1Unya si Jehova misulti kang Moises, nga nagaingon. 2Sa nahauna nga adlaw sa nahauna nga bulan patindugon mo ang tabernaculo sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman. 3Ug igabutang mo niini ang arca sa pagpamatuod, ug pasalipdan mo ang arca sa tabil. 4Ug igapasulod mo ang lamesa, ug pangatagon mo ang mga butang nga nahaluna niini; igapasulod mo usab ang tangkawan, ug dagkutan mo ang mga lamparahan niana. 5Ug igabutang mo ang halaran nga bulawan alang sa incienso sa atubangan sa arca sa pagpamatuod, ug ibutang mo ang pabiyon sa pultahan sa tabernaculo. 6Ug igabutang mo ang halaran sa halad-nga-sinunog sa atubangan sa pultahan sa tabernaculo sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman. 7Ug igabutang mo ang dolang sa taliwala sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman ug sa halaran, ug niini magabutang ka ug tubig, 8Ug ibutang mo ang sawang sa paglibut ug igabitay mo ang pabiyon sa pultahan sa sawang. 9Ug kuhaon mo ang lana nga igdidihog ug dihogan mo ang tabernaculo ug ang tanan nga anaa niini, ug pagapakabalaanon mo kini uban ang tanang mga galamiton niini: ug kini mabalaan. 10Ug pagadihogan mo ang halaran sa halad-nga-sinunog ug ang tanan niini nga mga galamiton, ug balaanon mo ang halaran; ug ang halaran mahimo nga labing balaan gayud. 11Ug dihogan mo ang dolang ug ang tungtunganan, ug balaanon mo kini. 12Ug pagadad-on mo si Aaron, ug ang iyang mga anak nga lalake ngadto sa pultahan sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman, ug pagahunawan mo sila ug tubig. 13Ug pagabistihan mo si Aaron sa mga bisti nga balaan, ug pagadihogan mo siya, ug pagabalaanon mo siya, aron siya mag-alagad kanako sa katungdanan sa pagka-sacerdote. 14Ug pagadad-on mo ang iyang mga anak nga lalake, ug pagabistihan mo sila. 15Ug pagadihogan mo sila, ingon sa pagdihog mo sa ilang amahan, aron sila mag-alagad kanako sa katungdanan sa pagka-sacerdote; ug ang ilang dihog mahimong pagka-sacerdote nga walay katapusan ngadto sa ilang mga kaliwatan. 16Sa ingon niana gibuhat kini ni Moises: ingon sa tanan nga gisugo kaniya ni Jehova, mao nga iyang gibuhat kini . 17Ug nahitabo sa nahaunang bulan, sa ikaduha ka tuig, nga ang tabernaculo gipatindog na. 18Ug gipatindog ni Moises ang tabernaculo, ug gipahamutang niya ang iyang mga patinduganan, ug gibutang niya ang mga tabla niini, ug gibutang niya ang iyang mga balabag, ug gipamangon niya ang mga haligi niini. 19Ug gibuklad niya ang balong-balong sa ibabaw sa tabernaculo, ug gibutang niya ang tabon sa balong-balong sa ibabaw niini; ingon sa gisugo ni Jehova kang Moises. 20Ug gikuha niya, ug gibutang niya ang pagpamatuod ngadto sa sulod sa arca; ug gibutang niya ang mga yayongan sa arca: ug gibutang niya ang halaran-sa-pagpasig-uli sa ibabaw gayud sa arca. 21Ug gisulod niya ang arca ngadto sa tabernaculo, ug gibitay niya ang tabil sa pabiyon, ug gitabilan niya ang arca sa pagpamatuod, ingon sa gisugo ni Jehova kang Moises. 22Ug gibutang niya ang lamesa sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman, sa luyo nga naamihanan sa tabernaculo, nahagawas sa tabil. 23Ug gipangatag niya ang mga tinapay sa ibabaw niya sa atubangan ni Jehova, ingon sa gisugo ni Jehova kang Moises. 24Ug gibutang niya ang tangkawan sa sulod sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman atbang sa lamesa sa kiliran sa tabernaculo padulong sa habagatan. 25Ug gidagkutan niya ang mga suga sa atubangan ni Jehova, ingon sa gisugo ni Jehova kang Moises. 26Ug gibutang niya ang halaran nga bulawan sa sulod sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman sa atubangan sa tabil. 27Ug sa ibabaw niini nagsunog siya ug incienso nga mahumot, ingon sa gisugo ni Jehova kang Moises. 28Ug gibutang niya ang cortina sa pultahan didto sa tabernaculo. 29Ug gipahamutang niya ang halaran sa halad-nga-sinunog sa pultahan sa tabernaculo sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman, ug naghalad sa ibabaw niini sa halad-nga-sinunog, ug sa halad-nga-kalan-on, ingon sa gisugo ni Jehova kang Moises. 30Ug gibutang niya ang dolang sa taliwala sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman ug sa halaran, ug iyang gibutangan kini ug tubig nga hulunawan. 31Ug si Moises ug si Aaron ug ang iyang mga anak nga lalake nanagpanghunaw niini sa ilang mga kamot ug nanghimasa sa ilang mga tiil; 32Sa pagsulod nila sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman, ug sa nanagpanuol sila sa halaran, nanghunaw sila ingon sa gisugo ni Jehova kang Moises. 