God is with us. Maybe loneliness or grief or pain has made that hard for you to believe today. And God’s Old Testament people weren’t much different – Moses was only gone up on Mt. Sinai for 40 days (Exodus 24:18), and before he came back, they had lost all hope that he would ever return, turning away from God and embracing false idols instead (Exodus 32:1).

That’s why the Old Testament Tabernacle was so important – it was a visual representation of God’s presence among His people. But as we see in today’s passage, God wasn’t just with His people in a symbolic way – no, when it was finally completed, His glory filled the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34).

And God’s presence wasn’t just a comfort for His people in their times of difficulty. No, the cloud of the Lord led them wherever they went (Exodus 40:36-37). As long as they followed the cloud, they could be sure they were exactly where the Lord wanted them to be.

And how much greater reason do we have for such confidence! For while even Moses wasn’t able to enter the tabernacle when God’s glory was within it, Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to draw near to the very presence of God. For when He became flesh, when He “tabernacled” among us, “we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). And He has promised to lead us and to guide us, no matter what mission He calls us to undertake: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

So, hear the good news of the Tabernacle: By the blood of Jesus, all those who trust in Christ not only receive the light of His truth. We not only have everything we need. We can also enter the very presence of God whenever we pray. And God will lead us and equip us so that we can bear witness to the Christ who lives within us by the power of His Holy Spirit.

So, no matter what may be going on in your life, you are never alone. In Jesus Christ, God is with us.

Exodus 40:34-38 (NASB)

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36 And throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;
37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.
38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.