and so on all around it. It bad to be the most perfect thing. Whenever the high priest moved the bells would ring, and he couldn’t stop when he was performing the ceremonies in the most holy place. If the bells stopped ringing he would die instantly; and the people ‘would keep praying on the outside as long as they heard the bells on the high priest’s garments ringing. That shows that the high priest rings out to God the petition that they send up, and that shows the intercession. The bells in heaven upon his robe are always ringing, so he is praying for you all the time.
Now you see that to have the instruments to do all these things implied manufacturers; the jeweler’s tools, the carving tools, and the brass; they must have foundries. Think of the number of arts, and what a tremendous change had taken place in these people after they went into Egypt. They were nomads, ranch people, cowboys till then; when they got to Egypt they learned agriculture, city building, architecture, all sorts of fine work, and now it is all brought out with them, and when they go to leave Egypt, the Egyptians are so glad to get rid of them, God put it in the hearts of the Egyptians to bestow on the Jews gold and silver and jewels, and that is where all this gold and silver comes from that they are using now to build the tabernacle.
8. Define the whole space of the court.
Ans. Here the student should make a diagram and let that diagram show the relative places of the entire court, the heights of the curtain wall around that court and the gate of entrance and where the altar, i.e., the brazen altar, is placed, and where the laver is placed, and how they got into the holy place and then into the holy of holies. And he should show in that diagram just where Moses’ place was, and where Aaron’s place was, and the places all around that diagram of the court where the Levites were, and which of them on this side and which on that side, and then show the tribes camped around it; what three tribes on the north side, what three on the south, on the east and on the west. If you want to see a diagram so that you will have nothing to do but copy it, get (and every reader of this book ought to have what I have urged them to have) the Rand-MeNally’s Atlas by J. L. Hurlbut. You ought to read what it has to say about every lesson that we have. And if you have the Hurlbut Atlas it gives you just the picture that I have drawn mentally and orally, showing the length, breadth, and height of the court; showing you where the gate is on the east; showing you just where Moses was to be, where Aaron was to be, where the Levites were to camp, and where the other tribes were to be placed all around it; how big the tabernacle was, how big each division was, and how big the most holy place was in cubic measurement. The question is, Define the whole space of the court.
9. What are the tent divisions, and the sizes of the divisions?
Ans. The tent was divided into two divisions, the holy place and the most holy place, and they were separated by what is called the veil of the Temple, but it came to be a tremendous thing in the Herodian Temple seventy feet long and thirty feet wide, and four inches thick, and so woven that ten yoke of oxen couldn’t tear it, and yet when Jesus died it was rent in twain from top to bottom. The sizes are given in the Atlas.
10. What were the contents of the most holy place?
Ans. There were just two things in there, and don’t you ever put anything else in there. These are the articles, viz.: the ark, which is one thing, and the mercy seat which rested right on top of it; of course, the mercy seat which rested right on top of it had its propitiatory place where the atonement was made, and the Cherubim of pure gold (of course, there were things in the ark the witnesses: the pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, the brazen serpent, and so on). But two things are in there the mercy seat, which is on top of the ark: a chest with its contents inside, and the mercy seat resting on it.
11. How was the most holy place lighted?
Ans. There was no light in it, but clouds of darkness: “a thick pavilion of darkness is my habitation.” Whenever you get to the church in glory the expression, “There is no temple, there is no altar or shrine,” doesn’t mean the general structure about the shrines, just as the mercy seat on top of the ark constituted the shrine. When you get to the church in glory there is no shrine there. Why? Because the Lord God and the Lamb are the light thereof. Now down here in this tabernacle there was a shrine, the Cherubim) and the Shekinah signifying the presence of God.
12. Who enters, and how often, into the most holy place?
Ans. The high priest only, and that only one time a year. Nobody could ever see the outside of what was in there. They couldn’t see the outside of the ark nor the outside of the mercy seat. It was always carried, but it was carried covered. And the tent was first put up upon arriving at a camp and after the tent was put up the bearers of the ark carried it on the inside, and when they went out Aaron alone uncovered it. He was the only one that ever saw it.
13. What were the contents of the holy place, where were the contents set up, and what did they represent?
Ans. Just three things were in there. There was the seven-branched golden candlestick; the light of that lamp was never allowed to go out at night. It was trimmed every morning and lighted every evening just before dark. That candlestick or lampstand was just one lampstand. The one that was in the Temple when Titus captured Jerusalem was carried to Rome as a trophy. Another thing in there was a table, and on the table six loaves of bread in one place and six loaves of bread in another place and a cup; in the third place, there was a little altar called the golden altar in contradistinction from the big one on the outside, the brazen altar. This altar was covered with gold and on that was the frankincense, or incense; the material is frankincense, and it became incense, going up when it was burning in a beautiful smoke and very fragrant. Now as you enter that division from the east, the right hand will be the north. Which one of the things do you out on the north? Do you put a table, a candlestick, or a golden altar? Which one do you put to the south, and which one in the center right opposite the veil that has to be lifted aside by Aaron once a year? The Atlas shows all this.
What do those three things represent?
Ans. They represent the blessings of salvation by grace like the food and the spirit of prayer, as communicants get those spiritual blessings. That bread also represents the twelve tribes shewbread that is, it is bread for exhibition, very sacred, nobody was ever allowed to eat it. David did eat a piece once when he was very hungry and Jesus excused him under the circumstances (he was starving) though “He did eat the shewbread which was against the law.” Now we have found out the contents of the holy place, and how they were set up, and what they represented.
14. Who enters the holy place (not the most holy place) and how often?
Ans. Not the Levites but the priests. The Levites had the run of the court) Aaron the most holy place, the priests the holy place, every day.
