Albert Barnes Commentary Deuteronomy 10:1-11

"At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Jehovah spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and Jehovah gave them unto me. And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Jehovah commanded me. (And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest`s office in his stead. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God spake unto him.) And I stayed in the mount, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also; Jehovah would not destroy thee. And Jehovah said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them." — Deuteronomy 10:1-11 (ASV)

These verses are closely connected with the preceding chapter, and state very briefly the results of the intercession of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 9:25-29. The people are reminded that all their blessings and privileges, forfeited by apostasy as soon as bestowed, were only now their own by a new and most unmerited act of grace on the part of God, won from Him by the self-sacrificing mediation of Moses himself (Deuteronomy 10:10).

Deuteronomy 10:1–5. The order for making the ark and tabernacle was evidently given before the apostasy of the people (Exodus 25 and following); but the tables were not put in the ark until the completion and dedication of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:0). But here as elsewhere (compare the Deuteronomy 9:1 note), Moses connects transactions closely related to each other and to his purpose without regard to the order of occurrence.

Deuteronomy 10:6. There Aaron died – that is, while the people were encamped in Mosera or Moseroth. In Deuteronomy 32:50, as well as in Numbers 20:25 and following, Mount Hor is assigned as the place of Aaron’s death. It is plain then that Moserah was in the neighborhood of Mount Hor.

The appointment of Eleazar to minister in place of Aaron is referred to as a proof of the completeness and fullness of the reconciliation effected between God and the people by Moses. Though Aaron was sentenced to die in the wilderness for his sin at Meribah, yet God provided for the perpetuation of the high priesthood, so that the people would not suffer. (Compare Deuteronomy 9:20 and note.)

Deuteronomy 10:8. At that time – that is, that of the encampment at Sinai, as the words also suggest in Deuteronomy 10:1. Throughout the passage, the time of the important events at Sinai is kept in view; it is returned to as each incident is brought forward by Moses, alluded to sufficiently for his purpose, and dismissed.

Moses is evidently here speaking of the election by God of the tribe of Levi as a whole, priests and others also, for His own service.