Moses Prepares Two Tablets of Stone For The Re-establishment of The Covenant And Goes Up To Meet God (Exodus 34:1-4).
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke. And be ready by the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to me there on the top of the Mount. And no man shall come up with you, nor let any man be seen throughout the mount. Nor let the flocks nor the herds feed before that mount.”
The first tablets had been fashioned by God (Exodus 32:16; Exodus 24:12; Exodus 31:18). Now it was Moses who was to fashion the tablets. This in fact would bring out the part that Moses now played in the covenant. Previously the covenant had come from Yahweh directly to the people (Exodus 20:1-18). It was all of God, for they were His people. Now it comes through the mediation and intercession of Moses. They owe to him (as we have seen) the fact that they can once more enter the covenant.
But it will still be written by God. And it will still be the same covenant as before, now renewed by this act. We are not told what was written on the tablets, but two tablets written back and front must surely have contained more than the ten ‘words', unless they were written in very large letters. (Otherwise why not make the tablets smaller. For assuming that they followed the pattern of the previous tablets they were large enough to be able to be thrown down and smashed). But we are told that the ten words, the basis of the covenant, were the essential basis of what was written (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4).
“ Be ready by the morning.” It would take Moses some time to fashion the tablets suitably, so he was given until the next day. But then he was to make suitable preparations, after which he was to present himself alone to Yahweh on top of the mountain.
But first he must give instructions that no one else enter the mountain, and that no cattle or flocks even come near the mountain. This was an extension of the provisions in Exodus 19:21-24. It was clear that some extraordinary appearance of Yahweh was to take place.
‘And he hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.'
Moses did strictly as Yahweh had commanded him. He hewed two tablets of stone similar to the first. He also made a wooden chest to contain the tablets when he brought them back (Deuteronomy 10:1-5). But he did not take this with him. It was left in the camp to receive the tablets when he got back, probably in the Tent of Meeting. (Alternately that may have been a brief description of the Ark of the covenant, in which case it would be made later). They would be a reminder to the people that he was returning and that this time he would come with a confirmed covenant that stood firm.
Then next morning he rose early and went up Mount Sinai alone as Yahweh had commanded him. And with him he took the two empty tablets of stone.