Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses.
Parallel translations
- WEB When Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and spoke with Moses.
- KJV And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
- BSB As Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance, and the LORD would speak with Moses.
- NKJV And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
- NLT As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses.
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 Moses enters the Tent, the pillar of cloud descends and God speaks with him. God's visible presence confirms Moses' unique role as mediator.
Overview
The descending cloud signifies God's manifest presence coming to meet Moses. That God speaks with him directly affirms the intimacy of their relationship. This visible token reassures Israel that, despite their sin, God still communes with His chosen mediator on their behalf.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 99:7He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them.
- Exod 31:18He gave to Moses, when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with God’s finger.
- Gen 18:33Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
- Ezek 3:22Yahweh’s hand was there on me; and he said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and I will talk with you there.”
- Exod 13:21–22Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:
- Gen 17:22When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
- Exod 34:3No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”
- Exod 33:11Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent.
- Exod 25:22There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.
- Num 11:17I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you not bear it yourself alone.
- Exod 34:9He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
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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 33:9 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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