Moses on the mountain
On Mount Sinai, Moses made the boldest request in the Bible:
"And he said: Shew me thy glory."
Exodus 33:18
God's answer:
"Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me, and live... I will set thee in a hole of the rock, and protect thee with my righthand till I pass: And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face thou canst not see."
Exodus 33:20 to 23
When Moses came back down, something had happened to his face:
"And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses horned, were afraid to come near."
Exodus 34:30
"Horned" is the Douay-Rheims word. The Hebrew means his face sent out rays, like beams of light. His face was shining, so brightly that he had to cover it with a veil.
Elijah on the same mountain
Around six centuries later, the prophet Elijah walked forty days and nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. God passed by, not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, but in a gentle whisper:
"And after the fire a whistling of a gentle air. And when Elias heard it, he covered his face with his mantle"
3 Kings (1 Kings) 19:12 to 13
Two great prophets. The same mountain. Both met God, and neither could look on his face.
The third mountain
Then, around 29 AD:
"Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him."
Matthew 17:1 to 3
The two men who could not see God's face are now standing in front of a face shining like the sun, talking with him. Luke even tells us what they talked about:
"And they were Moses and Elias, Appearing in majesty. And they spoke of his decease that he should accomplish in Jerusalem."
Luke 9:30 to 31
Then the cloud, and the voice:
"Behold a bright cloud overshadowed them... This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him."
Matthew 17:5
A mountain. A shining face. A cloud. The voice of God. All the same things as Sinai.
Now imagine
Jesus said something that made the crowd pick up stones to kill him:
"Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am."
John 8:58
Not "I was." I am. If Jesus is outside of time, then time is not a line for him.
So imagine this. Moses on Sinai, asking to see God's glory, and being shown it from behind. Elijah at Horeb, covering his face. And on the mountain of the Transfiguration, Jesus, shining, speaking with both of them.
Imagine they were never three separate meetings. Imagine it was one meeting, seen from both ends of history. Moses came down Sinai with his face shining because he had just been standing with Jesus on the mountain.
Why this is worth a second look
Moses spent his life wanting to see God's face, and was refused. The next time we see Moses in the Bible, he is standing face to face with Jesus, in glory, on a mountain.
The Bible doesn't say these were the same moment. But it puts every piece on the table: the mountain, the shining face, the cloud, the voice, and a Saviour who says "before Abraham was made, I am."