Please turn in your copy of God's Word once again to Exodus chapter 40. Last year Sandy and I had a Sunday off and we went to visit some friends, in fact some dear old friends. And I said, where will we be going? These are believing friends. And I said, where will we be worshiping with you? They live out of state. And they said, well, we've been visiting this church, but we're not sure if we should stay there or not. And so we want you to go and check it out and give us your assessment. So Sandy and I went and before we got in the car with them, I turned to Sandy and I gave her the lecture. I said, now listen, I said, I want you to affirm these folks. We really want them to get plugged into this church. And so even if things are kind of goofy there, affirm them and tell them you guys got to get plugged in here. And so I gave her the lecture and she just kind of gave me the. Okay, so we go to the church it's meeting in a YMCA and we kind of knew we were in trouble from the first minute when we walked in as we walked in they were meeting in the gym and in kind of up front right to the side right next to the communion table was the table where they had juice and coffee and doughnuts and it was the communion table juice and coffee and doughnuts and so the band fired up and it sounded like a one of Deep Purple's greatest hits and so Sandy and I already were just kind of going like this and The sermon was the absolute worst sermon I've ever heard in a PCA church. It was when I was preaching Philippians, and the man was preaching the exact same text I'd preached two weeks before, and he just mangled the text. And Sandy kept kind of going like this to me, and I was starting to shake, and then came communion. And during communion, it was, and you'll know why we don't do this here, the elders invited the people to come forward, and so they stood in line. Now a lot of people, before they would come to the communion table, they would stop by the coffee and juice table, and they would be standing in line, talking to one another, drinking coffee, and Sandy and I were just about to faint. And so, after the service was over, we left with our dear friends, and we were eating lunch, and they said, so what did you think? And I exploded. And I said, don't you ever go back to that church again. I said, it's the worst church I've ever been in. And their faces were just sort of going like that. And Cindy leaned over and said, what happened to affirming these folks with? I said, yeah, you're right. I said, it's absolutely the worst. And the wife trying to wrap her head around it, she said, I agree. But she said, could you could you boil it down for me into one sentence? What was the problem? I said, there was no glory there. No glory. The glory of God was absent. There was no transcendence, no reverence. And she said, no glory. That's right. That's what I've been sensing and seeing. Well, tonight in our text, what we're going to see is something that has sadly become a missing word for evangelicals. glory. That's what this chapter is about, the glory of God. Now, let me remind you where we've been. As Pastor Anderson said, this is the 71st and final sermon in the book of Exodus. And for those of you who have been here for all 71 sermons, you need a ribbon or a medal or something like that to lodge you for your perseverance and patience. But let me remind you where we began. The book began with the children of Abraham in hard and cruel slavery, forced to build cities and monuments along the Nile for their Egyptian oppressors. They were suffering, dying in Egypt, a land that was not meant to be their home, but God had a plan for their redemption. He had promised them 400 years earlier that he would rescue them and lead them to a land that was overflowing with milk and honey. And what we've seen in the book of Exodus, from the beginning of Exodus, and look, we're in chapter 40, so we've seen this for 40 chapters. What we've been seeing is what many commentators and theologians have recognized is that the theme of Exodus is God working for His own glory, to glorify Himself. For example, way back in Exodus 3 when the Lord first calls Moses to Him from the burning bush, He reminds him of His name and He says He's all about glorifying himself. And then in Exodus chapter 7, when Moses meets with Pharaoh, he tells him why Pharaoh has to let the Israelites go, so they may go out into the desert and glorify Jehovah. And then in Exodus 14, the Lord plunges the armies of Egypt into the Red Sea, and he says this, so that I will gain glory for myself. And then in Exodus 15, in response to these mighty deeds, the Israelites indeed give God glory. As soon as they see the Egyptian army crushed and washing up on the shores of the Red Sea dead, they broke into song and we are told they glorified God. Then when Moses and the people of God came to Mount Sinai, the Lord spoke to them in fire and the earthquake, and they glorified Him because of their reverence and great fear. When He forgave them and cleansed them after their idolatry with the golden calf and renewed His covenant with them, they gave Him glory for his mercy. All of this was the plan of God that his people would be saved to glorify him. And what we're going to do tonight is I dare say that many of you have never heard a sermon or reflection or a study of the glory of God. I grew up with an oaky grandma who was And that's all that can be said. And there's an old Christian comedian that was working in the 70s, a Southern Baptist comedian named Grady Nutt, and he said, most evangelicals don't have curse words. They've substituted biblical words, but they sort of use them for epithets. And I can