Exodus 40:38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys
If you read Exodus 37-40, you might get a little drowsy and bored because this is the equivalent of fly-by country. If you have ever driven through Kansas (and I do love Kansas), it is nothing that startles you. It is something that relaxes you. Sometimes when you are going through the Bible, you don’t see any great promontory, like some mountain coming up out of the ground. Instead, you find just a plain expanding before you. Sometimes we are looking for some special text when what we need is just the truth, and sometimes the truth is given not by one particular verse, like a promontory or mountain, but just the consistency of repetition you find in the passage. That is the case when you come to Exodus 37-40.
The reason you are bored when you read these chapters is because it is largely about gifts, gifts that are not yours. In Exodus 37:1 it says, “And Bezaleel made the ark.” Verse 6 says that “he made the mercy seat,” and then he made the table, the candlestick of pure gold, the incense alter, and the holy anointing oil. Then in chapter 38 he made the altar of burnt offering, the laver of brass, and so on. You may not even know what these things are, but the point is you might get bored when you are hearing about other people’s gifts. You are hearing about some gift somebody has, either their money, their knowledge, or their skill, and you can sometimes dismiss those because they are not your gifts. I wonder how compelling your gifts will be to other people in four thousand years.
There is a driving lesson in all of this, and that is our gifts are worthless without God’s purpose or pattern. In Exodus 25:39-40 the Bible talks about the pattern from which the tabernacle was made. This was God’s pattern. You may have gifts, but they can be used frivolously or wasted. For instance, the golden calf that Aaron made for the children of Israel. It was made from gold and precious things Israel had brought from Egypt. God had provided those things and they used them for something worthless. Yet, about fifteen times in chapters 37-40 you find the little phrase “by the commandment of God” or “at the commandment of God through Moses.” How did they make the tabernacle? It was as the Lord commanded Moses. Why did they make the tabernacle? It was as the Lord commanded Moses. It wasn’t their idea. It was God’s. So, you have gifts, but they are worthless without God’s purpose, without God’s pattern, and of course, without our giving.
There are a couple of things to consider in connection with this. First, your gifts are not random. You may think, “Well, I have this gift and that gift and there is no connection whatsoever.” You may not be big enough to understand what it is you have, but God is. I don’t have to understand all of God’s gifting to know that God has gifted you for a reason.
For example, in Exodus 38:8 the Bible says that they made part of the tabernacle, the laver of brass, “of the lookingglasses of the women assembling.” Now, they didn’t have mirrors the way we do now, but they would have had reflective metal. So, here are a lot of women with these looking glasses that were used for the construction of the tabernacle. Maybe you wonder, “What good is my gift? It is not a big deal.” Your gifts are not random. God has created you. He did it for a reason. Your gifts are worthless without God’s purpose and pattern. You may not know God’s purpose or see the pattern at the moment, but there is a God. Your gifts are not random.
Second, your gifts are not small nor are they large. They are given; they are gifts. In Exodus 39:32 it says, “Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they. So, here is a woman who brings her looking glass, a man who brings gold, another one who brings some other necessity, and someone else who has the skill to make those things into the marvelous tabernacle God had in mind. The question is not whether you have big or small gifts. The question is, “Who gave the gift?” The answer is God. Your gift is not random and it is not big or small.
Finally, it is not about your gifts, it is about your God. The very last verse of Exodus, speaking of how the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, says “For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.” God gave these people direction and guidance. He gave them deliverance and provision. It is not about your gift; it is about your God.