CLAIM: Critics argue that Moses could not have written this passage, because it mentions the Ark of the Testimony, which wasn’t created yet. Is this an example of an anachronism in the text?

RESPONSE: It’s likely that Moses wrote this passage at the end of his life. Verse 32 is better translated: “This is what the LORD had commanded…” Verse 35 explains what happened at the end of the 40 year Wandering. Moses probably wrote this at the end of his life. At this point in history, Moses was on the run, and he didn’t have time to write this. Of course, God is all-knowing, and he knew that he would create the Ark of the Testimony. Therefore, God could have commanded this decades before the Ark was created.