Exodus 19:24

24 To whom the Lord said, Go thou down, and (then) thou shalt go up, and (bring) Aaron with thee; forsooth the priests and the people pass not (over) the terms, neither go they up to the Lord, lest peradventure he slay them. (To whom the Lord said, Go thou down, and then come back up, and bring Aaron with thee; but the priests and the people must not pass over the boundary, nor let them come up to the Lord, lest I kill them.)

Exodus 19:24 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 19:24

And the Lord said unto him, away, get thee down
And prevent the people and priests from breaking through the bounds and gazing, to which their curiosity would tempt them; as the Lord knew better than Moses, and it was high time for him to be gone, the matter required haste, the people were under great temptations of indulging their curiosity, to the peril of their lives:

and thou shall come up, thou, and Aaron with thee;
which is thought to be an answer to the question, who might come up? only himself and Aaron, who was his prophet and spokesman, and concerned with him in his miracles, and in conducting the people of Israel; and who was to be chief priest as Moses was to be, and was the leader and governor of the people:

but let not the priests and the people break through to come up
unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them;
it required the immediate presence of Moses below, and immediate care was to be taken by him, lest the priests and people, led by a vain curiosity, should attempt to ascend the mount, and come where God was, to see if they could observe any likeness of him; which would so provoke him, that in just retaliation, as they had broke through the bounds set, he would break forth on them by inflicting sudden death upon them.

Exodus 19:24 In-Context

22 and [the] priests, that nigh to the Lord, be they hallowed, lest I smite them (or I shall strike them down).

23 And Moses said to the Lord, The common people may not go up into the hill of Sinai; for thou hast witnessed, and hast commanded, saying, Set thou terms about the hill, and hallow it. (And Moses said to the Lord, The common people cannot come up onto Mount Sinai; for thou hast witnessed, and hast commanded, saying, Set thou a sacred boundary all around the mountain, and hallow it, and they have heard thee.)

24 To whom the Lord said, Go thou down, and (then) thou shalt go up, and (bring) Aaron with thee; forsooth the priests and the people pass not (over) the terms, neither go they up to the Lord, lest peradventure he slay them. (To whom the Lord said, Go thou down, and then come back up, and bring Aaron with thee; but the priests and the people must not pass over the boundary, nor let them come up to the Lord, lest I kill them.)

25 Moses went down to the people, and told all things to them. (And so Moses went down to the people, and told all these things to them.)