Exodus Chapter 34, Verses 27,28

:27 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. 28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”   

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.”  The words, the LORD was referring to were the previous verses 10-26 of this chapter.  The word, LORD, refers to God as a covenant making, covenant keeping God.  The covenant was a two-sided covenant.  In a two-sided covenant both parties have action in which they are required or expected to do.  The ordinances and commandments that God gave to Israel were not merely suggestions, but requirements placed upon Israel for them to observe.  Likewise, we worship today under a new covenant.  Those things in worship and service that God has enjoined upon us in the new covenant are not merely suggestions, but requirements for us if we are to worship and serve God in this new covenant. 

“And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water.”  This, among other things, is a testimony to God’s sustaining power.  Under normal circumstances, man can only go about 3 days without drinking water.  After three days he will usually become gravely ill and die.  God miraculously sustained Moses and this was the second time, he had done so.  Moreover, the number forty is closely associated with the subject of trial and judgment.  In the previous forty days, Moses ended up breaking the tables of stone.  This time Moses did not break the tables.  Rather, as the scriptures attest to, the tables were placed in the Ark of the Covenant for safe keeping.  The Ark of the Covenant is a type of Jesus Christ. 

“And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”  God wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant.  Likewise, we read where God writes upon the tables of our heart and mind his laws in Heb. 8:10; 10:16; and 2 Cor. 3:3.   


Verses 29-35 

:29 “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. 31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. 32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. 33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. 35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” 

The skin of Moses face shone with the brightness of God’s glory.  This caused Aaron and the children of Israel to be afraid to come nigh him.  To overcome the fear of the people to come nigh him, Moses put a veil upon his face when he spoke to the people.  However, he removed the veil when he spoke with the LORD.   

When Moses put the veil upon his face all the children of Israel came nigh and Moses gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.   

While Moses had a veil upon his face, we read of the children of Israel having a veil upon their heart: 2 Cor. 3:13 “And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.”  In comparison, today, when God’s people become entrapped in legalism, they have a veil upon their heart as well.  Only when God’s people turn to the Lord with their whole heart is that veil taken away.