And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
When the tabernacle and the furniture of it were prepared, they did not put off the rearing of it till they came to Canaan, though they now hoped to be there very shortly; but, in obedience to the will of God, they set it up in the midst of their camp, while they were in the wilderness.
Commenting on Exodus 40:16-33
But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not,.... Even if it continued so two days, or a month, or a year, as very probably it sometimes did; which will in some measure account for the long continuance of the Israelites in the wilderness, see Num 9:22.
So Moses finished the work--Though it is not expressly recorded in this passage, yet, from what took place on all similar occasions, there is reason to believe that on the inauguration day the people were summoned from their tents--were all drawn up as a vast assemblage, yet in calm and orderly arrangement, around the newly erected tabernacle.