15. What are the contents of the court and their respective positions and signification?
Ans. In the open court around the tent there were these things: (1) Near the east gate of the court was the brazen altar, the altar of burnt offering and sin offering. That was the altar of sacrifices. (2) Between that altar and the entrance into the holy place was the laver, a vessel containing water used by the priests in the ablutions necessary to the performance of their duties.
16. Who entered this court and how often?
Ans. Aaron and his sons that constituted the priesthood, and the Levites the whole tribe of Levi that served in the matters of the public worship. They all entered this court. Some of them were in there every day. There were daily offerings, one every morning and one every evening; so that was open all the time to Aaron or his sons or the Levites having special work to perform in there.
17. Where did the people come?
Ans. They came to the gate in the east; they didn’t get inside the gate except in case of their offerings. They brought their offerings to the altar before the tent of meeting.
18. Who were the ministers in the sacrifices and how were they set apart? Divide their respective duties of the court.
Ans. Your lesson tells you all about that: that the ministers consisted of Aaron, the high priest, the priests, and the Levites; just exactly how each one of them was to be consecrated to office; the ritual, etc. Aaron does certain things, and he alone; the priests, certain things, and they alone; the Levites, certain things, and they alone.
XXVIII
THE TABERNACLE (Continued)
1. What was the high priest’s apparel, its use and meaning?
Ans. Your book has a great deal to say about the clothing of the high priest but I shall confine my answer to only two articles of that apparel, viz.: the mitre and the ephod. The mitre was a headdress; towering, and on the front of it just over Aaron’s forehead was a golden plate fastened to the mitre, and on that inscribed, “Holiness to the Lord.” He was never allowed to exercise his high priestly functions unless he had that mitre on.
Now, the other portion of his dress that requires very particular mention is the ephod. The ephod was a garment, a vestment that had a hole cut in it like you see cowboys have in their blankets. It was put on by putting it over the head and the head coming up through that hole, and it came down to the knees. There was an inner robe of course, but I am talking about the ephod. It was carefully hemmed and embroidered around that hole so it wouldn’t tear, just as a buttonhole is, to keep it from widening. At the bottom of the ephod were the pomegranates and little bells that I have told you about. And the bells were to ring all the time that the high priest was performing his functions. It was death to him if they stopped, and their sound was the indication to the people that the high priest’s work was going on and they, on the outside, would pray as long as they heard the bells ringing. That is the ephod proper.
But that ephod had a breastplate, just a span square, at the shoulders; on the ephod was a hook, an ouch, on each side. This breastplate was just a span wide and on it four rows three in a row of very valuable jewels and each jewel had inscribed on it the name of one of the twelve tribes. So that whenever Aaron acted officially he carried over his heart, as a representative, the whole nation of Israel. The twelve tribes of Israel were there, carried on his heart.
The breastplate had two gold chains. The upper part of it had rings and the gold chains went up and fastened to the ouch, or hook, on the shoulder piece of the ephod. Having put on the ephod, he would then take up the breastplate by the two gold chains and hook it to the clasps on the ephod. That would let it drop down on his breast. Then the sides of the breastplate had rings and they were fastened to other hooks on the ephod and that kept it from falling forward, kept it in place.
Now, besides the twelve great jewels that represented the twelve tribes of Israel there were two other jewels, called the urim and thummirn. They went on the breastplate. I am not quite sure but that they were under the breastplate on the inside. The names, urim and thummirn, mean light and perfection. The use of the two particular jewels was to communicate with Jehovah. When the cloud would come down and rest over the tent to signify that Jehovah wanted to have a talk, the high priest would come into the holy place, and the communication would take place. Now, the two jewels Aaron would look at and how, I don’t know and nobody else knows, but through those jewels as a medium, he would understand the communication that had been given to him. Hence a high priest’s method of communicating with God was always through the urim and thummirn. Moses didn’t do it that way, because he was a prophet. God spoke to him direct. But the high priest could only communicate with God through the urim and the thummirn. If he lost those jewels he couldn’t talk with God.
Now, the ephod carrying the breastplate and the two precious stones, the urim and the thummim, was strictly an official robe; so that you often find in the accounts in the Old Testament the expression, “Get me the ephod.” “What do you want with the ephod?” “I want to communicate with God.” The ephod was the robe of communication. You read in the life of David that he went to where the high priest was and told him to put on his ephod and answer him certain questions. Well, the high priest put on the ephod, went up to the door of the holy place, propounded David’s question, looked at the urim and the thummirn, understood the answer, and gave it to David. You read in the book of Judges that Gideon when he assumed to be king had an ephod made so that he could communicate with God. And you read in the prophet Hosea that Israel shall be a long time without a king, without an ephod, and without a prophet. They shall have no means of communicating with God. That is the condition of Israel this day. They have no Temple; they have no high priest; they have lost the urim and thummirn; they have no ephod; no way of communicating with God. Since they reject Christ, the only means of communication, they are shut off. So that the particular thing about the breastplate and its urim and thummirn is that it was a God-appointed means of communicating with the people through the high priest. He adopted a different method when he spoke with the prophets. A prophet was higher than a priest. The prophets communicated with God directly. There are other things about Aaron’s dress, all the details of which had a meaning, but these are the great meanings of the dress of the high priest.
20. What were the regular times of service in this tabernacle?
Ans. Here were the regular times: The daily services every morning and every evening; the sabbath services, that is, once a week; the monthly services, the monthly sabbaths, and the annual sabbaths. Those were the great festivals, three great festivals, and then the Jubilee sabbaths, and in connection with it there came the great Day of Atonement. Those were the regular times of service, but there were provisions for special times of services that I will not now discuss.
