Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Exodus 24

God confirms his covenant with Israel through spoken commands and sacrificial blood, then grants access to his holy presence.

At Mount Sinai, YHWH calls Moses and Israel’s leaders to come up, while reserving closer access for Moses. Moses reports and writes YHWH’s words, and the people pledge obedience. Sacrifices are offered, and blood marks the covenant between God and Israel. The leaders then see God and share a meal without being struck down. Afterward, Moses enters the cloud of God’s glory to receive the stone tablets, remaining on the mountain forty days and nights.

sermon or Bible study notespraise and worship
Read
1He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance.
2Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.”
3Moses came and told the people all the LORD’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do.”
4Moses wrote all the LORD’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
5He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to the LORD.
6Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that the LORD has said, and be obedient.”
8Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words.”
9Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.
10They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness.
11He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
12The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”
13Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain.
14He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”
15Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
16The LORD’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud.
17The appearance of the LORD’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
18Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Exodus 24:7The public reading of the covenant places Israel’s promise of obedience in direct response to YHWH’s written words.
Exodus 24:8The blood sprinkled on the people confirms the covenant that binds Israel to YHWH and his commands.
Exodus 24:10The leaders see the God of Israel, yet the description concentrates on the sapphire-like pavement beneath his feet.
Where this chapter reaches

Hebrews recalls the covenant blood and sprinkling, linking this event with its account of Christ’s sacrificial death, while Deuteronomy recounts Moses receiving tablets during forty days on the mountain. Ezekiel shares the sapphire imagery in its vision of God’s glory, describing a throne with the appearance of sapphire.

Exodus 24's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out about Israel hearing the covenant read before pledging obedience?

Write on this

How does the leaders’ meal alongside the cloud and devouring fire shape your understanding of God’s presence?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Exodus 24

Did Moses and the elders actually see God in Exodus 24?

The text says that Moses and the other leaders saw the God of Israel. It describes what was beneath his feet, like sapphire pavement, without describing his face or form. The passage leaves the manner of this sight unexplained and stresses that God spared them as they ate and drank.

What does the blood of the covenant mean in Exodus 24?

Moses divides the sacrificial blood between the altar and the people. He identifies it as the blood of the covenant YHWH has made with Israel concerning his words. The rite confirms that covenant after the people hear its terms and pledge obedience. The chapter does not explain every detail of the symbolism.

Why was Moses on the mountain for forty days and nights?

YHWH calls Moses up to receive stone tablets bearing the law and commands, which Moses is to teach. The cloud covers the mountain for six days before God calls from within it on the seventh. The text reports forty days and nights without explaining why that duration was chosen.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Exodus 24. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Exodus · 40 chapters
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940
What the Bible says about worship →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).