God and Israel Make Their Agreement

24 {God} told Moses, “You, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders (leaders) of Israel must come up the mountain and worship me from a distance. ²Then Moses will come close to the Lord by himself. The other men must not come close to the Lord, and the rest of the people must not even come up the mountain.” ³Moses told the people all the rules and commands from the Lord. Then all the people said, “We will obey all the commands that the Lord has spoken.” ⁴So Moses wrote all of the commands of the Lord {on a scroll}. The next morning, Moses got up and built an altar* near the bottom of the mountain. And he set up twelve stones—one for each of the twelve family groups of Israel. ⁵Then Moses sent young men of Israel to offer sacrifices.* These men offered bulls to the Lord as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. ⁶Moses saved the blood from these animals. Moses put half of the blood in bowls. And he poured the other half of the blood on the altar.* ⁷Moses read the scroll with the special Agreement written on it. Moses read the Agreement so all the people could hear him. And the people said, “We have heard {the laws that the Lord has given us}. And we agree to obey them.” ⁸Then Moses held the bowls full of the blood from the sacrifices.* Moses threw that blood on the people. He said, “This blood shows that the Lord has made a special Agreement with you. The laws God gave you explain the Agreement.” ⁹Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders (leaders) of Israel went up the mountain. ¹⁰On the mountain, these men saw the God of Israel. God was standing on something that looked like blue sapphires, as clear as the sky! ¹¹All the leaders of Israel saw God, but God did not destroy them.* They all ate and drank together.

Moses Goes to Get God’s Law

¹²The Lord said to Moses, “Come to me on the mountain. I have written my teachings and laws on two flat stones. These teachings and laws are for the people. I will give these flat stones to you.” ¹³So Moses and his helper, Joshua, went up the mountain of God. ¹⁴Moses said to the elders (leaders), “Wait here for us, we will come back to you. While I am gone, Aaron and Hur will rule over you. Go to those men if anyone has a problem.”

Moses Meets with God

¹⁵Then Moses went up the mountain. And the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶The Glory of the Lord* came down on Mount Sinai. The cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, the Lord spoke to Moses from the cloud. ¹⁷The people of Israel could see the Glory of the Lord. It was like a fire burning on top of the mountain. ¹⁸Then Moses went higher up the mountain into the cloud. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.

altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. sacrifice(s) A gift to God. Usually it was a special animal that was killed and burned on an altar. Moses saved the blood ... altar The blood was used to seal the Agreement between God and the people. It was poured on the altar to show that God shared in the Agreement. saw God … destroy them The Bible says that people cannot see God. But God wanted these leaders to know what he was like, so he let them see him in some special way. Glory of the Lord One of the forms God used when he appeared to people. It was like a bright, shining light.

Gifts for the Holy Things

25 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the people of Israel to bring me gifts. Each person must decide in his heart what he wants to give me. Accept these gifts for me. ³Here is the list of the things that you should accept from the people: gold, silver, and bronze*; ⁴blue, purple, and red yarn and fine linen; goat hair, ⁵ram skins dyed red, and fine leather*; acacia wood; ⁶oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil* and spices for the sweet-smelling incense.* ⁷Also accept onyx stones and other jewels to be put on the Ephod* and the Judgment Pouch.*”

The Holy Tent

⁸{God also said,} “The people will build a holy place for me. Then I can live among them. ⁹I will show you what the Holy Tent* and everything in it should look like. Build everything exactly like I show you.

The Box of the Agreement

¹⁰“Use acacia wood and build a special box. This Holy Box must be 2 1/2 cubits* long, 1 1/2 cubits* wide, and 1 1/2 cubits high. ¹¹Use pure gold to cover the Box inside and out. Put gold trim around the edges of the Box. ¹²Make four gold rings for carrying the Box. Put the gold rings on the four corners, two rings on each side. ¹³Then make poles for carrying the Box. These poles should be made from acacia wood and covered with gold. ¹⁴Put the poles through the rings on the corners of the Box. Use these poles to carry the Box. ¹⁵These poles should always stay in the rings of the Box. Don’t take the poles out. ¹⁶{God said,} “I will give you the Agreement.* Put the Agreement into this Box. ¹⁷Then make a cover.* Make it from pure gold. Make it 2 1/2 cubits* long and 1 1/2 cubits* wide. ¹⁸“Then make two Cherub angels* and put them on each end of the cover. Hammer gold to make these angels. ¹⁹Put one angel on one end of the cover, and put the other angel on the other end. Join the angels together with the cover to make one piece. ²⁰The wings of these angels should spread up toward the sky. The angels should cover the Box with their wings. The angels should face each other, looking toward the cover. ²¹“I will give you the Agreement.* Put that Agreement in the Box, and put the cover* on the Box. ²²When I meet with you, I will speak from between the Cherub angels* on the cover that is on the Box of the Agreement.* From that place I will give all my commands to the people of Israel.

