Exodus 40:1-38

Exodus: *Israel becomes a nation

God’s instructions to Moses

Exodus Chapter s 19 to 40

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 40

Moses puts God’s special tent into its place and the *Israelites give it to God – verses 1-38

God gave instructions about how to place the special tent – verses 1-15

v1 Then the *LORD spoke to Moses again. v2 ‘Put the special tent into its place. Do it on the first day of the year. The tent is the place where I will meet you. v3 Place the special box in the tent because it *represents my special promise to you. Place the box behind the special curtain. v4 Bring the table inside the tent and put its equipment on it. Then bring the *lampstand inside the tent too, and attach its lamps to it. v5 Then put the gold *altar where you will burn powder. The powder has a sweet smell. You must place the *altar in front of the special box. And put the curtain across the entrance to my tent.’

v6 ‘At the entrance to my tent, place the *altar where you will burn the gifts for me. You will burn the gifts there that the people give to me. v7 Place the basin between the special tent and this *altar. And put water in the basin. v8 Surround the tent with the wall of curtains. These will form a yard round the tent. And put the other curtain at the entrance to the yard.’

v9 ‘Take the special sweet oil. Mark the tent and everything in it with the oil. This will show that the tent and all its furniture are separate for me. It will be holy. v10 Mark the *altar where you burn my gifts. And mark all its tools too. This will show that the *altar is separate for me. It is very holy. v11 Mark the basin and its base too. They are separate for me also.’

v12 ‘Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the special tent. Wash them with water. v13 Then dress Aaron in the special holy clothes. Mark him with the special sweet oil and separate him for me. Then he can serve me as priest. v14 Bring his sons and dress them in their special clothes too. v15 Then mark them with the special oil exactly as you marked their father. Then they can serve me as priests too. When you mark them, this will separate their family. Their family will work for me as priests. They will continue to do that for all time.’

Verse 1 A year had passed since the *Passover night. On the night the *Israelites had left Egypt. Now they called that night the first day. And they called the month Abib. It was the first month (Exodus chapter 12). Three months later the *Israelites had arrived at *Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1). Moses received his instructions there, and they completed all the work during the next 9 months.

Verses 2-8 God told Moses how to place the tent. He told Moses where to place each different object in the tent. The special box was the most important object. So Moses must place that first. And the curtain in front of the box hid the box.

Verses 9-11 Moses must mark the holy tent and everything in it with the special oil. This separated all those things to give honour to God.

Verses 12-15 Moses had to prepare Aaron and his sons to serve God as priests. They must wash before they put on the special clothes. Then Moses marked them with the special oil. This showed that God had chosen them for his service. God chose only Aaron’s family for that job. Men from that family would always be the priests.

Moses obeys God’s instructions – verses 16-33

v16 Moses did everything as the *LORD had ordered him. v17 So he put the tent in its place. It was the first day of the first month in the second year. v18 Moses put the bases in place and he erected the double poles in them. He put in the bars that were in the shape of a cross. And he erected the main poles. v19 Then he spread the first cover over the tent. And he put the outer cover over that. He did it as the *LORD had ordered him.

v20 God had written his laws on two flat stones. Now Moses took those flat stones and he placed them in the special box. He attached its poles to the special box. And he put the cover on the special box. This cover was where God would forgive his people. v21 Then Moses brought the special box into the special tent. And he hung the curtain to hide the special box. It contained the flat stones with God’s laws on them. Moses did this as the *LORD had ordered him.

v22 Moses placed the table for the special bread in the tent. He put it on the north side of the Holy Place, outside the curtain. v23 He arranged the bread on the table in front of the *LORD. Moses did this as the *LORD had ordered him.

v24 Moses placed the *lampstand in the tent too. He put it on the south side of the Holy Place. It was opposite the table. v25 He attached the lamps in front of the *LORD. Moses did this as the *LORD had ordered him.

v26 Moses placed the gold *altar in the tent also. They would burn the special powder that has a sweet smell on this *altar. He placed the gold *altar in front of the curtain. v27 Then he burned the special powder on it to make a sweet smell. Moses did it as the *LORD had ordered him. v28 Then Moses hung the curtain at the entrance to God’s special tent.

