And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.
Exodus 40:17
Last week, we began an examination of the new year in the scripture with a desire to see what God would draw our attention to at this time of the year. We continue our study of significant events in scripture on New Year’s Day by considering the passage above this week. Here we discover that the tabernacle was raised in the wilderness for the first time on New Year’s Day! We see again that this event, similar to last week, points to salvation, but we learn some additional truths concerning our new birth as we read through Exodus 40.
One thing that is highlighted in this portion of scripture over and over again is the absolute obedience of Moses to the word of God in raising the tabernacle. Everything was set in order exactly as God had commanded. Exodus 40 begins with God’s instruction to Moses on how to set up the tabernacle, and in v. 16 we read, “Thus Moses did; according to all that the LORD had commanded him, so he did.” Moses didn’t step out of line even a fraction when putting the things of the tabernacle in their proper places. This fact is further reiterated in the remaining verses as the actions of Moses were said to be done “as the LORD had commanded Moses.” (v. 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32) Finally, v. 33 concludes that “Moses finished the work.” Interestingly, though Moses would have undoubtedly had assistance when performing some of these tasks (such as in v. 18-19 when he raised up the tent of tabernacle by fastening the sockets, raising the pillars, and putting the covering on top), no one is credited with the work except Moses alone.
This emphasis on the work of Moses in Exodus 40 paints a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in accomplishing our salvation! He completely obeyed the Father, walking in sinless perfection, and saw the work to its full completion at Calvary. Just as the tabernacle was raised, the Lord has raised His church from her deadness in trespasses and sins, and He alone gets the credit for that spiritual resurrection. (Eph 2:1, 5) The song of the great multitude in Rev 19:1 declares this truth as they sing, “Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!” This comparison of Moses as a type of the Lord is clearly made for us in Heb 3:1-6 where we find that Christ Jesus “was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.” Moses’ faithfulness points to Christ’s faithfulness! That same passage also reveals the people of God, the church, to be the house of God: “…whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end”. (Heb 3:6) When we see then the tabernacle being raised on New Year’s Day due to the full obedience of Moses, we should see salvation for the Lord’s people due to the complete obedience of Jesus Christ Who, having offered Himself as the final sacrifice for sin “once for all” (Heb 9:12) upon the cross, exclaimed at the end of His work, “It is finished”! (Joh 19:30)
One final note about the resulting effect of Moses’ obedience in Exodus 40. We see that upon the completion of the work, “the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle”. Even so, when Christ completed His work and ascended to the Father, the result was God filling His spiritual house, the church. Jesus promised when He returned to the Father: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (Joh 14:16-17) And we know that’s exactly what happened in Acts 2 and has been the case for everyone born of the Spirit since that time—God has filled this temple! That truth prompted Paul to write to the believers in Corinth that, “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God”. (1Co 6:19) Thank God for the complete obedience of Jesus Christ! He did not stop short of the goal but fully accomplished our salvation. And, as if that wasn’t enough, He then sent His Spirit to live inside and direct all who put their trust in Him! Hallelujah, what a Savior!! May our thoughts be toward our Redeemer as we enter this new year.
Jamie