21. What the offerings and their meanings?
Ans. I have to answer it so elaborately when I come to Leviticus, I only give now in general terms these offerings: Sin offerings, burnt offerings, eucharistic, or thank offerings; in a burnt offering, all of it had to be burned up. Now, a sin offering had to be burned, but every burnt offering was not a sin offering. I give you this example: If a man wanted to consecrate his whole life to God and brought an offering, that was a burnt offering. Now, that offering had to be burned to ashes on the brazen altar, to signify that God accepted that entire consecration. The sin offering was also burned. Nobody could eat a part of a sin offering. But certain parts of the eucharist, or thank offering, or peace offering, or meat offering could be eaten. Moses ate a certain part, and Aaron and his sons a certain part, and the Levites certain parts.
22. What was the ritual?
Ans. The ritual is that set of rules that told them just how everything was to be done. Almost the whole book of Leviticus is ritual and the larger part of Numbers. For instance, it tells just how every particular offering must be offered. The ritual is the system of rules prescribed, the service and the order of the service in all of its parts.
23. What was the place of the sanctuary in the camp and order of encampment around it?
Ans. I will answer that question more fully when we come to the book of Leviticus. We will suppose Israel is on a march and the cloud stops. As soon as the cloud stops Aaron and Moses stop. As soon as they stop, those carrying the furniture of the most holy place, that is, the ark and mercy seat, set it down there covered. And then the tent is put over it, and then all the arrangements are made about the various articles of the holy place and the court. Then the fence is put up, i.e., the court fence. Now, the Levites come in and camp on three sides, and every tribe knew just where it was to camp one on the north side, one on the east, one on the west, and so on.
24. When was this tabernacle completed and what was the order of setting it up?
Ans. In Exo 39:42 , we have this statement: “According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it.” Exo 39:42 of that chapter says, “Then was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished and they brought all the material together before Moses.” Now, the other part of the question was: The order of its setting up? That is explained to you in Exo 40:1-8 ; Exo 40:17 , “And it came to pass in the first month in the second year [that is, since they left Egypt], on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. And Moses reared up the tabernacle.” Then it tells how the tent was put up: “Then Moses took and put the testimony into the ark,” brought the ark into its place and then all the other things into their places in order.
25. When was it anointed?
Ans. It was anointed after the setting up, and Exo 40:9-11 , tells about that anointing, that is, setting it apart. And this is what it says on that, “And thou shalt take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is therein and shall hallow it; and all the vessels thereof and it shall be holy, and thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt-offering and all its vessels and sanctify the altar and it shall be an altar most holy.” “Thou shalt anoint the laver; thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons and make them put on their official robes and anoint them. Thus did Moses.”
26. When was it filled?
Ans. As soon as it was set up and was get apart, and anointed, the record says (Exo 40:34 ), the cloud came down and filled the tent and the glory of it was such that Moses couldn’t enter it. Then God says, “My glory sanctifies this tent.” When we get to Lev 18 , we learn that the tabernacle was sprinkled with blood as well as anointed with oil. Now, you will see from a careful reading of the last chapter of Exodus that a great many commandments are given, telling how things are to be done. Go to Leviticus and Numbers to find out how these orders given in the last chapter of Exodus are carried out. They are prescribed here and they tell you how it is to be done; the orders are given, but in Leviticus and Numbers they are carried out.
27. How dedicated?
Ans. Now, although the cloud had filled the tent, you don’t learn how that house was dedicated until you get to Num 7 . Nearly all of Leviticus and about a third of Numbers ought to be studied with the last part of Exodus. I am going to close what I have to say on this by giving you a little subsequent history of this tabernacle. It went with the children of Israel through all their wanderings. When Joshua got over into the Holy Land he set it up at Shiloh and after awhile it was moved to Nob. There it was in David’s time; then it went to Bethel; then in Solomon’s time it was at Gibeon. David erected a new tent. He didn’t make a new ark of the covenant and new altars and things of that kind, but he did make a new tent when he brought the ark up and put it in Jerusalem. Then he sent to Gibeon later on and that old tent that stood empty at Gibeon was brought but not set up, but just rolled up and when the Temple was built it was put in a chamber of the Temple and preserved, how long, I don’t know.
28. Give the parallels of a later date.
Ans. Well, just as that tabernacle was first prepared fully in all its materials, and these materials were brought together in one place, just so it was done with the Temple. So that when they started to put up the Temple they do so without the sound of hammer. Everything was so carefully prepared before it went up. Just as the church in glory will go up when the time comes. Every living stone will be thoroughly complete: body there, glorified; soul there, sanctified; no work to be done that day. It just goes into place by assembling. In my sermon on the church you will find just how the church in glory will be finally set up, and how that when our Lord built his church, John the Baptist prepared some of the material, which Jesus accepted; and Jesus prepared some of the material. But not all the work of the church was completed until Christ died. When he died he said, “It is finished.” The church was completed.
But that church was not anointed until the day of Pentecost, just as the old tabernacle had to be anointed and the smoke came and filled it. So the church that Jesus built stood open after he left it. He was the guide in it. He was the Shekinah as long as he lived, but when he went away it stood open until the day of Pentecost, when, as Daniel says, the most holy place was anointed. The Spirit came down and filled that house just as the cloud filled the house that Solomon built, and the house that Moses built.
29. What was the position of the cloud with reference to this tabernacle and its signals?
Ans. The normal place of the cloud was up in the air above the tabernacle. If the cloud moved, they moved, and they kept right under it. That was the normal place. If the cloud stopped, they stopped. So that one of the cloud’s signals was its moving, or its stopping. Another one of the cloud’s signals was its coming down and resting on the tent. That signified a communication was desired with the people through the priests. Then the high priest put on his ephod with his urim and thummirn, and went in to receive the communication. If a communication was wanted with Moses, he needed no ephod, since he was a prophet and talked direct with God.