remember when my grandmother would burn her hand on the stove, she'd say, glory, instead of what some of you less sanctified people would say. And I always wondered, what does that mean? Well, some of you are thinking the same thing tonight. What is this glory business? What I'm going to tell you is all of the emphasis in the book of Exodus comes to a culmination in Exodus 40. In fact, in the last few verses of the chapter, where what we see there is one of the clearest pictures of the glory of God in all the Bible. Tonight, we will see in the culmination of the book, the glory of God on display. Let's pray together as we seek the Lord's help. Our Father, we confess that we prefer the words and productions of men to your holy and perfect word. But now we ask that you would turn our thoughts and our attentions away from trivialities and that which is foolish to that which is lasting and true and glorious. The psalmist told us that he hungered and thirsted for your word. Give us that same passion to hear you speaking to us by your word. Show us your glory. Once again, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Look with me at the first 16 verses of Exodus chapter 40, and I've been asked several times where we're going after this. Our next series will be a study of the life of David, beginning in 1 Samuel chapter 15. I'm completely excited about that. I've been delighting in studying and preparing for that. There are all types of lessons that the Lord is going to teach us not the least of which is the lesser David greater David that we see the life of David perhaps one of the clearest pictures of Christ and so that's where we will be going on Sunday nights but look with me now at chapter 40 the first 16 verses and notice how the chapter begins in verse 2 The Lord spoke to Moses saying, on the first day of the first month, you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. Now, some of you are saying, first day, first month. I thought we'd already done one of these. Now, for those of you who are calendar buffs, and I love calendar trivia, this is actually year two. It's year 2.0. In fact, let me show you year 1.0. Keep one finger here and look back to Exodus 12. And I want to point out a little date significance to you in the Exodus. In Exodus 12, the night of Passover begins year one. That's when God starts keeping time with his people. Exodus 12 verse one. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, this month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, on the 10th of this month, every man shall take for himself a lamb. And so the point is that God starts marking time with Israel with the Passover, with their deliverance. And by the way, this would have been around our April 1st. And so, get the point, in Exodus 40, one year to the day before, they're supposed to on year one, day one, set up the tabernacle. One year to the day before, they were slaves in bondage selecting a spotless lamb for sacrifice whose blood would save them. Now, one year later to the day after their deliverance, they are about to worship Jehovah in liberty, in his tabernacle, and to rejoice in his salvation. But something has happened in between. Something happened between 1.0 and 2.0. Between 1.0 and 2.0, they went off the reservation. They went into apostasy. They constructed a golden calf, and they built it, and they worshiped there. But let me remind you what's happened. And this is good news. This is where the gospel is. The Lord, during that time, the Lord had seen their sin. He had cleansed them. He had forgiven them and wiped the slate clean. And so when you read those words, look at verse two and three. It looks like the beginning of a of a brand new year, a brand new era on the first day of the first month. And what we see is it's a new beginning. And this is a glorious picture of what the Lord does with us in the gospels that he wipes that slate of sin clean. It's interesting all the terms that the scripture uses to describe this process. The psalmist speaks of this in Psalm 23 when he says he restores my soul or The psalmist says in Psalm 51, look there with me, one of our favorite Psalms, Psalm 51 verse 10, the psalmist says, creating me a clean heart, O God, and renew. A steadfast spirit within me. All of these terms, whether it's restore, renew, they all describe the cleansing, restoring grace of God. And that's what's just happened to Israel. Isn't that what the Apostle Paul teaches us when he says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come. That's what's happened to Israel. They've fallen horribly with the golden calf, but the Lord is now wiping the slate clean in Exodus 40, beginning a new era. Now, think about this. I want us to look at the first 16 verses and not run away too quickly. The Lord has been with them this year, guiding them, providing for them the whole year, and by building the tabernacle, which they're about to erect now in chapter 40, they are being shown the reason that God was saving them so that he could dwell in their midst. The preparations have now been completed. The instructions are given regarding how everything is to be brought together. Now notice in verse two. By commanding Moses to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, God's indicating that the job could be done in a day. He doesn't say the first two or three days, but a day. Now remember, the tabernacle is very portable, and its portability would be tested and shown in this first setup. This is to show Israel. that whenever God wanted them to move, they were to do so quickly, breaking down the tabernacle and then quickly reassembling it when they got to the location God designated, so