ohel moed versus mishkan, moshe's tent is also called ohel moed, but so is inner part of mishkan. shmot 33:7. There moshe takes his tent and turns it into an Ohel Moed. This seems to be another account of the origin of the mishkan.
shmot 40:26 mishkhan ohel moed 29,30,32,34,35 vayikra 1:1 god speaking from it to him see also
Rashi like the Septuagint understands it to be Moshe's tent and a kind of precursor to the final Mishkan. At the time it was the mishkan and the place of G-d's revelation to man. And Moshe and Yehoshua Bin Nun never left there. Well, after I write that, I do recall that a statement that Moshe could not enter when the cloud was resting on the tent. But your reading also makes sense. It was a kind of special tent then, especially made for a "meeting" place either until the Mishkan was made or even after.
when the cloud went up it signalled time to pack up, but packing up was not instant. Maybe moshe took it as a clue that he should go into the ohel moed and speak to god. Then after the speaking, they moved. maybe there were 40 massaot because 40 times god wanted to speak to moshe
Shmot 40:34 ff. when did moshe enter the tent ? when the cloud was down ? he couldn't when the cloud was up ? they traveled so in what case could he be in the tent ?
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