From Brigham Young University's Maxwell Institute, this is the Maxwell Institute podcast, Faith Illuminating Scholarship.

In 26, we are releasing a series called Old Testament Reflections. Each week, a scholar offers a short reflection on the Come Follow Me reading.

Today's piece, beginning again,

Reflections on Exodus chapters 35 through 40 is written in red by Jenny Champo.

One of my treasured Christmas ornaments is a small lead, eight-pedaled flower. It was made by an artist

who helped create the windows for the Fort Collins Temple,

and she added a hook to this leftover rosette for me. The eight-pedaled flower is a motif in that

temple, evoking Colorado's wildflowers. For me, it also references the eight-pointed star that is a symbol of

Christ. The number eight is associated with

the atonement of Jesus Christ throughout the Bible. In Exodus and Leviticus, among the Lord's detailed

instructions for his tabernacle, the rituals performed there, and the conduct of his people,

the eighth day is consistently important. In the Bible, the number seven often

symbolizes completeness or fullness. In Genesis, for example, God completed the work of creation

and rested on the seventh day. An eighth day, then, is something extra, unexpected even.

If seven days make a whole week, then day number eight is not simply the first day of the second week, but also a new first day. It is not just

a beginning, but a beginning again. Israelite ritual practice in the Old Testament points to this

kind of new beginning in Christ.

The sweeping saga of Israelite foundations, captivity, and escape

ends triumphantly in Exodus with the setting up of the tabernacle.

Christ instructed Moses that this ultimate emblem of God's covenant with and abiding presence among Israel should be set up on the first day of the first month.

See Exodus 42. In other words, at the start of the second year of their wanderings, not just the first day of the year, but the first day of a new year.

Setting up the tabernacle on this day symbolized the new life redeemed Israel could find in Christ.

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