v29 Next Moses took the *altar where they would burn gifts. He put it outside the entrance to the special tent. And he gave gifts to God on it. He killed the animals and he burnt them there on God’s behalf. And he gave the gifts of grain too. Moses did everything as the *LORD had ordered him.

v30 Moses placed the *bronze basin between the special tent and the *altar. He put water with which to wash in the basin. v31 Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and their feet. v32 They always washed themselves when they entered God’s special tent. And they washed themselves when they approached the *altar with gifts. They did this as the *LORD had ordered Moses.

v33 Then Moses hung the curtain wall round the yard. This yard surrounded God’s special tent and the *altar. Then he hung the curtain at the entrance to the yard. So Moses finished the work.

Verse 16 In this account the writer emphasises the fact that Moses obeyed the *LORD’s instructions. Moses obeyed in every detail. Verses 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 and 29 all end with the words ‘as the *LORD had ordered him’. Verse 32 says, ‘They did this as the *LORD had ordered Moses’.

Verses 26-29 Moses acted as a priest in front of God. He gave the special powder that has a sweet smell. He burned it on the gold *altar inside the tent. Then he gave the animals and the grain as gifts. He gave them on the *bronze *altar in the yard. Leviticus 8:14-30 tells more detail about what Moses gave to God at that time. It tells more detail about how Moses marked Aaron and his sons as priests. That was how he separated them for God’s service.

The wonderful bright light that shone from the *LORD – verses 34-38

v34 Then the cloud covered God’s special tent. The wonderful bright light filled the special tent because the *LORD was present there. v35 And Moses could not enter the special tent because the *LORD’s wonderful bright light filled it.

v36 The *Israelites started all their journeys on the day that God lifted the cloud from above God’s special tent. v37 But if the cloud stayed there, they did not go anywhere. They stayed in that place until God lifted the cloud again. Then they followed the cloud. v38 So the *LORD was with them always. His cloud was above the holy tent during the day. And fire was in the cloud at night. Every *Israelite saw the cloud during all their journeys.

Verse 34-35 God approved of all the work that Moses had finished. God’s cloud came down over the special tent. It showed that God was present. And it showed that God approved of the work. His wonderful bright light filled the tent and it shone out. Moses was God’s loyal servant (Numbers 12:7). Moses had entered where God was present before this time. But each time God had invited him. Cloud and fire had covered *Mount Sinai when Moses went up it (Exodus 24:15-17). But this time Moses could not go into the tent when God’s wonderful light filled it.

Verses 36-38 The cloud showed that God was present. This cloud guided the *Israelites in their journey in the *desert. They moved their camp only when the cloud moved. At night they saw the cloud still, because God put fire in it. God did what he had promised. He lived among his people (Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:43-45).

The Book of Exodus began when the *Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Now they were free people, and God was living among them. God was guiding them and he was directing them. So they were confident that they would complete their journey to *Canaan with God’s help.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has been here always.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the Hebrew word ‘Adonai’, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
represent ~ when a person acts on behalf of someone else; or you put something in place of something else.
lampstand ~ it held 7 lamps. They contained oil that burned, so the lamp-stand gave a lot of light.
altar ~ a table on which people give gifts or *sacrifices to God or to a false god.
Passover ~ an important holy day for the Jews. They ate a special meal on this day every year; the Passover feast reminds the Jews about how God rescued them from *Egypt.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.

feast ~ a special meal, usually with special food. Often a feast reminds people about an important event so they repeat it regularly. For example, God said that Israelite men should gather together for 3 feasts each year. Jews continue to remember these feasts.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.
Mount ~ another name for mountain.
bronze ~ a kind of metal that people make out of copper and tin.
desert ~ a wild place where there are small bushes and not much water. It has poor soil and people cannot grow crops there. So, not many people live there.
Canaan ~ the country that God gave to Israelites. Canaanites lived here, and people called Amorites, Hittites, Hivites, Jebusites and Perizzites lived there also.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Canaanite ~ the people who originally lived in the country called Canaan; something that comes from the country called Canaan.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.