that they were never long, never more than a day actually, without worship facilities. Look at the first eight verses. Everything has to be exactly where God required. And so we see in verses one through eight, the Lord giving the order to Moses about where the tabernacle is to be set up. The Holy of Holies first, then quickly hidden and partitioned off by the rest of the tabernacle. And after everything is set up, the entire tabernacle is to be set apart by anointing. All of these tents and tables and pieces of furniture would no longer be part of the ordinary realm, but designated as belonging to the sphere of worship. They would no longer be ordinary. They would be set apart. Verses 9 to 15 give careful instructions on how to anoint everything. Look at them there. Verses 9 to 15, everything gets anointed, including the priests. Now, here's why. Sin is pictured by many images in the Bible, such as disease, darkness, even death, but most frequently it's pictured as dirt and defilement. That's how sin is usually pictured in the scripture. And so what the Lord is showing by this necessity for the priests and everything to be anointed, it's showing that the people of God need a priest and worship facilities that are cleansed and pure. All of this is paving the way for Christ, who is the spotless, pure one. All the priestly garments are then placed upon the priest. Look at verse 13 and 14. The technical name for this is investiture. These were the official uniforms. The priest could not be free spirits and say, I don't like those garments. I'm tired of them. I want to wear something else. And then after the garments are placed on him, look at verse 15. He's to be anointed. Now, if you're looking at this and yawning and saying, Carl, would you get to the good stuff? This is the good stuff. as the priest is being anointed with the special anointing oil. The oil is showing that the high priest is holy, that God had poured out his spirit on the man. That's what's being pictured in the anointing. Anointing denotes God's choice. Later, kings would be anointed and prophets would be anointed. All of this is preparing for Jesus, who will be the perfect prophet, priest, and king. Now, did you notice that in the Old Testament, three offices get anointed? Prophets, priests, kings. This is why in Matthew chapter three, we know that the Lord Jesus was poured upon, sprinkled upon, not immersed, because that was his anointing to lawfully enter the priesthood. Jesus was and is our priest. The pouring by John was to fulfill all righteousness and was the ceremonial act of his ordination to priesthood. In fact, if he was not anointed but immersed, then Jesus is not a lawful priest and you and I desperately need a priest. But he was anointed. We see the mandate for it here in Exodus chapter 40. We'll look at verses 16 through 32. Why this section? One of the things that I would encourage you to do is on a regular basis as you study the word to say, why is this included in the canon of scripture? Why is this here? In verse 16 to 32, it almost seems like a complete repeat of the first 16 verses of chapter 40. This is to show, look carefully at it, and I want you to see, this is like the simplest of all answers. This is to show that all the commands given for the erection of the tabernacle were obeyed. Look at the drumbeat, the theme statement that runs through this section. It's repeated eight times. That theme statement is, as the Lord commanded Moses. Count them with me. Look at them. Verse 16, verse 19, verse 21. Verse 23, verse 25, verse 27, verse 29, verse 32. And what we're being told is over and over again, the people of God did what God commanded. These are amazing expressions of obedience to the word of God. Now, the reason why this is so important is that the tabernacle has to be constructed just so because it all points to Christ and the salvation he provides. You remember, the tabernacle is meant to be a visual, guided, sensory tour of the Christian life. And so look at verse 18 and 19. The tabernacle tent itself pictures the truth of God dwelling in the midst of his people. Verse 20 and 21 tells about the setting up of the ark of God. Remember the ark, that box that contains the law of God, which is the standard of God's holiness. But when God looks down, he doesn't see the tablets, the law that men have broken. Instead, he sees the mercy seat. on top of the law, where the blood of the sacrifice is poured. And so instead of seeing the broken law, what God sees is the blood of the Lamb. And so that picture of the ark, that preaches the gospel to every Israelite. And then in verses 22 through 27, you have the bread. The bread that was a picture of God's provision of all that is needed by the believer. And that the Lord wants to sit down at a table and fellowship with His people. The altar of incense there is a symbol of prayer. Prayer which ascends to the throne of God and is pleasing to the Lord. And in verse 29 through 30, you have the laver, which shows the necessity of cleansing if we're to have fellowship with God. So now Moses has completed all the preparations. Everything is in readiness. The tabernacle is constructed. There it is, sitting right in front of Mount Sinai. And the real question is, will the Lord come down and dwell with his people now? Moses and all his co-laborers, they can make the furnishings and the clothing. Moses can consecrate the priests. But there's one thing Moses can't do. He can't command the presence of God. And so look at the quick answer to the suspense in verses 34 through 38 at the end of your chapter. The short answer is the glory comes down. Look at the statement in verse 34. We read these