The Table

²³“Make a table from acacia wood. The table must be 2 cubits* long,1 cubit* wide, and 1 1/2 cubits* high. ²⁴Cover the table with pure gold and put gold trim around it. ²⁵Then make a frame 1 handbreadth* wide around the table. And put gold trim on the frame. ²⁶Then make four gold rings and put them on the four corners of the table, where the four legs are. ²⁷Put the rings close to the frame {around the top of the table}. These rings will hold the poles used to carry the table. ²⁸Use acacia wood to make the poles, and cover them with gold. The poles are for carrying the table. ²⁹Make the plates, the spoons, the pitchers, and the bowls from pure gold. The pitchers and bowls will be used for pouring {the drink offerings}. ³⁰Put the special bread* before me on the table. It must always be there in front of me.

The Lampstand

³¹“Then you must make a lampstand. Use pure gold and hammer it to make the base and the shaft.* Make flowers, buds, and petals from pure gold. Join all these things together into one piece. ³²“The lampstand must have six branches—three branches on one side, and three branches on the other. ³³Each branch must have three flowers. Make these flowers like almond flowers with buds and petals. ³⁴Make four more flowers for the lampstand. These flowers must be made like almond flowers with buds and petals. ³⁵There will be six branches on the lampstand—three branches coming out from each side of the shaft. Make a flower with buds and petals below each of the three places where the branches join the shaft. ³⁶The whole lampstand with the flowers and branches must be made from pure gold. All this gold must be hammered and joined together into one piece. ³⁷Then make seven lamps* to go on the lampstand. These lamps will give light to the area in front of the lampstand. ³⁸Use pure gold to make the wick trimmers* and the trays. ³⁹Use 75 pounds* of pure gold to make the lampstand and the things to be used with it. ⁴⁰Be very careful to make everything exactly the way I showed you on the mountain.”

bronze A metal. The Hebrew word can mean “copper,” “bronze,” or “brass.” fine leather A special kind of leather made from the skin of an animal like a seal or sea cow. anointing oil Fine olive oil that was poured on people or things to show they were chosen for a special work or purpose. incense Special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweet smelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. Ephod A special coat worn by the priests. See Ex. 28:6-14. Judgment Pouch A piece of clothing like a bib or an apron that covered the priest’s chest. Holy Tent Or, “tabernacle,” the tent where God came to live among his people. It was often called the “Meeting Tent.” 2 1/2 cubits 4’ 3 5/8” (1.31m.) 1 1/2 cubits 2’ 7” (78.75cm.) Agreement Literally, “Proof.” The flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them were proof of the Agreement between God and the people of Israel. cover Also called “mercy seat.” The Hebrew word can mean “lid,” “cover,” or “the place where sins are forgiven.” Cherub angels Special angels from God. Statues of these angels were on top of the Box of the Agreement. Box of the Agreement Or, “ark of the Covenant.” The box containing the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them and other things that proved God was with the people of Israel during their time in the Sinai desert. 2 cubits 3’ 5 5/16” (105cm). 1 cubit 1’ 8 5/8” (52.5cm) 1 handbreadth The width of 4 fingers, about 3” (7.7cm) special bread Also called “bread of the Presence.” Every day this bread was put before God on the special table in the Holy Place. base and the shaft Or, “flared base.” lamps These lamps were small bowls filled with oil. A wick was put in the bowl and lit to produce light. wick trimmers Tools used to extinguish the lamps. 75 pounds Literally, “a kikar.”