Exodus 40
God tells Israel to set up his home
Then the Existing One told Moses,
“Set up my dwelling place / meeting room on the first day of the first month. Place the chest of evidence inside it and screen it off with a curtain. Put the table inside it and arrange its accessories on it. Put the lampstand in it and set up its lamps. Place the golden incense altar in front of the chest of evidence, and hang a curtain in my home’s doorway. Place the altar for roasted offerings by the front doorway. Place the basin between the meeting room and the altar and fill it with water. Set up the courtyard around the entire thing and hang the curtain for the courtyard’s front entryway. Then you’ll need to take the consecrating oil and pour it on the dwelling place and all the furnishings inside it to consecrate them. The entire thing will be set apart. Pour it on the altar for roasted offerings and all its accessories as well as the basin and its stand to set them apart. Then bring Aaron and his sons to the meeting room’s entrance and wash them in the water. Clothe Aaron in the sacred garments and pour oil on him to set him apart so he can serve as my priest. Bring his sons and clothe them in their garments and anoint them like their father so they can serve as my priests too. Setting them apart with the oil will establish them for priesthood throughout their generations.”
Israel sets up God’s home
Moses did everything the Existing One had instructed him. When the first day of the first month came around (in the second year), they erected God’s home.
Pillars: Moses set up all the bases for the pillars, set up the boards, inserted the bars, and erected the pillars.
Tent: He spread the tent over the dwelling place and put the tent’s covering on top of it.
Chest of Evidence: He took the evidence and put it into the chest, attached the poles to the chest, and put its golden slab on top of it. He brought the chest into the dwelling place and hung a veil to screen off the chest of evidence.
Table: He put the table in the meeting room in front of the veil (on the north side) and arranged food on it for the Existing One.
Lampstand: He placed the lampstand in the meeting room on the south side (opposite of the table) and lit its lamps in front of the Existing One.
Incense Altar: He put the golden incense altar in the meeting room in front of the veil and burned fragrance on it.
Curtain: He set up the curtain for the dwelling place’s doorway.
Roasting Altar: He set up the altar for roasted offerings in front of the dwelling place’s doorway and used it to offer a roasted offering and meal offering.
Washbasin: He placed the basin between the meeting room and the altar and filled it with water. Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons washed their hands and feet in it. They washed whenever they entered the meeting room or approached the altar.
Courtyard: He erected the courtyard around the dwelling place and hung the curtain at the courtyard’s entrance.
Moses finished setting everything up and followed all of the Existing One’s instructions.
God lived with his people
Then the cloud covered the meeting room and the Existing One’s richness filled the dwelling place. Moses couldn’t enter the meeting room because the cloud was living there and the Existing One’s abundance filled the entire thing.
Throughout all their travels whenever the cloud lifted off the dwelling place, the Israelites would leave. But if the cloud remained on the dwelling place, they didn’t move camp until the cloud lifted off. Throughout all their travels, the Existing One’s cloud stayed on the dwelling place during the day and there was fire in it at night for all the Israelites to see.
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