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The Lord's Tent Is Set Up
1The Lord said to Moses:
2Set up my tent on the first day of the year 3and put the chest with the Ten Commandments behind the inside curtain. 4Bring in the table and set on it those things that are made for it. Also bring in the lampstand and attach the lamps to it. 5Then place the gold altar of incense in front of the sacred chest and hang a curtain at the entrance to the tent. 6Set the altar for burning sacrifices in front of the entrance to my tent. 7Put the large bronze bowl between the tent and the altar and fill the bowl with water. 8Surround the tent and the altar with the wall of curtains and hang the curtain that was made for the entrance.
9Use the sacred olive oil to dedicate to me the tent and everything in it. 10Do the same thing with the altar for offering sacrifices and its equipment 11and with the bowl and its stand. 12Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent and tell them to wash themselves. 13Dress Aaron in the priestly clothes, then use the sacred olive oil to ordain him and dedicate him to me as my priest. 14Put the priestly robes on Aaron's sons 15and ordain them in the same way, so they and their descendants will always be my priests.
16Moses followed the Lord's instructions.
The Glory of the Lord
34 Suddenly the sacred tent was covered by a thick cloud and filled with the glory of the Lord. 35And so, Moses could not enter the tent. 36Whenever the cloud moved from the tent, the people would break camp and follow; 37then they would set up camp and stay there, until it moved again. 38No matter where the people traveled, the Lord was with them. Each day his cloud was over the tent, and each night a fire could be seen in the cloud.
Reflect
Moses had to make everything just so with the furnishings of the tabernacle and with Aaron and his sons who would be the priests. Everything had a particular purpose, everything had a particular place. There had to be anointing and consecration of the items in the tabernacle and there had to be anointing and consecration of the priests who would serve in the tabernacle. When all was as it should be, and only then, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, a cloud by day, and a cloud burning with fire by night.
Nothing God does in our lives is without a reason. Nothing he does is haphazard. Whether it means anything to us at the time or not – and I doubt Moses and Aaron had a full understanding of the tabernacle or all its furnishings for some time – God has a plan. The more he has his way with us and is able to place certain things in our lives and consecrate them to himself the more he is able to fill our lives with his presence and glory.
He is a not a random God and his creation is not random either. Nor is what he does in and through the lives of his people. There is no sense in this passage that it doesn’t matter what Moses puts in the tabernacle, where he puts it, or whether he anoints it or not. God is a God of precision and pattern and purpose. Everything matters that he puts in our hearts and souls and lives. This is as true of the global Christian community as it is of each man or woman or child who follows Christ. For the worldwide Church is his tabernacle as well as each person who believes. There is a divine plan for all of us just as there was a divine plan for the first tabernacle.
Respond
Lord, place what you desire to see in my life and place it exactly when and where you want it. Place the people in my life exactly when you want them and place them exactly where you want them. The same is true of everything else, whether it is work or marriage or children or service or ministry. Put in my heart and soul and life the things you want there. Consecrate them all to your use and purpose. And fill me with your presence, fill me with your reality, fill me with your glory. In Christ’s name. Amen.
Murray Pura
Murray Pura, a native of Manitoba, is an ordained minister with Masters degrees from Acadia University and Regent College in Vancouver BC. At Regent he studied under JI Packer and also produced a thesis on William Wilberforce which was subsequently published under the title "Vital Christianity". Murray has served churches in Canada and the US. A writer in Christian theology and Christian fiction both, he currently writes full time and is represented by Steve Laube Agency in Phoenix, AZ. Murray has published with HarperCollins, Zondervan, HarperOne San Francisco, Baker, Barbour and Harvest House, to name a few. He has won the Word Guild Award for Best Historical Novel and has also been shortlisted for the Kobzar Literary Award of Toronto. His devotional writings include the books "Rooted" (Zondervan), "Streams" (Zondervan), and "Majestic & Wild" (Baker). He also wrote the study notes for Exodus and Luke in The Life With God Bible (Harper Collins).