The Old Tent of Meeting Where Two Friends Meet (Exodus 33:7-11).
The reason that we find this passage inserted here is almost certainly because it indicates Moses' close relationship with Yahweh. It will help to explain why Moses can dare to be so persuasive that Yahweh rescinds His determination not to go forward with the people. Like Abraham before him he dares to reason with Yahweh, seeking to make Him willing to show compassion on those who do not deserve compassion (see Genesis 18:23-33). This required an intimacy with Yahweh which the writer now explains.
We here learn of the old Tent of Meeting which preceded the Dwellingplace, and which unlike the Dwellingplace was pitched outside the camp. The idea was probably that the camp was not pure enough for such a place, and that there had to be a set space between the camp and the Tent. Or it may simply have been there so that people could seek Yahweh in solitude. Its name presumably indicated that it was a place where Yahweh could be met up with. It was not to be so inaccessible as the later Dwellingplace when it arrived.
When this Tent was first set up we do not know. But it would be unusual not to have a holy Tent of some kind connected with a large camp which was occupied by a whole nation, when that camp was their home, and they had no idols. They would require some point on which their worship could be focused. Thus this would probably have been established immediately they left Egypt. Indeed Moses would have been sadly lacking in leadership if he had not provided such a focus.
It would seem that those who wanted to seek Yahweh would go out to ‘the Tent of Meeting' to pray (compare 1 Samuel 1:12, although that was in front of the Dwellingplace). It was Moses who called it 'ohel mo‘eth (Exodus 33:7), the ‘Tent of Meeting'. Such a focus point for the worship of Yahweh would have been necessary right from the commencement of the flight from Egypt, and by the time of their arrival at Sinai this ‘Tent of Meeting' would have speedily gained in awe and reverence, especially in view of the fact that the cloud descended on it when Moses entered it, an indication that it was a place where God really could be met up with.
But that even this was not to be seen as Yahweh's home is made clear by the fact that Moses had to receive the covenant in the Mount. Yahweh would not allow them to see Him as simply a local deity.
This Tent probably also contained the ancient covenant records from which Genesis was composed, and, until the Dwellingplace was made, it would also contain the tables of the covenant. We have no knowledge of what else it contained except that Joshua was its guardian, and presumably a kind of priest. But even if such a tent had not been mentioned we would have had to assume it. How else were the nation to have a focus for worship when no symbols were allowed?
The mention of it here is presumably to stress how Yahweh's real presence has been with Israel. That was why there was a Tent of Meeting. Now it seemed that they would lose out on this, and that Moses also would lose out, for Yahweh would no longer be with them. This further explains Moses' concern in Exodus 33:13-16. He would miss these conversations with Yahweh.
It is also in order to highlight Exodus 33:12-23, for it brings out Moses' cosy relationship with God in preparation for what follows. Here we learn of the kind of conversation he would have with Yahweh, and under what circumstances. It is possible that this Tent was at this stage pitched near Sinai, for it was apparently in a rocky place (Exodus 33:21-22).
We may analyse this passage as follows:
a Moses used to pitch the Tent outside the camp. It was called the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:7 a).
b Everyone who sought Yahweh went out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp (Exodus 33:7 b).
c When Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise up and stand every man at his tent entrance and look after Moses until he had gone into the Tent (Exodus 33:8).
d When Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the Tent, and Yahweh would speak with Moses (Exodus 33:9).
c And all the people would see the pillar of cloud stand at the entrance flap of the Tent, and all the people would rise up and worship, every man at his tent entrance (Exodus 33:10).
b And there Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11 a).
a And when he turned again into the camp his servant Joshua would remain at the Tent of Meeting and not leave it (Exodus 33:11 b).
We note that in ‘a' Moses would pitch the Tent outside the camp, and in the parallel Joshua his servant would stay there and never leave it. In ‘b' those who sought Yahweh would go out to the Tent of Meeting, and in the parallel when Moses went out Yahweh would speak with him face to face as a man speaks to his friend. In ‘c' when Moses went out to the Tent all the people would stand at their tent doors and watch until he had gone into the Tent, for they knew what would happen, and in the parallel when the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the entranceway to the Tent they would all rise up and worship in the doors of their tents. And central to all this was that when Moses entered the Tent the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the Tent and Yahweh would speak with Moses.
‘Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it outside the camp. And he called it, ‘The Tent of Meeting'. And it came about that everyone who sought Yahweh went out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp.'
This Tent of Meeting had probably accompanied them from Egypt and was in Moses' overall charge. Every time they stopped and erected their tents Moses would erect this Tent outside the camp, with Joshua as his deputy, acting as priest-guardian. It was clearly easily portable, unlike the later Dwellingplace which required an army of Levites. We do not know whether, when people went out to the Tent to meet with God, they entered the Tent or whether they prayed at the entrance to the Tent. The next verse probably suggests the former.
It is significant that the Tent was pitched outside the camp. It was clearly recognised that God's holiness was such that the camp was no fit place for it. We need not doubt that it was pitched in what would be seen as a ‘clean' place. Once, however, the people gained the status of God's covenant people, His ‘holy nation' (19:6), the Dwellingplace could be within the camp, although set off from the people and guarded by the Levites. Nevertheless this position explained why continual atonement was necessary with regard to it (such as the daily offerings and the annual Day of Atonement).
‘And it came about that, when Moses went out to the Tent, all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent entrance and looked after Moses until he had gone into the Tent.'
The point here is that when Moses went out to the Tent all knew that unusual things happened. When therefore news reached them that Moses was going out to the Tent, which he may have done at regular times, they would go to the entrances of their own tents and watch. Moses would then enter the Tent. This suggests that this in fact was the way in which it was used.
‘And it came about that when Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the Tent, and Yahweh spoke with Moses. And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the entrance flap of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at his tent entrance. And Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.'
The result of Moses' entry into the Tent was that the pillar of cloud which accompanied Israel would descend on the entrance to the Tent, and this would produce awe and worship in the people, and they would bow themselves down and watch and wait. Then Yahweh would speak with Moses as friend to friend.
This seemingly never happened to anyone else. Others He heard from afar off, but Moses He met as a friend. This made it clear to people that Moses truly had a special relationship with God.
‘And he turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the Tent.'
Once Moses had finished speaking with God he would return to the camp, and presumably the cloud then returned to its watch over the camp. But now we learn another piece of valuable information. It would seem that Moses' high-servant Joshua lived in the Tent and never left it. He would thus presumably hear all that went on between Moses and Yahweh, and possibly was also there to help the people when they sought God. We must probably see that he acted as a kind of priest, or at the least a steward.