Exodus 40

40 Then the Lord said to Moses: ² “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. ³ Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. ⁴ Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. ⁵ Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

⁶ “Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; ⁷ place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. ⁸ Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.
⁹ “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. ¹⁰ Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. ¹¹ Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.
¹² “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ¹³ Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. ¹⁴ Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. ¹⁵ Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” ¹⁶ Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him.
¹⁷ So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. ¹⁸ When Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. ¹⁹ Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the Lord commanded him.
²⁰ He took the tablets of the covenant law and placed them in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. ²¹ Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commanded him.
²² Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain ²³ and set out the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.
²⁴ He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle ²⁵ and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.
²⁶ Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain ²⁷ and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded him.
²⁸ Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹ He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the Lord commanded him.
³⁰ He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, ³¹ and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. ³² They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses.
³³ Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
³⁶ In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; ³⁷ but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸ So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

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 It occurs to me that the people still have not moved from the base of the mountain.  This is the place where they agreed to be God's people and Moses went up the mountain for 40 days and came down with the 10 commandments...while the people were holding a festival for their new golden calf idol.  This is the place where God wanted to destroy them and Moses pleaded for their lives and thousands died and Moses went back to get the commandments again and then the work was done to build all these articles of worship.  This nation of 1 million souls has been here for...2 months?  3 months?  I wonder how long this all took.  And now they have a place to meet with their God.  And everyone can see the cloud, both plain by day and filled with fire by night, and when it raises off the tabernacle they move.  When it settles they put down camp.

What a crazy way to live.  There is no permanence, no security...other than the fact that you know exactly where God is and where He wants you to be.  As I think about it, those are the pieces that most people wish that they had: to know God is with them and to know where He wants them to be.  The Israelites have a very clear life: follow God wherever He leads.  Everything depends on it.  Their food, their water, their survival all depend on remaining in His favor.  No wonder there is such zeal in rooting out those members of the community who offend God.  There is no safety net, no plan B.  

On the one hand it is a very attractive way to live.  I like clear expectations and clear results.  I like the idea of being completely confident that I am following God.  On the other hand the complete and utter dependence freaks me out.  What if...there are dozens of scenarios that flood my head.  They all boil down to whether I believe that God is capable of taking care of me and if He loves me enough to bother.  I know the answer to both questions is yes.  I try to live my life that way.  And this is a much more radical picture of a committed life than I pursue.