words, then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The statement that the cloud came down and the glory of God filled the tabernacle is meant to show that just as the glory was once far away, way up on top of Mount Sinai, now the glory is coming near. Now, do you get the picture? This is the first movement that we see of God starting to come near. Theologians call this the Emmanuel principle of scriptural. God with us. The Emmanuel principle is starting to be seen. The glory of God was on top of Mount Sinai and now He's coming near. He's coming and dwelling in His tabernacle right in the midst of His people. He's coming near to comfort and assure and fellowship. Remember what Isaiah the prophet later will say when he says, thus says the high and exalted one who lives forever, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place and I dwell with the contrite and lowly. That's what the Lord is doing when he comes in and his glory is showing his presence fills the tabernacle. Now I want to take you on a tour. All through Exodus, the glory of God has been shown by the same picture. A cloud. That's the symbol. This Shekinah glory. This isn't your standard cumulus nimbus cloud. This is a very different type of cloud. Let me show you this cloud. Keep one finger here and go backwards with me to Exodus chapter 14. Exodus chapter 14. And let's take a quick tour of reminder about this glory cloud. In Exodus 14, this is in the context of the Egyptian army chasing Israel. Exodus 14 beginning with verse 19, the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. What we have there is the picture of God in the glory cloud protecting His people. Then just turn the page to Exodus 16. And I want you to see how often we see this amazing picture of God. In Exodus chapter 16, in the midst of the Lord providing bread and water, manna and water for his people, we read these words, Exodus 16 verse 10. Now it came to pass as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they look toward the wilderness and behold the glory. There's that word again. The glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. Are you starting to get the sense? That's that's the symbol by which God wants to show this attribute of glory. Then we see it at Exodus 19 in the run up to the giving of the Ten Commandments, where the Lord shows his glory in all of the phenomena, especially the dark cloud. Then look at Exodus chapter 24, Exodus 24. And you're going to notice this recurrent term. I hope by the time you leave tonight, you'll say, you know, there's a lot of times I go to Woodford Presbyterian Church and I don't learn a thing. But tonight, for the first time, I have a concept of what the glory of God is. First, we have to see it. Look at Exodus 24, verse 15. Then Moses went up into the mountain and a cloud covered the mountain. Now, the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day, he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud, the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. Now, all of that is sort of just prefatory. Now look at our chapter, Exodus 40, the last few verses. All of that glory that we've been seeing in this cloud that goes before and behind Israel that's on top of the mountain of Mount Sinai. Now all that glory descends and is poured into the tabernacle. In fact, that glory comes into the small meeting place. The glory of God is glowing. Pulsing, illuminating everything. It's the radiance of God's being and what you're being exposed to. Right here in the last few verses of Exodus 40. is a profound attribute of God, namely His glory. Now, I would dare say that many of you, if not most of you, could discuss God's omnipotence. And you could say, this means that God has all power and no one can withstand His will. Or you could discuss His omnipresence, that God is in all places at once, but not localized anywhere. Or His sovereignty, that God has the right and power to do whatever He wants. But if I were to say to you, define for me the glory of God. you'd have a hard time speaking to it. Glory is the Hebrew word which means kibbutz. It's the Hebrew word kibbutz which means weighty or heavy. What is the glory of God? I want to try to do something that's actually impossible, but I want to try to put into human speech what is meant by the glory and why it is what we desire in our worship. We don't want worship that's non-transcendent, irreverent, and non-glorious. We want people when they leave Woodruff Road at the close of a Lord's Day to say, the glory of God was there. So keep one finger here and let me take you on a quick tour. Look at 2 Chronicles 7. I want to attempt to show you the glory. In 2 Chronicles 7, the context is the dedication of Solomon's temple. And what we see is, is that God's glory seems to show up, if I can say so reverently, at certain times. 