Moses’ Inspection of the Tabernacle

³² So all the work for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^{(A) 33} Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent with all its furnishings, its clasps, its planks, its crossbars, and its posts and bases; ³⁴ the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of manatee skins;^[a] the veil for the screen; ³⁵ the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; ³⁶ the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; ³⁷ the pure gold lampstand, with its lamps arranged and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light; ³⁸ the gold altar; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent; ³⁹ the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; ⁴⁰ the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and bases, the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and tent pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; ⁴¹ and the specially woven^[b] garments for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests. ⁴² The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses.^{(B) 43} Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the Lord commanded. Then Moses blessed them.^(C)

Setting up the Tabernacle

40 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “You are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month.^{[c](D) 3} Put the ark^(E) of the testimony there and screen off the ark with the veil. ⁴ Then bring in the table and lay out its arrangement; also bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. ⁵ Place the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony. Put up the screen for the entrance to the tabernacle. ⁶ Position the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ⁷ Place the basin^(F) between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸ Assemble the surrounding courtyard and hang the screen for the gate of the courtyard.

⁹ “Take the anointing oil and anoint^(G) the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it along with all its furnishings so that it will be holy. ¹⁰ Anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar so that it will be especially holy. ¹¹ Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate it.

¹² “Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.^{(H) 13} Clothe Aaron with the holy garments,^(I) anoint him, and consecrate him, so that he can serve Me as a priest. ¹⁴ Have his sons come forward and clothe them in tunics. ¹⁵ Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve Me as priests. Their anointing will serve to inaugurate a permanent priesthood for them throughout their generations.”^(J)

¹⁶ Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him. ¹⁷ The tabernacle was set up in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month.^{[d](K) 18} Moses set up the tabernacle: he laid its bases, positioned its planks, inserted its crossbars, and set up its posts. ¹⁹ Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁰ Moses took the testimony^(L) and placed it in the ark, and attached the poles to the ark. He set the mercy seat on top of the ark. ²¹ He brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and screened off the ark of the testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him.

²² Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. ²³ He arranged the bread on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him. ²⁴ He also put the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle ²⁵ and set up the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.

²⁶ Moses also installed the gold altar in the tent of meeting, in front of the veil, ²⁷ and burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded him. ²⁸ He put up the screen at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹ Then he placed the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it, just as the Lord had commanded him.

³⁰ He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. ³¹ Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and feet from it. ³² They washed whenever they came to the tent of meeting and approached the altar, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³³ Next Moses set up the surrounding courtyard for the tabernacle and the altar and hung a screen for the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.^(M)

The Lord’s Glory

³⁴ The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.^{(N) 35} Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

³⁶ The Israelites set out whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle throughout all the stages of their journey.^{(O) 37} If the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out until the day it was taken up.^{(P) 38} For the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and there was a fire inside the cloud by night, visible to the entire house of Israel throughout all the stages of their journey.

Guidance by the Cloud

¹⁵ On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony,^(A) and it appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. ¹⁶ It remained that way continuously: the cloud would cover it,^[a] appearing like fire at night.^{(B) 17} Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites camped.^{(C) 18} At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at the Lord’s command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped.

¹⁹ Even when the cloud stayed over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites carried out the Lord’s requirement and did not set out. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days. They would camp at the Lord’s command and set out at the Lord’s command. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning; when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out. Or if it remained a day and a night, they moved out when the cloud lifted. ²² Whether it was two days, a month, or longer,^[b] the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. But when it was lifted, they set out. ²³ They camped at the Lord’s command, and they set out at the Lord’s command. They carried out the Lord’s requirement according to His command through Moses.