Exodus 40:17–38

¹⁷So the tent was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year ⸤after the Israelites had left Egypt⸥. ¹⁸When Moses set up the tent, he put the sockets in place, put up the frames, inserted the crossbars, and set up the posts. ¹⁹He spread the outer tent over the inner tent and put the cover on top. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions. 

²⁰He took the words of God’s promise and put them in the ark. He put the poles on the ark and placed the throne of mercy on top of the ark. ²¹Then he brought the ark into the tent and hung the canopy over it to mark off where the ark was. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions. 

²²Moses put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tent outside the canopy. ²³He arranged the bread on the table in the Lord’s presence, following the Lord’s instructions. ²⁴He placed the lamp stand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tent. ²⁵He set up the lamps in the Lord’s presence, following the Lord’s instructions. 

²⁶Moses put the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the canopy. ²⁷He burned sweet-smelling incense on it, following the Lord’s instructions. ²⁸Then he put up the screen at the entrance to the tent. 

²⁹He put the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent (the tent of meeting). He sacrificed burnt offerings and grain offerings on it. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions. 

³⁰He put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. ³¹Moses, Aaron, and his sons used this water to wash their hands and feet. ³²They would wash whenever they went into the tent of meeting or whenever they approached the altar. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions. 

³³He set up the courtyard around the tent and the altar and put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard. Finally, Moses finished the work. 

The Lord Comes to the Tent

³⁴Then the ⸤column of⸥ smoke covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tent. ³⁵Moses couldn’t go into the tent of meeting, because the smoke settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tent. 

³⁶In all their travels, whenever the ⸤column of⸥ smoke moved from the tent, the Israelites would break camp. ³⁷But if the column didn’t move, they wouldn’t break camp. ³⁸So the Lord’s column stayed over the tent during the day, and there was fire in the smoke at night. In this way all the Israelites could see the column throughout their travels.