The LORD said to Moses is literally “And Yahweh spoke to Moses saying.” This is the longer formula used at 25.1; 30.11; and elsewhere. (See the discussion of ʾamar and dibber at 25.1-2.) On the first day of the first month is literally “In the head day of the month, in the first month.” This was the first day of the new year. (See verse 17 below.)

You shall erect, literally “you will cause to stand up,” is addressed only to Moses, using the singular you. This does not suggest, however, that Moses is to do all of this by himself. The form of the verb is not imperative, but Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New International Version suggest the idea of a command, with “Set up.” The tabernacle of the tent of meeting is literally “the mishkan of [the] ʾohel moʿed.” The two terms are again brought together as in 39.32, but they are referring to the same thing. It is better to consider them in apposition, as in New International Version, “the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .