The Covenant Is Received and Sealed: Exodus 24 is reminiscent of the beginning of the Sinai journey, where the Lord also was present visibly and conversed with Moses. (See the structural outline of Exodus 19–24 in the introduction to Exodus 19.) The narratives of Exodus 19 and 24 serve as bookends for the law of Exodus 20–23, setting the covenant-giving in the midst of the story of God’s grace and guidance. With the covenant, as in the exodus itself, the people initially followed God’s instruction and accepted his provision by faith (19:8; 24:3, 7).

Moses’ conversation with the Lord on the mountain continued briefly before Moses went back down (vv. 1–2). The people immediately agreed to the Lord’s proposed covenant and three acts of confirmation followed. First, the people participated in a…