There are many things we see here in Exodus that translate to the apocalyptic imagery we find in books like Daniel and Revelation. For instance, God “comes down” in the storm or in the clouds. He is coming to His people. He responds in thunder. There are earthquakes. Trumpets resound at His coming. All of these images are used throughout the Bible following Exodus to symbolize the coming down of God at different times for different reasons.
God warns Moses, again, not to let the congregation of Israel up the mountain, lest many of them perish (v. 21). It cannot be the case that they will die if they see the manifestation of God because they have already seen God manifest and not all of them would perish, only many of them. In v. 25, we see that God will “break forth” upon them if they ascend the mountain—causing many to perish. In Exodus, God wants to maintain a sense of holiness so that people know that they are unable to ascend to Him, even the priest had to consecrate themselves because they weren’t good or holy or righteous enough to approach God. God must go to the people if the people are to know Him at all. People will never be able to truly ascend to God. This passage is, then, perfectly fulfilled in the person of Jesus at His advent. We could not ascend to heaven. So, God came down to us. We could not save ourselves, so God saved us. We could not know God, so God knows us. Books like Daniel and Revelation show that Jesus is the perfect and full revelation of God to people. I even think that Moses is meeting with, and the people see from the bottom of the mountain, the pre-incarnate Jesus on Sinai.
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