“And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;”
My Notes
What Does Numbers 7:1 Mean?
"And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them." The COMPLETION of the Tabernacle is marked by a DAY — a specific, identifiable moment when EVERYTHING is finished: the Tabernacle is SET UP (erected), ANOINTED (oil-marked for sacred use), and SANCTIFIED (set apart from common use). And not just the structure — ALL the instruments, the altar, ALL the vessels. The completion is COMPREHENSIVE. The anointing covers EVERYTHING. The sanctifying touches EVERY piece.
The phrase "Moses had fully set up the tabernacle" (kallot Mosheh lehaqim et hammishkan — Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle) marks the COMPLETION: the verb kalah means to finish, complete, bring to an end. The Tabernacle's assembly is DONE. The instructions (Exodus 25-31) have been EXECUTED (Exodus 35-40). The design has become the REALITY. The words have become the STRUCTURE. The completion is the FULFILLMENT of everything God commanded.
The triple action — "set up, anointed, sanctified" — describes a THREE-STAGE completion: SET UP (the physical assembly — erecting the structure). ANOINTED (the spiritual marking — applying the sacred oil). SANCTIFIED (the status-change — separating from common to holy). Each stage is NECESSARY. The structure without the oil is just a tent. The oil without the sanctifying is just decoration. The sanctifying without the structure has nothing to sanctify. ALL THREE together make the Tabernacle operational.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What in your life needs all three stages — built, Spirit-marked, AND set apart?
- 2.What does anointing EVERY vessel (even the small ones) teach about comprehensive dedication?
- 3.How does the blueprint becoming the building describe the journey from vision to reality?
- 4.What 'day of completion' — what moment when everything was finished — marks your current season?
Devotional
The day Moses FINISHED. Set up. Anointed. Sanctified. EVERYTHING — the Tabernacle, the instruments, the altar, the vessels. ALL of it. The completion is comprehensive. The anointing covers every piece. The sanctifying touches every vessel. The day everything was DONE — the design became reality, the instructions became structure, the words became the dwelling-place of God.
The 'fully set up' marks PHYSICAL completion: the structure is erected. The curtains are hung. The furniture is placed. The pillars are standing. The physical assembly that took months of gathering, crafting, and constructing is FINISHED. The blueprint from the mountain (Exodus 25-31) is now a BUILDING on the ground. The vision has become the visible.
The 'anointed and sanctified' adds SPIRITUAL completion to the physical: the oil makes the structure SACRED. The sanctifying makes the structure HOLY. The physical assembly (set up) creates a TENT. The spiritual dedication (anointed and sanctified) creates a TEMPLE — a dwelling for the divine, not just a shelter for the human. The oil and the setting-apart transform the structure from ARCHITECTURE to PRESENCE-CONTAINER.
The 'all the instruments, the altar, all the vessels' makes the completion COMPREHENSIVE: not just the BIG structure. EVERY piece. Every instrument. Every vessel. Every tool. The anointing doesn't skip the small items. The sanctifying doesn't miss the minor vessels. The comprehensiveness says: nothing is too small to be anointed. Nothing is too insignificant to be sanctified. The ash-pan is anointed alongside the ark.
What completion in your life needs all THREE stages — set up (built), anointed (Spirit-marked), sanctified (set apart)?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle,.... Not on the very exact day on which it was…
On the day that - i. e. “at the time that,” compare Gen 2:4. The presentation of the gifts in fact occupied twelve days,…
Here is the offering of the princes to the service of the tabernacle. Observe,
I. When it was; not till it was fully set…
on the day that If this is understood strictly, it is the date given in Exo 40:17, and is one month earlierthan the date…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture