Setting Up the Tabernacle

40 Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 “Set upl the tabernacle, the tent of meeting,m on the first day of the first month.n 3 Place the arko of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. 4 Bring in the tablep and set out what belongs on it.q Then bring in the lampstandr and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altars of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

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

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

12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meetingz and wash them with water.a 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments,b anoint him and consecratec him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring 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” 16 Moses did everything just as the Lord commandedf him.

17 So the tabernacleg was set up on the first day of the first monthh in the second year. 18 When Mosesi set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames,j inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. 19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the coveringk over the tent, as the Lord commandedl him.

20 He took the tablets of the covenant lawm and placed them in the ark,n attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement covero over it. 21 Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtainp and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commandedq him.

22 Moses placed the tabler in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain 23 and set out the breads on it before the Lord, as the Lord commandedt him.

24 He placed the lampstandu in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle 25 and set up the lampsv before the Lord, as the Lord commandedw him.

26 Moses placed the gold altarx in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain 27 and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commandedy him.

28 Then he put up the curtainz at the entrance to the tabernacle. 29 He set the altara 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 commandedc him.

30 He placed the basind between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, 31 and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to washe their hands and feet. 32 They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar,f as the Lord commandedg Moses.

33 Then Moses set up the courtyardh 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

34 Then the cloudj covered the tent of meeting, and the gloryk of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the gloryl of the Lord filled the tabernacle.m

36 In 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. 38 So the cloudo 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.