30. What was the value of that cloud for light, shade, defense and guidance?
Ans. All night the cloud up in the air was one great pillar of fire, brighter than all the electric lights of New York City. Night couldn’t come up and touch them. Just think of it being forty years that they never saw the night. Then in the daytime the cloud spread out as a shade and kept the burning sun off them. The heat didn’t smite them for forty years. Then the cloud by its movements infallibly guided them just exactly where to go. They didn’t have to make any inquiries concerning the road they were to follow. They were to follow the cloud. They didn’t have to ask about how soon to start next morning. They were just to wait on the cloud. If it didn’t move, they were to stay right there if it was a year. The whole question was settled as to guidance by the cloud. How was it as a defense? Well, as enemies came, if the enemies were in the rear the cloud moved to the rear and got between them and the enemies with the black face of it toward the enemies. It had a black face and a light face. It would turn the light face toward the Israelites. It did that way when Pharaoh came up after them, and it looked to him like the blackest night the world ever saw, coming right between him and the Israelites, and it stayed there; Pharaoh couldn’t see through the black part of the cloud that was throwing light over Israel, and the Israelites passed through the Red Sea; as soon as they were across the cloud rose up and went on ahead of the Israelites, and Pharaoh following when he got into the midst of the sea, he and his army were swallowed up.
31. What was the value of the sanctuary as a center?
Ans. It was absolutely essential to hold this crowd together. Put three million people out and no center of unity and they will disintegrate; they will go in every direction, but no matter how many the people nor how far out the columns had to spread in marching and the herds had to go in grazing, all they had to do at any time was to look up; away yonder they could see, if in the daytime, the pillar of cloud, if at night, the pillar of fire.
32. What was the value of the sanctuary as an oracle?
Ans. An oracle is a supernatural voice that answers questions and tells you what you are to do.
33. Where was the oracle and what was it?
Ans. The most holy place is many times called the oracle, not because it was the oracle, t)ut because it was there that the oracle spoke. Nobody can estimate how much is the value of an infallible oracle. A case would come up that Moses would not know what to do. “Well, I will go and ask the oracle. I will ask God. God will tell me what to do.” In the New Testament Jesus says, “While you are now asking me questions [they were firing questions at him all the time, and right then in that very discussion of his, Philip says, “Lord, this,” and Thomas says, “Lord, this” and Jude says “Lord, this”] when the other Advacate comes, you shall ask me nothing. You will ask him. You will ask the Holy Spirit. I am going away and you think you will have nobody to answer your questions?” Disciples are interrogation points. They ask questions all the time and often very foolish questions, but Jesus patiently listened and answered, but when he went away that was the thing that troubled them: “Who will answer our questions?” “In that day when the Holy Spirit comes, you will ask me nothing. Just ask him,” says Jesus.
34. How was a communication signified?
Ans. If it was the high priest that was to ask a question, he would put on the ephod with the urim and thummirn and come to the Holy Place, and if the cloud was willing to hear him it would settle down and talk to him, and the same way with Moses, only Moses didn’t use the urim and thummirn.
35. How was the answer obtained and give examples?
Ans. If it was a priest wanting it, the answer was obtained through the urim and thummirn; I will give you some examples: 1Sa 23:9-12 ,-1Sa 28:6 ; 1Sa 30:7-8 ; Hos 3:4 . All these are cases when questions were brought, the methods by which they were brought and how answers were obtained.
36. What was the relative value of this tent and all the other tents?
Ans. A great many tents were necessary for three millions of people. I will let the psalmist answer that question. He says, “The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the tents of Israel.” That tent was worth all the rest of them put together. Without that tent the others would not stand. It was not only the center of unity and the place where the oracle spoke and by which they were defended and guided, but it was the place of God’s presence.
37. What description and explanation the best?
Ans. About the best I know is found in Rand-McNally’s Atlas of the Bible. If you had that book you could turn to a certain page and see the picture of the whole tabernacle, see the diagram showing you just how every tribe camped, where Moses stood, where Aaron stood, etc.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
the LORD (Hebrew. Jehovah. spake. See note on Exo 6:10, and compare note on Exo 3:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 40
And so the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shall thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. And thou shall put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with a veil. And you are to bring in the table, and set it in its place with the candlesticks, and the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, put the hanging on the door of the tabernacle. Thou shall set on the altar the burnt offering before the door [and so forth]. Thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water therein. And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate. And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and thou shalt hallow it and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy ( Exo 40:1-9 ).
Now the opening was to be toward the east. So that would be back behind us by which you would have entered into the tabernacle, the opening towards the east. You would first of all enter this outer courtyard, which had these curtains hanging all the way around, seventy-five by one hundred and fifty feet courtyard, with these curtains seven and a half feet high. You would enter through this gate area of curtains on the east end.
As you came into the courtyard, the first thing that would be in front of you would be the altar of sacrifice, seven and a half feet square on the top and four and a half feet high. And the fire would be there upon the altar for the roasting of the meat and the offering. Beyond the altar there would be this brass laver, in which the priests would bathe before they entered into this little fifteen-foot high tent enclosure. Now all the way around this fifteen-foot high tent enclosure were these acacia boards that were about twenty-seven inches wide overlaid with gold, fifteen inches high, sort of set in sockets of silver and tongue and groove into each other.
Over the top of these golden covered boards that were held upright by these golden rings and these gold overlaid sticks that went through the rings holding them upright position. The first covering over it as you would go inside, of course, you see the gold walls, and you would see then in the ceiling, the linen, colored embroidered, work of linen, the first covering over the top, the linen covering.
Over the top of that there would be a goats’ hair covering. Over the top of that there would be these rams’ skins that were dyed red. Over the top of that, the badgers’ skins that were sort of waterproof to keep the thing waterproof inside. As you would enter this gold staved little building that was actually forty-five feet long and fifteen feet wide, you would be entering it, also pulling back the curtain entering it from the east.
