Exodus 38-40
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 40:34
In obedience to the LORD’s instructions to Moses, the people of Israel finish the work of assembling the Tabernacle and all its associated items. When everything is set up and consecrated, the Tabernacle receives the LORD’s seal of approval: the glory of the LORD fills the Tabernacle. The LORD effectively “takes up residence” in the Tabernacle, and the display of glory provides a physical manifestation of the LORD’s presence. It is a visible sign of the LORD’s earlier promise to dwell with them:
I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
Exodus 29:45-46
Of course we know that — unlike an idol — the LORD is not physically confined to the Tabernacle. He remains omnipresent. Yet He chooses here to designate the Tabernacle as holy, as a special focal point of interface between Himself and Israel. Filling the Tabernacle with the glory of the LORD confirms that choice.
I’m guessing that none of us has encountered the glory of the LORD in quite the same way as the Israelites do here. We may even be tempted to be envious of their experience. But the truth is that they might well envy us:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt 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
Let’s recognize that truth today and live it out.