This week the world watched the USA step in as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, standing between enemies who cannot meet face-to-face. Trust was fragile and every word mattered. Peace often requires someone willing to step into the middle. That’s what mediators do. They stand between sides that cannot reconcile on their own, speaking truth to both and helping bridge the divide. It happens in homes, friendships, and churches. We need mediators because pride and pain keep us from peace. And if that’s true in human relationships, how much more between God and us? We have sinned against His holiness yet we need His nearness. We need someone to stand in the gap and bring mercy where judgment belongs.
This is what we see in Exodus 24 today. There is a turning point in Israel’s relationship with God. Up to this point, God has rescued His people from slavery and spoken the Ten Commandments. He has given them His laws for how to live as His chosen nation. Now, in this chapter, everything comes together as God officially confirms His covenant with Israel. A covenant is a sacred agreement.
The chapter unfolds in three main scenes. First, there’s a covenant ceremony (verses 1–8), where sacrifices are offered, and the people promise to obey God’s words. Then, a group of Israel’s leaders are invited to see a glimpse of God’s glory on the mountain (verses 9–11). Finally, Moses goes higher up the mountain to meet with God for forty days and forty nights (verses 12–18).
This story shows how a holy God makes a way for sinful people to be in relationship with Him, through a mediator and through the shedding of blood. It points ahead to the greater covenant God would make 1,400 years later, through Jesus Christ. Let’s read…
Exodus 24:1-3a NASB Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. 2 “Moses alone, however, shall come near to the LORD, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.” 3 Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances;
The mountain burns with God’s glory, yet the people are told to keep back. One man alone may draw near. The rest must wait, silent, at the foot of Sinai. In that moment, every heart knew that no one approaches God on their own terms. But God, in His mercy, provides a way. He calls Moses to stand between Himself and the people, to bring His Word down to them. This is where grace begins:
God brings sinners near through a mediator who delivers His Word.
God invites seventy-four men up the mountain yet draws distinctions even among them (v. 1). Aaron, his sons, and the elders may come, but only to a point. They must worship “at a distance.” Moses alone is permitted to come near (v. 2). The rest of Israel must remain below entirely. These boundaries are important because God’s holiness cannot be presumed upon. Sin has severed us from God, and we must feel the weight of that.
Ralph Venning writes, “God is holy, all holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always holy. So sin is sinful, all sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful. As in God there is no evil, so in sin there is no good… Sin is the master of misrule… the troubler of all mankind.” John Bunyan describes sin as: “the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, and the contempt of His love.”
We are all too quick to catalog the sins of our culture. We see the immorality, the drunkenness, the greed of the world around us, and we feel morally superior by comparison. But hear the Word of the Lord: “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). God’s law is seamless. When you gossip about your brother, you break God’s law. When you harbor resentment instead of forgiving, you break God’s law. When you live your day with scarcely a thought of God’s glory, you break God’s law. Let me now hold up the mirror of God’s Word, that you might see yourself truly.
We sin in our worldliness. We live in the wealthiest nation in history yet give but a pittance to God’s work. Most of us spend freely on our comfort and entertainment while the church languish for lack of support and people perish for want of the gospel. We absorb the values of the culture around us without discernment. We fill our mind with what is immodest and impure. We put our careers, causes, and sports teams ahead of God. You have set your minds on the things that are on earth, not on the things above (Colossians 3:2).
We sin in our discontentment. God has ordained all your days. Every circumstance, the unfulfilling job, the unchanging difficulty, the chronic pain, comes to you from His hand. Yet you get irritated against His providence. You resent what He has given or withheld. You are telling God that His plan for your life is not good enough.
We sin with our tongues. “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth” (Ephesians 4:29). Yet how freely the gossip flows! How naturally the criticism, the sarcasm, the unkind word! How quick we are to set the forest of our relationships ablaze with its fire because of our discontentment. We use our words to tear down what we should build up.
We sin in our anxiety and worry. “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6). That is not a suggestion; it is a command. Yet how many of you live in perpetual anxiety? Every anxious thought is a declaration that you do not trust God, that you do not believe He cares for you. You are, in effect, calling God a liar when He promises that your heavenly Father knows what you need.
This is what lives in us. This is what tempts us every day. Do you see it for what it really is? Sin is not a small flaw to tolerate, it is “the plague of the heart, the rottenness of the bones, the poison of the soul.” And yet we treat it like a pet to manage rather than a monster to slay. Don’t resent being confronted about sin, direct that energy toward the sin that lives in you. Recognize your own vulnerability, reason with yourself honestly so that your heart grows to hate what God hates.