2 Chronicles 7, when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and the glory, there's that Hebrew word kabod, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and praised the Lord saying, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Do you know what I know? Nobody was standing around drinking coffee and orange juice and saying, huh, look, the glory of the Lord. Now those two things are incompatible. in terms of the glory of God. Now, from this text and our text in Exodus 40, we can surmise that God's glory can be sensed when believers gather to worship and a recognition of the glory of God will produce humbling of men and praise to God. Now, more for you to learn about the glory of God. Did you know that the glory of God is the constant topic of heaven? Remember that picture we're shown in Isaiah 6 where we have Christ seated on his throne high and lifted up and the angels are encircling him and with two wings they cover their eyes and with two they cover their hands and two they cover their feet. But do you remember what the topic of their conversation is? As they encircle the throne over and over again, they say to one another, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. That's what the angels want to talk about. The angels want to say, isn't our God glorious? So back to the question. What is God's glory? Let me give you a theology book definition. God's glory is the showing forth, the manifesting, the overflow, of God's sovereignty and power and holiness and goodness. It is the splendor, the transcendence that is connected to all of these virtues. Now something else you need to know about the glory of God. The Lord says in Isaiah chapter 42 verse 8, I am the Lord, that is my name, I will not share my glory with another. Just as the Lord's salvation is exclusive, His glory is exclusive. We are not to give that which belongs to God to any other being, creature, person. Glory is exclusive. Did you hear that? The Lord says, I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not share my kabod, my glory, with another. The biggest understatement of the Bible. is that you and I, because of our sin, Paul says in Romans 3, 23, it's almost cause for laughter. Because of our sin, we fall short of the glory of God. That's an understatement. This means that we don't measure up to God's perfect standard of holiness. That's why it's so laughable when somebody will say, well, I'm planning by on my good works entering heaven. The Lord's response to that is, Men sort of fall short of the glory of God. We, because of sin, Paul says in Romans 1, don't even see the glory of God. Now, let me propose this theory for you. Remember what the angels say in Isaiah 6. They say the whole earth is full of God's glory. Do you know what lost men do with the glory of God? Their full-time vocation is they suppress it. Look at Romans 1 and see this. We're thinking about the glory of God and what it was that came, fell into the tabernacle in this moment. In Romans 1 verse 18, I want you to see this and I want you to be asking this question. Do I not see it? Do I not get it? Do I not see the glory of God that's all around me, especially when God's church is gathered to worship? Romans 1 verse 18, Paul in one of those Mount Everest texts of scripture says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them. God has shown it to them. Since the creation of the world is invisible, attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even as eternal power and Godhead. So they're without excuse because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God. Nor were they thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were dark. And professing to be wise, they became fools, and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image. Do you see what lost men do? They take the glory of God and say, I don't think I want to think about that. I don't want to acknowledge it. I don't want to see it. And so I would rather, Romans 1.23 says, I would rather give glory to Foolish fellow men. Instead of glorify God. What Paul is saying is because of sin we don't even see the glory. And this is a willful blindness because we come out of the womb suppressing the truth and unrighteousness. Here's the good news. Redemption restores our ability to see the glory of God. That's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, 6, that now we're able to see the glory of God in the face of Christ. And we enshrine this as Presbyterians. For those of you who have never quite gotten it, our first question we teach our children in the catechism, the first thing that our infants learn when we ask them in the shorter catechism, what does man's chief end? What we want to talk about is glory. Think of it. When that first little question and answer, what is man's chief end? In other words, what is your purpose in life? And the answer comes back to glorify God and enjoy him forever. In other words, my thesis of Sorter Catechism 1 is my task is to show, see, reflect, demonstrate and enjoy God's glory. I'll be doing it forever. Look back at our text and see this glory cloud. In verse 36 and 37, we see the cloud of glory that stays there and we read these words. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward. in all their journeys, but if the cloud was not taken up, then they didn't journey till the day that it was taken up. You remember back in Exodus 32 in the golden calf incident, the people had in their sin, ask Aaron for gods who can lead us, meaning the golden calf. Now we see God's provision. He will lead his people, but isn't it interesting? He leads them by way of them keeping their eye fixed on his glory. Look for my glory. Watch my glory. Then you'll know where I'm going. The presence of God, the glorious presence of God, was to be the controlling influence in the lives of the people of God. Isn't that what's being said in verse 36 and 37? God's saying, you watch me. Keep your eyes on my glory. And when I move, you move. When I sit still, you sit still. The presence of God, the glorious presence of God, is the controlling factor in their lives. And notice how the book ends. It ends on a crescendo. The book began with Israel in oppressive bondage, and it concludes with their deliverance, Jehovah dwelling in their midst, and his glory all around them. How's that for a straight upward trajectory in the book? It begins with them in slavery. It ends with them free and gazing on the glory of God. That's the ultimate we lived happily ever