Only One Tent Needed
Exodus says 600,000 men left Egypt on foot, along their wives and children (Exodus 12:31-33, 37-38). So more than 2 million plus Jews traveled with Moses across the wilderness, toward the Promised Land.
Yet all these people only needed one tent.
Think I’m joking? I’m not.
Of course, I’m speaking about the special “tent of meeting” that Moses pitched outside the camp.
The Tent of Meeting
We have no physical description of this tent. No one has any idea of the materials used or the color or the size. The Holy Spirit considered these facts minor details. My guess? This shelter Moses kept putting up was probably small, dull in color and ordinary looking.
But Exodus 33:7-11 tells us about this tent’s unique function. This isolated tent was the one place in the wilderness where Moses would go to personally talk to the God of the Hebrews.
Wherever the Israelites stopped:
Moses would pitch the tent outside the camp.- This tent was purposely placed some distance away from everything else.
- Like the tent where Aaron and his sons offered sacrifices, this tent too was called “the tent of meeting.”
- Moses would go into this tent whenever he wanted to speak with the Lord.
- When he entered, the pillar of cloud would descend and rest at the tent’s entrance, remaining in place while the Almighty spoke with his servant.
- All the people would see God’s pillar of cloud move over to the tent of meeting.
- Each family would stand at their tent’s entrance and worship until the meeting was over between Moses and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- After the meeting ended, pillar of cloud would lift.
- Then Moses would come out and soon tell the people what the Lord had commanded.
Permanently Changed in God’s Presence
Exodus 34 gives us one more detail.
Moses spent so much time in the Lord’s presence, his face started to glow. It first happened when he came down the mountain carrying the 2nd set of stone tablets containing the 10 commandments.
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.
30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. (Exodus 34:29-30 NIV)
From then on, Moses wore a veil over his face. One which he only removed when he entered God’s presence. Afterwards, when giving Yahweh’s commandments to his people, everyone he talked to would see the radiance on Moses’ face. Afterwards he would cover himself with the veil again.
The Empty Tent
There’s one thing about the tent of meeting I never noticed until this year and it’s a shocking detail.
7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. (Exodus 33:7 NIV)
God’s unique meeting place was open to every Jew in the camp. The Lord would have met with any man, woman or child who came seeking Him.
So one tent shouldn’t have been enough. But it was.
Because with the exception of Moses and Joshua, no one else ever came near that tent.
The Israelites in the Wilderness
Moses’ people often had temporary “holy awe” of God. His incredible power and mighty acts of deliverance caused micro-bursts of joyous worship. But it never lasted long for the former adult slaves who came out of Egypt.
Their fear of God was faulty, because it:
- Didn’t cause his chosen people to obey Him
- Built up no faith in the Lord.
- Never helped the Jews to trust in Yahweh when the next crisis hit.
- Led to no real repentance over their sin.
- Birthed no love for God in their hearts.
The adult Israelites who walked through the wilderness for 40 years never tried to enter God’s presence. Neither apparently did their children or grandchildren.
Yet God’s “tent flap” was always open.
Do We Seek to Enter God’s Presence?
Like you, I am on a spiritual journey.
In the last few years, my pastor has challenged us to spend time being still before the Lord. 
To sit in God’s presence and just attentively wait on Him. Calm our noisy inner-life so we can hear the Holy Spirit’s gentle loving words.
I’ve been trying. But things aren’t going well. My brain isn’t cooperating!
I’ll set the timer for 20 or 30 minutes and then the battle begins. I’ve discovered that my mind is like a restless butterfly; it flutters off in all directions! The buzzer sounds, and my brain suddenly is jerked back into remembering what I meant to do.
It’s easy to give up.
But instead, I’ve decided to start smaller.
If I can’t keep my mind still and focused on the Lord for 20 minutes, can I do it for 4 minutes?
Yes I can and it’s a start.
God’s tent of meeting is open to everyone. Care to join me?
These tent images came from Pixabay.com and I chose well-lit nighttime tents to suggest God’s holy presence.
