Exodus 33:7-11

Exodus 33:7-11

[7] And Moses  took  the tabernacle,  and pitched  it without  the camp,  afar off  from the camp,  and called  it the Tabernacle  of the congregation.  And it came to pass, that every one which sought  the LORD  went out  unto the tabernacle  of the congregation,  which was without  the camp.  [8] And it came to pass, when Moses  went out  unto the tabernacle,  that all the people  rose up,  and stood  every man  at his tent  door,  and looked  after  Moses,  until he was gone  into the tabernacle.  [9] And it came to pass, as Moses  entered  into the tabernacle,  the cloudy  pillar  descended,  and stood  at the door  of the tabernacle,  and the LORD talked  with Moses.  [10] And all the people  saw  the cloudy  pillar  stand  at the tabernacle  door:  and all the people  rose up  and worshipped,  every man  in his tent  door.  [11] And the LORD  spake  unto Moses  face  as a man  speaketh  unto his friend.  And he turned again  into the camp:  but his servant  Joshua,  the son  of Nun,  a young man,  departed  not out  of the tabernacle. 

What does Exodus 33:7-11 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The tent referred to here cannot be the tabernacle since the Israelites had not yet built it. It must have been a smaller tent used as a meeting place for Moses, the people, and God over which the pillar of cloud stood. This tent served some of the functions of the tabernacle that later replaced it. Moses now moved this tent outside the camp to symbolize the removal of God"s presence from the people"s midst. [1]
Moses" personal communion with God was uncommonly intimate ( Exodus 33:11; cf. Numbers 12:6-8). One writer believed that the cloud was Jesus. [2] "Face to face" is an idiom that communicates intimacy, not a theophany. [3]