How do sinful people organize their whole life in the presence of the Holy God whose Holy word is permanently with their community? How should men approach the Holy God, to show their adoration, gratitude and proper fear of him? How may the people elected by God to serve him become holy themselves?

In Exodus 19-24 the people had been made aware of the power, majesty, moral goodness and beauty of God, and they had committed themselves to obeying this God in the Covenant ceremony, accepting the responsibilities of their election to be God's people. The questions which now arose were about how to live as God's elected people, how to worship in holiness and purity, and how to approach God without offending him. In Exodus 25: 1-22 the first step is taken in trying to answer these questions. The place where men meet with the presence of God is to be set apart as holy. It is to be made with beautiful materials which are to be presented as offerings. The Ark, which is to be kept in the Tabernacle, is to be covered with gold with a lid of pure gold decorated with two protecting cherubim or 'winged creatures', also of gold. Only the most precious substance available is fit to cover the box in which God's word is kept in the midst of the community. The final verses of the book of Exodus describe the theophany in which God's presence fills the Tabernacle with dazzling light (40:34-38).