Exodus — Chapter 40

The Lord spoke to Moses in the first month of the second year, the first day of the month, saying: Thou shalt rear up the tabernacle of the testimony. The erection of the Tabernacle on the New Year's Day of the second year is for Lapide a figure of the Church's foundation at Pentecost—the true New Year's Day of grace. As Moses completed and dedicated the material Tabernacle, Christ completed and dedicated the spiritual Tabernacle of His Church through the descent of the Holy Spirit.

Moses anointed the Tabernacle and all that was in it, sanctifying them. The anointing of the Tabernacle with holy oil is the Old Testament type of episcopal and priestly consecration and of the dedication of churches. Lapide notes that just as the material Tabernacle was set apart from common use by anointing, so the Christian church building, once dedicated, is sacred and must be treated as such. He cites canon law: churches profaned by certain crimes must be reconciled (purified) before the Eucharist may be offered in them.

And their anointing shall avail to make them priests for ever, throughout their generations. The anointing of Aaron's sons to the priesthood is, says Lapide, a permanent consecration, not a temporary appointment. He draws the parallel with the Christian priesthood: Holy Orders impresses an indelible character on the soul (character sacerdotalis, Aquinas, Suppl. q. 35, a. 2), which cannot be removed by sin or apostasy, though it can be suspended in its exercise by legitimate ecclesiastical authority. The priest is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 109:4).

Moses placed the Testimony (the tablets) in the Ark and set the mercy seat on top. Lapide notes that the Law of God (the tablets) is placed inside the Ark and covered by the propitiatory—mercy covers justice. He finds here the theological principle that in the New Covenant the Law is not abolished but interiorized and surpassed by grace: \"Love is the fulfilling of the law\" (Rom. 13:10). The mercy seat upon the tablets is a figure of Christ who is both the fulfillment of the Law and the merciful mediator who covers our transgressions.

The cloud covered the tabernacle of the testimony, and the glory of the Lord filled it. Lapide calls this the supreme theophany of Exodus and one of the greatest in all Scripture. The Shekinah—the visible Glory of God—takes up its residence in the completed Tabernacle, filling it so completely that Moses cannot enter. He compares this to three other divine indwellings: (1) Solomon's Temple, similarly filled at its dedication (3 Kgs. 8:10-11); (2) the Incarnation, in which the divine Word fills the Temple of Mary's womb; (3) the consecrated Eucharist, in which the divine Presence fills the tabernacle of the altar; (4) the soul in a state of grace, in which the Trinity dwells (Jn. 14:23). These four indwellings form a continuous typological series from Sinai to the beatific vision.

For the cloud of the Lord hung over the tabernacle by day, and a fire by night, in the sight of all the children of Israel throughout all their journeys. The book closes with the image of the divine presence guiding Israel in every movement—by day the cloud, by night the fire. Lapide's final reflection: God does not abandon His Church after her founding but accompanies her in every stage of her pilgrimage. The same divine presence that covered Sinai, filled the Tabernacle, and rested on Solomon's Temple now dwells in the Tabernacle on every Catholic altar. The Exodus is not finished: we are still in the desert, guided by cloud and fire, moving toward the Promised Land of the beatific vision.