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The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his companion (Exo. 33:11; Num. 12:7-8):
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God and Moses were companions, associates, partners, involved in the same career and having a common interest in a great enterprise.
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Because Moses was intimate with God, he was a person who knew God's heart, who was according to God's heart, and who could touch God's heart; thus, he had God's presence to a full extent (Exo. 33:14).
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In Exodus 24:15-18 Moses was in the Holy of Holies, where the shekinah glory was:
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There were at least three classes of people at different distances in relation to Mount Horeb:
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The majority of the children of Israel were at the bottom of the mountain standing at a distance and trembling (20:18).
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Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders were on the mountain worshipping at a distance and watching (24:1, 9).
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Moses was on the mountaintop being infused with God under His glory and receiving the vision of the tabernacle as God's dwelling place on earth (vv. 13, 16a; 25:1, 8-9).
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These three locations—corresponding to the three parts of the tabernacle (the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies)—illustrate the fact that among God's people there are different degrees of fellowship with Him.
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The principle in Exodus 24 with Moses on the mountaintop under God's glory receiving commandments from God is the same as that in Numbers 7:89, which concerns Moses speaking with God in the Tent of Meeting.
Morning Nourishment
Exo. 33:11 And Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his companion...Num. 12:7-8 My servant Moses...is faithful in all My house. With him I speak face to face, even openly, and not in riddles; and he beholds the form of Jehovah...
The Bible recognizes that Moses was a companion of God....The Hebrew word rendered "companion" in Exodus 33:11 is different from the word for "friend" used with respect to Abraham in 2 Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8. As a friend of God, Abraham had been separated from idolatrous people (Josh. 24:2-3), and he interceded for Lot (Gen. 18:16-33). The apostle James also tells us that Abraham was God's friend (James 2:23). Not only was Abraham justified by God, but he also became a friend of God. God regarded Abraham as a beloved one, a person held in affection. However, Moses was not only a friend of God like Abraham; he was also a companion of God. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 1869)
Today's Reading
The word companion includes the elements of friendship, but it goes much further to include the thought of intimate association. One meaning of the Hebrew word for companion is associate. A companion is an associate. If you and someone else are associates, you have a common interest, a common enterprise, in a common career. I do not wish to imply that there was no common interest between Abraham and God. They did share a common interest, but it was not of the same degree as that between Moses and God. To the uttermost, God and Moses were partners in a great enterprise. They were both involved in the same "career." Moses and the Lord were not only intimate friends; they were associates, partners, companions.From Exodus 32:30—33:23 we learn the serious lesson that we need to know God's heart and also be a person according to God's heart. Then we shall have God's presence as Moses did. Moses had God's presence to the full extent. But the children of Israel had God's presence in a very limited way, for they were far from God's heart. Moses, however, was a person very near to God's heart, a person according to His heart. This was the reason he could have God's presence to the full extent. We all need to learn that only a person like Moses can be a companion of God. Only this kind of person can share a common interest with God and be used by God to carry out His enterprise on earth.
In Exodus 24 the majority of the people were at the foot of Mount Sinai, some were on the mountain far off from the Lord, and Moses was on the top of the mountain under God's glory. This difference with respect to the degree of distance from the Lord can be illustrated by the tabernacle with the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The people at the foot of the mountain were in the outer court, around the altar. The seventy elders, along with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and Hur, were on the mountain, in the Holy Place. Moses on the mountaintop was in the Holy of Holies, where the shekinah glory was. Later, after the tabernacle had been built, the high priest could enter into God's glory in the Holy of Holies, where he could receive revelation and vision from God concerning His people. The principle is the same in Exodus 24 with Moses on the mountaintop under God's glory receiving commandments from God that he may teach the people.
It is true that in the Lord's recovery today we all are priests and that we have neither clergy nor laity. Nevertheless, actually and experientially there are differences among us concerning our fellowship with the Lord. Many saints are in the outer court with the altar and the sprinkled blood, others have entered the Holy Place to enjoy fellowship with God to a certain degree, and some are in the Holy of Holies, under God's glory.
Moses was actually the only one to receive the direct vision of the tabernacle....God gave Moses vision after vision concerning the design of the tabernacle. It took forty days for Moses to receive a detailed vision of God's dwelling place. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1869-1870, 1883, 943)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 176-177