The Lord Fills the Tabernacle

With the tabernacle fully erected and consecrated (Ex. 40:1–33), it was time to see whether God Himself approved of Israel’s work on the sanctuary. Moses had already inspected the components, recognizing that they conformed to the instructions that the Lord had given in Exodus 25–31 (see Ex. 39:43). Yet the full demonstration that our Creator was pleased with the Israelites’ labors could come only when He settled in His tent “home.” In today’s passage, we read that the Lord did in fact take up residence in the tabernacle.

Exodus 40:34 tells us that once the tabernacle was finished and dedicated to the worship of the one true God, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” This cloud is the same visible representation of the divine presence that had been leading the people through the wilderness since they left Egypt. Confirmation of this is seen in that fire was in the tabernacle at night, and fire also manifested God’s presence as the people journeyed (Ex. 40:38; see Exodus 13:17–22). There could be no doubt that the Lord found the tabernacle to be a fit home among His people. Exodus 40:35 says that Moses could not enter the tabernacle right when God settled in because the glory of the Lord filled it. The Lord was so overwhelmingly present that even the old covenant mediator could not enter. Later, of course, Moses could go into the tabernacle because God, though still present, made His glory a bit less overwhelming (see Num. 7:89). But it was important for it to be so blinding when He first moved in so that the people could know His full approval of the sanctuary. This, in turn, revealed His superabundant grace. Matthew Henry comments, “By the visible tokens of God’s coming among them to take possession of the tabernacle he testified both to the return of his favour to them, which they had forfeited by the golden calf (Ex. 33:7), and to his gracious acceptance of all the [gifts they had given], and all the care and pains they had taken about the tabernacle.”

The entire book of Exodus has been building to the Lord’s taking up residence in the tabernacle. We cannot underestimate the great act of God’s salvation in rescuing the Israelites from Egypt, but the exodus was never an end in itself. It was a necessary step on the way to the Lord’s ultimate aim, which was that Israel would be His people and He would be their God, dwelling among them in holy fellowship (Ex. 19:1–6; 29:44–46).