This scene from the biblical Book of Exodus depicts Moses with the Tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai, where he had led the people of Israel out of Egypt and they set up a camp in the foothills. As the community began to drift away from God, Moses was summoned to intercede in their name and after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting, God gave him the Tablets of Covenant with the Ten Commandments written by his own finger, defining the ten principles the Jewish people should adhere to. When Moses came down from the mountain to find the people worshipping the idol of the Golden Calf, Moses shattered the tablets and pleaded for God’s pardon. After God instructed him to chisel two new tablets which would once again be inscribed upon the mountain, these were later held in the Ark of the Covenant and could be only accessed by the highest priest on special occasions. This painting depicts Moses holding the two tablets aloft.

This work is one of a series of five large-scale paintings on canvas on Old Testament scenes commissioned by Rabbi Hugo Gryn for the Stern Hall in the West London Synagogue in 1973. In the accompanying gouache study for the painting (one of a set of six), Feibusch chose to depict the moment when Moses received the tablets, holding them in front of his chest with his tunic wrapped around his head to shield him from the wind.

In Feibusch’s Times obituary (21 July 1998), it was noted how his religious works exhibited 'brilliant colour and a composition which is generally suave and classical, often lyrical: he was a man who valued warmth and passions in religion, knew how to project joy and sorrow in his painting, sorrow for European conflict being for many decades a keenly felt emotion'.