Exodus 40: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The LORD tells Moses to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, to place each piece of furniture in it, and to anoint the tabernacle and its things, and to wash, clothe, and anoint Aaron and his sons for the work of priests. Moses does all of it, and on that day the tabernacle is raised. When the work is finished, a cloud covers the tent and the glory of the LORD fills the tabernacle, so that Moses cannot go in. The chapter closes with the cloud over the tabernacle by day and fire on it by night, and Israel moving on only when the cloud lifted.

Claim by Claim

1. 40:1
   • The LORD spoke to Moses.
   • The LORD told Moses the following.
2. 40:2
   • The LORD said that on the first day of the first month Moses was to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.
3. 40:3
   • Moses was to put the ark of the testimony in the tabernacle.
   • Moses was to screen the ark with the veil.
4. 40:4
   • Moses was to bring in the table.
   • Moses was to set out on the table its proper arrangement.
   • Moses was to bring in the lampstand.
   • Moses was to set up its lamps.
5. 40:5
   • Moses was to place the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony.
   • Moses was to put up the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.
6. 40:6
   • Moses was to place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.
7. 40:7
   • Moses was to place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar.
   • Moses was to put water in the basin.
8. 40:8
   • Moses was to set up the court all around.
   • Moses was to put up the screen for the gate of the court.
9. 40:9
   • Moses was to take the anointing oil.
   • Moses was to anoint the tabernacle and everything in it.
   • Moses was to consecrate the tabernacle and all its vessels.
   • The tabernacle would then be holy.
10. 40:10
    • Moses was to anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels.
    • Moses was to consecrate the altar.
    • The altar would then be most holy.
11. 40:11
    • Moses was to anoint the basin and its stand.
    • Moses was to consecrate the basin.
12. 40:12
    • Moses was to bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
    • Moses was to wash them with water.
13. 40:13
    • Moses was to clothe Aaron with the holy garments.
    • Moses was to anoint Aaron.
    • Moses was to consecrate Aaron.
    • Aaron was to serve the LORD as priest.
14. 40:14
    • Moses was to bring Aaron's sons near.
    • Moses was to clothe them with tunics.
15. 40:15
    • Moses was to anoint Aaron's sons as he had anointed their father.
    • They were to serve the LORD as priests.
    • Their anointing would be for them a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.
16. 40:16
    • Moses did this.
    • Moses did according to all that the LORD commanded him.
17. 40:17
    • In the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was set up.
18. 40:18
    • Moses set up the tabernacle.
    • Moses laid its bases.
    • Moses set up its frames.
    • Moses put in its bars.
    • Moses set up its pillars.
19. 40:19
    • Moses spread the tent over the tabernacle.
    • Moses put the covering of the tent above upon it.
    • This was as the LORD had commanded Moses.
20. 40:20
    • Moses took the testimony and put it into the ark.
    • Moses set the poles on the ark.
    • Moses put the cover on top of the ark.
21. 40:21
    • Moses brought the ark into the tabernacle.
    • Moses put up the veil of the screen.
    • Moses screened the ark of the testimony.
    • This was as the LORD had commanded Moses.
22. 40:22
    • Moses put the table in the tent of meeting.
    • The table was on the north side of the tabernacle.
    • The table was outside the veil.
23. 40:23
    • Moses arranged the bread in order on the table before the LORD.
    • This was as the LORD had commanded Moses.
24. 40:24
    • Moses put the lampstand in the tent of meeting.
    • The lampstand was opposite the table.
    • The lampstand was on the south side of the tabernacle.
25. 40:25
    • Moses set up the lamps before the LORD.
    • This was as the LORD had commanded Moses.
26. 40:26
    • Moses put the gold altar in the tent of meeting.
    • The gold altar was in front of the veil.
27. 40:27
    • Moses burned fragrant incense on the gold altar.
    • This was as the LORD had commanded Moses.
28. 40:28
    • Moses put up the screen at the entrance of the tabernacle.
29. 40:29
    • Moses placed the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.
    • Moses offered on it the burnt offering.
    • Moses offered on it the grain offering.
    • This was as the LORD had commanded Moses.
30. 40:30
    • Moses placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar.
    • Moses put water in the basin for washing.
31. 40:31
    • Moses, Aaron, and Aaron's sons washed their hands and their feet from the basin.
32. 40:32
    • They washed when they went into the tent of meeting.
    • They washed when they came near to the altar.
    • This was as the LORD had commanded Moses.
33. 40:33
    • Moses set up the court around the tabernacle and the altar.
    • Moses put up the screen of the gate of the court.
    • Moses finished the work.
34. 40:34
    • The cloud covered the tent of meeting.
    • The glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35. 40:35
    • Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting.
    • The reason was that the cloud settled upon it.
    • The glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36. 40:36
    • When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites set out.
    • This happened throughout all their journeys.
37. 40:37
    • If the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out.
    • They did not set out until the day the cloud was taken up.
38. 40:38
    • The cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day.
    • Fire was in it by night.
    • This was in the sight of all the house of Israel.
    • This was throughout all their journeys.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

40:1

Where the King James prints "LORD" in capital letters it is standing in for the four Hebrew letters of God's personal name, usually written Yahweh. Jewish readers avoided saying that name aloud and substituted the ordinary word for "Lord," and English translations have followed that custom ever since by using the capitalized form.