Because God is holy, sinners cannot approach God on their own terms. His holiness will consume what is unclean. That’s why we need a mediator, someone to stand between us and the blazing purity of God.
So Moses goes up to receive God’s words, But he doesn’t keep them to himself. He comes down and tells the people everything God said. The mediator’s first job is delivering God’s message faithfully, word for word. Before you can have a relationship with God, you first need to hear what He says. Before God makes promises to you, you need to understand what He requires. So…
Exodus 24:3 NASB all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!”
God’s word must be heard and agreed upon.
The people’s response was both right and naïve. It was right because God, as Creator and Redeemer, has every right to command whatever He pleases. His law is holy, just, and the only right way to live. When God gives His terms, the only proper answer is obedience.
But their promise was tragically naïve. They were sinners by nature, yet they vowed perfect obedience. Not one person in Israel could keep even a single command without fault. Within weeks they would bow before a golden calf, proving their weakness. They meant well, but didn’t understand how deep their sin ran. They promised more than they could deliver.
And we’re no different. We make promises to God that we can’t keep. We say we’ll do better, only to fail again. Every one of us stands in the same place; required to obey, yet unable to do so perfectly. That’s why we need a Mediator, One whose blood speaks a better word than our broken promises. His blood declares us forgiven and our obedience fulfilled.
Words alone could not bind this covenant. The people had heard God’s commands and pledged obedience, but a promise, by itself, cannot make sinners right with a holy God. Something more was needed, something that would deal with guilt and secure peace. So God provided blood. The word revealed His will; the blood would seal the relationship.
Exodus 24:4-8 NASB Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
The blood seals what the word establishes.
Moses sends young men to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. He carefully divides the blood, half goes into basins, half gets sprinkled on the altar. After reading the covenant again and receiving the people’s commitment, Moses takes the blood and sprinkles it on the people.
God requires blood to be shed because blood represents life itself. It is not merely a biological substance but also the life-force that God breathed into humanity.
Leviticus 17:11 NASB ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’
When Moses sprinkled the blood on both the altar and the people, he showed that life with God could only continue through the death of another. The blood represented a substitute, the innocent life of an animal offered in place of the guilty. Half the blood was placed on the altar to show that God’s justice had been satisfied. The other half was sprinkled on the people to show that they were now set apart for Him. In that moment, the life of the substitute stood between holiness and sin, bridging the gap.
But this sacrifice had to be repeated again and again. The blood of animals could cover sin for a time, but it could never change the heart. It was a shadow pointing to something greater, to a perfect Substitute whose life and death would accomplish what no bull or goat could do. That Substitute is Jesus Christ, who died on the cross at Calvary, shedding His own blood to pay for our sins once for all.
Imagine standing in that crowd, feeling the warm blood splash upon you. The stains remain for days, a reminder that your life has been purchased by another’s death. You deserved to bleed; the animal bled instead. You deserved to die; the substitute died instead. Your standing before God depends not on your obedience but on the substitute’s life. Have you been sprinkled with covenant blood? Then you are a participant in life that has satisfied God’s justice and secured His favor. Live as one bought with blood.
The blood changed everything. Moments ago, the people stood far off, sinful, guilty, unworthy. Now, covered by the blood of a substitute, they are no longer alienated. Peace has been made. The same God whose holiness once threatened their destruction now calls the elders to share a covenant meal in His presence. What began with distance now moves toward communion.
Exodus 24:9-11 NASB Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.
The blood has opened the way. The God who dwells in unapproachable light now reveals Himself in mercy. Those covered by blood are invited to see His glory and to share His table.
Those brought near by the blood behold God’s glory.
The seventy-four leaders of Israel experienced something no one had ever experienced before; they saw God and lived. This is one of the most amazing moments in the Bible. The same God who covered Mount Sinai with smoke and thunder now allows these men to see His glory and live. It shows us God’s kindness and ultimate purpose: the holy God who dwells in unapproachable light desires real fellowship with those He has redeemed.
The Bible says they “saw the God of Israel.” This was no dream, it was a visible appearance of God’s glory. Yet even this was limited. They saw His feet resting on something like sapphire pavement, clear as the sky. Even in revelation, God hid the fullness of His glory, because no one can see God’s face and live. His presence both reveals and restrains, showing grace without destroying the sinner.
Then something incredible happens: “They saw God, and they ate and drank.” The same God who once warned them not to come near now invites them to share a meal in His presence. The thunder has quieted, and fellowship has begun. The words “He did not stretch out His hand against them” remind us that wrath has been withheld. They should have died, but the blood of the covenant had made them acceptable. They were safe because a substitute had already died in their place.
