Exodus 24:1
And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
The call came after the law from Sinai had been given with added judgments and promises conditioned on obedience, precepts added because minds blinded and debased by slavery could not comprehend the law as first given. Moses was summoned with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, to come up to the Lord and worship afar off. Moses alone was to come near, while the others were not to come nigh and the people were not to go up with him.
The worship from a distance meant God could not reveal Himself fully to them, marking the distinct nearer access given to Moses as the covenant was presented to Israel. The seventy elders were those chosen to assist in governing Israel, to whom God gave His Spirit. Before the ascent Moses told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments, and all the people answered together that they would do all that had been said. Moses wrote all the words and read the book of the covenant to the people, they again promised to do and obey, and Moses sprinkled blood on them as the blood of the covenant made concerning those words.
The invited leaders then went up and saw the God of Israel, with under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone and as it were the clearness of heaven, God laid no hand on the nobles of Israel, and they saw God and ate and drank. What they saw was the glory of God's presence, not the Deity itself, and awe at His power with reflection on His glory, purity, and mercy prepared them to approach nearer. Afterward Moses was called still higher into the mount with Joshua his minister to receive tables of stone with the law and commandments written for teaching, at which time directions for building a sanctuary and the pattern of the ark were given.
Aaron was permitted to ascend, to approach into the presence of God, and to behold the divine glory, as one who cooperated with Moses in leading Israel out of Egypt. Aaron with his sons was honored to be called to witness God's glory, so that the vision would remain with Nadab and Abihu to prepare them for sacred service and deepen their reverence and obedience. The people's pledge to obey the covenant makes Aaron's later sin especially grievous. The instruction in Exodus 19-24 is to be obeyed now just as verily as then, to be studied in detail and presented before the people to end all contention so that hearts are softened and subdued and brethren love one another; its laws written in a book guard against doing injustice and guide dealings with one another, and the directions were given on Mount Sinai by Christ Himself, the same Teacher who afterward spoke in human flesh.