John Calvin Commentary Exodus 24:2

"and Moses alone shall come near unto Jehovah; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him." — Exodus 24:2 (ASV)

And Moses alone shall come near the Lord. Three gradations are marked here. A station is prescribed for the people, from where they may worship afar off; the elders and the priests are appointed to be Moses' companions, to come closer, and thus to be witnesses to the people of all the things which we shall afterwards see to be shown them; while, as they were separated from the multitude, Moses alone was finally received into the higher glory, for he was caught up on high in the covering of the cloud.

This³⁰⁷ distinction is marked in the words, Moses alone shall come near...; but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up. Some translators render the verbs in the past tense, but this is improper, in my opinion. For Moses is not yet relating what was done, but only what God had commanded, as is plain from the next verse, in which the modesty and humility of the people are also commended, because they received with reverence a command which was not in itself very agreeable or likely to be approved.

For, such is the ambition of men, that it might have seemed insulting that they should be set afar off and prohibited from approaching the mountain, like strangers and heathens. It is, therefore, evidence of their pious reverence that they submitted to be placed at a distance and were content with a position apparently less honorable.

And Moses more clearly expresses their readiness to obey when he reports their words, that they would do all that he had declared to them from the mouth of God.

³⁰⁷ “Ces trois estats;” these three estates. — Fr..