Exodus 40 Devotional

Glory That Leads the Way

“Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”Exodus 40:34 (BSB)

At the start of the second year, Moses sets up the tabernacle (40:17). He raises the frames, spreads the tent, places the ark behind the veil, and arranges the table, lampstand, altar, and basin, each step done the way the LORD had told him (40:18-33).

Then the cloud covers the tent and the glory of the LORD fills the tabernacle, so fully that Moses himself cannot go in (40:34-35). After the calf, God had said he would not go with this stubborn people (33:3). Now his glory rests in the middle of their camp. When the cloud lifts, they set out; when it stays, they stay, over every stage of the journey (40:36-38). Exodus opens with Israel enslaved in Egypt and closes with God living among them. Revelation looks ahead to a voice from the throne announcing that God has made his home with his people and will be with them himself (Revelation 21:3). The God who filled that tent still leads his people toward that home.

To think about: Where do you need to wait for God's leading this week, instead of setting out before he moves?