John Calvin Commentary Exodus 33:14

"And he said, My presence shall go [with thee], and I will give thee rest." — Exodus 33:14 (ASV)

And he said, My presence shall go with thee. We gather from this answer what the desire of Moses was, for God, in accepting his prayer, affirms in one word that He will go before them as He was accustomed, and this was a sure pledge of His presence in no ordinary manner. For although the whole world is governed by His providence, still His face does not in it appear so conspicuously as in His protection of the Church’s welfare. And, in fact, since the same Angel, who had before presided over the camp, now undertakes the charge of guiding the people, the eternal divinity of Christ is clearly proved from this.

This clause, My face³⁶⁷ shall go before, is equivalent to His saying, I will so go before you, that you will truly perceive that I am with you, as if you were to see my face set before your eyes in a mirror. Now, since this was fulfilled in Christ, it follows that He is the eternal God, whose glory, power, and majesty is far above all creatures. The rest which He promises has reference to the perseverance of His grace, and its final accomplishment,³⁶⁸ as if it were said, when the people shall have entered the land, they shall be under God’s protection and guardianship; for what was common to the whole people is ascribed to the person of Moses.

³⁶⁷ “My presence shall go with thee.” — A.V.

³⁶⁸ “Et au but ou Moyse pretendoit;” and to the object at which Moses aimed. — Fr.