Exodus Exodus 25:1-22
The glory that dwelt on Sinai now means to travel. Exodus 25 opens the tabernacle with one clause that governs everything after it — 'make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst' — the single verse in the canon where the dwelling-verb meets the sanctuary-noun. The structure must be built to a pattern shown on the mountain, and at its dead center stands the kapporet, the atonement-cover, where two cherubim overshadow the one point at which God promises 'I will meet with you.' The mercy seat is the most restricted object in the sanctuary — one man, one day, behind two veils — and the word the Septuagint chose for it, hilasterion, surfaces in only two New Testament verses: one names the old cover, the other names the Christ whom God 'set forth' in public view. The dwelling commanded here is real, but not yet consummated.
Genesis 3:1–24
Gen 3 inverts every gift of Gen 2. The wisdom-word turns weaponized, the first command becomes the first lie by one negative particle, the man who was charged to guard the garden is replaced by cherubim guarding the way back — and in the middle of the judgment, a promise: the woman's seed will crush the serpent's head.