And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Parallel translations
- WEB As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
- KJV As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
- NKJV As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
- NASB As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept.
- NLT Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. He eventually placed it in the Ark of the Covenant—in front of the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As God commanded, Aaron laid the manna up before the Testimony to be kept. Obedience preserves the memorial of God's faithfulness.
Overview
The manna is stored before the Testimony, the ark containing the covenant law, joining God's provision and his word as enduring witnesses. This anticipates the completed tabernacle and ark, though placed there in fulfillment of the present command. The careful obedience underscores Israel's call to honor and remember God's saving acts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Exod 25:16And place inside the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.
- Exod 25:21Set the mercy seat atop the ark, and put the Testimony that I will give you into the ark.
- Exod 27:21In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the Israelites for the generations to come.
- Exod 40:20Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark.
- Num 17:10The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”
- Exod 31:18When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
- Exod 30:36Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.
- Exod 30:6Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you.
- Deut 10:5and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD had commanded me; and there they have remained.
- 1 Kgs 8:9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.
- Num 1:53But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.”
- Exod 38:21This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
- Num 1:50Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 16:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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