Moses Moses was the founding leader of Israel as a nation. God used Moses at a critical juncture in the history of his people. He was the prophet who received the law and mediated God’s covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai (Exod 19:3-6). He was also the first known writer of Scripture. The younger brother of Miriam and Aaron, Moses was born in Egypt under dangerous circumstances (Exod 1:15–2:2). The Egyptian pharaoh, fearing a rebellion, had decreed that all Hebrew boys be killed at birth. Moses’ mother, Jochebed, entrusted her infant son to God and set him afloat in the Nile in a reed basket. Pharaoh’s daughter found him and took him into the palace to raise as her own child (Exod 2:3-10). Little is known about Moses’ upbringing. Jewish tradition holds that he received both administrative and military training in Pharaoh’s household. When he was about forty years old, he killed an Egyptian to rescue a Hebrew slave, and then he fled to Midian (2:11-15; cp. Acts 7:23-29). There he rescued some young women who were being harassed as they watered their flocks. Their father (Jethro) invited him home. Moses married one of the women, Zipporah, and began a family as he cared for h...

The Tabernacle From the very beginning of creation, God’s plan was to share his life with humanity and allow people to enjoy fellowship with him. However, the entry of sin into the world (Gen 3) created a serious obstacle, for if sinful people were to come into the presence of God, his holiness would destroy them. The Tabernacle provided a temporary means by which the Israelites could enjoy God’s presence without being destroyed by it (Exod 25:8). The Tabernacle was a mobile sanctuary where God dwelled with his people and was the place where Israel made sacrifices and offerings in worship of the Lord. The Tabernacle shows us in tangible ways what is required to enter God’s presence. The altar shows us that sin must be removed through a sacrificial death. The washbasin shows that fellowship with God demands removing uncleanness, that is, anything that conflicts with God’s ethical perfection. In the Holy Place, the lampstand and the table show that we must walk in God’s light and rely on him to provide for our needs. The incense altar represents prayer, and the constantly rising incense reminds those who are forgiven and washed, who are walking in his light and relying constant...