“Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord was descending there in fire. Its smoke rose like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet sounded for a long time and grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down to Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. (Exodus 19:17-20, Macarthur, 1997) In the Sinai Desert there is a holy and sacred mountain, Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa), “the mountain of Moses”. This sacred mountain once made the Israelites tremble in fear at the thick smoke and loud sound of trumpets as the Lord descended. The Lord spoke with Moses at the top of Mount Sinai while this thick smoke created by the hand of the Lord covered the mountain, preventing the Israelites from beholding the holiness of the Lord and anyone who touched the base of the mountain would die. Besides the gravity of what would happen to the Israelites if they disobeyed the Lord, Mount Sinai became this "sacred" place, holy ground, where Moses (who was the son of a Hebrew slave, born in Egypt and called by the name of the Lord to deliver the Israelites from exile to the promised land) was once in the presence of the Almighty, Jealous, Holy and Almighty Yahweh. Standing in the presence of the Lord, Moses received the ten commandments. The Ten Commandments were two stone tablets, brought to life by the spoken word of the Lord, a symbolic covenant from the Lord to the Israelites. From a biblical and theological point of view, Mo...... middle of article ......., 1994), pp. 73-89. Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. http://www.jstor.org/stable/124865 Accessed November 8, 2013Kessler, N. S (1968) The height of Mount Sinai sparks the imagination with holiness The Hartford Current (1923-1987); ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Hartford Courant (1764-1987) p. 1A Retrieved November 7, 2013Kern, E. (1987) Book Review: Mount Fuji and Mount Sinai: A Critique of Idol Missiology: An International Review 15:387-388, Retrieved November 5, 2013Kochler, S. & Levi, D. (2012) Perception of sacredness in religious heritage sites, environment and behavior, October 2013 45: 912-930, retrieved November 8, 2013 MacArthur, J. (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible: New King James Version. Nashville: Word Bibles. Turner, V. (1978) Image and pilgrimage in Christian culture: anthropological perspectives, pp. 249-251 (“Notes on processual symbolic analysis").