Adult Lesson Plan: Exodus 35–40;Leviticus 1;4;16;19

OPENING (2–3 minutes)

Ask the class to sit with a puzzle: Why would the Lord bring Israel out of Egypt, feed them with manna, part the sea, and then devote so much revelation to curtains, rings, basins, garments, and blood?

Come, Follow Me frames the Lord’s aim with blunt clarity: “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). The wilderness tabernacle was not a decorative project for bored nomads. It was a portable school of holiness, built for a people who had lived “in the captivity of sin” and were learning how to live near God again (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “April 27–May 3. ‘Holiness to the Lord’”). Put that question on the board and let it hang there for a moment: What kind of God teaches holiness through a building, and what does that suggest about how He teaches us?

SCRIPTURE EXPLORATION (15–20 minutes)

Begin with the offering that built the tabernacle. Read Exodus 35:5 and listen for the phrase that turns a construction project into a spiritual diagnostic.

“Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,” (Exodus 35:5)

Then read Exodus 35:21, where the “willing heart” becomes visible in action.

“And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.” (Exodus 35:21)

Pause and ask: What does it mean for a heart to be “stirred” rather than shoved? In the same chapter, the Lord also dignifies skill as a holy contribution. Come, Follow Me points us to Bezaleel and Aholiab as examples of God-given capacity used for God’s work (Exodus 36:1; Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “God has given me gifts to help with His work.”). Even without quoting every detail, you can ask the class to notice the breadth of offerings in Exodus 35: materials, time, talent, and craftsmanship. The tabernacle rises because ordinary disciples bring what they have with a willing heart.

Shift from the people’s offerings to the tabernacle’s purpose. Come, Follow Me suggests reading Exodus 35–40 with an eye for the sacred objects and what they turn our minds toward (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “The Lord wants me to become holy.”). Choose two objects and let the class “walk” through them.

First, the altar of incense. Come, Follow Me links it to Revelation’s image of prayers rising to God.

“And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” (Revelation 8:3)

“And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” (Revelation 8:4)

Ask: If the tabernacle trained Israel to connect worship with prayer, what habits might the Lord be training in us when we worship in holy places today?

Second, the lampstand and Jesus as light. Come, Follow Me connects the tabernacle’s light to the Savior’s own words (Exodus 37:17–24; Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “The Lord wants me to become holy.”). Read John 8:12.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Let that verse do the heavy lifting. The lampstand is not only a symbol, it is a claim about the kind of life Christ gives: “the light of life.” Ask: Where do we see darkness in Exodus, and what does “followeth me” look like for Israel after Sinai?

Now step into the tabernacle’s culminating moment. Come, Follow Me highlights Exodus 40:17–34 as a description of the tabernacle’s completion and the Lord’s presence (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “I can feel the Lord’s presence in holy places.”). Invite the class to read Exodus 40:34 slowly, as if it were the point of the entire project.

“Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34)

Ask: What changes for a people when “the glory of the Lord” is not a distant rumor but a present reality?

Finally, connect tabernacle holiness to daily holiness by sampling Leviticus 19. Begin with the Lord’s stated goal.

“Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)

Ask: Why does God ground His command in His own character? What does that suggest about holiness, that it is relational, not cosmetic?

DOCTRINAL DISCUSSION (10–15 minutes)

Holiness in these chapters comes through a pattern: God provides a holy place, gives covenants and laws, and points His people to atonement. Come, Follow Me states it plainly: “He commanded them to create a place of holiness in the wilderness, a tabernacle. He gave them covenants and laws to guide their actions and change their hearts. And He commanded them to make animal sacrifices to teach them about atonement for their sins. All of this was meant to point their minds, hearts, and lives toward the Savior.” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “April 27–May 3. ‘Holiness to the Lord’”)

That last line matters. The tabernacle is not an end point. It is a direction. The Lord is teaching Israel how to aim their lives.

First doctrinal thread: the Lord asks for the heart before He asks for the gold. Exodus 35:5 and 35:21 put willingness at the center. A discussion question that usually lands well with adults is personal but not invasive: Where does the Lord seem to care most about willingness in your discipleship right now, in worship, in repentance, or in service? Another question: What helps a heart get “stirred up” without turning discipleship into pressure and performance?

Second doctrinal thread: holy places train holy people, but geography alone does not sanctify. Come, Follow Me cautions, “Of course, simply being in holy places doesn’t make us holy.” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “The Lord wants me to become holy.”) Then Leviticus 19 brings holiness into everyday ethics and community life. Let the class wrestle with a question that goes beyond rules: Why would the Lord pair a tabernacle with commandments about ordinary behavior? What kind of person can live near God?

Third doctrinal thread: sacrifice teaches atonement, and atonement makes holiness possible. Come, Follow Me acknowledges that Leviticus can feel strange, then gives the interpretive key: “these rituals and laws were meant to teach principles that are familiar, repentance, holiness, and the Savior’s Atonement.” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I can be forgiven.”) Then it gives the modern hinge: “The Lord doesn’t require animal sacrifices anymore. But sacrifice is still an important principle of the gospel.” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I can be forgiven.”)

Read 3 Nephi 9:19–20 aloud and let the Savior define the sacrifice He asks of covenant disciples.

“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” (3 Nephi 9:20)

“And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.” (3 Nephi 9:19)

Discussion questions that invite real thought: What does a “broken heart and a contrite spirit” look like in an adult life with deadlines, children, and long habits? How does that offering relate to repentance, and how does it relate to worship? When have you seen the Lord replace shame with change?

If the conversation brushes against temple ordinances, keep it reverent and simple. Exodus 40:12–14 points to washings and clothing connected to the Lord’s house (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “Temple ordinances were given anciently.”). This is sacred and personal, please speak with your bishop or refer to the temple recommend questions.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION (5–7 minutes)

Adults often assume holiness requires a dramatic life overhaul, then feel tired before they start. These chapters suggest a different rhythm. The tabernacle was built by repeated offerings from willing hearts (Exodus 35:5, 35:21). Holiness grows the same way, through regular consecration rather than occasional heroics.

Invite the class to picture their week as a kind of wilderness camp. Where is your “altar of incense,” meaning your prayer life that rises daily (Revelation 8:3–4)? Where is your “lampstand,” meaning deliberate choices to follow Christ’s light rather than drift into spiritual dimness (John 8:12)? Where do you bring a “broken heart and a contrite spirit,” meaning honest repentance that trusts the Savior to change you (3 Nephi 9:20)?

Come, Follow Me also offers a line worth returning to when people feel stuck: Jesus Christ promises, “I am able to make you holy” (Doctrine and Covenants 60:7; quoted in Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “April 27–May 3. ‘Holiness to the Lord’”). Holiness is not self-improvement with religious vocabulary. It is the Savior’s work in covenant people who keep showing up with willingness.

CLOSING TESTIMONY & INVITATION (2–3 minutes)

Read Leviticus 19:2 again, then pair it with Exodus 40:34. The Lord commands holiness, and He also comes near.

“Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)

“Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34)

Bear testimony in a single, steady sentence that stays inside the sources: the Lord’s goal for His people is holiness, and He provides a way to come to Him through offerings of a willing heart, through covenant living, and through the atoning power of Jesus Christ (Exodus 35:5, 35:21; Leviticus 19:2; 3 Nephi 9:19–20; Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “April 27–May 3. ‘Holiness to the Lord’”).

Invite the class to carry one question into the week: What offering can I bring with a willing heart, and where will I make room for the Lord’s presence in my ordinary life?