Exodus 40

40:1-33 The report on setting up the Tabernacle begins with the Lord’s commands to do so (40:1-15) and continues with the report on how Moses obeyed those commands (40:16-33). • The repeated statement that Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him (40:16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32) is in radical contrast to Aaron’s self-serving statement in 32:22-24. God wishes to share his presence with us, but his holiness is such that this can occur only if we renounce our own efforts to secure his presence and gifts.

40:2 In the Tabernacle, the divine King met with Israel to communicate his will to them. • the first day of the new year: The Tabernacle was set up one year after God announced the Passover and the start of Israel’s calendar.

40:3 The Hebrew word translated Covenant is ‘eduth (“testimony”), which refers particularly to the covenant stipulations. The written copy of these stipulations contained in the Ark would serve as a testimony to the covenant Israel had entered into with God.

40:33 So at last Moses finished the work: See study note on 37:1-29.

40:34-38 The climax of the Exodus occurred when the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. God’s goal from the outset was not merely to deliver his people from their bondage, but to bring them into a relationship with himself. Their real need was to know God personally in their lives. Without that, the Promised Land would not be a land of promise. Now it would be, because the glory that had been on Mount Sinai was in Israel’s midst; it would not be left behind but would travel with them wherever they might go.

40:38 the whole family of Israel: This description is reminiscent of the way the book began (see 1:1-7). Jacob’s family had become slaves in Egypt. What a dramatic change had occurred! They were no longer slaves. They were now in a position to be a blessing to the earth, as God had promised to Abraham generations earlier (Gen 12:3).