Meeting a Holy God

Exodus 27:21 (ESV) … “In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.”

Faithful to His promises in Exodus 6:6–8, the Lord delivered His people from Egypt (Ex. 1–18) and at Sinai “adopted” them to Himself as His special treasure (Ex. 19–24; Rom. 9:4). Now He was about to fulfill the rest of that promise by coming to the camp of Israel to dwell with His people (Ex. 25–40).

In order to do this, the Lord needed two things: a place for His glory to dwell and servants to minister to Him in that place. Therefore, He commanded the Jews to build the tabernacle and to set apart the tribe of Levi to serve Him. The building of the tabernacle and the ordaining of the priesthood are the two major themes of Exodus 25–40.

Throughout the Book of Genesis, the Lord had walked with His people—Adam and Eve (3:8), Enoch (5:22–24), Noah (6:9), and the patriarchs (17:1; 24:40; 48:15), but now He would dwell with them (Ex. 25:8, 35–36; 29:44–46). Having the Lord dwelling in the camp was a great privilege for the nation of Israel (Rom. 9:4–5), for no other nation had the living God in their midst. But the privilege brought with it a great responsibility, for it meant that the camp of Israel had to be a holy place where a holy God could dwell.

These sixteen chapters record much more than the historical events surrounding the construction of the tabernacle and the inauguration of the priesthood. What Moses wrote reveals some profound spiritual truths about a holy God and how we should approach Him in worship and serve Him “acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28).[1]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1998). Be delivered (pp. 130–132). Chariot Victor Pub.