A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace

Season 5, Day 29: Exodus 35–40
Hosts: Shelby and Paul
Date: January 29, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode concludes the Book of Exodus by examining chapters 35–40. Hosts Shelby and Paul reflect on Israel’s obedience in constructing the tabernacle, God’s faithfulness in dwelling among His people, and how these narratives point forward to Jesus. The episode highlights themes of obedience, the detail in God’s instructions, and God’s desire to be with His people.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Repetition in Exodus 35–40 (00:21)

• Observation: The final chapters of Exodus repeat much from earlier passages.
  • Paul: “If you've been reading faithfully, you'll recognize a lot of what we're reading today in previous readings and even verbatim. And so that might kind of beg the question of, like, why, you know, why are we just repeating what we said before?”
• Significance: The earlier sections were God’s instructions; now we see Israel following them exactly.
  • Paul: “Before we were reading God giving these instructions to Moses, and now we're reading Israel actually doing the things that God commanded Moses to tell them to do.”

2. Israel’s Obedience and Its Importance (00:40)

• Contrast with Previous Disobedience: After the golden calf incident (recent chapters), now Israel is choosing to obey.
  • Paul: “We talked about how when Israel obeys the law, they're blessed, and when they don't, they're cursed... They are now obeying God's commands. They're building the things that they are told to build in the way that they are told to build it.”
• The Refrain: The repetition of “as the Lord commanded” is prominent.
  • Paul: “[The study] points this out, that we have several repetitions of them doing these things as the Lord commanded. Right. So they're doing it as God told them to do. They're not doing it in their own way.”
• Main Takeaway: Israel’s obedience at this moment is vital and marks a hopeful conclusion to Exodus.
  • Paul: “Israel is being obedient. That's the thing that probably is the biggest thing to take away here.”

3. God’s Presence with His People (01:42)

• Shelby on the theme of God’s presence: After a journey full of challenges, Exodus ends with God dwelling among Israel.
  • Shelby: “We also see kind of a wrap up of this theme throughout the book of God being with his people.”
• Paul reflects on the journey:
  • “Think about all the way back to Exodus 1, right? The people are literally oppressed… And now God has brought them all the way here to where his presence is with them. They've built this magnificent tabernacle for him to reside within.”

4. The Value of Instructions (02:27)

• Illustration: Paul uses a cake recipe analogy to explain the importance of detailed instructions.
  • Paul: “Imagine your friend gives you a cake recipe…you open it and it just says, bake the cake. That’s all it says. You're probably not going to make a very good cake because you don't have instructions.”
• Meaning: God’s detailed commands aren’t arbitrary—they show His love and care, giving Israel a clear way to relate to Him.
  • Paul: “God is not doing that. He's giving them specific instructions on how to be successful and how to have a good relationship with Him.”

5. Pointing Forward to Jesus (03:15)

• Connecting Exodus to Christ: The instructions, tabernacle, and deliverance prefigure Christ.
  • Paul: “That's what the whole Bible is. Right. It's a very clear and direct letter to us of how we are to obey God… the lengths that God went to be in relationship with us with Jesus. He didn't just deliver Israel, he came to earth as a human.”

6. Final Reflections on Exodus (04:00)

• Shelby’s Reflections:
  • “Things I'm going to remember about God's character, His whole holiness, his compassion, just the. The practicality of the instruction that he gave. But what I'm also going to remember is just God's desire to be with his people, and that include delivering them from Egypt, but also dwelling among them.”

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Paul on Israel’s Obedience (00:40):
  “They're not doing it in their own way. They're not making up their own new way of building the tabernacle. They're following God's commands.”

• Paul on the Purpose of Detailed Commands (03:02):
  “God is not doing that. He's giving them specific instructions… I think that just reminds us how much God loves us to give us such a clear picture of what it looks like to obey Him.”

• Paul Linking Exodus and Jesus (03:36):
  “He is our true and better sacrifice, our better tabernacle, our better priest, and all of the things in Exodus, the deliverance, the tabernacle, all that points forward to Jesus.”

• Shelby’s Takeaway (04:00):
  “What I'm also going to remember is just God's desire to be with his people, and that include delivering them from Egypt, but also dwelling among them.”

Important Timestamps

• 00:21 — Explanation of repeated content in Exodus 35–40 and its significance
• 00:40 — The importance of Israel’s obedience and the theme “as the Lord commanded”
• 01:42 — Reflection on God’s abiding presence with His people
• 02:27 — The cake recipe analogy and the necessity of God’s instructions
• 03:15 — Connection of the Exodus narrative to Jesus as the true fulfillment
• 04:00 — Closing reflections on God’s character and presence

Closing

Shelby and Paul conclude with gratitude for what Exodus teaches about God’s holiness, compassion, and intention to dwell with His people. They look ahead to Leviticus, encouraging listeners to join the ongoing journey through the Bible.

“We'll be back tomorrow to talk about Leviticus. If you’re not excited about the Book of Leviticus, I understand... but I want to encourage you to join us.” – Shelby (04:26)

Summary prepared for listeners seeking a thorough yet accessible recap of Exodus 35–40 as discussed by Shelby and Paul on "A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace."