Exodus 33:8

8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances to their tents and watch Moses until he went in.

Exodus 33:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 33:8

And it came to pass, when Moses went out of the tabernacle,
&c.] For when he had pitched it he did not continue there; which shows it was not the tent or tabernacle he dwelt in, but whither he went to and fro, both to meet the Lord in it, and transact the affairs of the people, and especially the great affair now depending between God and them:

[that] all the people rose up:
in reverence of him as their ruler, and the minister of God, and as their Mediator between God and them, though they had but lately thought and spoke very meanly and contemptibly of him, ( Exodus 32:1 ) see ( Job 29:8 )

and stood every man at his tent door;
none offering to go in, nor to sit down until he was gone into the tabernacle, which was an instance of their respect to him:

and looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle;
kept their eye on him as long as they could see him, thereby expressing their esteem of him, signifying their desire that he would intercede for them, and wishing him success therein: the Targum of Jonathan interprets all this of the ungodly among them that looked after Moses with an evil eye.

Exodus 33:8 In-Context

6 After they left Mount Horeb, the Israelites no longer wore their jewelry.

7 Now, Moses used to take a tent and set it up far outside the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who was seeking the LORD's will used to go outside the camp to the tent of meeting.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances to their tents and watch Moses until he went in.

9 As soon as Moses went into the tent, the column of smoke would come down and stay at the entrance to the tent while the LORD spoke with Moses.

10 When all the people saw the column of smoke standing at the entrance to the tent, they would all bow with their faces touching the ground at the entrance to their own tents.