Peter saw everything that was important to a Jew’s mind and a Jew’s heart. In Moses he had the lawgiver; by his side was Elijah, the prophet and reformer; and, above all, now he sees the Messiah, and to his Jewish mind the scene was so beautiful that he desired to perpetuate it. He spoke out first as they were retreating out of sight. And what had he said? What had he done? He had put the Son of God, the Messiah, Moses the lawgiver, and Elijah the reformer, on a dead level. He had equalized them, so to speak. He thought this scene should be perpetuated, and to retain them he would give each a tabernacle. But “while he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them.” Peter, James, and John feared as the cloud enclosed the others. And what was the cloud? The Shekinah: the glory of God. The cloud that had tabernacled with Israel in the days of the wilderness reappeared to guard the person of the Son of God.

That cloud spoke of the immediate presence of the Father—was in fact the expression of the Father’s house—and into it Moses and Elijah went. Thank God! That is where you and I, fellow Christian, are going. And we need not be afraid to go there. If you have the Father’s thoughts about the Son, all is right. Moses and Elijah had got the thoughts of the Father about the Son. And what is the result? He stoops down and takes them into the cloud.

Poor Peter! How foolishly had he spoken, and then must have felt. You will understand that the Father could not allow this insult to His Son. And immediately there came out of the cloud this voice, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Ah! Hear Him! Not “Hear Moses.” No, his day is gone by. Nor Elijah? No, his day is also gone by. Hear Jesus, and Jesus only. This is Jesus’ day!