Over on your left-hand side as you would enter, over on this side, there would be this candleholder with seven candles of which this is sort of a model up here. With the lights flickering in the top of it, the wick in the oil kept burning constantly. Over on your right-hand side there would be this little low table of about three feet by eighteen inches or so on the top, and it was overlaid with gold.
And you would see twelve loaves of bread sitting on this little table to the right. The loaves would be changed every week. Directly in front of you there would be another beautifully embroidered curtain. This curtain having the cherubim embroidered on it and in front of it there would be a little golden altar with four horns on it, the altar of incense, where the priests would come and wave the little incense burners before this altar of incense and behind this curtain.
Then you would enter into a room that was a fifteen-foot cube. Again on the walls, on the sides, and on the back you would see just the gold of the overlaid acacia boards. Above your head again you would see the fancy embroidered work of the fine linen, gold, purple, blue and red with the cherubim and all embroidered in it. You would see in this room a golden box with a golden lid. And upon the golden lid there were these two golden cherubim that were carved there on the lid. Of course you wouldn’t see it because only the high priests could see that and only once a year.
And thus, you have an idea of the tabernacle where God met the people, and thus the thing was made according to the plan that God had given. And now the time has come, really, for the anointing of the thing.
And in verse nine,
thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is in it, thou shall hallow it, and the vessels thereof: shall be holy. You shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all of those vessels, sanctify the altar: there will be an altar most holy. Thou shalt anoint the laver, that brass laver with its foot, and sanctify it. Thou shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them. [There in that laver, that bathtub that was there.] And thou shall put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shall bring his sons, and clothe them with coats: And thou shall anoint them, as you did anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generation. And thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did. And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up ( Exo 40:9-17 ).
So the second year they came out of Egypt on the first month, which was the celebration of when they came out because they came out on Passover. They then raised up this tabernacle there in the wilderness.
And Moses reared up the tabernacle, fastened the sockets, set up the boards, and put the bars in it, and reared up the pillars ( Exo 40:18 ).
Now there were four pillars that were across the front of the golden pillars and also on the inside before the Holy of Holies.
He spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, put the covering of the tent upon it; as the LORD commanded him. He took and put the testimony in the ark ( Exo 40:19-20 ),
So the testimony would be these two little tables of stone upon which had been etched the Ten Commandments. They were put in this ark.
and he put the mercy seat above it. He brought the ark into the tabernacle, set the veil of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD had commanded him. He put the table in the tent of the congregation, on the side of the tabernacle northward ( Exo 40:20-22 ),
As I say it was on the east end, it would be over here on the right side, the northward side opposite the veil.
He set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD commanded him. He put the candlestick over against the table, [on the left side,] the south side of the tabernacle. He lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded him. He put the golden altar in the tent before the veil: and there he began to burn the sweet incense on it; as the LORD commanded. He set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle [that is the curtain that covered the front]. And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the LORD had commanded Moses. And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and he put water in it, to wash everything. And Moses and Aaron and his son, washed their hands and their feet at it: and then they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near to the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle [That is that seven and a half-foot curtain hanging in the court gates]. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud was abiding on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not until the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, the fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys ( Exo 40:23-38 ).
So can you imagine what that would be like as you are constantly reminded of the presence of God because the tabernacle was in the midst of the camp and the Israelites were encamped all around about the tabernacle. And any night you could get up and look towards the tabernacle, and you would see this fire of God hovering over that tabernacle. That must have been awesome. You know if you had insomnia, you get up at night and you go to take a walk looking towards the tabernacle you’d see this fire of God’s presence.
During the day looking towards the tabernacle you would see this cloud resting there. When the cloud would lift and move, then the people would go and fold the whole thing up and carry it off. And they would follow the cloud until it would stand still. They would set the tabernacle, the cloud would come down and set upon the tabernacle; and thus, they were led through the forty years in the wilderness constantly reminded of the presence of God as they looked at the tabernacle, the place of meeting. But I love that verse that declared “the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle”.
Oh you know, the heavens of heavens cannot contain God, but when you experience the presence of God, the glory of God filling the house. My heart longs to experience more of the glory of God in my life. I would like to see us all just take off some day and just spend the day here, just waiting upon God, opening our hearts to Him through worship and praise throughout the day. Just that we might see the glory of the Lord fill His house, tabernacle, the place of meeting. This is the place where we come to meet God. Of course, we meet God everywhere we are, but where as the body collectively; we come to meet God. How glorious it would be to see the glory of the Lord just filling this place. Whew.
Father, with Moses we pray that we might see thy glory. God, we pray that you will captivate our hearts with thyself, that we will become less interested in the glory of the world and more interested in the glory of God. Oh Father, demonstrate thy glory to thy people. Let them experience, Lord, the glory of your presence during this week. Oh, God, draw us away from the world and draw us unto Thyself and bring us unto Thyself, Lord, in a special way. In Jesus’ name, we ask it. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Very full details are given concerning the preparation of the holy garments of the priests, all of which were made strictly according to the pattern.
We then come to the definite statement, “Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting: and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; so did they.”
The work thus completed was brought by the workmen to Moses for final inspection, and in rapid survey the whole is again mentioned, the story closing with the words, “And Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it; as Jehovah had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.”
