Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle

Exodus 39:32-43,40:1-38

The Israelites had done all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

Then the Lord said to Moses: “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

“Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him.

 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year.

He took the tablets of the covenant law and placed them in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commanded him.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

The craftsmen set to work, the people pour in their gifts, and the Tabernacle, its fittings, and the priests' robes are all completed exactly as God has laid down. 

When the work is finished, God gives Moses his instructions for setting up and arranging the Tent, and for its consecration. Aaron and his sons are anointed for service.

When all is done, God signifies his satisfaction. The clod, the visible token of God's presence, rests on the Tent, and the place is filled with the dazzling light of God's flory.

For 300 years, until it is replaced by the Temple in Solomon's day. God's Tent will remain the focal center of the nation's worship.

Why?

When Israelites have done everything God told them through Moses, the glory of the Lord shows on the Tent, above the tabernacle.

The fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. When God is with us there will be a blessing and better than everything.

How?

Jesus is the Lord, the Lord is my shepherd and I am his lamp on his pastureland. Go with the Lord and there is no other name in the world except the Lord.