In Exodus, for example, the description of the tabernacle is divided into seven speeches, which are marked by the phrase “Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying” (25:1; 30:11; 30:17; 30:22; 30:34; 31:1; 31:12). Some of these sections correspond in striking ways to the creation week, but the mere fact of seven “words” of God suggests that the tabernacle is to be understood as a new creation or as an aspect of a new creation.
