Exodus 24 to 40: A Large Chiasm About the Building of the Tabernacle and the Sabbath
This large chiasm in the book of Exodus is a very simple one, but it has one very striking feature; the Sabbath Day plays a very important role in it. Immediately after the instructions for building the tabernacle the Lord gave one, and only one, commandment to Moses—that the people of Israel observe the Sabbath Day. And immediately before the people began actually to build the tabernacle the Lord again gave the commandment to keep the Sabbath Day. The tabernacle was God’s resting place (Ps 132:8,14), and it became also the place of rest for God’s people.
The commandments to keep the Sabbath also immediately precede and follow the incident of the golden calf. By worshiping the golden calf, Israel had violated the first, second and seventh commandments and also the fourth. She had departed from her promised rest. Therefore, God had to restore rest. The fourth commandment has a place in the renewal of the covenant (34:21).
After the giving of The Book of the Covenant (20:1–23:33), the Lord began to prepare for the construction of the tabernacle and the typical fulfillment of his promise to Abraham that he would be the God of his descendants. The chiasm looks like this:
A Moses in the Presence of the Lord (24:12–18)
B Instructions for Building the Tabernacle (25:1–31:11)
C The Sabbath Commandment (31:12–17)
D The Golden Calf and Renewal of the Covenant (32:1–34:35)
C The Sabbath Commandment (35:1–3)
B The Building of the Tabernacle (35:4–40:33)
A The Presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle (40:34–38)
Exodus 31:12–17: A Small Chiasm about the Sabbath Day
Exodus 31:12-17 is especially important because it teaches us that the Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant. That covenant contained many signs—sacrifices, cleansings and many other ceremonial laws—but out of all these signs the Lord chose the Sabbath to be the sign of the covenant comparable to the sign of the rainbow in the Noahic covenant and to circumcision in the Abrahamic covenant.
This sign taught the people that the Lord sanctifies. The Lord is holy and his tabernacle (resting place) is holy. Before the people can enter into that tabernacle and enjoy God’s rest with him, they also must be holy. The Sabbath taught them that the Lord himself would make them holy and bring them into his rest.
A [The Sign of the Sabbath] 12 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
B [The Obligation to Keep the Sabbath] 14 ‘You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you.
C [The Penalty for Breaking the Sabbath] Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
D [The Requirement of the Sabbath] 15 ‘Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD.
C [The Penalty for Breaking the Sabbath] Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
B [The Obligation to Keep the Sabbath] 16 ‘Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations [as] a perpetual covenant.
A [The Sign of the Sabbath] 17 ‘It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ “
Conclusion
The Sabbath remains important for Christians today. It is still one of the signs of God’s covenant with us. As the rainbow continues to teach us that the Lord will never again destroy the earth with a flood, and as baptism (the New Testament replacement for circumcision) continues to teach us that God is our God and the God of our children, so the Sabbath continues to teach us that the Lord sanctifies us so that we may enter into his rest.
However, just as the sign of circumcision was changed to the sign of baptism, so also the sign of the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day to the first day. On the first day of the week our Lord Jesus Christ finished his work, rose from the dead and entered into rest. So the church in the New Testament, the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the place of God’s rest and ours, enjoys rest on the first rather than the seventh day of the week. Rest is ours in Christ.
Nevertheless, we still await final rest. There is not only a place of rest for us here on earth, but there is also a land of rest, a better country, for us in the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell.