God's House in Order: The Grammar of Holiness Text: Exodus 40:1-16
Introduction: The Cosmic Blueprint
We come now to the culmination of the book of Exodus. After the spectacular deliverance from Egypt, after the giving of the law at Sinai, after the catastrophic failure with the golden calf and the glorious renewal of the covenant, we arrive at the final chapter. And what do we find? We find detailed instructions for assembling furniture. This can feel like a letdown to the modern reader. We want soaring narrative, not an assembly manual from a divine IKEA. But to think this way is to fundamentally misunderstand what is happening. This is not an anticlimax; it is the entire point.
The three great movements in Exodus are God's deliverance of His people, His giving of the law to His people, and His establishment of His dwelling place among His people. God saves them, He instructs them, and then He moves in with them. This final act, the setting up of the tabernacle, is the goal toward which everything has been driving. It is the beginning of a new Eden, a restoration of the fellowship that was lost in the garden. God is once again dwelling with man. This is not just about a tent in the desert; it is about the architecture of Heaven coming down to earth. It is a scale model of the cosmos, with God at the center.
Our secular age is allergic to liturgy, to order, to prescribed worship. We prefer spontaneous, authentic, from-the-heart expressions. But God, in this chapter, teaches us that true worship, true fellowship with the Holy One, is not a free-for-all. It is structured. It is ordered. It has a grammar. To ignore this grammar is to speak nonsense to God. The detailed instructions for the tabernacle are not arbitrary interior design choices. They are a lesson in the nature of reality. They teach us how a holy God can dwell with a sinful people, and how that people must approach Him. This is not about stifling our worship; it is about making it possible in the first place. Without God's prescribed order, we would be consumed. This chapter is a profound act of grace, showing us the path back into His presence.
And so, as we look at these instructions, we are not just looking at ancient history. We are looking at a typological blueprint of the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the true tabernacle, the place where God dwells with man perfectly. And we, as the church, are being built into a holy temple in the Lord. These instructions, therefore, are for us.
The Text
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. You shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps. Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle. You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. You shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen for the gateway of the court. Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and set it apart as holy and all its furnishings; and it shall be holy. You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and set the altar apart as holy, and the altar shall be most holy. You shall anoint the laver and its stand, and set it apart as holy. Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and set him apart as holy, that he may minister as a priest to Me. You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; and you shall anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their anointing will be for them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.” Thus Moses did; according to all that Yahweh had commanded him, so he did.
(Exodus 40:1-16 LSB)
A New Beginning, A New Creation (vv. 1-2)
The instructions begin with a specific and significant date.
"Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 'On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.'" (Exodus 40:1-2)
God is very particular about His calendar. Time is not a neutral, empty container for God. He structures it, He sanctifies it, and He fills it with meaning. The modern secular man thinks he can create his own calendar, marked by fiscal years and federal holidays, but this is a form of rebellion. God sets the rhythm of our lives. The tabernacle is to be erected on the first day of the first month. This is New Year's Day. It is approximately one year after the exodus from Egypt. This is a deliberate act of new creation.
Just as Genesis 1 began on the first day of a new world, so Exodus 40 begins on the first day of a new year, with the establishment of God's new creation project. The first creation was marred by sin, but God is not deterred. He is beginning again. He is establishing a new heaven and a new earth in miniature, right in the center of Israel's camp. This dating is a powerful theological statement. God is saying, "My dwelling with you is the true beginning of your life. Your calendar, your history, your identity now revolves around My presence." For the Christian, our new year begins with Christ. Our lives are reoriented around His finished work. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Order from the Inside Out (vv. 3-8)
Notice the precise order in which the tabernacle is to be assembled. God works from the inside out, from the most holy to the less holy.
"You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. You shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps. Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony..." (Exodus 40:3-5a)
He begins where He dwells, in the Holy of Holies, with the Ark of the Covenant. This is God's throne, the mercy seat. Everything else in the universe is oriented to this spot. The very first piece of furniture put in place is the throne of the King. This is a foundational principle: all true order, whether in worship, in the family, or in society, must begin with the enthronement of God. If you get the center wrong, the periphery will be chaos. Our culture is in chaos because it has tried to build a world from the outside in, starting with man's rights and man's desires. God builds from the inside out, starting with His glory and His presence.
After the Ark is placed, the veil is hung. This is crucial. The veil separates a holy God from a sinful people. It is a constant, woven reminder of the gulf that sin creates. It preaches the terror of God's holiness. But it also, by its very existence, preaches the possibility of approach. There is a way in, but it is a guarded way. This veil, of course, would one day be torn from top to bottom at the moment of Christ's death (Matthew 27:51), signifying that the way into the true Holy of Holies was now thrown open by His sacrifice.
From the Holy of Holies, the instructions move outward to the Holy Place: the table of showbread, representing fellowship and provision; the lampstand, representing the light of God's Word; and the altar of incense, representing the prayers of the saints. Then, outside the tent itself, we find the altar of burnt offering and the laver.