33Ug gipatindog niya ang sawang sa paglibut sa tabernaculo ug sa halaran, ug gibutang niya ang cortina sa pultahan sa sawang. Ug niini natibawas ni Moises ang bulohaton. 34Unya ang panganod mitabon sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman, ug ang himaya ni Jehova mipuno sa tabernaculo. 35Ug si Moises wala makahimo sa pagsulod sa balong-balong nga pagatiguman, kay ang panganod nagapabilin sa ibabaw niini ug ang himaya ni Jehova nakapuno niini. 36Ug sa gibayaw na ang panganod sa tabernaculo, ang mga anak sa Israel nagapadayon sa tanan nila nga panaw. 37Apan kong ang panganod wala pagbayawa, nan wala magpadayon sa panaw, hangtud sa adlaw nga kini gibayaw. 38Kay ang panganod ni Jehova diha sa adlaw sa ibabaw sa tabernaculo, ug ang kalayo diha niini sa kagabhion, nga makita sa tibook nga balay sa Israel, sulod sa tanan nila nga pagpanaw.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 The materials and furniture of the tabernacle had been viewed severally and approved, and now they must be put together. 1. God here directs Moses to set up the tabernacle and the utensils of it in their places. Though the work of the tabernacle was finished, and every thing ready for rearing, and the people, no doubt, were very desirous to see it up, yet Moses will not erect it till he has express orders for doing so. It is good to see God going before us in every step,
Pss 37:23. The time for doing this is fixed to
the first day of the first month (
Exod 40:2), which wanted but fourteen days of a year since they came out of Egypt; and a good year's work there was done in it. Probably the work was made ready but just at the end of the year, so that the appointing of this day gave no delay, or next to none, to this good work. We must not put off any necessary duty under pretence of waiting for some remarkable day; the present season is the most convenient. But the tabernacle happening to be set up
on the first day of the first month intimates that it is good to begin the year with some good work. Let him that is the first have the first; and let the things of his kingdom be first sought. In Hezekiah's time we find they began to sanctify the temple
on the first day of the first month, 2Chr 29:17. The new moon (which by their computation was the first day of every month) was observed by them with some solemnity; and therefore this first new moon of the year was thus made remarkable. Note, When a new year begins, we should think of serving God more and better than we did the year before. Moses is particularly ordered to set up the tabernacle itself first, in which God would dwell and would be served (
Exod 40:2), then to put the ark in its place, and draw the veil before it (
Exod 40:3), then to fix the table, and the candlestick, and the altar of incense, without the veil (
Exod 40:4,
Exod 40:5), and to fix the hanging of the door before the door. Then in the court he must place the altar of burnt offering, and the laver (
Exod 40:6,
Exod 40:7); and, lastly, he must set up the curtains of the court, and a hanging for a court-gate. And all this would be easily done in one day, many hands no doubt being employed in it under the direction of Moses. 2. He directs Moses, when he had set up the tabernacle and all the furniture of it, to consecrate it and them, by anointing them with the oil which was prepared for the purpose,
Exod 30:25, etc. It was there ordered that this should be done; here it was ordered that it should be done now,
Exod 40:9-
Exod 40:11. Observe, Every thing was sanctified when it was put in its proper place, and not till then, for till then it was not fit for the use to which it was to be sanctified. As every thing is beautiful in its season, so is every thing in its place. 3. He directs him to consecrate Aaron and his sons. When the goods were brought into God's house, they were marked first, and then servants were hired to bear the vessels of the Lord; and those must be clean who were put into that office,
Exod 40:12-
Exod 40:15. The law which was now ordered to be put in execution we had before, ch. 29. Thus in the visible church, which is God's tabernacle among men, it is requisite that there be ministers to keep the charge of the sanctuary, and that they receive the anointing.
