Day 45

The tabernacle is finished. Moses had inspected all the work and found that all of it had been done just as was commanded by the Lord (cf. 39:43 - and there is a good principle in that statement alone). What we see as the culmination is the presence of the Lord covering the tent of meeting. It was so strong at first that even Moses could not enter. Israel is about to embark into the wilderness, but yet God is with them. They have a visible reminder daily that the Lord is their God and he is with them.

Meditate on the presence of God:

• Psalm 23:6

• Psalm 73:28

• John 1:14

Here are some thoughts from Richard Sibbes that I read this morning. It’s not a perfect parallel, but the idea of Christ dwelling with his people is a beautiful truth and worthy of praise.

“Where his Spirit is, there is holiness. If we consider what a sweet guest Christ is, where he is there is all beauty, work, comfort, strength, and all. And where he is, he is for ever. He never forsakes his lodging, he never forsakes his house and temple. He had two temples built with stone; one by Solomon, and another after the captivity. Both lie now in the rubbish, and are demolished for ever, and shall never be repaired again. But his spiritual temples he never leaves wholly; for whose souls he now dwells in, he will take them by that Spirit that dwells in them, and carry them to heaven, to be where he is. The divine Spirit, that dwells in our souls now, shall quicken our dead bodies, and make them like to his glorious body.

What an excellent honour and happiness is this, to entertain such an one as will rule, govern, and adorn our souls while we live, and carry them to himself and to his Father in heaven, and will quicken our bodies likewise! An everlasting inhabitant he is. If Christ be in us, therefore, we may comfort ourselves.”

Sibbes, R. (1863). The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes (A. B. Grosart, Ed.; Vol. 6, p. 406). James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson.