Exodus 24 – Covenant Confirmed and Glory Revealed
Exodus 24 is a pivotal chapter where the covenant becomes sealed in blood, obedience is pledged, and Moses is summoned into the presence of God. Elders see a vision of divine glory, and the people stand on sacred ground.
Sacrifice, Commitment, and Divine Glory
As the foundation of God’s law is laid, Exodus 24 marks the sacred sealing of the covenant. Blood, obedience, worship, and awe come together as Israel enters into formal relationship with Yahweh.
✔ Covenant confirmed with sacrifice and blood.
✔ People vow obedience to God’s words.
✔ Moses and elders ascend and witness God’s glory.
✔ Moses enters the cloud for forty days and nights.
📖 Key Verse: “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” – Exodus 24:7
🔎 True covenant is confirmed by both commitment and communion.
Exodus Chapter 24 Overview
Exodus 24:1–11 – Covenant Sealed and Glory Seen
📖 Exodus 24:1–2 – “Come up unto the Lord… and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord…”
🔎 Access with order:
🔹 God calls leaders near—but Moses alone may come closer. This reflects levels of access, showing both invitation and boundary.
🔹 Worship involves both proximity and reverence. Not all are called to the same depth, but all are called to faithfulness.
➡️ Spiritual Principle: Deeper encounters with God require deeper surrender and calling.
📖 Exodus 24:3–4 – “Moses came and told the people all the words… and all the people answered… All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.”
🔎 Covenant through hearing and agreement:
🔹 The people respond in unity, affirming obedience.
🔹 Moses writes the words—making this a formal covenant, not an emotional moment.
🔹 Obedience is not based on impulse but on documented, deliberate commitment.
➡️ Covenant Insight: Agreement with God is serious—it’s both written and witnessed.
📖 Exodus 24:5–8 – *”And Moses took the blood… and sprinkled it on the people… Behold the blood of the covenant…”
🔎 Sealed in blood:
🔹 Blood confirms the seriousness of the agreement—it symbolizes life and consequence.
🔹 The altar and the people are both sprinkled, showing God’s part and man’s part in the covenant.
🔹 This foreshadows the new covenant in Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:19–22).
➡️ Messianic Shadow: Covenants are not sealed by words alone—but by the blood of a substitute.
📖 Exodus 24:9–11 – “They saw the God of Israel… and did eat and drink.”
🔎 Communion and revelation:
🔹 This is one of Scripture’s rare moments where humans see a manifestation of God.
🔹 Under His feet is a pavement of sapphire—clarity and majesty described in human terms.
🔹 They share a meal—representing peace and fellowship with the Holy One.
➡️ Heavenly Preview: Just as Revelation speaks of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, this is a foretaste of covenant communion in glory.
Exodus 24:12–18 – Into the Cloud and the Fire
📖 Exodus 24:12 – “Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone… that thou mayest teach them.”
🔎 A personal call into presence:
🔹 God doesn’t just give laws—He invites Moses into His presence to receive them.
🔹 The purpose is not just instruction, but transformation—Moses must dwell “and be there.”
➡️ Spiritual Insight: Before we can teach, we must first dwell with God.
📖 Exodus 24:13–14 – “Moses went up… and said unto the elders, Tarry ye here… until we come again unto you.”
🔎 Leadership and waiting:
🔹 Moses entrusts the people to Aaron and Hur, but emphasizes waiting until he returns.
🔹 The people’s test begins here—can they trust God’s timing when their leader disappears into the unknown?
➡️ Prophetic Foreshadowing: Just as Christ ascended and promised to return, we are to wait in faith, not fear.
📖 Exodus 24:15–17 – “A cloud covered the mount… and the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire…”
🔎 The visible glory of God:
🔹 God’s presence appears as both cloud and fire—a blend of mystery and might.
🔹 To Israel, it looked terrifying from below—but Moses was invited in.
🔹 God’s glory is often unapproachable to the flesh, but welcomed by faith.
