Exodus 40:16 - Meaning and Application

When the tabernacle and all its furnishings were ready, they did not wait to set it up until they reached Canaan. They expected to be there soon, but they still obeyed God and raised it in the middle of the camp while they were still in the wilderness. People who have unsettled lives should not think that makes it acceptable to ignore religion, as if they can wait to serve God until life becomes stable. A dwelling place for God is useful even in the wilderness, especially since our bodies may lie there and we may reach the next world before we ever settle in this one.

Setting up the tabernacle was a full day’s work, and the later dedication of it, along with the priests, came afterward. Here we are told only about that first day, which was like a new year’s day for Israel. Moses did not only carry out everything God told him to do, he did it in the exact order God had appointed, because God must be sought in the proper way. Each detail is marked by the words, “as the Lord commanded Moses,” repeated seven times in fewer than fourteen verses. Even Moses, great as he was, did not dare change the pattern, add to it, or leave out the smallest detail.

What was meant to be covered was covered (Exodus 40:21), and what was meant to be used was used right away, so the priests could learn by watching Moses perform the duties. Moses was not a priest in the ordinary sense, though he is counted among the priests (Psalm 99:6), and Jewish writers even called him the priest of the priests. What he did, he did by special authority from God, more as a prophet and lawgiver than as a priest. He got the work started, then left it in the hands of the ministry God had appointed.

When Moses placed the table, he set the bread of the Presence on it (Exodus 40:23), because God will not leave His table empty. As soon as he set up the lampstand, he lit the lamps before the Lord (Exodus 40:25). Even that older covenant, with its shadows and symbols, would not allow lamps to stay unlit. When he put the gold altar in its place, he immediately burned sweet incense on it (Exodus 40:27), because God’s altar must send up smoke. When the altar of burnt offering was set in the courtyard, Moses had a burnt offering and grain offering ready for it at once (Exodus 40:29). Some think this was only mentioned here and happened later, but it seems more likely that he began its dedication right away, even though the full consecration took seven days.

At the basin as well, once Moses had set it in place, he washed his own hands and feet. In all these things, he not only showed the priests how to do their duty, but also teaches us that God’s gifts are meant to be used, not just admired. Though the table, lampstand, and altars were fresh and new, he did not treat them as too fine to touch. He put them to work at once. Gifts and abilities are given to be used, not buried away.