Setting Up the Tabernacle
1. Then the LORD said to Moses:
2. “Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the first month.
3. Place the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.
4. Bring in the table and set out its arrangement; also bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps.
5. Then place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.
6. Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting;
7. set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it.
8. Set up the courtyard all around and hang the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.
9. “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.
10. Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy.
11. Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.
12. “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.
13. Then dress Aaron in the holy garments, anoint him, and consecrate him, so that he may serve Me as a priest.
14. Bring his sons and clothe them in tunics.
15. Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve Me as priests. Their anointing will qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.”
16. Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him.
17. So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year.
18. Moses set up the tabernacle: He laid its bases, positioned its frames, inserted its crossbars, and set up its posts.
19. Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the LORD had commanded him.
20. He took the Testimony and placed it inside the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of it.
21. He brought the ark into the tabernacle and put up the veil for the screen, and he screened off the ark of the Testimony, just as the LORD had commanded him.
22. Moses placed the table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil,
23. and arranged the bread on it before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.
24. He placed the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle,
25. and set up the lamps before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.
26. Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting in front of the veil,
27. and burned fragrant incense on it, just as the LORD had commanded him.
28. Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.
29. Moses set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded him.
30. He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing.
31. Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and feet there.
32. Whenever they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar, they washed, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
33. Finally, Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.
The Cloud and the Glory
34. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35. Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36. Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their journey.
37. But if the cloud was not lifted, they would not set out until the day it was taken up.
38. For 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 house of Israel in all their journeys.