40:2

The tabernacle was a portable tent-shrine that could be dismantled and carried as the Israelites traveled. The King James calls it "the tent of the congregation," but the Hebrew means "tent of meeting", the appointed place where God and Moses met, not a hall where the people gathered. The first month is Abib (later called Nisan), in early spring; it was reckoned as the first month because the exodus from Egypt happened in it.

40:3

The ark was a gold-covered wooden chest. "The testimony" is the two stone tablets inscribed with the commandments, kept inside it; the ark is named after its contents. The veil was a heavy embroidered curtain that divided the tent into two rooms, hiding the ark in the inner one.

40:4

The table held twelve loaves, replaced weekly, arranged with dishes and vessels, "the things that are to be set in order" is the King James way of saying the bread and its equipment. The lampstand (King James "candlestick") held no candles: it was a branched gold stand carrying seven oil lamps.

40:5

Incense is fragrant resin burned to produce sweet-smelling smoke. This small gold-plated altar was used only for burning it, never for animal sacrifice. "The hanging of the door" means a curtain across the entrance; the tent had no wooden door.

40:6

A burnt offering was an animal sacrifice burned whole on the altar rather than eaten. This altar stood outside in the open courtyard, in front of the tent, and was much larger than the incense altar inside.

40:7

"Laver" is an old word for a large basin. It held water for the priests to wash with before entering the tent or approaching the altar.

40:8

The court was a rectangular open-air enclosure of linen screens on posts, surrounding the tent, an outer boundary marking off the sacred area from the camp.

40:9

The anointing oil was a specially blended perfumed olive oil. Pouring or smearing it on a person or object transferred that thing out of ordinary use and into exclusive use for God; that is what "hallow" and "sanctify" mean here, to set apart, not to make morally good. "Vessels" in the King James means implements or equipment generally, not only containers.

40:10

"Most holy" is a grade, not just an intensifier. Objects and offerings in that category were subject to the strictest restrictions on who could touch them and where they could be handled.

40:11

"His foot" is the King James way of saying "its stand", the base the basin rested on. In 1611 English "his" served as the possessive for things as well as people.

40:12

This washing is a ceremony of installation, done once at the start of Aaron's and his sons' service, not routine cleaning.

40:13

The "holy garments" are the specially made priestly vestments described earlier in Exodus. A priest was an official appointed to handle sacrifices, incense and the sacred objects on behalf of the people; "the priest's office" simply means the job of priest.

40:14

A tunic was a long shirt-like garment reaching to the ankles, the basic undergarment of the priestly outfit.

40:15

The point is hereditary: anointing Aaron's sons established that the office would pass down through his family line permanently, rather than being reassigned in each generation.

40:17

The second year after leaving Egypt, roughly a year after the exodus, and about nine months after the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai.

40:18

The tabernacle's walls were upright wooden frames slotted into heavy metal bases at ground level and held together by horizontal crossbars threaded through rings, a knock-down structure designed for repeated assembly.

40:19

"Spread abroad" in the King James means simply "spread out." Several layers went over the wooden frame: woven curtains, then coverings of animal hair and hide as weatherproofing.

40:20

The mercy seat was the solid gold lid of the ark, with two winged figures on it. The English name comes from the idea of covering or wiping away offenses; the Hebrew word means a cover or covering-place. The poles slid through rings on the ark's sides so it could be carried without being touched by hand.

40:22

"Without the vail" means outside the veil, in the outer of the two rooms, not the inner one where the ark stood. In older English "without" often means "outside" rather than "lacking."

40:23

Twelve loaves, one for each of the tribes of Israel, set out in rows and replaced each week. "Before the LORD" means inside the tent, in God's presence.

40:24

Its lamps burned olive oil, not wax, and this lampstand was the only light source in a windowless tent covered by several layers of cloth and hide.

40:27

Only a specific prescribed blend of spices could be burned here; the recipe was reserved for this use alone.

40:29

The King James "meat offering" does not mean flesh. In 1611 "meat" meant food of any kind, and this offering was made of grain (flour, oil and incense) with no animal in it.

40:30

The King James "to wash withal" means to wash with.

40:31

Priests worked barefoot on ground where animals were slaughtered, which is why hands and feet specifically are named. The washing marked the moment of crossing from ordinary space into the sanctuary.

40:32

This states a standing practice, not a single occasion: the washing was repeated every time they entered the tent or approached the altar.

40:34

"The glory of the LORD" translates a Hebrew word for weight or substance, used for a visible manifestation of God's presence, here something like a blazing brightness within the cloud.

40:35

The obstacle is not a locked door: the presence filling the tent made entry impossible, in the same way the cloud on Mount Sinai had kept people off the mountain.

40:36

The cloud functioned as the signal to break camp. The Israelites were living as a traveling people, and "all their journeys" means the successive stages of the march, camp to camp.

40:38

The same phenomenon appeared as cloud in daylight and as fire after dark, so it was visible at all hours. "The house of Israel" means the nation as a whole, all the descendants of Jacob (also called Israel), not a building.