This almost monotonous repetition of the fact that the work was carried out according to the pattern is full of significance. Everything was intended to teach the people that the one simple basis of relationship between them and God must ever be implicit obedience to the minutest detail of divine instructions. In the economy of God no apparently trivial matter is really trivial or unimportant. Man cannot approach God in any way of his own contriving, and no people have any right to expect God’s guidance save as they are devoted to Him and His methods in His worship and His work.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Directions for Erecting the Tabernacle
Exo 40:1-16
On the new years day of the second year of the exodus Moses was bidden to rear up the Tabernacle, and with his own hand to place each article in its specified position. With what joy must those commands have fallen on His ears! We are reminded of the words of Robert Moffat, when he was completing the translation of the entire Bible into the language of the Botswana: When I had finished the last verse I could hardly believe that I was in the world. My emotions found vent by my falling on my knees and thanking God for His grace and goodness in giving me strength to accomplish my task. Under similar circumstances Dr. Paton says that he pitched his bat into the air and danced round and round his printing-press. Let us build our life, piece by piece, in the same spirit-not with wood, hay and stubble, but with gold, silver and precious stones-so that at the close we may be able to say, I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
7. The Tabernacle Set Up, the Finished Work and the Glory
CHAPTER 40
1. Jehovah gives the directions (Exo 40:1-15)
2. Moses obedience (Exo 40:16)
3. The tabernacle set up (Exo 40:17-19)
4. The ark brought in (Exo 40:20-21)
5. The furniture placed and the offerings brought (Exo 40:22-29)
6. The laver and the court (Exo 40:30-33)
7. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exo 40:34-38)
While the people had offered and the chosen workmen labored in the production of the tabernacle, the Lord had not spoken. He looked upon His people as they carried out His commands. But after Moses had blessed them, then the Lord spoke and commanded the setting up of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month. He directs the placing of the different pieces of furniture. The table with the shewbread was to be arranged, water to be put into the laver, the anointing of all was to follow, the priests to be washed, clothed and anointed. All was carried out again. Moses did according to all the Lord commanded him. The building of the tabernacle and all the work connected with it occupied not quite six months. The tabernacle was reared in the first month in the second year on the first day of the month. The setting up began with the sockets, in which the boards were placed. The testimony was put into the ark (the tables of stone). Then after the ark had been brought in, Moses hung the curtain. The holy part of the tabernacle was next arranged. The table was placed on the right side towards the north, and the shewbread was laid upon it. Of all this we shall read in Leviticus, where the typical meaning will be pointed out. The altar of burnt offerings was placed before the door of the dwelling of the tabernacle and the laver between the tabernacle and the altar. Moses burned sweet incense and offered the burnt offering and meat offering. When Moses had looked upon all that had been done, he was well pleased and blessed the people (39:43). When Jehovah looked upon the finished work and saw that all was according to His heart, He was well pleased. His approval as witnessed to by the cloud, which covered the tabernacle, and His glory filled the place, e entered in to take possession of it. Moses had to stand back; He could no longer go into the place where Jehovah dwelt.
While here the cloud covered all and the glory filled the whole place, later the cloud drew back into the most holy place to dwell above the outspread wings of the cherubim, Moses and the priests could then enter the holy place without coming in touch with the sign of Jehovahs presence, which was hidden from human gaze by the curtain of the holy of holies.
As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle the children of Israel remained in camp; when it moved, they continued their journey. This had a blessed meaning for the people of God and has its lessons for us. The cloud in its movements made known Jehovahs will. We have no such external sign to declare the will of God to us. We have the internal presence of the Holy Spirit. And He guides us through His Word, which we must consult for direction and guidance. All this we shall find fully stated in Num 9:15-23; when we reach that wilderness book we hope to point out some of its lessons.
We state once more the fact that Exodus begins with a groan and the first part ends with the song of redemption. The second part begins with Israel s wilderness wandering and ends after the work was finished with the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle. The Lord Jesus Christ and His Word is foreshadowed in the entire book. Glory is the great goal of all He has done. He has reached down and set the miserable slaves of sin and Satan free; He changes our groans into songs of victory, because He, the Lamb of God, shed His blood. He guides His people home. Glory will yet cover Zion , the place of His rest. In the day of His glorious manifestation, when He appears in glory and majesty as the King of Kings, the glory cloud will be seen again in the midst of the redeemed Israel (Isa 4:4-6). And in all eternity, the ages to come, His glory will be with the redeemed and the redeemed will share His glory.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away (Rev 21:3-4).
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Reciprocal: Exo 36:1 – according Exo 40:17 – the first month 1Ch 21:29 – the tabernacle
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The closing chapter of Exodus falls into three sections. First, verses Exo 40:1-15 which give the instructions delivered to Moses by the Lord, as to the erection of the tabernacle and its contents and the installing of the priests. Second, verses Exo 40:16-33, the record of the careful obedience of Moses, so that everything was carried out in accordance with the divine instructions.
Verse Exo 40:33 ends with the words, “So Moses finished the work.” This carries our minds on to Heb 3:5 where we are reminded that “Moses verily was faithful in all His [God’s] house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after.” The whole tabernacle system was a testimony in type and picture of the realities which have been established in Christ and in His sacrificial work; hence the faithfulness of Moses in carrying out everything according to God’s word, while the work was in progress, and then finishing the work without any omissions, was of prime importance.
But we must again remind our readers that we now have the great realities, which were typified, fully revealed in the New Testament, and they control our understanding of the types. We must not fall into the mistake of attempting to conform New Testament realities to Old Testament shadows. If this be attempted we easily travel out of the realm of Divine truth into the region of human imagination.
The third section, verses Exo 40:34-38, records how the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, when all was finished, and what the results of that filling were. The first result of that filling was that man was wholly excluded. Even the faithful Moses was unable to enter where the glory of Jehovah abode. Let us contrast this scene with what the Apostle Paul could record as to himself in 2Co 12:1-5. In that passage he speaks of himself as, “a man in Christ.” A more true servant of God than Moses never lived, yet his service was carried out some fifteen centuries before Christ appeared, and accomplished the work which made it possible for anyone to be spoken of as a man in Christ. What we see, as we close the book of Exodus, is that no man of Adam’s race, even the finest specimen thereof, has any standing in the presence of the glory of God. That great verse, Rom 3:23, is illustrated here.