This moment gives us a glimpse of God’s heart. His goal is not endless judgment but restored relationship. The vision on Mount Sinai was glorious, but it wasn’t the full picture. These men saw God’s feet but in Christ we see His face. The apostle Paul writes, “God… has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). John tells us, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God… has made Him known” (John 1:18). Jesus doesn’t just tell us about God, He is God made visible.
The meal on Mount Sinai was a taste of something greater to come. Jesus instituted a new covenant meal, the Lord’s Supper, on the night He was betrayed. When we gather at His table today, we proclaim the same truth: the blood of the covenant has made peace between God and sinners. We eat and drink in God’s presence not because we deserve it, but because Christ’s blood has made us acceptable.
The elders of Israel went halfway up the mountain, but Jesus has brought us all the way into the throne room of heaven. “God raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). Through Christ, we don’t just visit God’s presence, we live there. The meal on Mount Sinai was a taste of something greater to come, the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9 says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” What Israel’s leaders experienced for a few moments, every believer in Christ will enjoy forever, eternal fellowship with God in His unveiled glory.
Exodus 24:12-18 NASB Now the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 But to the elders he said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.” 15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17 And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. 18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
God keeps sinners near through the One who represents them before Him.
Modern people struggle with being guilty by association. We make our own choices, we decide what’s right for us. But we actually believe in shared responsibility all the time. When a coach wins a championship, the whole town celebrates. When a company cheats, we expect the whole company to pay, not just the CEO. People say that past generations’ wrongs still affect us today. We do understand what it means for one person to stand for many, we just don’t like it when it exposes us.
When Moses journeys further up the mountain into the cloud he doesn’t go as a private individual seeking a personal experience with God. He goes as Israel’s representative, standing in for the entire nation before God. When he receives the law, the whole nation is bound by it. When he intercedes, the whole nation benefits. This pattern of one person representing many runs throughout the Bible and is exactly how our salvation in Christ works. Just as Adam’s disobedience brought death to all he represented, Christ’s obedience brings life to all He represents.
Romans 5:19 NASB For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
The Bible says that Adam represented all humanity, and his sin pulled us down with him. That feels unfair, until we realize God uses the same pattern to save us. Just as Adam’s failure counted against us, Christ’s obedience counts for us. That’s not cruel; it’s gracious rescue. We are not left to approach God as isolated individuals. We have a Representative who has gone before us into God’s presence. When anxiety about our standing overwhelms us, we remember that our Representative has entered God’s glory on our behalf. This provides rock-solid assurance.
Christ’s ascension secures our eternal access to God’s presence.
Moses’ temporary journey into God’s glory pointed to Christ’s permanent ascension to the Father’s right hand. Where Moses received stone tablets, Christ received all authority in heaven and earth. After His resurrection, Jesus didn’t remain on earth, He ascended to heaven to complete His mediatorial work.
Acts 1:9 NASB And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Christ’s ascension wasn’t a retreat but the completion of His work. He entered not a mountain cloud but heaven itself.
Hebrews 7:25 NASB Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Moses interceded temporarily; Christ intercedes eternally.
John 14:2-3 NASB “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Moses brought the law down; Christ brings us up to heaven itself.
Conclusion
The blood Moses sprinkled cried out for justice, covenant-breakers must pay. But 1,400 years later, on a hill outside Jerusalem, God provided the perfect sacrifice. Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, died on the cross, shedding His blood to make peace between God and sinners.
Hebrews 12:24 NASB [we have come] to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
Abel’s blood cried for vengeance; Christ’s blood cries for mercy. Animal blood covered sin temporarily; Christ’s blood removes it eternally.
The question confronting you is this: Which blood covers you? Are you trusting in your own righteousness? Hoping your good deeds outweigh your failures? Or have you been sprinkled with the blood of the new covenant?
If you have never trusted in Christ, I urge you to do so today. As Moses proclaimed, “Behold the blood of the covenant,” I proclaim: Behold the blood of Christ, shed for the forgiveness of sins! Trust in Him, and you will be saved.
If you are a believer, let this deepen your wonder. The same blood that sprinkled the Israelites has been applied to your heart by faith. You have been brought near to God through Christ’s blood. You have confident access to God’s throne. One day, you will see His face. Until that day, live as blood-bought people, set apart for God’s glory. In just a moment, we will distribute the bread and wine from the Lord’s Table. We will remember and proclaim what Christ’s blood has accomplished. If your heart belongs to Him, I encourage you to receive it with reverence and awe, remembering that our God is a consuming fire, yet He has made us acceptable through the precious blood of His Son.
