1The tabernacle is commanded to be set up with all its furniture, 9and anointed. 12Aaron and his sons to be sanctified. 16, 17, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 33Moses performeth all things accordingly. 34A cloud covereth the tabernacle.
1AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2On the first day of the first month shalt 1thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
1 Namely, Moses, by the service of the Levites.
3And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and 2cover the ark with the vail.
2 The sense is, thou shalt hang the veil before the ark, that one may not see it, making a partition thus between the Holy of Holies, and the Holy place; Exod. 26:33, 34.
4Anda thou shalt bring in the table, and 3set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; andb thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.
a Exod. 26:35.
3 That is, thou shalt see all things orderly set and disposed; especially the showbreads.
b Exod. 27:20.
5And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, andc put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.
c Exod. 26:36.
6And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
7And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
8Andd thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate.
d Exod. 27:16.
9And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.
10Ande thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy.
e Exod. 29:37.
11And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.
12And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.
13And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
14And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:
15And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office: for their anointing shall surely be 4an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
4 So namely, that it shall not be needful to renew the anointing, when their posterity shall come to be consecrated as priests, for, in after times only the high priests were anointed.
16Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.
17¶And it came to pass in the first month 5in thef second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.
5 Namely, after the exodus out of Egypt.
f Num. 7:1.
18And 6Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.
6 Namely, by the hands of the Levites.
19And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses.
20¶And he took and put 7the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
7 That is, the two tables of the law of God. Exod. 25:16.
21And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, andg set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.
g Exod. 35:12.
22¶And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail.
23Andh he set 8the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
h Exod. 25:30.
8 Heb. the order of bread; namely, the twelve showbreads, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, and by them all true believers.
24¶And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.
25And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
26¶And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation 9before the vail:
9 Which made the partition between the Holy and the most Holy.
27And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses.
28¶And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.
29And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; 10as the LORD commanded Moses.
10 This clause is often repeated to show that in things appertaining to God and His worship, they did nothing but what God expressly commanded them.
30¶And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.
31And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat:
32When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.
33And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
34 ¶ 11Theni a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
11 Here now is fulfilled that which God the Lord had promised, Exod. 25:8. See similarly, 2 Chron. 5:14; Ezek. 43:4, 5.
i Num. 9:15; 1 Kings 8:10.
35And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
37But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.
38Forj the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and 12fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, 13throughout all their journeys.
j Exod. 13:21; Num. 14:14; Deut. 1:33; Neh. 9:19; Psalm 78:14; 105:39; 1 Cor. 10:1.
12 That is, the pillar of fire.
13 Namely, during their abode in the wilderness, until they came into the land of Canaan.