after story, isn't it? How do we apply this word? Let me make several applications to us from this text. I have to say this because I'm a Presbyterian, but I have to say it because I'm being biblical. When you read Exodus 40, even the most casual reader is struck by the order, the precision, the logic, and the rationality of the plan and construction and setup of the tabernacle. When God's hands are on something, it is always orderly. It's never irrational or haphazard. When you read those first 32 verses, you see the plan of God, God says, do it this way. And it makes sense. It's logical. First, you erect the Holy of Holies and then you build outward from here. Now, the point is, is if you are being conformed to the image of God, you will be moving out of chaos and disorder and irrationality. into doing what Paul calls doing all things decently and in order. The person whose life is a mess, who their finances are always a problem, their house is a mess, they can't get any place on time, you should put your arm around them and say, brother, you're not being conformed to the image of God. Because our God is a God of order, not of chaos. Look at what the Lord does. Every time he puts his hands to something, it's beautiful in its symmetry, in its timeliness, in its order. Our God is a God of order. And we see that clearly reflected even in chapter 40 in the construction of the tabernacle. A second application we should see. As Exodus closes, Israel's in the desert and some would look at this and they would say, boy, this isn't a happy ending. They're in the desert. They're staring at the face of a mountain. There's not much water around them. So they're surrounded by hostile nations. But do you know why this is a happy ending? Because God is in their midst. That's why it's all a happy ending. And so they're wealthy and well provided for. You too. Tonight, even if you're in the midst of trials, if you would say I'm in the desert and my enemies are all around me, even if you're in the midst of trials, poverty, ill health, but if the Holy Spirit is dwelling, indwelling in your midst, then you can be happy, worry free, and you can sleep well at night. Because the only thing that takes to make the Christian joyful is for God to be dwelling in his midst. Let me make another theological application. The people of God in our text, look at them clearly, have great privileges, but they're restricted, aren't they? Even though God is in their midst, think with me carefully. Look at that little handout you have inside your bulletin. Even though God is in their midst, there are barriers of separation now. and the need for sacrifice before anyone could enter the courtyard. And so free and unfettered access to God is limited. Yes, God is in their midst, but access to him is limited. Today in the new covenant, we have great privileges, but there is still separation. We long for and look forward to the day when we will have the full enjoyment of God with no separation for all eternity. What God did for Israel was glorious. People are still talking about it and making movies about it. The Passover, the Red Sea, the Ark of the Covenant. But as glorious as it was, it cannot compare to what has been done by God in Christ for us and what God will do to us and for us. The glory in the tabernacle was the climax of Exodus. When the glory of God comes down into the tabernacle in Exodus 40, the last few verses, that's the climax, the pinnacle of Exodus, but not the climax of redemption. When Christ came in the flesh, The glory of God came down from heaven. That's why Hebrews 1 says the sun is the radiance of God's glory, or those most precious of all words in John chapter 1. The word became flesh and we beheld his glory, full of grace and truth. But the New Testament writers are almost biting their nails to say, you think that's something? Wait until you'll see what's coming. Wait until Jesus comes in all his unveiled glory. That's what Paul's writing about in Philippians 2 when he says, then every person will see his glory and bow before him and confess him. The complete sight of the glory of Jesus will take up our attention for all eternity. Exodus is a book of happy endings. And so in that respect, it's much like the Bible as a whole. The Bible begins in Genesis chapter three with the whole world being plunged into darkness and sin, but ends in Revelation 22 with the light of Christ illuminating the new heavens and the new earth forever. Exodus begins with God's people in bondage and crying out for mercy, but ends with God's people delivered from slavery, worshiping in obedience and freedom and gazing on the glory of God. That's our story. Let's pray. Father, how we thank you for once again showing us your glory and Lord, we repent of all of those times when our worship has been so lackluster. We've not seen or even looked for or expected to meet with your glory in worship. Lord, we pray for our worship in days to come that it would be marked by a powerful sense of that transcendence and reverence and the knowledge of your glory in our midst. Lord, we pray that we would put off all levity and irreverence, especially when it comes to your worship. And we would be looking for longing for your glory to fall in our worship. Now, Lord, we ask that you would cause us to hunger and thirst, looking for that day when Christ in all his glory returns and we see him along with everyone and we bow our knees and confess him as Lord to the glory of the Father. Lord, we thank you for this book. We pray that you will teach it to us, press its lessons home to our heart, and mature us. We pray in the name of our all-glorious Savior, even the Lord Jesus, amen.