➡️ Heavenly Pattern: Cloud and fire point to the manifest presence of God, later fulfilled in Christ and the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).
📖 Exodus 24:18 – “Moses went into the midst of the cloud… and was in the mount forty days and forty nights.”
🔎 Preparation and consecration:
🔹 Forty days speaks of testing, waiting, and divine download.
🔹 This time alone with God would bring not only the tablets—but blueprints for worship and presence.
🔹 The journey into the cloud was a journey of faith, fearlessness, and holy fire.
➡️ Final Reflection: To see God’s glory, we must enter the cloud, trust the silence, and remain until He speaks.
Exodus Chapter 24 - Deeper Study
Overview: Covenant and Communion on the Mountain
🔹 Timeframe: After the giving of laws at Sinai.
🔹 Setting: Mount Sinai becomes the sacred ground of encounter.
🔹 Theme: God enters covenant with His people and calls Moses deeper into His presence.
The Biblical Pattern of 40 Days
📖 The number 40 is woven throughout Scripture as a symbol of testing, preparation, judgment, and transformation. Moses’ 40 days on Sinai fits within a broader prophetic pattern:
🔹 Genesis 7:12 – It rained for 40 days and nights during the flood—judgment and cleansing of the earth.
🔹 Exodus 24:18 – Moses remains 40 days with God—receiving revelation and covenant instruction.
🔹 Exodus 34:28 – Moses again spends 40 days fasting while receiving the second set of tablets—renewal and mercy.
🔹 Numbers 13:25 – The spies searched the land for 40 days—testing and opportunity.
🔹 1 Kings 19:8 – Elijah journeys 40 days to Mount Horeb—encounter and restoration.
🔹 Jonah 3:4 – Nineveh is given 40 days to repent—a window of mercy before judgment.
🔹 Matthew 4:2 – Jesus fasts 40 days in the wilderness—overcoming temptation and preparing for ministry.
🔹 Acts 1:3 – Jesus appeared to His disciples for 40 days after His resurrection—establishing faith and commissioning.
➡️ Spiritual Pattern: The number 40 always points to a divine purpose—whether cleansing, preparation, or proving. It is a threshold of transformation, where God moves His people from one season into the next.
Key Takeaways
🔑 Covenant requires blood, obedience, and worship.
🔑 God invites leaders into His presence—but only Moses ascends higher.
🔑 The people must wait in faith while Moses communes with God.
🔑 Divine glory is both beautiful and terrifying.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Covenant sealed with blood – Foreshadows Christ’s blood sealing the new covenant (Luke 22:20, Hebrews 9:14–15).
🔮 Moses as mediator – A type of Christ ascending to intercede.
🔮 Waiting below the mountain – Symbolic of the Church awaiting Christ’s return.
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Covenant ceremonies – Ancient covenants were sealed with blood, sacrifice, and a shared meal.
📜 Vision of God – Rare moments when human eyes were allowed to see divine manifestation.
📜 Forty days – A biblical symbol of preparation, testing, and divine revelation.
💡 Final Reflection: Do You Walk in the Covenant or Just Hear It?
God called Israel into covenant, not just to hear commands but to obey and behold Him.
📌 Are you walking in obedience to the Word you’ve received?
📌 Have you sealed your faith with commitment and surrender?
📌 Will you follow Him into the cloud even when others stay below?
🚀 The covenant life is one of trust, sacrifice, and glory. Ascend with Him.
The Covenant Confirmed
Exo 24:1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
Exo 24:2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
Exo 24:3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
Exo 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Exo 24:5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
Exo 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exo 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
Exo 24:8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
Exo 24:9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Exo 24:10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
Exo 24:11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Exo 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
Exo 24:13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Exo 24:14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
Exo 24:15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.
Exo 24:16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
Exo 24:17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
Exo 24:18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Date Written
1446-1406 BC
Written By
Moses
Language
Hebrew
Verses
18