Matthew Henry on Exodus 40:16-33
When the tabernacle and the furniture of it were prepared, they did not put off the rearing of it till they came to Canaan, though they now hoped to be there very shortly; but, in obedience to the will of God, they set it up in the midst of their camp, while they were in the wilderness. Those that are unsettled in the world must not think that this will excuse them in their continued irreligion; as if it were enough to begin to serve God when they begin to be settled in the world. No; a tabernacle for God is a very needful and profitable companion even in a wilderness, especially considering that our carcases may fall in that wilderness, and we may be fixed in another world before we come to…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 40:16
Thus did Moses: according to all that the Lord commanded him--On his part, the same scrupulous fidelity was shown in conforming to the "pattern" in the disposition of the furniture, as had been displayed by the workmen in the erection of the edifice.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 40:20
And put the testimony into the ark - That is, the two tables on which the ten commandments had been written. See Exo 25:16. The ark, the golden table with the shew-bread, the golden candlestick, and the golden altar of incense, were all in the tabernacle, within the veil or curtains, which served as a door, Exo 40:22, Exo 40:24, Exo 40:26. And the altar of burnt-offering was by the door, Exo 40:29. And the brazen laver, between the tent of the congregation and the brazen altar, Exo 40:30; still farther outward, that it might be the first thing the priests met with when entering into the court to minister, as their hands and feet must be washed before they could perform any part of the holy s…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Exodus 40:20
And he took and put the testimony into the ark,.... The ten commands, called the "testimony", because they testified and declared what was the will of God with respect to things to be done, or not done. The Targum of Jonathan says, he put the broken pieces of the tables into it; but what became of them, or were done with them, we nowhere read; and it does not appear that any other, but those that Moses hewed by the order of God, were put into the ark; see Deuteronomy 10:1.
and set the staves on the ark; that it might be ready to be carried whenever a remove was necessary:
and put the mercy seat above upon the ark; together with the cherubim.
