Reading for August 15th

Read Exodus 40.1-33
In 40.1-33: Moses completes the work of erecting the tabernacle and arranging its furnishings.
In verse 2: The establishment of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month marks the beginning  of the rhythms, seasons, and festivals of the new cultic year.
The construction of the universe (Gen 1.1-2.4) had provided order and structure out of chaos that enabled  the beginning of time and of life.
In a similar way, Israel's construction of the tabernacle out of chaos of the golden calf (ch 32) provides order and structure for the beginning of Israel's worship and cultic life as it journeys through the wilderness.
The text again brings together the Tabernacle tradition and the older tradition of the tent of meeting (39.32, 40; 40.6, 22, 24, 29, 35; see comment on 33.7).
In verse 17: Israel has arrived at Mount Sinai in the third month of the first year after going out of Egypt (19.1).
Moses sets up the Tabernacle nine months later in the first month in the second year.
Comments or Questions..