But we also see that, though man cannot stand before the glory, he may yet have from it all the guidance that he needs. Israel was in the trackless wilderness, and left to themselves they would have aimlessly wandered about. As it was, their wanderings were controlled. They moved or rested as the cloud of glory indicated, and so all was ordered for their instruction and discipline.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Section 3. (Exo 40:1-38.)
The tabernacle set up, anointed, and filled with the glory of God.
The tabernacle is now complete, but still Moses has to wait for the word of the Lord to set it up. All through this part, however, the forwardness of man is repressed, and he is made to realize the necessity of dependence, and that with God alone is wisdom! The command is given for the first day of the first month of the second year of the exodus. A year had passed since the ordinance of the passover in Egypt, and their deliverance was now complete.
Of our deliverance it was but the shadow; but how inexpressibly blessed to see what was in God’s heart embodying itself in these symbols, ere yet He could give plain utterance to them! The glory is vailed; but even so, in the very manner of its vailing God intimates His desire to remove it and to speak face to face. Oh may there be with us more boldness and eager desire of faith to enter into what God has made our own! Our dullness and indifference are indeed amazing, only surpassed by the measureless grace that invites us still!
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
REFLECTIONS.On the first day of the first month of Abib, the tabernacle was reared. How time steals away! One year is gone; and what an eventful year to Israel, but now crowned with glory and with joy. Fifty days had elapsed before the promulgation of the law. Forty days expired while Moses was on the mount. Thirty four were spent in chastising and reforming Israel concerning the revolt of the golden calf. Forty days more were spent in receiving the second tables of the law, for the time of our backsliding is worse than lost in the sight of God. And perhaps a third forty were spent on the same mount. Be that as it may, with the intervening space of time, they had arrived at the seventh day of the tenth month. Now on the first day of the new year of Israels emancipation, when the spring displayed the beauties of nature, they erected the tabernacle to display the glory of religion.
With what reverence and joy would Israel survey the majestic, beautiful, and mysterious pavilion of the Lord. Here was the mercy-seat, or throne of the Shechinah, surrounded with cherubims: and the ark of his strength before him, to show that he is ever mindful of his promises. Here was the veil of blue, separating the holy of holies, from the holy place in the sanctuary, adumbrating that a future state, and the invisible glory are veiled from the eyes of men. Here was the table with twelve loaves, importing that Israel might every morning find food in the house of God. Near it stood the golden altar of incense, to show how the devotion of the good ever ascends as a cloud before God, and grateful in his sight. The candlestick, with its seven lamps, was always burning, to signify that the light and glory of God are ever shining by his word and Spirit upon his worshippers. In the approach to this most sacred mansion stood the great brazen altar of burnt-offering. Here the offender might leave his victim, confess his sin, and be sprinkled with the atoning blood: then purged in his conscience, he might wash in the laver, and enter the courts of the Lord. And oh, is this the road, the awful road to God. Is there no way of approaching the Just and Holy One but by death, and by blood. How awful then is the nature, and how dreadful are the consequences of sin. But how insufficient must the death of a sheep be for the atonement of my great and manifold sins. Surely all this grandeur is but a shadow of the real atonement, and of the great Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Oh it is on Calvary, and only on Calvary, that the true atonement is made. It is the second Adam, the spotless Lamb dying in union with the Godhead, so close as to constitute the divine and human nature of Christ but one person, which makes atonement for the sin of the soul. It is from the cross, as from the high altar, the blood flows which washes away the guilt of the nations. There, oh God, let me purge my conscience: there let me wash my hands, my heart in innocency, and so compass thine altar. There let me commence my death unto sin, till iniquity all expire; there let me begin to live unto righteousness, and henceforth serve thee in newness of life.
No sooner had Israel, with this great labour and freewill-offering prepared the sanctuary of the Lord, and invited his descent with the fervent devotion of their hearts, than the Lord filled the tabernacle with glory and a cloud, and made it the place of his rest and joy. And delighting to dwell among them, he became their guide and defence in the desert land. So if the temple of my soul be prepared by repentance, and by the expectation of his presence, he will delight to dwell in my heart for ever.
This sacred book began with the affliction of Israel, and with the birth of Moses, and now it closes with a full view of their emancipation, with the glory of their sanctuary, with a sight of the God of Abraham dwelling with his people for ever. May all the wonders of providence and grace, exhibited for our redemption, come in like manner to this happy close.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exodus 35 – 40
These chapters contain a recapitulation of the various parts of the tabernacle and its furniture; and inasmuch as, I have already given what I believe to be the import of the more prominent parts, it were needless to add more. There are, however, two things in this section from which we may deduce most profitable instruction, and these are, first, the voluntary devotedness; and, secondly, the implicit obedience of the people with respect to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. And first, as to their voluntary devotedness, we read, “And all the consecration of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold : and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass, brought the Lord’s offering: and every man with whom was found shittim wood? for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate: and spice and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring, for all manner of work which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.” (Ex. 35: 20-29.) And, again, we read, “And all the wise men that; wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; and they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make, . . . . for the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.” (Ver. 4-7.)
A lovely picture this of devotedness to the work of the sanctuary! It needed no effort to move the hearts of the people to give, no earnest appeals, no impressive arguments. Oh! no; their “hearts stirred them up.” This was the true way. The streams of voluntary devotedness flowed from within. “Rulers,” “men,” “women” – all felt it to he their sweet privilege to give to the Lord, not with a narrow heart or niggard hand, but after such a princely fashion that they had “enough and too much.”
