When the children of Israel came out of Egypt they had little more than a concept of who God was. Though they had experienced miraculous signs and wonders both in captivity and in the wilderness, in a way, the people were living as foreigners, even fugitives, fighting for their survival in the wilderness everyday. The majority of the people remained at a distance from God until a point they came to the mountain of God. Here, the Israelites were brought into a covenant sealed by blood in the form of an offering — a peace offering. This offering set the tone for a critical shift in scene and proximity that occurred in chapter 24 of the book of Exodus — a milestone that ushered in a vision that defined the purpose of God’s deliverance of His people from the world.
And they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was something like a paved work of sapphire, even like heaven itself for clearness. (24:10)
In this scene on the mountain of God was an atmospheric change, an ambient change — God brought Himself directly to His people. Suddenly, the God that they only knew from a distance was before them bringing tranquility and an open sky. Here in His presence, the Lord revealed Himself — a man standing on His paved work — bringing them into intimacy and vision with Him. From this moment, their lives were changed; they were no longer struggling for their own living in a vast wilderness. They were now guided under a new seeing, linking them directly to God’s will. From chapter 24 to the end of the book of Exodus, the focus is now about how to enter into this vision corporately, the building of His “sanctuary” (v. 8). Finally, out of this state of being, the way was made for arriving, not just at the mountain of God but into a mutual dwelling for God on the earth. Beginning in chapter 25 onward, the materials, structure and building eventually all culminate with “the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle” (40:34b).
For us today, as New Testament believers, how do we know that we have moved beyond the first portion of Exodus and have been brought into that bright and peaceful atmosphere in chapter 24? A clear indicator is this: the Lord is no longer a vague religious concept to us that we pursue for our own personal growth; our eyes have now shifted to the building up of the tabernacle. If today we too have had even one genuine encounter with the Lord directly — whether a prayer, a pause in the midst of a job, or during a walk in the park — the form doesn’t matter, but the result: our lives will be transformed. We will experience something anchoring our lives on the goodland yet joining us to the heavens; we become a living testimony of that transformation process to be His heave offering, the precious materials to build a dwelling place of God.
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. (Rev. 21:3)
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 12/08/2023, not reviewed by the speaker.)