If the Exodus is a type of Cross, then the filling of the Tabernacle (Ex 40:34) is a type of Pentecost. God clearly didn’t bring Israel out of Egypt to leave them in the wilderness. He brought them out of Egypt to make Israel his dwelling place. This dimension of the chosenness of Israel is multifaceted. Israel, by being the dwelling place of the great I Am, is also the people through whom his reign would be reestablish on earth. It is through Israel that the Creator’s redemption will come to the cosmos. Once God gets Israel out of Egypt, he instructs them to build a tabernacle so that he may dwell among them. Once they do this according to his (meticulous) instructions, the kabod Elohim, translated “glory of God”, comes down and to dwell in the Tabernacle in Israel’s midst (quite literally). This is the purpose of the Exodus.
What’s interesting is that in this narrative the phrases “presence of God” and “glory of God,” are interchangeable (Ex 40:34). There’s something fascinating about this, that God’s presence is essentially the same as his glory. What’s fascinating about this is that this is the moment that the creation, just for a period, returns to the place of its original design. The creation exists to glorify the Creator. This happens when the image of God is properly functioning in humanity as intended by Yahweh to begin with. When humanity fails to be the angled mirror (re: N.T. Wright) reflecting the glory of God into the creation and worship back up to the Creator, then everything is out of order, chaos reigns. In this moment, once everything in the Tabernacle is properly purified and prepared for the all holy presence of God, then God’s glory returns among humanity.
We cannot miss the connection between the atoning sacrifices and the glory of God returning to the face of the earth. These are absolutely essential because of the holiness of God. Without these, then God is just like all the other gods of the ancient Near Eastern pantheon—created in the image of humanity. But this is not what we have here in the story of the Exodus nor in the story of Pentecost. In both of these accounts a proper atoning work must take place. Humanity must be prepared. Expiation must occur. There must be a cleansing from sin-guilt in order for God’s presence and thereby his glory to return.
But what do we mean by “sin guilt?” There must be a turning away from sin, in particular, there must be a turning away from the will to be morally autonomous. What this means in one word is servanthood. We must forfeit the heart-posture that is determined and plagued with pride and ego and let God be God. We must submit. This is precisely what Jesus is talking about when he says, “come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” (Matt 11:28–30). Jesus is saying, “Stop trying to be the God of your life. Let me be God in your life. My burden is much easier.”
It almost seems as if Jesus is contradicting himself with this passage because on the one hand he says things like, “…take up your cross and follow me,” (Matt 16:24). What we often miss in this, however, is that just before he says this he says, “If anyone would came after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” (emphasis added). This harmonizes perfectly with Jesus’ promise that his burden is light. Again, what he is saying is that life will be what it was intended if you give up being God in your own life, if you submit you moral autonomy that was never meant for you but always meant for God. Allow God to decide what is good and what is not good. Give up deciding on your own, as he will make known in you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All of this, every bit of it, requires repentance, requires turning away from moral autonomy and turning towards God. It means servanthood and alleviation from sin-guilt. Once this happens, then his very glory can come down and dwell amongst us.
This is precisely what happens at Pentecost as it did in the desert at the very end of the book of Exodus. Once sin-guilt is atoned for and God’s people take on the heart posture of humility, servanthood, and obedience, he shares his presence, his very glory with his people. And when this happens, order is restored to the creation and the people of God become the window through which the world can witness the Lord God who is holy, holy, holy and whose glory fills the earth (Isa 6:3).