In both passages (Exodus 24:16, Mark 9:2), a time period of six days is mentioned, at the end of which the Lord speaks out of a cloud to visitors at the top of a mountain (Exodus 24:16, Mark 9:7). There, the visitors are exposed to the glory radiating from a divine being at the top of the mountain. In the case of the Lord (Exodus 24:17), it’s a “consuming fire, while it’s supernaturally dazzling white clothes for Jesus (Mark 9:3). In each case, the Lord’s reason for meeting with the visitors is the same: he wants to make clear to the Israelites which law they were to live by. In Exodus, the Lord’s message is that Israelites are to live their lives according to the words on the stone tablets (Exodus 24:12), but in Mark, the words from the Lord’s son--Jesus--are the ones by which the Israelites now are to live: (Mark 9:7, “Listen to him!)
Exodus 24
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and
the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel...
12 The Lord said to
Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you
the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their
instruction."
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his
aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the
elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are
with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them."
15 When Moses went up on the mountain,
the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.
For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord
called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the
glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18
Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on
the mountain forty days and forty nights.
2After six days Jesus
took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they
were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became
dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And
there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is
good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for
Moses and one for Elijah." 6(He did not know what to say, they
were so frightened.)
7Then a cloud appeared and enveloped
them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love.
Listen to him!"