G-d tells Moses how & when to start the Mishkan service and Moses does so

• G-d told Moses: On the day of the first month, on the first of the month, you shall set up the Mishkan of the Tent of Meeting.
• Place the Ark of the Testimony there, and spread the dividing curtain toward the ark
• Bring in the table and set its arrangement
• Bring in the menorah and kindle its lamps
• Place the golden altar for incense before the Ark of the Testimony
• Place the screen of the entrance to the Mishkan
• Place the altar of the burnt offering in front of the entrance of the Mishkan of the Tent of Meeting
• Place the washstand between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and there you shall put water
• Set up the courtyard all around and put up the screen for the gate to the courtyard
• Take the anointing oil and anoint the Mishkan and everything within it
• Sanctify it and all its furnishings; thus it will become a holy thing
• Anoint the altar for the burnt offering and all its implements
• Sanctify the altar; thus the altar will become a holy of holies
• Anoint the washstand and its base and sanctify it
• Bring Aaron and his sons near the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and bathe them in water
• Clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him so that he may serve Me
• Bring his sons near and clothe them with tunics
• Anoint them, as you have anointed their father, so that they may serve Me. And this shall be so that their anointment shall remain for them an everlasting kehunah throughout their generations

Moses set up the Mishkan in the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month

• Moses placed its sockets, put up its planks, put in its bars, and set up its pillars.
• Spread the tent over the Mishkan, and placed the cover of the tent over it from above
• Placed the testimony into the ark, put the poles upon the ark, and placed the ark cover on the ark from above
• Brought the ark into the Mishkan and placed the screening dividing curtain so that it formed a protective covering before the Ark of the Testimony
• Placed the table in the Tent of Meeting on the northern side of the Mishkan, outside the dividing curtain
• Set upon it an arrangement of bread before the Lord
• Placed the menorah in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the southern side of the Mishkan
• Kindled the lamps before the Lord
• Placed the golden altar in the Tent of Meeting in front of the dividing curtain
• Made the incense go up in smoke upon it
• Placed the screen for the entrance of the Mishkan
• The altar of the burnt offering he placed in front of the entrance of the Mishkan of the Tent of Meeting and he offered up the burnt offering and the meal offering upon it
• Placed the washstand between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and there he put water for washing
• Moses, Aaron, and his sons would wash their hands and their feet from it. When they entered the Tent of Meeting and when they approached the altar they would wash as the Lord had commanded
• Set up the courtyard all around the Mishkan and the altar, and put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard

The glory of G-d fills the Mishkan. Children of Israel travel only when the cloud of G-d rises.

• And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. When the cloud rose up from over the Mishkan, the children of Israel set out in all their journeys. But if the cloud did not rise up, they did not set out until the day that it rose. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys.