Context No. 3735 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 40:1-5: in context

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. 3You shall put the ark of the covenant in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. 4You shall bring in the table, and set in order the things that are on it. You shall bring in the lamp stand, and light its lamps. 5You shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the covenant, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.

God commands Moses to set up the tabernacle, and to place each item in its appointed place: the ark behind the veil, the table, the lampstand, the golden altar of incense, and the screen at the entrance. Everything has its ordained position, arranged according to God's precise instruction.

There is a quiet lesson in this careful ordering. God is a God of order, and the place of his dwelling was arranged not haphazardly but by his own exact design. Each piece of furniture, each screen and veil, had its purpose and its place in the ordered pattern of worship. And notice the timing: the tabernacle is raised on the first day of the first month, a new beginning, God's dwelling established among his people to open the year. There is beauty in the truth that God arranges the details of how he is to be approached and worshiped, and that his presence, establishing a dwelling among his people, marks a true new beginning for them.

Do I honor the truth that God orders how he is approached and worshiped, and do I welcome his dwelling presence as the true beginning point of everything?

Sources

Exodus 40:2: "On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting."
Exodus 40:3: "You shall put the ark of the covenant in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil."
1 Corinthians 14:40: "Let all things be done decently and in order."