The seventh Sabbath’s trumpets had heralded the awe-inspiring descent of Israel’s King upon Mount Sinai, shrouded in a dark cloud and fire. As the sun set on the weekly Sabbath, the trumpets also beckoned Israel into the fiftieth day of the Holyday Sabbath, a climatic milestone in the Hebrew calendar. Despite the people of Israel having purified themselves and their garments for two days in anticipation of meeting YHWH, God did not permit them to approach Him on the mountain, but they did hear His voice. How was Israel to meet YHWH?

After YHWH told Moses that Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and Israel’s seventy elders could come partway up the mountain and worship from afar, He said that only Moses, the chosen intermediary, could come near Him. Then Moses, as the messenger of God, told the people all the words and judgments of YHWH, and they answered for a second time with one voice, saying, “All the words which YHWH has said we will do.” So, Moses, the scribe of God, wrote all the words of YHWH in a book.

Early the next morning, day fifty, Moses, following the precise instructions of YHWH, built an altar and encircled it with twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of Israel’s tribes to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings of oxen to YHWH on the altar. Moses collected the blood in a basin, took half of it, and sprinkled it upon the altar to consecrate the altar. He then took the ‘Book of the Covenant’ he had written and read it in Israel’s hearing. For the third time, the people said, “All that YHWH has said we will do, and be obedient” (Exo. 24:7). Moses took the remaining blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “Behold, the blood of the covenant which YHWH has made with you according to all these words” (Exod. 24:8). This was not just a covenant, but a solemn establishment of the covenant between YHWH and Israel, a moment of profound significance that consummated the Passover betrothal (See Blog 28’s Fourth Cup and Blog 30).

After the morning’s events, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders went up and saw YHWH on a paved work of sapphire stone, clear like the heavens. They ate and drank in His presence without harm (Exo. 24:9–11). When the covenantal supper was finished, YHWH called Moses for the seventh time to come up to Him on the mountain, completing the week of the wedding celebration. On the seventh day, YHWH called to Moses out of the cloud, and he received the two stone tablets (one for each party making the covenant) containing the laws and commandments that YHWH had written for Moses to teach Israel. Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights (Exo. 24:12, 18), during which YHWH instructed him to construct the mobile tabernacle during Israel’s fifty-three-week stay at Mount Sinai.

On the fiftieth day, YHWH and Israel consummated the Passover wedding covenant by eating and drinking on His holy mountain. The sacrifices of this day, the sprinkling of blood, and eating meat and unleavened manna parallel the Passover meal. After Yeshua’s last Passover meal, He blessed the third cup using Moses’ words from the fiftieth day, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood,” revealing YHWH’s covenant faithfulness in Passover-Pentecost connection (Luk. 22:20; 1Co. 11:25). And He, in Israel’s role of a faithful suffering servant, reserved the Passover fourth cup, saying, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Mat. 26:29). Israel’s wedding supper with YHWH marked a new beginning, a new spirit relationship, and a responsibility to live in the Holy God’s Presence. Israel’s change of status from the end of the Sabbath to the morning of the first day mimics Yeshua’s resurrection and wave offering on the first day. The fiftieth day, the eighth day, and the first day of the week, when there are more peace offerings than any other Holyday, represents a jubilee, our restoration to Eden, serving YHWH as a kingdom of priests to the nations.

The culmination of the seven Sabbaths journey is YHWH, gazing upon His new Israel, a chaste virgin, pure and white, prepared by His blood, cleansed, and sanctified with the washing of water by the Word. He presents her to Himself as a glorious church. In celebrating great peace at the wedding feast, YHWH gazes at His bride and envisions the future; she is the center of His universe. As Husband and wife, they have unwavering faith in each other’s character to create a new family, the testament of their marriage covenant.

Takeaway:
The Wedding Covenant Feast on the mountain of God is the climatic milestone in the holyday calendar, the fulfillment of Passover’s betrothal vows. Through YHWH’s covenant faithfulness, Israel is changed and raised up as a suitable partner. And from them, a new family of humanity will be born. Israel is raised on the third day through Yeshua to dwell with God on His holy mountain.

Fun Factors:
Exodus 24 has 966 letters in 252 words, totaling 61587, 27 × 2281; 2281 is the 339^th prime and 165^th Pythagorean prime, 45² + 16². The number 45 reminds me of Psalm 45, “The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride,” and the number 16 fits with Psalm 16’s theme of YHWH covenant faithfulness in the resurrection to the fullness of joy in His presence.