Exodus 24:1

The Lord Ratifies the Covenant

24:1 ¹ But to Moses the Lord ²  said, “Come up ³  to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance. ⁴ 

Exodus 27:18

27:18 The length of the courtyard is to be one hundred fifty feet ⁵  and the width seventy-five feet, ⁶  and the height of the fine twisted linen hangings ⁷  is to be ⁸  seven and a half feet, with their bronze bases.

Exodus 38:12

38:12 For the west side there were ⁹  hangings seventy-five feet long, with ¹⁰  their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.

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¹ sn Exod 24 is the high point of the book in many ways, but most importantly, here Yahweh makes a covenant with the people – the Sinaitic Covenant. The unit not only serves to record the event in Israel’s becoming a nation, but it provides a paradigm of the worship of God’s covenant people – entering into the presence of the glory of Yahweh. See additionally W. A. Maier, “The Analysis of Exodus 24 According to Modern Literary, Form, and Redaction Critical Methodology,” Springfielder 37 (1973): 35-52. The passage may be divided into four parts for exposition: vv. 1-2, the call for worship; vv. 3-8, the consecration of the worshipers; vv. 9-11, the confirmation of the covenant; and vv. 12-18, the communication with Yahweh.

² tn Heb “And he;” the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn They were to come up to the Lord after they had made the preparations that are found in vv. 3-8.

⁴ sn These seventy-four people were to go up the mountain to a certain point. Then they were to prostrate themselves and worship Yahweh as Moses went further up into the presence of Yahweh. Moses occupies the lofty position of mediator (as Christ in the NT), for he alone ascends “to Yahweh” while everyone waits for his return. The emphasis of “bowing down” and that from “far off” stresses again the ominous presence that was on the mountain. This was the holy God – only the designated mediator could draw near to him.

⁵ tn Heb “a hundred cubits.”

⁶ tn Heb “fifty.” The text has “and the width fifty [cubits] with fifty.” This means that it is fifty cubits wide on the western end and fifty cubits wide on the eastern end.

⁷ tn Here “hangings” has been supplied.

⁸ tn Here the phrase “is to be” has been supplied.

⁹ tn The phrase “there were” has been supplied.

¹⁰ tn The text simply has “their posts ten and their bases ten”; this may be added here as a circumstantial clause with the main sentence in order to make sense out of the construction.