And it came to pass, when Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose up, and stood every man at the entrance of his tent, and they looked after Moses until he entered into the tent.
Israel had made a golden calf, so Moses took the tent and pitched it far outside the camp. This verse shows what the people did next: they rose and watched their leader walk away — and the question is whether watching him go is the same as going.
Moses' move was a verdict on the whole nation. They had put an idol in God's place, so their camp could no longer be His.
He could no longer own the people as a whole. The assembly had become entirely defiled, having set up an idol of their own making, in the place of God — a calf instead of Jehovah. "Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and called it the tent of meeting." This disowned the camp as the place of God's presence. God was not — could not — be there. A human invention had displaced Him. So there was now a new gathering point.
Moses' tent was not the tabernacle God had described; no one had built that yet. But its name came from the Lord, not from Moses.
This, then, was the name Jehovah's tent would carry when it stood in the middle of the camp. Moses used this name for the emergency tent. That showed he was acting on what the Lord had told him during the forty days. He, as it were, said, "O Jehovah, I know You mean to dwell among Your people. I know a tabernacle must be built to Your own specifications. That cannot happen now, because the calf has defiled the camp. But I set up this tent away from the polluted camp, and call it by the name You have chosen — 'the tent of meeting'."
The whole camp stood and stared. Why did one man's walk matter so much?
Now notice what follows: "all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent" (v. 8). I have no doubt this man's action greatly surprised them. He was the leader, he was the mediator, and everything now turned on the action of the one who was the mediator.
Verse 7 said that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tent. Verse 8 shows a different group: those who rose and looked, but stayed where they were.
So there were two categories of people: those who were seeking the Lord and went out of their tents; and the others who only looked from far off from the entrance of their own tents.
Two verses later the same crowd worships — still in the same doorway. Commentators read that detail as the tragedy of the chapter.
All the people in the camp saw the pillar of cloud stand at the tent of meeting, and they stood up to worship in their tent doors. This showed they realised two things. The Lord could no longer grant His presence to the camp that idolatry had defiled. And He owned the new place of gathering outside the camp. And yet it seems most of them failed to separate from the defiled camp. They "worshipped, each man at his own tent door" (v. 10), instead of going out to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
Separation cost Moses the camp. It gave him something no one inside the camp had.
There in separation from the camp, the Lord revealed Himself as He had never done before. It was so striking that the people "rose up and worshipped, each man at his tent door. And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." This was a completely new thing. It was quite different from the majestic messages of Sinai. It was a closeness of approach and fellowship which Moses had never enjoyed before.
This is not only ancient history. The step out is costly, and the way we treat those who stay costs more.
There is here a fine principle of truth, which the spiritual mind will readily grasp. The place Christ now occupies is "outside the camp," and we are called to "go out to Him." It takes much subjection to the word to know exactly what "the camp" really is. It takes much spiritual power to go out from it. It takes still more, while "far off from it," to act towards those inside it in the combined power of holiness and grace. Holiness separates us from the defilement of the camp. Grace enables us to act towards those who are caught up in it.
- Defilement moves God out. An idol displaced God in the camp, so Moses set the meeting place outside it.
- Faith names the future. Moses called the emergency tent by the name he had heard on the mountain, acting on what God had already told him.
- All eyes, one man. The nation rose and watched, because everything now depended on the mediator who walked out.
- The door is the dividing line. Some went out to seek the Lord; others only looked, and later even worshipped, without leaving their own doorway.
- Nearness is for those who go. Outside the camp God spoke with Moses as a friend — a closeness the watchers saw but never shared.
And it came to pass when Moses entered into the tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and [Jehovah] talked with Moses.
Israel had just made the golden calf, and the tent where God met with Moses now stood far outside the camp. This verse records God's own answer to that move, in full view of the whole nation.
The people did not need the sign explained. They had seen this same pillar before.
The children of Israel recognised that pillar. They had seen it only a few weeks before, when they crossed the Red Sea. It had then stood between them and their foes. Now they saw that protecting symbol of Jehovah's presence. It did not stand in the middle of the camp — oh no, that was defiled. It stood at the door of the very tent Moses had pitched outside the camp, where he now was.
The cloud came down as Moses went in. That timing was God's verdict on the move.
At that moment God approved the action of His servant in the most remarkable way. It was an action taught by God, and one suited to God Himself. We know this, because He at once puts Himself by Moses' side. And observe: all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent. They all rose up and worshipped, each at his tent door (v. 10). If anyone wanted to be near the Lord in that day he had to go outside the camp to get near to Him.
God talked with Moses at that door. Set against the mountain, the contrast is the point.
As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud stood at the door. This marked God's approval of the new meeting place. There Jehovah talked with Moses. It was not with that terrible voice he had heard on the mountain, which made him say, "I tremble with fear." That was the condition under the law only. But now the law had been broken, and mercy had come in through intercession. So Jehovah, in His mercy, spoke with Moses in this lonely tent outside the camp, "face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."
There is an order here. Moses meets God's holiness first, and God's resources open after.
He pitches the tabernacle far off from the guilty camp. Then anyone humbled by a sense of sin, who wants to seek the Lord, may seek Him there, away from the defilement. This act met the mind of the Lord, and restored His presence to Israel... The most serious difficulties only unfold to him more of the resources of God. But he reaches those resources only by first responding to the holiness of God.
This was not the tabernacle built later in Exodus. Where God stood, seekers had to follow — and writers read that line forward into our own day.
The word "tabernacle" here in this chapter means "tent." It is not the real tabernacle, for that had not yet been built. It was a tent used as a place of worship, and it now had to stand outside of the camp. All who wanted to seek the Lord had to go to this "tent of meeting," outside of the camp. See Hebrews 13:13. Christ and His gospel are now rejected. The professing people of God are in rebellion and apostasy. So the call is to go outside of the camp, bearing His reproach... Again Moses represents Christ as mediator, only our mediator is higher than Moses. And through Christ we have access into His presence. "Outside of the camp" leads to the closest communion with Himself.
This was not a repeat of an old privilege. It was something Moses had never had before — and that is where the encouragement lies.
Because Moses stood apart from the camp, the Lord revealed Himself as He had not done before... It was an intimacy of approach and communion which Moses had never before enjoyed... This fact is full of comfort. It teaches that ruin, and even apostasy, may mark the professing people of God. Even so, a way into His presence may still be open. It is open to those who can enter into His mind. His grace enables them to take a place outside the corruptions around them. And the Lord will reveal Himself to such people, in response to their faith and faithfulness, in a most special and gracious way.
- Ruin. The golden calf defiled the camp, so the cloud that once shielded Israel at the Red Sea no longer rested among them.
- Response. Moses pitched the tent far from the guilty camp, so that anyone humbled by sin could seek the Lord there.
- Approval. The cloud came down at that door. God took His place at His servant's side, in full view of the camp.
- Nearness. Away from the defilement, God talked with Moses as a man talks to his friend. Moses had never known such nearness at Sinai.
- Reach. Every seeker had to go out to that door. Commentators point to Hebrews 13:13: nearness still lies outside the camp, bearing His reproach.