I've been reading through Exodus and Leviticus recently and have gotten a bit confused about the Tent of Meeting and the Tabernacle. Sometimes it seems like these are referred to as two separate structures (Exodus 33) and sometimes it seems like they are the same (Exodus 40). In Exodus 40, the terms are alternated so much it makes you think for a moment they might be separate structures, even though at the start it identifies them as the same. My best guess is that before the tabernacle was built there was the Tent of Meeting and then the Tent of Meeting became part of the Tabernacle after God ordered it to be built. Or is the Tabernacle a specific part of the Tent of Meeting? If they are identically the same structure, why is the terminology interchanged so often?

Thanks,
John