Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read Exodus 40, Proverbs 16, and Psalm 88 if you're keeping up with the Old Testament reading schedule this year. This devotional is about Exodus 40. Then the Lord said to Moses, On the first day of the first month you are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. Put the ark of the testimony in it, and screen off the ark with the veil. Then bring in the table, and set out its arrangement. Bring in the lampstand as well, and set up the lamps. Place the gold altar of incense in front of the Ark of the Testimony, and hang the curtain at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar to put water in it. Set up the surrounding courtyard, and hang the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard. Take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it. Consecrate it along with all its furnishings, and it shall be holy. Anoint the altar a burnt offering and all its utensils. Consecrate the altar, and it shall be most holy. Anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate them. Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting, and wash them with water. and you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments, anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as a priest. Bring his sons forward and clothe them with tunics. Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve me as priests. Their anointing will qualify them for a permanent priesthood throughout their generations.' Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him. So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year. When Moses set up the tabernacle, he laid its bases, positioned its frames, inserted its crossbars, and set up its posts. Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering over the tent, just as the Lord had commanded him. Moses took the testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark, and he set the mercy seat atop the ark. Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and shielded off the ark of the testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him. Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside its veil. He arranged the bread on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him. He also placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, and set up the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him. Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting, in front of the veil, and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded him. Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the Lord had commanded him. He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. And from it Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and feet. They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar. And he hung the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard. So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was lifted above the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out through all the stages of their journey. If the cloud was not lifted, they would not set out until the day it was taken up. For 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 house of Israel through all their journeys. This is God's word. At long last, the tabernacle was completed, as well as all the items that were needed to make it useful for worshiping God. The Lord ordered Moses to set it all up, we saw that in verses 1-8, set it apart with anointing oil, as we saw in verses 9-11, and anoint Aaron and his sons for their ministry in it, as we saw in verses 12-15. The rest of the chapter details how Moses obeyed these commands. We saw that in verses 16 through 33. And how the Lord blessed this tent with his presence and communicated his will through that presence. We saw that in verses 34 through 38. God had promised his presence would go before Israel and give them rest in the promised land. See Exodus 33, 14 for that. But God's promise to give Israel rest and go before them was visually fulfilled through the cloud that inhabited the tabernacle. So on one hand, the tabernacle demonstrated God's presence with his people. But on the other hand, there is an emphasis in this chapter on the importance of keeping the people separate from the presence of God in the tabernacle. You follow me? On one hand, the tabernacle represents God's presence with his people. But in that expression, there's separation. And this passage sets up, this tabernacle sets up the importance of keeping the people separate from the presence of God in the tabernacle. The word holy means to set apart, to make special by separating something for a particular use. Each anointing of the tabernacle and its furnishings and instruments was done to set it apart as holy for the Lord's service. We saw that in verses 9 through 10. The strongest indication of God's separation was the shielding curtain, as the NIV calls it, in verse 21a, that shielded the Ark of the Covenant law, as we saw in verse 21b. What was it shielded from? Everyone. Nobody was allowed near the Ark, the Ark that represented God's presence. That ark that represented God's presence was kept in the most holy place and only the high priest could enter and then only once a year to see the ark and interact with it before the Lord. So while God was truly present among his people, God's holiness still kept them from direct contact and fellowship with him. This is why the gospel writers took note of how the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross. The curtain that was torn was the one between the most holy place and the rest of the temple. When it was torn at the death of Christ, it was a direct visual symbol that the separation between God and humanity was now over. God did not lower his standards and allow people into his presence because of those lowered standards. Instead, in Christ, we are declared to be holy, the theological word is justified, because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. Through Christ, we have access to God that people before Christ never had. God invites us to know him and love him, to contemplate his greatness and worship him in holiness because our Lord Jesus Christ gave us access by his death. We must always keep in mind what God has done for us in Christ. That is the main reason why Jesus gave us the Lord's Supper. Through Him, we have direct access to God and can approach Him at any time in prayer without fear. Have you approached Him in prayer yet today? Maybe it's time to do that now. And I hope you have a great day. May God bless you. We'll see you next time.