Objective

In this study, we’ll see how God gave the law through Moses and revealed His glory to Israel.

Key Verse

Exodus 20:2: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Introduction

In our previous study, we saw how God delivered His people from Egypt. What did we learn from that amazing story? God never forgets His people, even when they cry out to Him from slavery that has lasted for centuries. God is more powerful than the false gods of this world—He proved this when He defeated the mighty Egyptian empire and all their idols. God has provided a way of salvation through Christ, just as He provided the Passover lamb to save Israel. And God continues to provide for us in the wilderness, just as He led Israel with the pillar of cloud and fire.

In this study, we will look at the second part of Exodus. Here we discover a crucial truth: God redeems us for a purpose. He doesn’t save us just to rescue us from trouble. He saves us so that we can know Him personally and live for Him completely. This is exactly why God revealed the law and His glory to Israel at Mount Sinai.

When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He didn’t immediately take them to the Promised Land. Instead, He led them to Mount Sinai, where He would teach them who He is and how they should live as His people. For nearly a year, Israel camped at the foot of this mountain while God gave them everything they needed to become the nation He had always planned them to be.

We will focus on four magnificent gifts that God gave to the Children of Israel during this time. Throughout all of this, we will see God revealing His glory to His people in ways they had never experienced before:

• The Ten Commandments
• The Ark of the Covenant
• The Priesthood
• The Tabernacle

The Ten Commandments

God began to reveal to His people exactly how they should live as those who belonged to Him. Through Moses, God delivered three different types of laws to the people. These laws governed every aspect of their lives—their personal relationships with God, their social relationships with one another, and their religious worship and ceremonies.

The Ten Commandments stand as the foundation of all these laws. Listen carefully to how God introduced these commandments to His people:

Exodus 20:1-2: And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Notice that God began not with demands, but with a reminder of His love. Before He told them what to do, He reminded them of what He had already done for them. This is always God’s way—His commands flow from His grace, not the other way around.

The Ten Commandments are divided into two clear sections. The first four commandments deal with our relationship to God. These show us how to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Here’s what these first four commandments mean as a guide for life:

• Trust only in God (Exodus 20:3-4) – We must never allow anything to take God’s place in our hearts
• Worship God alone (Exodus 20:5-6) – We must never bow down to anything that God has made instead of worshiping the God who made all things
• Use God’s name in ways that honor Him (Exodus 20:7) – We must speak about God with reverence and respect, never carelessly or falsely
• Rest on the Sabbath and think about Him (Exodus 20:8-11) – We must set aside regular time to focus on God and remember that He is the Creator of all things

The last six commandments deal with our relationships with other people. These show us how to love our neighbors as ourselves:

• Respect and obey your parents (Exodus 20:12) – This is the foundation of all human authority and social order
• Protect and respect human life (Exodus 20:13) – Every person is made in God’s image and has infinite value
• Be faithful to your husband or wife (Exodus 20:14) – Marriage is God’s design and must be protected
• Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you (Exodus 20:15) – We must respect other people’s property and work honestly for what we need
• Don’t lie about others (Exodus 20:16) – Truth-telling builds trust and community
• Be content with what you have (Exodus 20:17) – Contentment protects us from the destructive power of envy and greed

It’s important for us to understand that nine of these Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament. The only exception is the commandment about observing the Sabbath, which was specifically given to Israel as part of their covenant with God. The moral principles behind all these commandments are timeless and apply to us today as followers of Christ.

Notebook Moment: Think about your own life right now. Which of these ten areas do you find most challenging? What does this tell you about where God might want to work in your heart?)

However, we must never forget this crucial truth: keeping the Ten Commandments cannot save us. God sees our hearts, not just our outward actions. These commandments were given to show us how to live as people who already belong to God through faith. Consider what Jesus taught about this:

Matthew 5:17: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:27-28: You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Luke 18:18-23: A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus showed us that the law reveals our need for a Savior. No one can perfectly keep God’s holy standards except Jesus Himself.

The Ark of the Covenant

The most sacred object in all of Israel was a special box called the Ark of the Covenant. This wasn’t just a piece of furniture—it was a constant reminder that God’s presence was dwelling among His people.

We don’t know exactly what the Ark looked like, but God gave Moses detailed instructions for building it. According to the description in Exodus 25:10-22, it was about a meter long, half a meter wide, and half a meter high. It was made of acacia wood and covered with pure gold, and it was designed to be carried on poles so that the priests could transport it wherever Israel traveled.

This sacred box traveled with Israel throughout their wilderness journey and into the Promised Land. It was carried ahead of Israel when they left Mount Sinai. It was carried across the Jordan River when they entered the land. It was carried around the walls of Jericho when God gave them their first great victory. Eventually, it was placed in Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, where it remained until the temple was destroyed.

