Doing it exactly right because that is what G-d intended

After Moshe breaks the first Luchot (Tablets), he is graced with a unique aura that raises his status in the eyes of the people. First he is forced to take his tent some distance outside of the camp (2000 cubits — see Targum Yonatan) because G-d’s presence leaves from amongst the people (33:7-11).

At the end of the parsha, when he descends with the second set of Luchot (34:29-35) his face is shining to the point that no one can look at him. He must wear a mask for people to be in his presence because they cannot perceive his face, a face which has seen the Divine.

Beyond an effort to seek and provide a neutral ground for the devout who honestly seek the presence of G-d (Targum Yonatan and others), what is the significance of Moshe’s tent, which is now called an Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting)? Did the original storage of the Luchot (broken and replacement) contribute to the formulation of this Ohel Moed? Did this episode redefine, in any way, the purpose of the Mishkan?

The episode indicates that Moshe’s tent was a spiritual center, a place of inspiration, where a cloud descended to demonstrate the presence of the Divine that was no longer entering the camp (Ramban). That Moshe conversed with the Divine “face to face” and that Yehoshua never left the tent, indicates that these leaders are uniquely endowed spiritually, and that their “hangout” is a preview of the Mishkan that will soon be built. More than a preview, perhaps it is actually the Mishkan 1.0 (see Ibn Ezra HaArokh), while the model that will be made by Betzalel will be Mishkan 2.0.

That Moshe’s tent became the first Mishkan could be inferred from Moshe’s depiction of what happened to the Luchot after he brought them down from the mountain (Devarim 10:1-5). He explains he had been instructed to make an ark out of wood and to place the Luchot in them. Where was this ark stored? Most likely it was stored in Moshe’s tent. So if the cloud descended on the tent, Moshe communicated with G-d, and the Ark with its Luchot was there, Moshe’s tent now seems to be a functioning Mishkan. (See Shmot 25:22, Bamidbar 7:89, Shmot 24:15-18 and Shmot 40:31).