Exodus 40

Setting Up the Tabernacle

40Then the Lord said to Moses: ²“Set up^l the tabernacle, the tent of meeting,^m on the first day of the first month.^{n 3}Place the ark^o of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. ⁴Bring in the table^p and set out what belongs on it.^q Then bring in the lampstand^r and set up its lamps. ⁵Place the gold altar^s of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

⁶“Place the altar^t of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; ⁷place the basin^u between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. ⁸Set up the courtyard^v around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.

⁹“Take the anointing oil and anoint^w the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings,^x and it will be holy. ¹⁰Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate^y the altar, and it will be most holy. ¹¹Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.

¹²“Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting^z and wash them with water.^{a 13}Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments,^b anoint him and consecrate^c him so he may serve me as priest. ¹⁴Bring his sons and dress them in tunics.^{d 15}Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.^e” ¹⁶Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded^f him.

¹⁷So the tabernacle^g was set up on the first day of the first month^h in the second year. ¹⁸When Mosesⁱ set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames,^j inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. ¹⁹Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering^k over the tent, as the Lord commanded^l him.

²⁰He took the tablets of the covenant law^m and placed them in the ark,ⁿ attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover^o over it. ²¹Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain^p and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commanded^q him.

²²Moses placed the table^r in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain ²³and set out the bread^s on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded^t him.

²⁴He placed the lampstand^u in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle ²⁵and set up the lamps^v before the Lord, as the Lord commanded^w him.

²⁶Moses placed the gold altar^x in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain ²⁷and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded^y him.

²⁸Then he put up the curtain^z at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹He set the altar^a of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings,^b as the Lord commanded^c him.

³⁰He placed the basin^d between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, ³¹and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash^e their hands and feet. ³²They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar,^f as the Lord commanded^g Moses.

³³Then Moses set up the courtyard^h around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtainⁱ at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord

³⁴Then the cloud^j covered the tent of meeting, and the glory^k of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory^l of the Lord filled the tabernacle.^m

³⁶In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out;^{n 37}but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸So the cloud^o of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.