Tent Talk

“Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.  When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend…

“Moses said to the Lord, ‘See, you say to me, “Bring up this people,” but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, “I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.” Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.’ And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?’

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’ Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.'” Exodus 33:7-11a,12-18

The tent of Meeting, designed as a movable place for spiritual rituals and representing the presence of God through Israel’s journeys, was also a place for Moses to meet with God in personal communion. Through Moses’s description and divine inspiration, we are brought behind the curtains to observe an intimate encounter. Friend to friend, Moses expressed his need for assurance of God’s favor and abiding presence if he was to lead Israel, and the Lord met his desire. (Exodus 40:18-38)

Anyone hidden inside a fort or under a tent knows the special security of being tucked away in a private little haven. Sharing it with another invites secret confidences and personal vulnerability. Getting away with the Lord to commune about our fears and needs and heart desires deepens friendship with our Savior, and makes space for Him to remind and refresh us in His promises.

Do we long to understand His ways so we can know Him? When do we voice directly to Him our utter dependence on His presence for wisdom, grace, and strength to obey? How keenly do we rely on His power and favor to distinguish us in the world? Regular tent talk enriches ongoing communion.

Lord, may I ever seek Your face, ways, and glory to know and follow You better.