Exodus 40:6-11: a reflection

6“You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. 7You shall set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and shall put water therein. 8You shall set up the court around it, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court. 9“You shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and shall make it holy, and all its furniture, and it will be holy. 10You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and sanctify the altar, and the altar will be most holy. 11You shall anoint the basin and its base, and sanctify it.

As the tabernacle is set up, God commands that it be anointed with oil and made holy: the tabernacle, the altar, the basin, all its furnishings, each to be anointed and set apart, made holy for God's service. What had been ordinary materials, wood and metal and cloth, became holy, consecrated to God, by his own appointment and the anointing oil, a sign of his Spirit. It was God's act of anointing that made them holy, not anything in themselves.

Notice what made these things holy: God's own act of setting them apart, signified by the anointing oil. They were not holy in themselves; they were ordinary materials until God, by his appointment and the anointing, made them holy, set apart for his service. The holiness came from God's act, not from the things themselves. What God anointed and set apart became holy; the consecration was his doing.

That points to a truth about our own holiness: that we are made holy not by our own effort alone, but by God's act of setting us apart, by his Spirit. Like the ordinary materials of the tabernacle, we are made holy not by anything in ourselves, but by God's setting us apart for himself, anointing us with his Spirit, consecrating us to his service. Do not imagine that your holiness is your own achievement, made holy by your own effort; it is God who sets you apart, God who consecrates you, God whose Spirit anoints you and makes you holy. Rely on God's act of setting you apart, his Spirit's work of making you holy, rather than on your own effort alone. The ordinary materials became holy by God's anointing; you are made holy by God's setting you apart and his Spirit's work. Yield to the God who consecrates you, and rely on his work of making you holy, rather than trusting your own effort to make yourself so.

Lord, as the tabernacle was set up, you commanded that it be anointed with oil and made holy, the tabernacle, the altar, the basin, all its furnishings, each set apart for your service; what had been ordinary materials became holy by your own act of anointing, a sign of your Spirit, not by anything in themselves. Show me what made them holy: your own act of setting them apart, not the things themselves. And point me to the truth about my own holiness: that I am made holy not by my own effort alone, but by your act of setting me apart, by your Spirit. Like the ordinary materials of the tabernacle, I am made holy not by anything in myself, but by your setting me apart for yourself, anointing me with your Spirit, consecrating me to your service. Keep me from imagining that my holiness is my own achievement; it is you who set me apart, you who consecrate me, your Spirit who makes me holy. Help me rely on your act of setting me apart, your Spirit's work of making me holy, rather than on my own effort alone. Help me yield to you, who consecrate me, Lord, and rely on your work of making me holy, rather than trusting my own effort to make myself so. Make me holy by your Spirit.