The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 40
Chapter XL · Vol. I, pp. 361–362
1 The tabernacle is commanded to be reared, 9 and anointed. 12 Aaron and his sons to be sanctified. 16, 17, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30, 33 Moses performeth all things accordingly. 34 A cloud covereth the tabernacle.
1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 On the first day of the a first month shalt thou set up the b tabernacle of the tent of the congregation;9
a ch. 12.1,2; ver. 17. Nu. 7.1.
b ch. xxvi. xxxvi.; 27.21; 30.36; ver. 18,19.
9 The Israelites set out from Egypt on the fifteenth of the first month; they encamped before Sinai on the first of the third month; consequently they had now been before the mount for nine months. During that time they had received the law, and had completed the construction of the tabernacle and all its costly and gorgeous furniture.—P.
3 And thou c shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail.
c ch. 25.10-22; 37.1-9; 26.31,34; 35.12; 36.35,36; ver. 20,21. Le. 16.14.
4 And d thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order1 the things that are to be set in order upon it;2 and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.
d ch. 25.23-39; 37.10-24; 26.35,36; 25.30; ver. 22-25.
1 Heb. the order thereof.
2 Order is the law of the heavens. The sun, the moon, and the stars are obedient to it. In all man's 'labour under the sun,' whether regarding the church or in civil life, similar order should ever prevail. Of this invaluable quality Moses, filled by the Spirit of God, is a most striking and instructive example.—C.
5 And thou shalt set the e altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.
e ch. 30.1-5; 35.25-28; 26.36,37; 36.37,38; ver. 26-28. He. 10.19-22. Jn. 14.6. 1 Jn. 2.1. He. 9.24.
6 And f 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 g laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
8 And thou shalt h set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court-gate.
h ch. 27.9-19; 38.9-20. Mat. 16.18. 1 Co. 12.12,28. Ep. 4.11,12.
9 And thou shalt i 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.
i ch. 30.23-33; 39.39. Is. 11.2. Mat. 3.16. Jn. 3.34. 2 Co. 1.4,22.
10 And thou shalt k anoint the altar of the burnt-offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar l most holy.
k ch. 29.36. Le. 8.11. Is. 61.1; 11.2. Jn. 3.34; 17.19.
l Heb. holiness of holinesses. Lu. 1.35. 2 Co. 5.21. He. 7.26. 1 Co. 1.30.
11 And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.
12 And thou shalt m 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 n thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:
n 1 Co. 1.9. Ro. 8.30; 13.14. 1 Co. 1.30. Is. 61.10. Jn. 1.16. Is. 44.3-5.
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 o everlasting 3 priesthood throughout their generations.
o Nu. 25.13. ch. 12.14; 30.31, with He. v. vii.-x.
3 They were not only to be consecrated to the priesthood as long as they lived, but their posterity also, who should need no other anointing, but should minister to God in succeeding generations so long as that priesthood lasted. 'This priesthood endured, in the family of Aaron, till Christ came; and in him, the substance of all these shadows, it rests for ever. The sons of Aaron were anointed with the same holy oil as their father, but it is not generally supposed that it was poured on their head as it was on his, Le. 8.12,13; 21.10.'—Scott.
17 And it came to pass, in the first month, in the second year,4 on the first day of the month, that the q tabernacle was reared up.
18 And Moses r reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.
r See ver. 2. Ga. 4.4. Jn. 1.14. Mat. 16.18. 1 Pe. 1.5. 1 Ti. 3.15.
19 And he s spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses.
s Put on the four coverings, ch. 26.1-14; 36.8-19.
20 And he took and put the t testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the u mercy-seat above upon the ark.
21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and x set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.
x ch. 35.12; ver. 3. He. 10.19,20.
22 And he y put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail.
y ver. 4. Ep. 3.8. Jn. 6.53-57.
23 And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
24 And he put the z candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
z ver. 4. Jn. 1.1,5,9; 8.12. Ps. 119.105. Re. 1.20; 2.5.
25 And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
27 And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses.
28 And he set up the b hanging at the door of the tabernacle.
b ver. 5. He. 10.19,20. Ep. 2.18. Jn. 14.6; 10.9.
29 And he c 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 commanded Moses.
c ver. 6. Ro. 3.24-26. He. 9.12; 13.10. Mat. 23.19.
30 And he set d the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.
d See ver. 7. Zec. 13.1. 1 Jn. 1.7. 1 Co. 6.11. Eze. 36.25. He. 10.19-22.
31 And Moses, and Aaron, and his sons, washede their hands and their feet thereat.1
e Ps. 26.6; 51.6,7. 1 Jn. 1.7,9.
1 In the whole of this solemn service, Moses acted as a priest, and as a type of him who unites in his own person the offices of a prophet, priest, and king. But after Aaron and his sons were fully established in their office, it does not appear that Moses performed any of the services to which they were especially appointed. As, however, he went into the tabernacle to inquire of the Lord, it may be supposed that on these occasions he washed his hands and feet at the laver, as Aaron and his sons did in their daily ministrations.—Scott.