"You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway...You shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it." (Exodus 40:6-7)
This progression is the grammar of worship. You cannot enter God's house without first passing the altar of sacrifice. There is no access to God apart from blood atonement. This is where sin is dealt with. After the sacrifice, you must pass the laver, the place of cleansing. We are justified by blood and sanctified by water. Only then can one, through the priests, enter the Holy Place to have fellowship, walk in the light, and offer up prayers. This is the gospel in architecture. It is the pattern of our salvation, laid out in wood, gold, and bronze.
Consecration by Anointing (vv. 9-11)
Once the structure is assembled and the furniture is in place, everything must be consecrated. It must be made holy.
"Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and set it apart as holy and all its furnishings; and it shall be holy." (Exodus 40:9)
The anointing oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Nothing, no matter how beautiful or well-crafted, is fit for God's service until it has been touched by His Spirit. The anointing sets these ordinary objects apart from common use and dedicates them to a sacred purpose. A tent is just a tent, until it is anointed. Then it becomes the house of God. Bronze is just bronze, until it is anointed. Then it becomes a holy altar.
This act of anointing everything teaches us a vital lesson. God is not just concerned with our "spiritual" lives. He claims everything. The structure, the furniture, the utensils, the pots and pans, all of it must be made holy. This is a total worldview. There is no sacred/secular divide. Your kitchen, your workshop, your checkbook, your laptop, all of it must be anointed, set apart for the service of God. As Paul says, "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). This is what it means to be holy. It means to be set apart for God's exclusive use.
The Consecration of Men (vv. 12-15)
After the place is made holy, the people who will serve there must be made holy. The consecration moves from the architecture to the priests.
"Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and set him apart as holy, that he may minister as a priest to Me." (Exodus 40:12-13)
The pattern is the same: cleansing, clothing, and anointing. First, they are washed with water. This is the washing of regeneration, the cleansing from the filth of sin. You cannot serve God in your own dirt. You must be washed. Next, they are clothed in holy garments, "for glory and for beauty." They are not to serve in their own stained clothes, but in the righteousness that God provides. This is the imputed righteousness of Christ. We are clothed in His perfection, not our own filthy rags.
Only after they are washed and clothed are they anointed. The anointing with oil commissions them for service. It is the empowering of the Holy Spirit for their priestly work. This anointing, God says, establishes a "perpetual priesthood." This points forward to the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, whose name means "Anointed One." He was washed at His baptism, declared righteous by the Father, and anointed by the Spirit without measure. And through Him, we too are made a kingdom of priests. Peter tells us we are a "royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9), called to minister to God. We are washed in baptism, clothed in Christ's righteousness, and anointed with His Spirit to serve Him.
The Glory of Obedience (v. 16)
The section concludes with a simple, yet profoundly important, summary statement.
"Thus Moses did; according to all that Yahweh had commanded him, so he did." (Exodus 40:16)
This is the seventh time this phrase, or one very similar, appears in the final chapters of Exodus. The construction and assembly of the tabernacle are marked by meticulous, detailed, and total obedience. Moses did not offer creative suggestions. He did not form a committee to see if they could improve the design. He did not take a survey to see what the people would prefer. He simply did all that Yahweh commanded him.
This is the foundation of true worship. It is not about our feelings, our preferences, or our creativity. It is about faithful obedience to the Word of God. The glory of God is about to fill this tabernacle, and the prerequisite for that glory is obedience. When God's people do God's work in God's way, God shows up. Our worship services, our homes, and our lives will be filled with the glory of God to the extent that we are characterized by this kind of happy, detailed, and complete obedience. Jesus Himself said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Obedience is the language of love.
Conclusion: Christ, Our Tabernacle
This entire chapter is a magnificent portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John tells us that "the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Jesus is the true Tent of Meeting, the place where God and man are perfectly reconciled.
He is the Ark, containing the fullness of God's law in His heart. He is the Mercy Seat, where God's wrath is propitiated by His blood. He is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, and the one whose prayers, like sweet incense, ever rise to the Father on our behalf. He is the sacrifice slain on the altar and the priest who offers it. He is the cleansing water of the laver. He is the one anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our perpetual High Priest.
When God commanded this tabernacle to be set up, He was providing a floor plan of our salvation. He was showing us the shape of the gospel. And in the final verse, in the quiet obedience of Moses, we see the shape of our response. We are not called to invent a new way to God. We are called to faithfully assemble our lives, our families, and our churches according to the blueprint He has already given us in His Word.
We must begin from the inside out, enthroning Christ in our hearts. We must approach Him only through His atoning sacrifice and continual cleansing. We must allow His Spirit to anoint every corner of our lives, setting it apart as holy. And we must do all that He has commanded us. When we do this, we are not just assembling a tent. We are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22), and He will fill us, His church, with the same glory that filled that desert tabernacle, until the day that glory covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.