What is the context?
After giving the covenant instructions, God calls Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders to come up and worship. Moses alone may approach more closely. Before the ascent described in verse 9, he tells the people God’s words, writes them down and reads the Book of the Covenant aloud. The people twice declare their intention to obey.
The altar and twelve pillars bring the whole nation into view: the pillars stand for Israel’s twelve tribes. Young men offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. Moses divides the blood between bowls and the altar, then splatters blood on the people and identifies it as the blood of the covenant. The people’s commitment is made in response to words they have heard, and the sacrifice marks the solemn establishment of that relationship.
Moses and the named leaders then go up. The text says they see the God of Israel, describing beneath His feet something like a sapphire pavement, clear as the sky. God does not strike them down; they eat and drink in His presence. The scene combines the seriousness of approaching God with the extraordinary welcome He grants.
How is this passage commonly understood?
The sacrifice, blood and meal are generally understood as the establishment and celebration of the covenant. Wesley emphasizes the commitments of God and the people, and understands the meal as fellowship with God. Calvin likewise describes a sacrificial banquet and stresses that these leaders approach safely because God Himself has called them.
Interpreters differ over the form of the sight granted to the leaders. Calvin understands an appearance of God’s glory suited to what human beings can bear, without a description of God’s full being. Wesley also speaks of a glimpse of glory and understands the description as focusing on the brightness beneath Him. Gill understands a visible appearance of the Son in human form before His birth. These readings take seriously both this passage’s statement that they saw God and the later statement that God is made known through His Son (John 1:18); they differ over what form the encounter took.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Hebrews 9:11–24 explicitly recalls Moses proclaiming the commandments and sprinkling the covenant blood. It then explains the greater work of Christ: He enters God’s presence on our behalf through His own blood, secures eternal redemption and cleanses the conscience so that people may serve the living God. His death also redeems transgressions committed under the first covenant, and those called receive the promised eternal inheritance.
Jesus uses the covenant-blood language at the meal before His death. In Matthew 26:26–29, He speaks of His blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins; Luke 22:14–20 calls the cup the new covenant in His blood. The connection reaches beyond the similarity of two ceremonies. The Son gives Himself to bring people into a relationship with God grounded in His completed sacrifice.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.