Bible Study Exodus 24
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Exodus 24 · WEB

The Covenant Ratified; Moses on the Mountain

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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He said to Moses, "Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance.
2Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with him."
3Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, "All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do."
4Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the base of the mountain, and 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 oxen to Yahweh.
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, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and be obedient."
8Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh 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 something like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the sky for clearness.
11He didn't lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
12Yahweh 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 back to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute shall go to them."
15Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
16The glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud.
17The appearance of Yahweh'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.
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Summary

The Sinai covenant is formally ratified in an elaborate ceremony: Moses reads the Book of the Covenant aloud, the people pledge obedience, and Moses sprinkles blood on both the altar and the people — "the blood of the covenant." Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders ascend the mountain and have an extraordinary vision: they see God and eat and drink in his presence, on a pavement of sapphire-blue. God then calls Moses alone to ascend further to receive the stone tablets. Moses disappears into the cloud and fire on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Themes

  • Covenant ratification through blood — life given to seal the relationship
  • The communal meal with God as covenant fellowship
  • The transcendence and approachability of God — he can be seen, yet kills the presumptuous
  • Forty days: a pattern of divine encounter and preparation

Key verses

  • Ex 24:10-11 — “They saw the God of Israel… He didn't lay his hand on the nobles… They saw God, and ate and drank.”
  • Ex 24:18 — “Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”
  • Ex 24:7-8 — “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and be obedient… Look, this is the blood of the covenant.”

Context & background

The blood ceremony in verses 6-8 is the formal ratification of the Sinai covenant. Jesus explicitly alludes to it at the Last Supper: "This is my blood of the new covenant" (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24) — a direct echo of Moses' words in verse 8. The meal on the mountain (v. 9-11) is remarkable: the elders see God and are not destroyed, experiencing covenant fellowship in his presence. This anticipates the eschatological feast of Isaiah 25:6 and Revelation 19:9. The forty days Moses spent on the mountain parallels Jesus' forty days in the wilderness — both are times of divine preparation and instruction. Mount Sinai remains in the Sinai Peninsula of modern Egypt.

Cross-references

  • Hebrews 9:18-21 — The writer explains that "even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood," citing Exodus 24.
  • Isaiah 25:6 — God's eschatological feast on the mountain for all peoples, the ultimate fulfillment of the elders' meal in Exodus 24.
  • Matthew 26:28 — "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" — Jesus echoes Exodus 24:8.
  • Revelation 19:9 — "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb" — the covenant meal fulfilled.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    How many elders of Israel went up the mountain with Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu (v. 1)?

  2. Observe

    How long was Moses on the mountain after entering the cloud (v. 18)?

  3. Interpret

    What does sprinkling half the blood on the altar and half on the people (vv. 6-8) signify?

  4. Interpret

    What does the elders' eating and drinking in God's presence (vv. 10-11) anticipate in the New Testament?

  5. Apply

    What does the people's pledge "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and be obedient" (v. 7) challenge in the believer's life?

  6. Apply

    What does Moses' extended forty days on the mountain teach about meeting with God?

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