Exodus · chapter 40 of 40
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Exodus 40 tells how, on the first day of the first month of the second year, Moses sets up the tabernacle, places its furniture and consecrates the tent, the altar and the priests. When everything is finished, the cloud covers the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord fills it, so that Moses cannot enter. The cloud will guide Israel on all its journeys.
Exodus 40 is the end of the book and the point toward which its whole story was heading. Israel was freed from Egypt, made a covenant at Sinai, sinned with the calf and was forgiven, and now sets up the tabernacle. What God promised, to live among his people, is fulfilled. The book ends with God's presence at the center of the camp.
The Lord tells Moses to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month. He gives the order: put the ark of the testimony in place and screen it with the veil, bring in the table and arrange the bread, set the lampstand and light its lamps, place the golden altar of incense before the ark and hang the screen at the entrance. In front of the entrance goes the altar of burnt offering, and between the tent and the altar, the basin with water. Then the courtyard is set up. Moses is to anoint the tabernacle, its utensils and the altar with oil, and also Aaron and his sons, wash them and clothe them, so that they serve as priests throughout the generations.
Moses does everything just as the Lord commanded him. In the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle is set up. Moses lays the bases, sets up the frames, the crossbars and the posts, spreads the tent and covers it. He puts the testimony in the ark, the poles and the mercy seat on top, brings the ark into the tabernacle and hangs the veil. He sets the table, the lampstand and the golden altar, burns incense and lights the lamps. He sets the altar of burnt offering and the basin and puts up the courtyard with the screen at its entrance. So Moses finishes the work.
Then the cloud covers the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle. Moses cannot enter because the cloud rests on it. When the cloud lifts from the tabernacle, the Israelites set out; if it does not lift, they do not set out until the day it does. The cloud of the Lord is on the tabernacle by day and fire is in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him. This sentence sums up the faithfulness with which the tabernacle is set up and completes the series of fulfillments running through the final chapters.
The cloud covers the tent and the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle. It is the moment toward which the book was pointing: the God who freed Israel from Egypt now dwells among his people.
Moses cannot enter the tent because the cloud rests on it and the glory of the Lord fills it. Even the mediator closest to God stops before the greatness of his presence.
The cloud of the Lord is on the tabernacle by day and fire by night, in the sight of all Israel, throughout all their journeys. God's presence not only dwells in the sanctuary, it also leads his people along the way.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: On the first day of the first month. — Exodus 40:1-2
Answer: The testimony, the tablets of the law, and the ark was screened with the veil. — Exodus 40:20-21
Answer: The tabernacle, its utensils and the altar, and Aaron and his sons as priests. — Exodus 40:9-15
Answer: Just as the Lord had commanded him. — Exodus 40:16
Answer: The cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. — Exodus 40:33-34
Answer: When the cloud lifted from the tabernacle they set out; if it did not lift, they waited. — Exodus 40:36-37
Exodus 40 reminds us that the purpose of salvation is to live with God. Israel was freed to have God in their midst. A group can ask whether it values that goal: not only receiving God's blessings but enjoying his presence. Christians believe God dwells in his people by the Spirit, and that the church is his dwelling.
The cloud also teaches us to depend on God's guidance. Israel did not march on its own but when the cloud moved. Important decisions of a person or a church can be made with prayer, waiting for the Lord's direction. And Moses, who could not enter, reminds us of the reverence that God's glory deserves.
Exodus 40 closes the book with the tabernacle set up and God's glory in the midst of Israel, and with the cloud that will guide the people on their journeys. The story continues in Leviticus, where the Lord speaks from the tent of meeting and teaches how to approach him.
It means God made his presence visible among Israel in a real and solemn way. It is God's response to the building done as he ordered, and it fulfills the promise to dwell among his people. Something similar happens at Solomon's temple.
Because the cloud rested on it and the glory of the Lord filled it. The text says no more, but it expresses God's holiness and that no one, not even Moses, can enter his presence by right.
With the cloud and the fire over the tabernacle, in the sight of all Israel, as the people travel. The book, which began with Israel enslaved in Egypt, ends with God living among a free people.