Exodus 40:34-38 Study Guide — The glory of god in your midst

Community Group Study Guide —The Glory of God in Your Midst 

Exodus 40:34-38

Study Information:

There’s a point where a house becomes a home. If you have been in a house for some time you know that moment where you start to think of it less as a place to sleep, eat and keep your stuff and more as your “home.” For some of us that included being able to wait for the construction of the home, then moving all our stuff in, hanging photos on the wall and creating memories. For others you found the perfect place to rent through a series of what felt like coincidences but it was the perfect place at the perfect time. What needs to happen to turn a house into a home for you?

Exodus 40:34-38 tells the story of how the Tabernacle was filled with God’s presence, it was more than a place of sacrifice and ritual, it was a place to meet God and for God to be with his people. The Tabernacle was a home for God. The end of Exodus is not a conclusion to Israel’s story in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land but it is a conclusion to God’s movement to claim them as his people and his promise to be with them. Let’s explore this theme of God’s dwelling place and see how God prepared them for the journey ahead to the Promised Land. 

New Beginning

Exodus 40:1-33

Notice that on the first day of the first month they were to set up the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:1). This time was not just the next available date, it was intentional and marked a new beginning for the people of God. Their new year was marked by God’s dwelling with them and their being his God. Their freedom began on the original passover night roughly a year before and now a year later they begin their “second year” with a visible representation of God’s dwelling with them (Exodus 12:18, 40:17).  

This year had been good but it was not easy for Israel. Their faith was tested in the wilderness and God even though provided for them with water, manna and clothing that did not wear out they still struggled with faith. Their worldview was formed over hundreds of years in Egypt and they struggled with idolatry, grumbling and faithlessness. In all that, God did not abandon them and a year into their journey with him, they set up the Tabernacle to reflect this glory to them. 

Notice that Moses followed the instructions given to him by God, beginning with the Holy of Holies and moving outward to the outer courts. Everything in the Tabernacle and the Tabernacle itself were anointed with oil as a mark of consecration and to set it apart as holy. This included everything from the Ark to even the priests themselves, everything was anointed with oil; and so “Moses finished the work (Exodus 40:33).” 

They finished and they waited, what would happen next?

God’s Presence and Guidance 

Exodus 40:34-38

God blessed and consecrated the Tabernacle with his holy presence. Exodus 40:34 referred to the tabernacle by two names, first as the “tent of meeting” and as the “Tabernacle,” each name highlighted a different purpose for the same place. It was first, the place they’d meet God and it was also the place of God’s dwelling with them. You can imagine the scene with the final touches finished on the building and the anointing with oil complete and the presence of God manifested in the form of the cloud in the sky in their midst. What would happen next?! The glory of God in that form of the cloud descended and filled the Tabernacle space smooch so that it was impossible for even Moses to enter. We read of a similar scene in 1 Kings 8:10-11 when the Temple space was dedicated and God filled it. The presence of God was manifested physically so that the priests could not enter. This was not the permanent situation for the space, but was a visible witness that God was there with them. 

The Tabernacle became a visible reminder of God’s ongoing presence with them. Their whole community was built around the Tabernacle, with God’s presence at the center as a way of perpetual reminder of who God was in their midst. Moreover, the presence of God in the cloud would guide them through their journey in the wilderness. Exodus 40:36-38 tells us that when the cloud left the tabernacle Israel was to pack up and get ready to move, but if it was not taken up they were to remain until God would move them. This kind of constant dependence on God as their guide was to be a mark of faith and trust in God. Israel was far from perfect in this in the wilderness but God set up reminders like this that pushed them to faith.

For followers of Jesus today we’re commanded to abide in Christ and keep in step with the Spirit. As we’ve explored in the series, John wrote that Jesus was the “word became flesh” who dwelt or tabernacled among us (Join 1:14). Christians today likewise are filled with the Holy Spirit to be a dwelling place for God (Eph 2:22). God would dwell with his people through the Spirit and we can make Christ our home because Christ has made us his home (Col 1:27). To abide in him and have his word abide in us is language of relationship and looking to God’s word for guidance. These things can sound mystical but just as the Israelites had God’s dwelling place with them and were guided by the cloud so too we have Christ in us and the word to lead us. Colossians 3:16 tells us to “let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…,” God has given us the scripture to form and shape our minds and hearts and to help us depend on him day to day. Likewise, we have the Holy Spirit in us helping us to draw near to God and be transformed more and more into the image of Christ as we behold him (2 Corinthians 3:18).

We may not have a visible reminder of God’s presence in the Tabernacle but God does dwell with his people and fills his people today through the Holy Spirit. Similar to Israel’s call in the wilderness to follow the cloud we too cam to look to God for guidance as we follow Christ in faith.

At your community group:

Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:

Read Exodus 40:1, 34-38

What are some reasons that it is significant that the competition of the Tabernacle took place on the first day of the first month? 

How did God give the Israelites a visible witness of his presence? What are some ways they were called to faith and trust in this passage?

Read John 15:9-11, how does Jesus call us to make a home with him through abiding? What does this look like and how does it relate to God’s dwelling place with Israel?

Looking back over this past year in the book of Exodus, what have been some of your big takeaways from the series and how has God challenged you to greater faithfulness?