In Exodus 1-12 we have the remarkable story of the liberation of the people of Israel. In Exodus 13-40 we see this travelling people face the challenges and pain of their very long journey to the Promised Land. What is striking about this book in the context of the Israel story is that, despite the very clear intention to bring the Israelites into the land of Canaan (Exod 3:6-17; 6:2-5) Exodus is primarily a story about God’s intention to bring Israel to himself.

Once the Israelites have left the land of their oppression they face a very difficult journey to freedom. Faced with multiple opportunities to rebel and turn back, their journey so poignantly mirrors our everyday experience of trying to follow God. There is no linear path to faith; we do not ‘grow’ on some sanctification scale until, at last, we hit the ‘perfect’ plateau. We fly straight from triumph to trough, from mountain-top to mire without warning and find ourselves, once again, battling new fears and facing the choice to trust our liberator afresh.

Into this context many of the more laborious chapters on the design and regulations for the tabernacle become especially meaningful. Not that the length or colour of this or that means a great deal, but the tabernacle, for the Israelites, is the place of God’s presence among them and this is what they must know and experience, way before they reach the Promised Land. The ups and downs of Israel’s long walk to freedom are defined and personalised by the company and leadership of the ‘friend to those who fear him’.

We see this amongst the literary symbolism of the story; nothing impresses so powerfully as the constant presence of fire and cloud. It is the pillars of these that lead the Israelites through the desert and even across the Red Sea. It is the fire and cloud upon Mt Sinai into which Moses ventures to meet with the Lord and receive the Ten Commandments. It is the cloud of the presence of the Lord that covers the Tent of Meeting and makes clear when the Israelites should travel and when they need to stay put. All of this is the presence of the Lord among them which gives them direction and hope.

I find it very comforting that God’s leading the Israelites into the wilderness was not a case of ‘Off you go! I’ve set you free, now get on with it, and I’ll see you in the Promised Land’. Into that most difficult and barren of experiences God journeyed too, before and behind, above and amongst. For me, life often feels like the experience of a journey through the desert with confusion, pain and partial vision. There is not necessarily much clear ‘progress’. I have no sense of having ‘arrived’. I often feel like I’m wandering around in the middle of nowhere! But God is here with me on my journey to freedom.

Later in this epic saga we will read of the Israelites' triumphal arrival at their land of destiny. But for now, in Exodus, the focus is on being brought close to their God. In the middle of nowhere, lost, without food or water, certainly without direction, they are truly found. There is a more important destination than Canaan: ‘I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself’ (19:4).*

We may be tempted to escape the desert experience. It is easy to lock onto big projects and big ideas to give purpose and direction. But what of the Friend above all friends? For a time, the ‘big’ Canaan project was not the important issue; far more significant than the Israelites' physical residence was their spiritual home: God himself. Ten Commandments, Promised Land, goals, ideals, dreams; they’re all broken if we replace God with a golden calf. Our God, who is called Jealous (34:14) wants his people for relationship, not for ‘use’.

Exodus taps us on the shoulder to say ‘slow down, re-evaluate’. There are more important things than purpose and achievement. Life in the desert is life in the here and now. Manna is to be found each day; not stored for tomorrow. In our pressure-filled future-obsessed world have we got the guts to follow our God into the desert of today and not give up on him?

Questions for reflection:

1. Are you running too fast? If so, why?

2. What is your golden calf? What do you turn to when following God seems too difficult?

3. Toploader sung ‘It is no crime to be lost with no direction. It’s just a crime not to live.’ How does this statement make you feel? Do you agree with it? What does Exodus say to you about it?

* I am indebted to Deryck Sheriffs for this insight. See The Friendship of the Lord, Paternoster, 1996.