What Does Exodus 40:21 Mean in the King James?
And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
In Hebrew, the veil and the act of covering share the same root: the boundary that hides the testimony also holds it in place.
THE MEANING
What bears witness at your center can remain present even when a veil keeps it from direct sight; hidden does not mean gone. The covering marks a boundary around what is entrusted to the dwelling, holding its place rather than removing it. Moses (מֹשֶׁה, Moshe, “drawn out”) carries the command into completion, and his name keeps the movement of being drawn out within the act of setting the veil.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A veil does not mean the testimony has vanished; it remains at the center, covered.
THE ROOT
מָסָךְ
māsākh
GROWS FROM
סכך
To screen, cover, or enclose.
“covering / covered” in this verse is māsākh. The KJV says “vail of the covering” and then “covered”; the Hebrew repeats the same root in the covering and the act. The repetition makes the veil more than a thing that hides the ark: it is the boundary that holds the testimony within the dwelling.
ALSO GROWS
māsākh: Screen, covering.
מָסָךְ
This is the word translated “covering” in the verse; the screen and the act of screening share a root.
sōkhēkh: Covering or overshadowing.
סֹכֵךְ
The cherubim use this same root when their wings cover the mercy seat, showing that covering can also shelter.
sukkāh: Booth, shelter.
סֻכָּה
The same root gives a covered enclosure, linking the screen around the ark with shelter.
מִשְׁכָּן
mishkān
GROWS FROM
שכן
To dwell, settle, or remain.
“tabernacle” in this verse is mishkān. The ark enters a mishkan, a dwelling place formed from the root for dwelling. The veil does not remove the testimony from the dwelling; it marks where the testimony is held within it.
ALSO GROWS
shākhan: Dwell, settle, remain.
שָׁכַן
The root verb names the dwelling action that the tabernacle makes into a place.
shākhen: Resident, neighbor.
שָׁכֵן
This branch names one who dwells nearby, keeping the root’s sense of settled presence visible.
THE PATTERN
Covering marks a protected center while what is covered remains present.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;THE THREAD
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.The cherubim’s wings use the same root for covering that appears in the veil and the act of covering here. The ark’s center is screened by fabric and sheltered above by wings.
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