Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
Exodus 40:34-38
These brief final verses represent the climax of the book, the culmination of the long preparation, not only of the tabernacle, but also of the people, and another stage was completed in the divine programme. And when all was done, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. There are two points to note here which are of fundamental importance in any application we make of the story of Exodus to our own spiritual situation. The first is the fact that at the heart of the tabernacle and its worship there was the God-given Word of law and grace, symbolised by the Ten Commandments written on the tables of stone within the Ark. Ultimately, it is this that God honours and vindicates with the coming of His glory, and when the Word of God is reinstated in the heart of the Church's life, there will be some hope of spiritual renewal. Every spiritual awakening in the history of the Church has in fact been associated with the recovery of the Word of God. The second is the absolute obedience to God's commands on the part of Moses and the people. The down-coming glory may in fact be said to be the ultimate reward of long and costly obedience to the will of God. Nothing less will bring the fire of God down to earth. In spiritual life there is no substitute for obedience; neither earnest work and endeavour, elaborate organisation, or even importunate prayer itself, will avail if at the heart of everything obedience to the will of God is lacking. The recovery and reinstatement of the Word, and a total obedience to its summons - this is the pattern for divine blessing, and the law of spiritual harvest.