16 When the tabernacle and the furniture of it were prepared, they did not put off the rearing of it till they came to Canaan, though they now hoped to be there very shortly; but, in obedience to the will of God, they set it up in the midst of their camp, while they were in the wilderness. Those that are unsettled in the world must not think that this will excuse them in their continued irreligion; as if it were enough to begin to serve God when they begin to be settled in the world. No; a tabernacle for God is a very needful and profitable companion even in a wilderness, especially considering that our carcases may fall in that wilderness, and we may be fixed in another world before we come to fix in this.
The rearing of the tabernacle was a good day's work; the consecrating of it, and of the priests, was attended to some days after. Here we have an account only of that new-year's-day's work. 1. Moses not only did all that God directed him to do, but in the order that God appointed; for God will be sought in the due order. 2. To each particular there is added an express reference to the divine appointment, which Moses governed himself by as carefully and conscientiously as the workmen did; and therefore, as before, so here it is repeated,
as the Lord commanded Moses, seven times in less than fourteen verses. Moses himself, as great a man as he was, would not pretend to vary from the institution, neither to add to it nor diminish from it, in the least punctilio. Those that command others must remember that their Master also is in heaven, and they must do as they are commanded. 3. That which was to be veiled be veiled (
Exod 40:21), and that which was to be used he used immediately, for the instruction of the priests, that by seeing him do the several offices they might learn to do them the more dexterously. Though Moses was not properly a priest, yet he is numbered among the priests (
Pss 99:6), and the Jewish writers call him
the priest of the priests; what he did he did by special warrant and direction from God, rather as a prophet, or law-giver, than as a priest. He set the wheels a going, and then left the work in the hands of the appointed ministry. (1.) When he had placed the table, he set the show-bread in order upon it (
Exod 40:23); for God will never have his table unfurnished. (2.) As soon as he had fixed the candlestick,
he lighted the lamps before the Lord, Exod 40:25. Even that dark dispensation would not admit of unlighted candles. (3.) The golden altar being put in its place, immediately he
burnt sweet incense thereon (
Exod 40:27); for God's altar must be a smoking altar. (4.) The altar of the burnt-offering was no sooner set up in the court of the tabernacle than he had a
burnt-offering, and a meat-offering, ready to offer upon it, Exod 40:29. Some think, though this is mentioned here, it was not done till some time after; but it seems to me that he immediately began the ceremony of its consecration, though it was not completed for seven days. (5.) At the laver likewise, when he had fixed that, Moses himself washed his hands and feet. Thus, in all these instances, he not only showed the priests how to do their duty, but has taught us that God's gifts are intended for use, and not barely for show. Though the altars, and table, and candlestick, were fresh and new, he did not say it was a pity to sully them; no, he handselled them immediately. Talents were given to be occupied, not to be buried.
34 As when, in the creation, God had finished this earth, which he designed for man's habitation, he made man, and put him in possession of it, so when Moses had finished the tabernacle, which was designed for God's dwelling-place among men, God came and took possession of it. The
shechinah, the divine eternal Word, though not yet made flesh, yet, as a prelude to that event, came and dwelt among them,
John 1:14. This was henceforward the
place of his throne, and
the place of the soles of his feet (
Ezek 43:7); here he resided, here he ruled. By the visible tokens of God's coming among them to take possession of the tabernacle he testified both the return of his favour to them, which they had forfeited by the golden calf (
Exod 33:7), and his gracious acceptance of all the expense they had been at, and all the care and pains they had taken about the tabernacle. Thus God owned them, showed himself well pleased with what they had done, and abundantly rewarded them. Note, God will dwell with those that prepare him a habitation. The broken and contrite heart, the clean and holy heart, that is furnished for his service, and devoted to his honour, shall be his
rest for ever; here will Christ dwell by faith,
Ephes 3:17. Where God has a throne and an altar in the soul, there is a living temple. And God will be sure to own and crown the operations of his own grace and the observance of his own appointments.
