32:15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with 5 the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides – they were written on the front and on the back.
38:21 This is the inventory 6 of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted 7 by the order 8 of Moses, being the work 9 of the Levites under the direction 10 of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.
1 sn Here then is the main point of the ark of the covenant, and the main point of all worship – meeting with God through atonement. The text makes it clear that here God would meet with Moses (“you” is singular) and then he would speak to the people – he is the mediator of the covenant. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 272) makes the point that the verb here is not the word that means “to meet by chance” (as in Exod 3:18), but “to meet” by appointment for a purpose (וְנוֹעַדְתִּי, vÿno’adti). The parallel in the NT is Jesus Christ and his work. The theology is that the Law condemns people as guilty of sin, but the sacrifice of Christ makes atonement. So he is the “place of propitiation (Rom 3:25) who gains communion with the Father for sinners. A major point that could be made from this section is this: At the center of worship must be the atoning work of Christ – a perpetual reminder of God’s righteous standard (the testimony in the ark) and God’s gracious provision (the atonement lid).
2 tn The verb is placed here in the text: “and I will speak”; it has been moved in this translation to be closer to the direct object clause.
3 tn The traditional expression is “within the veil,” literally “into the house (or area) of the (special) curtain.”
4 tn Or “the Holy of Holies.”
5 tn The disjunctive vav (ו) serves here as a circumstantial clause indicator.
6 tn The Hebrew word is פְּקוּדֵי (pÿqude), which in a slavishly literal way would be “visitations of” the tabernacle. But the word often has the idea of “numbering” or “appointing” as well. Here it is an accounting or enumeration of the materials that people brought, so the contemporary term “inventory” is a close approximation. By using this Hebrew word there is also the indication that whatever was given, i.e., appointed for the tabernacle, was changed forever in its use. This is consistent with this Hebrew root, which does have a sense of changing the destiny of someone (“God will surely visit you”). The list in this section will also be tied to the numbering of the people.
7 tn The same verb is used here, but now in the Pual perfect tense, third masculine singular. A translation “was numbered” or “was counted” works. The verb is singular because it refers to the tabernacle as a unit. This section will list what made up the tabernacle.
8 tn Heb “at/by the mouth of.”
9 tn The noun is “work” or “service.” S. R. Driver explains that the reckonings were not made for the Levites, but that they were the work of the Levites, done by them under the direction of Ithamar (Exodus, 393).
10 tn Heb “by the hand of.”