Then, as to their implicit obedience, we read, “according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.” (Ex. 39: 42, 43) The Lord had given the most minute instructions concerning the entire work of the tabernacle. Every pin, every socket, every loop, every tach, was accurately set forth. There was no room left for man’s expediency, his reason, or his common sense. Jehovah did not give a great outline and leave man to fill it up He left no margin whatever in which man might enter his regulations. By no means. “See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. (Ex. 25: 40; Ex. 26: 30; Heb. 8: 5) This left no room for human device. If man had been allowed to make a single pin, that pin would, most assuredly, have been out of place in the judgement of God. We can see what man’s “graving tool” produces in Ex. 32. Thank God, it had no place in the tabernacle. They did, in this matter, just what they were told – nothing more – nothing less. Salutary lesson this for the professing church! There are many things in the history of Israel which we should earnestly seek to avoid – their impatient murmurings, their legal vows, and their idolatry; but in those two things may we imitate them. May our devotedness be more whole hearted, and our obedience more implicit. We may safely assert, that if all had not been done “according to the pattern showed in the mount,” we should not have to read, “then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” (Ex. 40: 34, 35) The tabernacle was, in all respects, according to the divine pattern, and, therefore, it could be filled with the divine glory. There is a volume of instruction in this. We are too prone to regard the Word of God as insufficient for the most minute details connected with His worship, and service. This is a great mistake, a mistake which has proved the fruitful source of evils and errors, in the professing Church. The word of God is amply sufficient for everything, whether as regards personal salvation and walk, or the order and rule of the assembly. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Tim. 3: 16, 17) This settles the question. If the Word of God furnishes a man thoroughly unto “all good works,” it follows, as a, necessary consequence, that whatever I find not in its pages, cannot possibly be a good work. and, further, be it remembered, that the divine glory cannot connect itself with ought that is not according to the divine pattern.
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Beloved reader, we have now travelled together through this most precious book. We have, I fondly hope, reaped some profit from our study. I trust we have gathered up some refreshing thoughts of Jesus and His sacrifice as we passed along. Feeble, indeed, must be our most vigorous thoughts, and shallow our deepest apprehensions, as to the mind of God in all that this Book contains. It is happy to remember that through grace, we are on our way to that glory where we shall know, even as we are known; and where we shall bask in the sunshine of His countenance who is the beginning and ending of all the ways of God, whether in creation, in providence, or redemption. To Him I do most affectionately commend you, in body, soul, and spirit. May you know the deep blessedness of having your portion in Christ, and be kept in patient waiting for His glorious advent. Amen.
C. H. M.
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch
XL. Ps. The Erection of the Tent.After a further summary of instructions mostly given before (Exo 40:1-15), and involving the very latest developments (cf. the anointing of the assistant priests in Exo 40:15), the actual erection is described in Exo 40:16-33, Moses himself inaugurating the ceremonial of worship (Exo 40:23; Exo 40:25; Exo 40:27; Exo 40:29). Both in this section and in Exo 39:1-31 a studied parallel with the Divine work of creation in Genesis 1 is produced by the refrain, seven times repeated, as Yahweh commanded Moses. The present book fitly closes (Exo 40:34-38; cf. Exo 13:21 f.*) with the description of the descent of the Divine glory, its unearthly light visible by night and day within the cloud, which yet shrouded its insufferable brilliance from mortal eyes. By this symbolic representation the sublime conception of the perpetual presence of the invisible God was reconciled with His unapproachable majesty. Observe that Leviticus 8 f., describing the preparation of the priesthood, must originally have immediately followed. Possibly the account of the descent of the glory in Lev 9:23 has been anticipated in Exo 40:34-38, which belongs to a later stratum of P.
(See also Supplement)
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
THE TABERNACLE ERECTED AND ARRANGED
(vs.1-33)
About one year had elapsed after the Passover in Egypt. Now the Lord instructs Moses to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month. The first article of furniture then mentioned is the ark (v.3), to be placed inside the tabernacle, for this speaks of Christ as the Sustainer of the throne of God. Therefore it had a place of real separation, for it had to be separate even from the table, the lampstand and the incense altar, for these three involve something in which believers take part, whereas the throne of God is altogether above any creature participation. It speaks of God solely and absolutely in authority. The veil then was to be a partition between the ark and all that was in the outer sanctuary.
Then the table that was to be brought in, the bread arranged in order and its utensils put in their place; and the lampstand set in its place with the lamps lit. Then the altar of incense was to be put before the veil, and the screen (the hanging for the door) fastened up on its pillars (vs.4-5).
Outside, the altar of burnt offering was to be put before the door of the tabernacle, the laver put between the altar and the door, with water put in it. Then the pillars for the court were to be set up, with hangings of fine linen to encircle the entire court except for the entrance where other hangings of blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen were put up (vs.6-8).
The anointing oil was then used for anointing the tabernacle and all that was in it, the burnt offering altar and its utensils, the laver and its base. The priests were to be washed, clothed, anointed and consecrated, as described fully in Lev 8:1-36.
Verses 1 to 15 declare the instructions of God to Moses, and verse 16 tells us that Moses did simply as the Lord commanded. The details of the raising up of the tabernacle are then repeated in verses 18 to 33. The fact that these things are so often repeated indicates their importance in the eyes of God, so that it is well if we meditate upon all these details. Thus all the work was done, “as God commanded Moses.”
THE CLOUD OF GOD’S PRESENCE
(vs.34-38)
A pillar of cloud had previously gone before Israel (Exo 13:21) to lead them: now the cloud covers the tabernacle and the glory of God fills it. Not even Moses could enter the tabernacle then. But God was assuring Israel of the reality of His presence with them on the basis of all that the tabernacle signified.
From that time the cloud remained over the tabernacle so long as God decreed it was to stay in one place. When it was time to journey, God took the cloud up and by it led Israel in the way He chose for them. By night, however, a pillar of fire replaced the cloud, whether they traveled or remained stationary. All was to be left in God’s hand.