Exodus 33:35 It is Yeshua, the Messianic King, and Immanu El, who redeems his people Isra’el. Whether in the garden, where God sought out Adam and Eve (Gen 3:8), in the wilderness (Exo 13:21), or in the Tabernacle in Yerushalayim (1 Kings 8:1-11), it is God as divine initiator who pursues covenant relationship with his creation, seeking to dwell with them. In Creation to Completion, Rabbi Russell Resnik writes about God’s presence with them in the construction of the Tabernacle:
Moses pleads with the Lord, “… if Your Presence doesn’t go with us, don’t make us go on from here” (Exo 33:15). Moses cannot envision Isra’el apart from the presence of God in their midst. It is more important to him than the Promised Land and deliverance itself. Moses’ plea for divine accompaniment reminds us that the presence of the Spirit is essential to us as well. Beyond all that God tells us, vital as it is, we long for him simply to be with us.
The presence of God in the life of the believer demands a devoted and set-apart life. Thus, in drawing from the imagery of the Tabernacle, Sha’ul explains that one’s physical body is literally the dwelling place (Tabernacle) of the Spirit of God in one’s life (1 Cor 6:19).
In Exodus 40:34-38, the manifestation of God’s presence with his people was revealed by a cloud covering the Tent of Meeting. Moshe was kept from entering it because the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. For this reason, the Tabernacle is a model of God’s willful habitation with his people. God’s desire has always been to make his habitation with his people; but as servants of the Most High, believers must likewise lead lives worthy of the Gospel of Yeshua (cf. Phil 1:27).
David H. Stern, Complete Jewish Bible: An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B’rit Hadashah (New Testament), 1st ed. (Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1998).