Grace for Covenant Breakers: The Tablets Rewritten Text: Deuteronomy 10:1-5
Introduction: The Covenant in Pieces
To understand this passage, you must first hear the crash. You must picture Moses, his face still radiant with the glory of God, descending Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. These were not ordinary stones; they were "the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets" (Ex. 32:16). They were the marriage certificate of the covenant between Yahweh and His people Israel. But as Moses came near the camp, he saw the grotesque spectacle of the golden calf, and he heard the sounds of a people engaged in idolatrous revelry. In a blaze of righteous fury, representing the fury of God Himself, Moses threw the tablets down and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.
Do not misunderstand this act. This was not a fit of temper. This was a prophetic sign-act of the highest order. The broken tablets were a perfect visual aid for a broken covenant. Israel had committed spiritual adultery before the honeymoon had even begun. They had violated the very first two commandments before the law had even been formally delivered to the whole congregation. The covenant was in pieces. And a broken covenant with a holy God means death. This is the fundamental problem of the human race, encapsulated in one dramatic moment. We are all, by nature, covenant-breakers. We have all taken the good law of God and shattered it at the foot of our idolatrous passions. The question that hangs in the air, thick with the smoke of God's wrath, is this: how can a holy God renew fellowship with a hopelessly sinful people? How can a shattered covenant be repaired?
The answer is not that God lowers His standards. The answer is not that God decides to overlook sin. The answer is found here, in this remarkable account of grace. God Himself takes the initiative to restore what man has broken. This passage is a profound illustration of the gospel, showing us how God deals with our sin not by abolishing His law, but by providing a mediator and a sacrifice.
The Text
"At that time Yahweh said to me, 'Carve out for yourself two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood for yourself. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.' So I made an ark of acacia wood and carved out two tablets of stone like the former ones and went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. And He wrote on the tablets, like the former writing, the Ten Commandments which Yahweh had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and Yahweh gave them to me. Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as Yahweh commanded me."
(Deuteronomy 10:1-5 LSB)
God's Gracious Initiative (v. 1-2)
We begin with God's command to Moses, which is the beginning of the restoration.
"At that time Yahweh said to me, 'Carve out for yourself two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood for yourself. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.'" (Deuteronomy 10:1-2)
Notice when this happens: "At that time." At the time of rank rebellion, at the time of deserved judgment, at the time when the covenant lay in ruins, God spoke. Salvation always begins with a divine monologue. It is God who takes the initiative. Israel is not down in the camp drafting a proposal for reconciliation. They are spiritually drunk and disorderly. Grace always comes to us unbidden and undeserved. God moves toward us while we are still in our sin.
But there is a difference now. God tells Moses, "Carve out for yourself two tablets of stone." The first set was made and written entirely by God. Now, the human mediator is involved in the work. Moses must hew the blank stones. This is a beautiful picture of the incarnation. For the law to be restored to man, a man must be involved. The God-man, Jesus Christ, prepared a human nature, a blank slate free from sin, in order to be the new covenant head for His people. Moses, the mediator, provides the stones; God, the sovereign, will provide the words. Man has a role, but it is God who sets the terms and provides the content.
And then comes a crucial command: "make an ark of wood for yourself." Why is the command for the ark placed here? Because the restored law needs a proper home. The first tablets were destroyed when they came into contact with the sin of the camp. A holy law cannot survive "out in the open" among a sinful people; it can only condemn them. It must be placed within a special container, the Ark of the Covenant. And what was the lid of this ark called? The mercy seat. The law is placed inside the ark, and the mercy seat is placed on top, and it is there, upon the mercy seat, that the blood of atonement was sprinkled once a year. The law is not abolished; it is housed within a context of mercy and atoning blood. This is a magnificent type of Christ. Jesus is the true Ark. He kept the law perfectly within His heart, and His righteousness is the mercy seat, sprinkled with His own blood, that covers our transgressions of that law. To be saved is to have God's law satisfied for you by Christ and to be safely "in Him," the true Ark.
God makes it clear that He is not grading on a curve. He will write on these new tablets "the words that were on the former tablets." Grace does not mean God lowers His standards. The moral law of God is a reflection of His character, and it is unchanging. He does not offer a "Ten Suggestions" because the Ten Commandments proved too difficult. And God does not let Moses forget the breach: He mentions "the former tablets which you shattered." Grace does not ignore sin; it confronts it, names it, and deals with it. True grace always begins with an honest accounting of our sin.
