Exodus 33:1-11
Moved with holy anger, Moses has destroyed the golden calf and ordered punishment. He has then informed the people that the LORD would not go up with them. Now here he is doing something quite unexpected: he rears up for himself a tent outside the camp, and far away from it. Has he ceased to love this people? On the contrary, he had just given the greatest and most touching proof of his love in asking that in their place he should be blotted out from the LORD’S book. No: his motive is quite different. Because of the sin committed, the cloud can no longer rest over the camp. So it was in order to recover this precious pillar, a type of Christ, that Moses and others with him leave the camp of Israel.
Hebrews 13:13 alluding to this passage, helps us to understand the appeal: "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach". Dear young friends, it is vital for you to understand: it is in order to obey this injunction that many believers have separated themselves from formal religions and organized Christian churches to seek solely and simply the presence of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 18:20). Look at Joshua! Although a young man, he understands that happiness for him consists in never being away from the presence of God. This is a picture of unceasing communion, and also of the joys which await us in the place where the Lord has promised His presence!