What is the meaning of Exodus 40:22? Moses placed the table • The verse begins with a simple act of obedience: “Moses placed the table” (Exodus 40:22). • Moses is carefully carrying out the instructions first given in Exodus 25:23-30, showing that worship is not a matter of personal preference but of following God’s revealed pattern. • This same obedience is praised later when “Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him” (Exodus 40:16). • The table holds the “Bread of the Presence” (Exodus 25:30), symbolizing continual fellowship between God and His people—an idea echoed in the Lord’s invitation to “eat at My table” (Luke 22:30) and ultimately in Jesus, “the bread of life” (John 6:35). in the Tent of Meeting • The placement happens “in the Tent of Meeting,” the portable sanctuary where God promised, “I will meet with you” (Exodus 29:42-43). • Calling it the Tent of Meeting highlights relationship; this is the designated space where the covenant community encounters the living God. • Hebrews 9:2 recalls that the first room of this tent contained “the table and the bread of the Presence,” underscoring continuity between tabernacle worship and the New-Covenant fulfillment in Christ. on the north side of the tabernacle • Position matters. Exodus 26:35 had already specified: “Place the table on the north side of the tabernacle.” • Orientation within the holy place created order and balance: – North: table of showbread – South: lampstand (Exodus 26:35) – Center: altar of incense before the veil (Exodus 30:6) • The north side later becomes associated with sacrifice (Leviticus 1:11), reminding worshipers that fellowship with God (bread) and atonement (sacrifice) are inseparable. outside the veil • The veil separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:33). By positioning the table “outside the veil,” God allows priests daily access to fellowship without entering the innermost, restricted chamber. • Hebrews 9:3-8 explains that while the veil stood, “the way into the Most Holy Place was not yet disclosed.” Only after Jesus’ sacrificial death did “the curtain of the temple [tabernacle’s later form] [tear] in two” (Matthew 27:51), opening unrestricted access for all believers. • Thus, the table’s placement testifies both to nearness—daily communion—and to necessary mediation until Christ would fulfill the symbolism. summary Exodus 40:22 records more than a furniture-moving detail; it pictures obedient worship, orderly arrangement, covenant fellowship, and anticipated access to God. Moses’ precise placement of the table in the Tent of Meeting, on the north side, outside the veil, shows how God invites His people to continuous communion while still honoring His holiness—an invitation fully realized in Jesus Christ, our true Bread of Presence and opened veil. |
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