The Mediator's Obedience (v. 3-4)
Moses, as the faithful mediator, does exactly as he is commanded.
"So I made an ark of acacia wood and carved out two tablets of stone like the former ones and went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. And He wrote on the tablets, like the former writing, the Ten Commandments which Yahweh had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and Yahweh gave them to me." (Deuteronomy 10:3-4)
Moses' obedience is a type of Christ's perfect, active obedience. He made the ark. He carved the stones. He went up the mountain. He did everything necessary as the mediator to secure the restoration of the covenant for the people. Christ, our mediator, did everything necessary. He took on flesh, He went up to the mountain of Golgotha, and He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf.
And on the mountain, God Himself acts. "He wrote on the tablets." Man prepares the stones, but God writes the law. Our salvation is not a cooperative effort in that sense. We cannot write a single letter of God's law on our own hearts. It is a work of the Holy Spirit, a divine engraving. And the content is the same: "like the former writing, the Ten Commandments." This law was given publicly, "on the day of the assembly," and it came "from the midst of the fire." We must never domesticate the law of God or treat it as a collection of helpful hints for self-improvement. It is fiery, holy, and absolute. It proceeds from the very being of our consuming fire God.
Yahweh then "gave them to me." The law is a gift. Even in its power to condemn the sinner, it is a good gift from a good God. It reveals His perfect character, it restrains evil in the world, and it serves as a tutor to drive us to Christ. For the believer, who is no longer under the law for his justification, it is a gift that guides us in the path of righteousness, showing us how to please the Father who has saved us.
The Law Secured in Grace (v. 5)
The narrative concludes with the successful completion of the mission. The covenant is restored and the law is secured.
"Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as Yahweh commanded me." (Deuteronomy 10:5)
Moses comes down from the mountain, and this time, the tablets are not shattered. Why? Because a provision has been made for them. He immediately places them "in the ark which I had made." The law is now safe, not because the people are any better, but because the law is now surrounded by grace. It is kept within the vessel of atonement. This is the only way any of us can have peace with God. It is not that we stop breaking the law, but that for all who are in Christ, the law's demands have been met and its curse has been silenced by the blood-sprinkled mercy seat.
Moses concludes with the simple, profound statement: "and there they are, as Yahweh commanded me." The law remains. It has not been abrogated. It stands as a perpetual testimony to the righteousness of God. But its location has changed. It is no longer an external accuser threatening death, but an internal guide, kept safe within the covenant of grace secured by a mediator.
Conclusion: From Stone to Heart
This entire episode is a magnificent portrait of the gospel. We are the ones who shattered the law. Our hearts are like the golden calf, factories of idols. Left to ourselves, the holy law of God can only condemn and destroy us. But God, in His mercy, did not leave us there.
He sent a new and better Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not merely carve stones; He offered His own perfect human life. He did not merely ascend a mountain of rock; He ascended the cross. God took His unchanging law and saw it fulfilled perfectly in His Son. Jesus is the true Ark of the Covenant, who contains the law perfectly and whose sacrifice is the ultimate Mercy Seat.
When we, by faith, are united with Christ, we are placed safely inside that Ark. The law no longer condemns us, for we are in Him who fulfilled it. But the story gets even better. Under the New Covenant, God performs the ultimate miracle, promised by the prophet Jeremiah: "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it" (Jer. 31:33).
The work of the Holy Spirit in every believer is to take the law of God from the tablets of stone and engrave it onto the fleshy tablets of our hearts. God gives us a new heart, a heart that desires to obey. He gives us His Spirit, who empowers us to obey. Therefore, we do not obey the law in order to be saved. That is the covenant of works that we shattered. We obey because we have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And the law, now written on our hearts, is the beautiful roadmap of righteousness that shows us how to walk in a way that is pleasing to our saving God.
The covenant we broke has been restored at an infinite cost. The tablets have been rewritten, so to speak, in the blood of the Lamb. And they have been placed securely, not in a box of wood and gold, but in the person of Jesus Christ, and by His Spirit, upon the hearts of His people.