Exodus 33: 7-11, “And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”
The Tabernacle was designed to be pitched in the middle of the camp (see Numbers 2: 17, “Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.” This passage actually talks about the people moving out of the camp but it tells us that the Tabernacle was in the middle of the camp with the Levites.) but Moses pitched the Tabernacle outside the camp because they people had sinned. This was to give the people an option of staying in the camp with their sin or moving from the camp to the Tabernacle to show that they wanted to serve the Lord. When Moses went into the Tabernacle himself the pillar of cloud descended on the Tabernacle to show that the Lord was there to communicate with Moses. When the Lord came down to the camp the people worshipped because they had repented of their desire to follow the false gods and wanted to follow the Lord. It is interesting to notice that the Lord spoke with Moses as a friend. It is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus Christ used this language when He spoke with His disciples before He went to the cross. (See John 15: 13-15, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”) God tells us what He plans to do because He treats us as friends. He also told Moses what He was going to do.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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