Hf – Then the LORD said to Moses: Set Up the Tabernacle 40: 1-16

Then the LORD said to Moses: 
Set Up the Tabernacle
40: 1-16

Then the LORD said to Moses: set up the Tabernacle DIG: How long did it take to set up the Tabernacle? How faithful was Moses to the instructions he had received from ADONAI on Mount Sinai?

REFLECT: How have you responded to what ADONAI has commanded you to set up, or put in order, in your own life? Have you been faithful to do everything just as the LORD commanded?

Then ADONAI commanded Moses to set up the Tabernacle. The account of the location of the various articles begins with the Ark of the Covenant, the most important piece of furniture in the Tabernacle, and moves outward to the court. God wanted the Ark of the Covenant set up in the Most Holy Place behind the inner veil. He wanted the table of the bread of the Presence and the bread that belonged on it set up. Then He wanted the golden lampstand and its lamps set up. He wanted the golden altar of incense set up and the outer veil at the entrance to the Sanctuary hung. He wanted the bronze altar set up in front of the gate to the Tabernacle. He also wanted the bronze basin between the Sanctuary and the bronze altar set up and water put in it. Lastly, He wanted the courtyard set up and the gate hung at the entrance.

Take the anointing oil and anoint the Tabernacle and everything in it; dedicate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. Then anoint the bronze altar and all its utensils; dedicate the altar, and it will be most holy. Also anoint the bronze basin and its stand and consecrate them (40:9-11).

After all this was done, Moses wanted the entire Tabernacle and the priests to be dedicated (to see link click Gf – Dedicate Aaron and His Sons So They May Serve Me as Priests). Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tabernacle and wash them with water. Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and dedicate him so he may serve Me a high priest. Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue for all generations to come. The phrase for all generations to come means until the Dispensation Grace arrived. Moses did everything just as the LORD commanded him (40:12-16).

The Tabernacle was erected about a year after the Exodus from Egypt, on the first day of the month (40:1). The Exodus occurred on the fourteenth day of the first month (12:2, 6, 33-34), in the second year (40:17). Since the Israelites arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai three months after the Exodus, they were there at Sinai eight and one-half months. Part of that time (at least 80 days) Moses was on the mountain (24:18, 34:28). Consequently about six and one-half months were required to gather the materials and construct the Tabernacle. It took from about mid-September to late March.⁷²⁷