Inside the Ark were three precious items that told the story of God’s faithfulness to His people:

• The stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments – These reminded Israel that God had spoken to them directly and given them His law
• A pot holding some manna from the wilderness – This reminded them that God had fed them supernaturally for forty years
• Aaron’s rod that had blossomed – This reminded them that God had chosen Aaron’s family to serve as priests

The lid on the Ark was called the mercy seat. This was the most important part of the entire structure, because once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would sprinkle blood on this mercy seat to make atonement for the sins of all the people.

Leviticus 16:15: He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it.

This gives us a beautiful picture of how Christ is our mercy seat. Just as the blood on the mercy seat covered the sins of Israel, Christ’s blood was shed for the complete forgiveness of our sins:

Romans 3:24-25: All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.

(Notebook Moment: The Ark represented God’s presence with His people wherever they went. How does knowing that God’s presence is always with you through Christ change the way you approach difficult situations in your life?)

The Priesthood

The priesthood was established during Israel’s time in the wilderness. God chose Moses’ brother Aaron to be the first high priest of Israel, and Aaron’s sons would continue in this office after him.

Exodus 28:1: Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests.

The high priest held the most important role in Israel’s worship. He was responsible for overseeing all the other priests and for representing the people before God:

2 Chronicles 19:11: Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the Lord, and Zebudiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the Lord be with those who do well.

All the priests came from the tribe of Levi. This entire tribe was set apart for the worship and service of God. They had no inheritance of land like the other tribes because God Himself was their inheritance. The book of Exodus gives incredibly detailed descriptions of how the special garments for the priests were to be made—every thread, every color, every precious stone was specified by God. All these details speak to us about the importance of being completely dedicated to God in everything we do.

As Christians, we have also been called to be priests. The apostle Peter reminds us of this wonderful truth:

1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

The high priest had one especially important duty. He was the only person who could enter the Most Holy Place, and he could only do this once a year on the Day of Atonement. When he entered, he had to make sacrifice first for his own sins and then for all the sins of the people:

Exodus 30:10: Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the Lord.

This entire system points us directly to Jesus Christ, our perfect High Priest. Unlike the human high priests, Jesus did not need to make sacrifice for His own sins because He had no sin. Instead, He offered His own blood as the perfect sacrifice for us:

Hebrews 7:27-28: Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 9:12: He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:10-12: And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Because of Christ’s perfect sacrifice, we can now enter directly into God’s presence. We no longer need a human priest to represent us, because Jesus serves as our mediator:

1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.

The Tabernacle

The tabernacle was a portable tent that served as Israel’s place of worship throughout their wilderness journey. It was much more than just a building—it was the place where the holy God of the universe chose to meet with His people and display His presence and glory among them.

The book of Exodus gives us incredibly detailed instructions about how the tabernacle and all its furnishings were to be made. Every measurement, every material, every color was specified by God Himself. Nothing was left to human imagination or preference.

The tabernacle had two main rooms. The outer room was called the Holy Place, where the priests carried out their daily duties. The inner room was called the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies. This was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and only the high priest could enter this room, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement.

Eventually, Solomon built a permanent temple in Jerusalem that replaced the portable tabernacle. But the purpose remained the same—this was the place where Israel could worship God and where God chose to dwell among His people.

Every object in the tabernacle had deep spiritual meaning. All of these items speak to us about Christ and His work for us. In fact, the New Testament tells us that Christ Himself is our tabernacle—He is the place where God dwells among us:

John 1:14: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The word “dwelling” in this verse literally means “tabernacled.” Jesus pitched His tent among us, just as the tabernacle was pitched in the center of Israel’s camp.

(Notebook Moment: God designed the tabernacle so that He could dwell among His people. Through Christ, God now dwells within every believer. How should this truth affect the way you think about your body and your daily choices?)

Conclusion

Throughout the second part of Exodus, we see the glory of God revealed to His people in magnificent ways. God’s glory appeared on Mount Sinai with thunder, lightning, fire, and smoke that made the whole mountain tremble. God’s glory filled the tabernacle so powerfully that even Moses could not enter.

Exodus 24:16-17: And the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

Exodus 40:34: Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

God wanted His people to know that His presence was dwelling among them. They were not alone in the wilderness. The God who had created the universe had chosen to make His home with them.

All of this points us to Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate revelation of God’s glory. In Him, we see exactly what God is like:

Matthew 1:23: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).

John 1:14: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 1:3: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Colossians 1:25-27: I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

But God’s plan doesn’t end with Christ dwelling among us. Just as Israel was called to reflect God’s character to the nations around them, our lives should also reflect the glory of God to others. We have been chosen to display His character to a world that desperately needs to see what God is like:

2 Corinthians 4:6-7: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

God gave His law, His presence, His priesthood, and His dwelling place to Israel not just for their benefit, but so that through them the whole world would come to know the one true God. In the same way, God has given us Christ—who fulfills all of these perfectly—so that through us the world might see His glory and be drawn to salvation.

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