This paper explores the motif of the sight of God in the book of Exodus, focusing on the nature of the sight of God—especially in chapters 24 and 33—and how it relates to the rest of the canon of Scripture. It argues that Moses’s sight of God is a type of spiritual vision that will later be fulfilled by the sight of God at the Lord’s Supper and ultimately in the heavenly wedding banquet (i.e., the beatific vision in the New Heavens and Earth).
The paper is in four parts: a brief survey of the vision canonically prior to Exodus, an analysis of Moses’s sight of God in Exodus 24 and 33, respectively, and finally a summary connecting the analysis of Exodus to the Lord’s Supper and eschatological wedding banquet. In summary, the paper tracks how Moses (and the elders) “beheld God, and ate and drank” (Exod 24:11)—proleptically connecting it to the Lord’s Supper and ultimately in the vision of heaven as a wedding banquet (e.g., Rev 19:7-10)—and was even allowed access higher up the mountain of God. Therefore, the Lord spoke to Moses “face to face” (33:11) and allowed him to see God’s glory “pass by” while Moses was in the cleft of a rock (v. 22), and then saw God’s back with God’s hands covering him, though God’s face went unseen (v. 23). This wonderful event offers a prelude to some of the final biblical promises: we “will see his face” (Rev 22:4), not just his back or indirect presence, but God’s people will see God.
Key Words: Sight of God, Exodus, Moses, Beatific Vision, Heaven, Wedding Banquet, Biblical Theology