Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will hear and do.” Then he took the blood and splashed it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.” Exodus 24:6-8
Let us survey the scene before us so we can grasp the importance of this moment. We have the people gathered before the altar Moses made at the foot of the mountain. We have Moses, along with Aaron and his sons Nadab and Abihu with the seventy elders, representing the whole, dining before God part way up the mountain. Then Moses gets up, along with Joshua, to ascend up into the high regions of glory, at some point leaving Joshua behind, as he forges ahead alone into the glory cloud. The three-fold structure of the foot, middle, and top of the mountain corresponds with Eden’s mountain, where the river of God flowed from above to the garden midway, and from there it split into the four rivers to the ends of the earth below. Noah’s ark was a 3-fold structure, as well as the Tabernacle, which will be describe in the next posts. This 3-fold structure of sacred space is essential for transcendence to unite with the transient.
The covenant is sealed at the bottom on the altar. The ceremony follows the common ANE pattern of 1) recitation of the terms of the covenant, that is, the law just communicated to Moses, 2) response of the people, 3) the sacrifice, and 4) the sealing of the oath. What is unusual, as we have said before, is that this covenant is between God and humanity, something unparalleled in the ancient world. This unites YHWH and His people into a kinship bond. Specifically, Israel becomes YHWH’s firstborn son, as YHWH declared earlier in 4:22. This is sealed by the splattering of blood on both the people and the altar. As firstborn son, Israel possesses all the rights and privileges, but also the responsibility of obedience and to be a priest to the nations. All good and holy things were to flow from this mountain to the ends of the earth through YHWH’s firstborn.
As the bearer of divine blessing, Israel stands as the firstborn son within the family of nations, for the purpose of mediating the divine blessing of Abraham to all the nations. Israel’s vocation is at the very heart of God’s plan and purpose for the covenant at Sinai: “Israel is thus being called onto the world stage in Exodus 19 to be a light to the Gentiles.”
Scott Hahn, Kinship by Covenant, p. 141
There is one very brief mention of the “young men” who officiated and offered the sacrifice. These most probably were firstborn sons, for at this time before the Levitical priesthood it was right of the firstborn, the primogenitor, to function as the priest of the family. These were most probably the priests mentioned in 19:22. What is critical to note here is that this covenant is not officiated by the Levitical priesthood, but by the ancient practice of primogenitor. We shall see the importance of this as the narrative opens up.
Not everyone could ascend the mountain. YHWH chooses Moses, Aaron and his two sons, and seventy of the elders, who represent the whole. They approach a place on the mountain where they “saw” the God of Israel. That they did not see God’s face is evident by the fact that only the pavement under His feet was described. This pavement is described in cosmological terms, of “worked” stone of a blue likened to Safire, a purity liked to the clear blue sky. It is not said that they actually stood upon heaven’s floor, but it is said that they were provided with a heavenly meal, for all covenants are concluded with a communal meal of fellowship and unity. Of course, this meal is associated with the Tree of Life in the Garden in Eden, the Mountain of God, a return to lost origins. It is noted that “He [i.e. God] did not lay His hand” on them, that is, did not destroy them although they were sinful mortals.
As we have said, Moses alone ascends to the top of the mountain although Joshua tags alone part way. The six days of cloud-covered darkness shielding Moses from the intensity of God’s glory takes us back to the six days of creation. On the seventh day God calls out to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. To the people below, it looked as if the whole top of the mountain was ablaze with supernal fire, which, like the burning bush, was not consumed. It was here that Moses received the stone tablets of the law.
Moreover, with the covenant sealed, everything is now in order for the revelation given to Moses for the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31). This is the climax of redemptive history since the fall. God is now preparing Himself to once again dwell with humanity in the midst of His people.
Finally, this would be mere history/literature if we did not move here to typology and allegory. The altar with its sacrifice reaches back to the Aqedah on Mount Moriah, the binding of Isaac, giving this altar and all subsequent Hebrew sacrifices legitimacy, and looks forward to its ultimate fulfillment with Christ on Mount Calvary. Jesus is the ultimate Primogenitor, the firstborn of God, YHWH Himself. The sprinkling of the blood speaks of Christ’s blood of the new covenant, binding Himself with humanity into a kinship bond of brotherhood. On an allegorical level, this scene depicts the spirit, symbolized as Moses, ascending into the cloud of unknowing receiving instruction from God, with the ultimate goal of uniting spirit with the soul and body, the body symbolized by the people at the foot of the mountain.
Takeaway: YHWH enters into covenant with His people at the mountain, sealing it in blood on the altar, joining Himself in kinship with His people in preparation of dwelling permanently with them.
Question: Israel is chosen to bear a heavy responsibility as YHWH’s firstborn son, consisting of obedience and the outward focus on mediating the grace of God to the nations. 1) How and in what ways do you connect with Israel in these covenantal responsibilities?
Resources:
Childs, B. The book of Exodus, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1974.
Hahn, Scott. Kinship by Covenant, New Haven; Yale University Press, 2009. P. 141.