NOTES for Exo 40:1-38
The Book of Exodus is drawing to a close. After long and monotonous descriptions of the rules governing the construction of the tabernacle, we come to the culmination, to the purpose for which all of this was undertaken. The forty-year journey to the Promised Land begins. The path from slavery to freedom is familiar to everyone, and along this path the Book of Exodus becomes a contemporary guide to life for us. There is only one way to complete this journey: to move when the cloud rises and to remain where we are while it stays in place. It is difficult to live this way; it means renouncing self-will, placing God at the center, and following Him wherever He goes. To believe and trust, to obey and love: this is the path each of us must follow on the journey from sin to the Kingdom.