Exodus 24:1 - Meaning and Application

The first two verses describe a second meeting on Mount Sinai for giving the law, after the first meeting had ended. When God begins fellowship with us, it will never fail on his side, unless it fails first on ours. Moses is told to bring Aaron and his sons, and the seventy elders of Israel, so they can witness God’s glory and the fellowship Moses had with him. Their witness would help confirm the people’s faith.

They had to come with great reverence. “Worship from afar” means they were to bow before they came close (Exodus 24:1). So we should enter God’s presence with humble and serious praise, aware of how far we are from him, and amazed that his grace lets us draw near. If people show deep respect before earthly rulers, should the soul that comes to God do any less?

They also could not come as near as Moses (Exodus 24:2). They were to come up to the Lord, and anyone who wants to draw near to God must rise toward him. But Moses alone was to come close, and that pointed ahead to Christ, the great high priest, who entered the most holy place alone. In the verses that follow, we see the solemn covenant made between God and Israel, along with the signs that confirmed it. It was a very serious event, and it pointed to the covenant of grace between God and believers through Christ.

Moses first told the people the words of the Lord (Exodus 24:3). He did not lead them into the covenant without explanation, or teach them a religion built on ignorance. He set before them all the commands, both general and specific, from the earlier chapters, and plainly asked whether they were willing to submit to them. The people all agreed to the terms with no reserve and no exception: “All the words that the Lord has said we will do.” They had already agreed in general to be under God’s rule (Exodus 19:8), and here they agreed in detail to these laws now given. It would have been good if they had kept that heart. Many people agree with God’s law, but do not live by it. They see nothing wrong with it, yet still refuse to let it govern them.

This was the substance of the covenant, that if they kept the commandments, God would keep the promises. “Obey, and be blessed.” That was the bargain. Notice how it was written in the book of the covenant: Moses wrote down the words of the Lord (Exodus 24:4), so there would be no mistake. Most likely he wrote them as God gave them on the mountain. As soon as God set apart a special people for himself in the world, he governed them by a written word, and he has done so ever since.

After Moses wrote the agreement between God and Israel, he read it to the people again (Exodus 24:7). This made sure they fully understood it, and it gave them a chance to confirm whether, on reflection, they still agreed. Their answer was the same as before, but even stronger: “All that the Lord has said, we will do, and we will be obedient.” That is, they would do what was commanded, and obey whatever else God might order. It was a strong promise, if only they had kept it. God’s commands and covenant are so fair in themselves, and so good for us, that the more carefully we consider them, the more reason we see to accept them.

The covenant was then sealed with blood, so Israel could have strong comfort from God’s promises and strong duty from their own promises to God. In his wisdom, God has arranged things so that we are strengthened in both faith and obedience, encouraged in duty, and bound to it. The covenant had to be made through sacrifice (Psalm 50:5), because once humanity had sinned and lost its right to the Creator’s favor, there could be no covenant fellowship until sacrifice first made peace and atonement, that is, satisfaction for sin.

To prepare for both sides of the covenant to set their seal to it, Moses built an altar to honor God, which was the main purpose of every altar. In all God’s dealings with people, nothing can be added to his perfection, but his perfection can be displayed and honored. So the altar showed that the people’s part was to honor him, and as his people they were to be for his praise. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each tribe. These represented the other party to the covenant, the people of Israel. We may picture them standing opposite the altar, with Moses, as mediator, moving between them. Each tribe probably knew its own pillar, and its elders stood beside it.

Moses then arranged for sacrifices to be offered on the altar (Exodus 24:5), burnt offerings and peace offerings, though they also served as offerings for atonement. We do not need to ask who the young men were who helped with the sacrifices, because Moses himself acted as priest, and they served only under his direction. They were likely chosen for their strength, and because their place among the people made them suitable for the work.

Once everything was prepared, the covenant signs were exchanged in a very solemn way. The blood of the sacrifice offered by the people was partly sprinkled on the altar (Exodus 24:6). This showed the people giving themselves, their lives, and their whole being to God and his honor. In the blood of those dead sacrifices, all Israel was presented to God as if they were living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). The remaining blood, from the sacrifice God had accepted, was sprinkled on the people themselves, or on the pillars that stood for them (Exodus 24:8). This showed God graciously giving them his favor, along with every blessing that comes from that favor, and all the gifts they could hope for from a God who had been reconciled to them and brought into covenant with them through sacrifice.

This part of the ceremony was explained in this way: “Behold the blood of the covenant.” In other words, God was showing how he had sealed his promise to make them his people. Both sides of the covenant, God’s promises to them and their duty to him, were confirmed and made sure.

Our Lord Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, with Moses as a picture of him, did the same in a far greater way. After offering himself as a sacrifice on the cross, so that his blood would truly be the blood of the covenant, he presented it in his intercession, that is, his work of pleading for his people before God (Hebrews 9:12). He also applies that blood to his church through his word, his ordinances, and the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of promise, by whom believers are sealed.

Jesus seemed to point back to this solemn event when he established the Lord’s Supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” Compare this with (Hebrews 9:19, Hebrews 9:20).