Pikudei - Exodus 38:21-40:38

The last few chapters of the Book of Exodus (one could say, the last third of the entire book), was all about building the mishkan, this special place for God that needed all of this gold, and jewels, and lights, and fresh bread daily, and fresh meat, and plates, and incense, and lovely curtains, and the strongest of wood, because, God wanted this.

Let's talk about clouds for a moment.

Starting in chapter 13 and continuing until the last sentence of the Book of Exodus, we read about this "pillar of cloud".

The Book of Genesis author(s) was not so concerned, and the only place where a cloud is written was when YHVH put one over the earth in order to make a rainbow.

The Book of Numbers author(s) was equally concerned with such things, repeating this idea several times.

The visual is this: the pillar of cloud would lead the Jews by day, and would disappear at night, to be replaced by a pillar of fire. And when this pillar of cloud was there, the Hebrews would get up and follow, and when it wasn't there, they would stay put.

Now check out these verses:

40:34 - And the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the Glory of YHVH filled the mishkan.

40:35 - And Moses was not able to come to the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested upon it and the Glory of YHVH filled the mishkan.

 40:36 - And when the cloud was raised up from upon the mishkan, the Children of Israel would journey on all their journeys.

40:37 - If the cloud did not rise up, they would not journey until the day it rose up.

 40:38 - For the cloud of YHVH would be on the mishkan by day, and fire would be on it at night, before the eyes of the House of Israel in all their journeys. 

There are x things that we can take from this:

1. It's not a cloud, but a poetic expression of a symbol that indicates that YHVH was among them.
2. The cloud was a symbol of "let's go" and "don't go", depending if it rose up or not.
3. When the cloud was there, the Glory of YHVH was there.
4. Moses could not enter when the cloud was there and the Glory of God was there.

It's #4 that's a problem.

If YHVH is always with them, and Moses can't enter to speak with YHVH, how is it in the Book of Numbers that Moses enters and speaks with YHVH? (Num. 7:89)

So the apologetic on this is based on a Midrash (Torat Kohanim) and referenced by Rashi who basically says "There's no contradiction. When the cloud would raise up, Moses would go in!"

But if the cloud was raised up, then would not the Hebrews start marching?

"Ah, but the cloud wouldn't move, so they would just stand there while Moses met with YHVH."

A more likely explanation is that the Book of Exodus ended with YHVH leading the Jewish people to the Promised Land, and vaguely references that there was a lot of journeying. The later, Book of Numbers is a book about those journeys, a different text with more details by different authors. The Book of Exodus author(s) was not concerned with the details of those journeys, or was not familiar with them, while the Book of Numbers author(s) was familiar with the Book of Exodus narrative, but was not concerned with its details.

In fact, Numbers  9:15-23 is basically a repeat of much of the last few verses of Numbers, talking about the cloud, how it would move and the people would follow. But it omits the part about Moses not being able to enter. And as far as the cloud being but an expression of YHVH, Numbers 11:25 says that YHVH would descend upon a cloud, making it His vehicle.

Of course, it could just be a poetic expression from a different author.

So remember, if there's a cloud over the mishkan, then "The God is Present" and He fills the entire mishkan with His Glory (k'vod כבוד) - whatever that means. Later on, rules will be established as to how one must approach YHVH in order to not be killed. And there is at least one moment (Numbers 12:10, where YHVH gets upset with Miriam, curses her, and takes His cloud and leaves for a time.

It's an interesting bit of imagery that will be presented in the next book, which starts next week.