Sinai Previews the Tabernacle

Moses’s first encounter with God happens on Mount Sinai through the burning bush. Yesterday, we saw that this story is filled with temple language and symbolism. The link between Sinai and a temple is even more explicit when Moses leads the rescued Israelites back to the mountain in Exodus 19. Just as God had previously appeared to Moses through fire—a burning bush that was not consumed—here, the presence of God falls as fire upon the whole mountain. Remember, the presence of God is the essential quality of any temple. Mount Sinai certainly meets that standard.