What is the context?
The Word introduced at the beginning becomes flesh and lives among people. The testimony centers on His glory as the Father’s one and only Son, full of grace and truth. John the Baptist points to His greatness, saying that the One coming after him was before him.
The Greek verb for making His dwelling is σκηνόω, skēnoō (skay-NOH-oh). Thayer explains it as living in a tent or dwelling among others. Its use here gives the passage a connection with the tabernacle, the tent associated with God’s presence among Israel. (Thayer, Greek 4637; Exodus 40:34–38)
The account speaks of receiving from His fullness and places Moses’ giving of the law alongside grace and truth coming through Jesus Christ. It ends by saying that no one has seen God, but the Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christian traditions commonly understand becoming flesh as the eternal Son truly becoming human while remaining truly God. The Catholic Catechism, Westminster and Methodist Articles affirm one Christ who is fully divine and fully human. (Catechism §§461–469; Westminster Confession 8.2; Methodist Articles II)
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Exodus describes God’s glory filling the tabernacle among Israel. Here the Word dwells among people and His glory is seen. Jesus later identifies His body with the temple, and Revelation finally describes God dwelling with His people in a world freed from death and mourning. These are supported connections in the Bible’s larger story of God making His presence known among the people He redeems. (Exodus 40:34–38; John 2:19–21; Revelation 21:1–4)
Hebrews also connects God’s earlier speech through the prophets with His final revelation through the Son, through whom He made the universe. It identifies the Son with God’s glory, His nature and the cleansing of sins. The Word becoming flesh brings together the themes of creation, God made known and salvation. (Hebrews 1:1–4)
What is our position?
Our study Who is The Angel of the Lord? reads John 1:18 as an anchor for understanding God’s visible appearances in the Old Testament. It concludes that the eternal Son made the unseen Father known in those encounters before becoming human. That is the study’s developed conclusion from this verse.