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.
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Reading for August 14th

Read Exodus 39.32-39

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Reading for August 13th

Read Exodus 39.1-31
This section recounts the making of Aaron's priestly vestments or clothing.
The refrain as the Lord had commanded Moses recurs seven times throughout the chapter (vv. 1, 5, 7, 21, 26, 29, 31).
This sevenfold refrain mirrors the sevenfold refrain and structure of the seven days of creation in Gen 1.1-2.4.
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Reading for August 12th

Read Exodus 38.1-31
In verse 26: The census and its total count of 603, 550 men reflects the results of the census in Num 1.45-46.
The law concerning payment during the census occurs in 30.12-14.
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Reading for August 11th

Read Exodus 37.1-29

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Reading for August 10th

The ark of the covenant, the tabernacle, and its furnishings.
In 36.8-39.43: The construction of the tabernacle and its contents follows closely and methodically the instructions first given in chs. 25-31 with some minor omissions.
The sequence proceeds from first constructing the outside frames and curtains and then moving inward to make the holiest furnishings and objects inside the tabernacle.
This pattern reverses the sequence of the instructions in chs. 25-31, which move from the innermost, holiest furnishings tot he other objects and surroundings.

Read Exodus 36.8-38
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Reading for August 9th

Read Exodus 36.1-8
In verses 5-7: Pharaoh's oppressive complaint about the laziness of Israelite slave workers at the beginning of the book (5.4-9) contrasts sharply with Israel's eagerness and enthusiasm in working on the tabernacle here at the end of the book.
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