The Tabernacle Erected
40 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “On the first day of the first month (Abib) you shall set up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting [of God with you]. 3 You shall place the ark of the Testimony there, and you shall screen off the ark [from the Holy Place of God’s Presence] with the veil (partition curtain).(A) 4 You shall bring in the table [for the bread] and arrange its setting; you shall bring in the lampstand and mount and light its lamps.(B) 5 You shall set the golden altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony [outside the veil], and put the [hanging] veil at the doorway of the tabernacle. 6 You shall set the [bronze] altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. 7 You shall set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering], and put water in it. 8 You shall set up the courtyard [curtains] all around and hang up the screen (curtain) for the gateway of the courtyard. 9 Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture; and it shall be holy (declared sacred, separated from secular use). 10 You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy. 11 You shall anoint the basin and its base, and consecrate it. 12 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.(C) 13 You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve as a priest to Me. 14 You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; 15 you shall anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may serve as priests to Me; and their anointing shall qualify them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.” 16 Thus Moses did; in accordance with all that the Lord commanded him, so he did.
17 Now it happened on the first day of the first month (Abib) in the second year [after the exodus from Egypt], that the tabernacle was erected. 18 Moses erected the tabernacle, laid its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars and erected its support poles. 19 He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, just as the Lord had commanded him. 20 He took the Testimony [the stones inscribed with the Ten Commandments] and put it into the ark [of the covenant], and placed the poles [through the rings] on the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. 21 Moses brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up a veil (partition) for the screen (curtain), and screened off the ark of the Testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him. 22 Then he put the table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. 23 He set the bread [of the Presence] in order on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.(D) 24 Then he put the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. 25 Moses mounted and lighted the lamps [on the lampstand] before the Lord, just as the Lord commanded him. 26 He put the golden altar [of incense] in the Tent of Meeting in front of the veil; 27 he burned fragrant incense [as a symbol of prayer] on it, just as the Lord commanded him.(E) 28 Then he set up the screen (curtain) at the doorway of the tabernacle. 29 He set the altar of burnt offering before the doorway of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the Lord commanded him. 30 He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering], and put water in it for washing. 31 Then from it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32 When they entered the Tent of Meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, just as the Lord commanded Moses. 33 And he erected the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung the screen (curtain) at the gateway of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.
The Glory of the Lord
34 Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God’s visible, dwelling presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle.(F) 35 Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained on it, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey on until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.