As God had manifested himself upon mount Sinai, so he did now in this newly-erected tabernacle. We read (
Exod 24:16) that
the glory of the Lord abode upon mount Sinai, which is said to be like
devouring fire (
Exod 40:17), and that the
cloud covered it on the outside, and the
glory of the Lord filled it within, to which, probably there is an allusion in
Zech 2:5, where God promises to be a
wall of fire round about Jerusalem (and the pillar of cloud was by night a pillar of fire)
and the glory in the midst of her. I.
The cloud covered the tent. That same cloud which, as the chariot or pavilion of the
shechinah, had come up before them out of Egypt and led them hither, now settled upon the tabernacle and hovered over it, even in the hottest and clearest day; for it was none of those clouds which the sun scatters. This cloud was intended to be, 1. A token of God's presence constantly visible day and night (
Exod 40:38) to all Israel, even to those that lay in the remotest corners of the camp, that they might never again make a question of it,
Is the Lord among us, or is he not? That very cloud which had already been so pregnant with wonders in the Red Sea, and on mount Sinai, sufficient to prove God in it of a truth, was continually
in sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys; so that they were inexcusable if they believed not their own eyes. 2. A concealment of the tabernacle, and the glory of God in it. God did indeed dwell among them, but he dwelt in a cloud:
Verily thou art a God that hidest, thyself. Blessed be God for the gospel of Christ, in which
we all with open face behold as in a glass, not in a cloud,
the glory of the Lord. 3. A protection of the tabernacle. They had sheltered it with one covering upon another, but, after all, the cloud that covered it was its best guard. Those that dwell in the house of the Lord are hidden there, and are safe under the divine protection,
Pss 27:4,
Pss 27:5. Yet this, which was then a peculiar favour to the tabernacle, is promised to every dwelling-place of mount Zion (
Isa 4:5); for
upon all the glory shall be a defence. 4. A guide to the camp of Israel in their march through the wilderness,
Exod 40:36,
Exod 40:37. While the cloud continued on the tabernacle, they rested; when it removed, they removed and followed it, as being purely under divine direction. This is spoken of more fully,
Num 9:19;
Pss 78:14;
Pss 105:39. As before the tabernacle was set up the Israelites had the cloud for their guide, which appeared sometimes in one place and sometimes in another, but henceforward rested on the tabernacle and was to be found there only, so the church had divine revelation for its guide from the first, before the scriptures were written, but since the making up of that canon it rests in that as its tabernacle, and there only it is to be found, as in the creation the light which was made the first day, centered in the sun the fourth day. Blessed be God for the law and the testimony!
II.
The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, Exod 40:34,
Exod 40:35. The
shechinah now made an awful and pompous entry into the tabernacle, through the outer part of which it passed into the most holy place, as the presence-chamber, and there seated itself between the cherubim. It was in light and fire, and (for aught we know) no otherwise, that the
shechinah made itself visible; for
God is light; our God is a consuming fire. With these the tabernacle was now filled, yet, as before the bush was not consumed, so now the curtains were not so much as singed by this fire; for to those that have received the anointing the terrible majesty of God is not destroying. Yet so dazzling was the light, and so dreadful was the fire, that Moses was
not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, at the door of which he attended, till the splendour had a little abated, and the glory of the Lord retired within the veil,
Exod 40:35. This shows how terrible the glory and majesty of God are, and how unable the greatest and best of men are to stand before him. The divine light and fire, let forth in their full strength, will overpower the strongest heads and the purest hearts. But what Moses could not do, in that
he was weak through the flesh, has been done by our Lord Jesus, whom God caused to draw near and approach, and who, as the forerunner,
has for us entered, and has invited us to come boldly even to the mercy-seat. He was able to enter into the holy place not made with hands (
Hebre 9:24); nay, he is himself the true tabernacle, filled with the glory of God (
John 1:14), even with the divine grace and truth prefigured by this fire and light. In him the shechinah took up its rest for ever, for in him
dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ!
