Here are the plot points of one of the most remarkable stories in the Bible:
1. God instructs Moses in the design and the construction of the sanctuary where God promises to be near the people.
2. God gives Moses the Divinely inscribed tablets.
3. Moses comes down the mountain and destroys the tablets upon seeing the apostasy of the people and learning of their total unreadiness for Torah.
4. God offers Moses the option of leading a new people altogether, yet Moses advocates for saving the people, and God relents.
5. Moses removes the idolatrous leaders and, on behalf of the remnant, seeks God's forgiveness, continuing presence, and a new and deeper relationship.
6. God assents and shows Moses the Divine goodness and attributes.
We move from a situation in which all seems lost to one of the keenest experiences of Divine revelation in the Bible. We receive forgiveness, restored nearness to God and a renewal of covenant promise.
Praise be unto our teacher Moses, and the Lord our God.