32 When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.
33 And he f reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the g hanging of the court-gate: so Moses finished the work.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
f ver. 8. Mat. 16.8. Ep. 4.11-13. 1 Co. 12.12,28.
g Jn. 10.9; 14.6. He. 4.14-16; 10.19-22. Ep. 2.18.
34 Thenh a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
h Nu. 9.15. ch. 13.21,22; 25.8,21,22. 1 Ki. 8.10,12. Eze. 43.4-7. Le. 16.2. 2 Co. 5.19. Zec. 2.5. Is. 4.5,6. Re. 21.3,23,24.
35 And Moses was i not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
i 2 Ch. 5.14; 7.2. Re. 15.8. Is. 6.4.
36 And k when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel 2 went onward in all their journeys:
k Nu. 9.17-23. Ne. 9.19. Ps. 78.14; 105.39. ch. 13.21,22. 2 Co. 5.19,20.
2 Heb. journeyed.
37 But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.3
3 All Israel saw what Moses describes. They saw it, not as a meteor that dazzles for a moment, but through many years; they saw it not occasionally, but permanently; and they moved or rested by its symbolic guidance; and their national institutions were so interwoven with the record, that we cannot account for the origin of institutions which we see to be historic records, existing realities, without admitting the truth of the miracles under the divine influence of which these institutions were originally organized.—C.
Notes
Ver. 1-33. The form of the tabernacle when erected was as follows: the court was sixty-one yards long, and half as much in breadth. It was inclosed by a linen hanging of about nine feet in height, suspended by silver hooks, on fifty-six brazen pillars, filleted with silver, and fixed in large sockets of brass.
The only entrance, from the east, was twelve yards wide, and hung over with a fine veil of embroidered linen, suspended on four pillars. Here, under the open sky, stood the brazen altar and laver; and hither every clean Hebrew or proselyte might come with his oblations. At the west end of this court stood the tabernacle itself; a close tent, in the form of a house, standing with its end towards the east. It was about eighteen and one-fourth yards long, six and one-twelfth broad, and as much in height. It was reared with forty-eight boards of shittim-wood, overlaid with gold, and fixed at bottom in ninety-six large sockets of silver, and bound together with five cross-bars of the same materials. On this frame was suspended a fourfold covering. The innermost consisted of ten embroidered linen curtains, each about seventeen yards in length, and about two and one-half yards in breadth, coupled with taches or buttons of gold. Over this was a covering of eleven curtains of goats' hair, coupled with taches of brass; the next was of rams' skins dyed red: the uppermost was of a strong leather, called badgers' skins. The whole east end was an entrance, and hung over with a fine veil of embroidered linen, suspended on five pillars or boards by golden hooks; and just before it, in the court, stood the brazen altar and laver. This tent was distinguished into two apartments. The first, or holy place, was in length twelve yards and six inches; into which only the clean priests might enter. At the inner or west end of it, stood the golden candlestick, altar of incense, and table of show-bread. The second, or most holy place, or oracle, was at the west end of the former, and separated from it by a fine veil of embroidered linen, suspended on four pillars, fixed erect in large sockets of silver. It was a square of ninety-six yards and three inches. Here, amidst gross darkness, at the west end, was set the ark covered by the mercy-seat, and over-shadowed by the golden cherubims; between which hovered the Shekinah, or cloud of the divine presence. The tables of the law were put into the ark. The golden pot of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and a copy of the law of Moses, were afterwards reposited at the east or foreside of the ark. Into this apartment the high-priest alone entered, and he only upon the fast of general expiation, and perhaps four times that day.
Reflections.—It is comely when new years are commenced with remarkable transactions for God, and when everything is performed and placed in due order; for God is ready to meet such as are occupied in his service, and remember him in all their ways. Desolate and dreary are ordinances if without the presence of God; but if the Spirit of God and of glory rest upon us, we may be well comforted, for God is with us and for us; and who then can be against us! But was not this reared tabernacle a type of our once apparently mean but truly glorious Redeemer, in his manhood and mediatorial office; devised of God, and reared up with infinite skill; consecrated by the oil of the Holy Ghost and his own bloody sufferings! In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead. He is the mean of all our fellowship with God; and the treasury of all that atonement, purification, light, food, intercession, and acceptance, which is necessary for our souls. In his debased state he was made the atonement, the laver of purification; in his exalted state he is the eternal rest of Jehovah, and the enlightener, advocate, and feeder of his people. Was it not likewise a figure of the gospel-church, planned by the wisdom of God, and reared up by inspired ministers of Christ! Outwardly mean, but inwardly glorious, she is the residence of God in Christ; and in her he is worshipped in an acceptable manner. In her a fulness of atonement, purification, spiritual light, and provision, of acceptable prayers, praises, and services, are to be found. Was it not a figure of heaven itself, where all its emblems are realized, and in which Jesus, Jehovah, and everything substantial, are to be found in the most eminent degree!