Text -- Exodus 26:2-37 (NET)

26:2 The length of each curtain is to be forty-two feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet– the same size for each of the curtains. 26:3 Five curtains are to be joined, one to another, and the other five curtains are to be joined, one to another. 26:4 You are to make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and in the same way you are to make loops in the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set. 26:5 You are to make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you are to make fifty loops on the end curtain which is on the second set, so that the loops are opposite one to another. 26:6 You are to make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle is a unit. 26:7 “You are to make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you are to make eleven curtains. 26:8 The length of each curtain is to be forty-five feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet– the same size for the eleven curtains. 26:9 You are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. You are to double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. 26:10 You are to make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joins the second set. 26:11 You are to make fifty bronze clasps and put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it is a unit. 26:12 Now the part that remains of the curtains of the tent– the half curtain that remains will hang over at the back of the tabernacle. 26:13 The foot and a half on the one side and the foot and a half on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent will hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on one side and the other side, to cover it. 26:14 “You are to make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather. 26:15 “You are to make the frames for the tabernacle out of acacia wood as uprights. 26:16 Each frame is to be fifteen feet long, and each frame is to be two feet three inches wide, 26:17 with two projections per frame parallel one to another. You are to make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 26:18 So you are to make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side, 26:19 and you are to make forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames– two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise two bases under the next frame for its two projections; 26:20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, twenty frames, 26:21 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. 26:22 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west you will make six frames. 26:23 You are to make two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 26:24 At the two corners they must be doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. So it will be for both. 26:25 So there are to be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. 26:26 “You are to make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 26:27 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the back of the tabernacle on the west. 26:28 The middle bar in the center of the frames will reach from end to end. 26:29 You are to overlay the frames with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you are to overlay the bars with gold. 26:30 You are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan that you were shown on the mountain. 26:31 “You are to make a special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; it is to be made with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 26:32 You are to hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in four silver bases. 26:33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. 26:34 You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 26:35 You are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side. 26:36 “You are to make a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. 26:37 You are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Exo 26:14

So we translate it, but it should rather seem to have been some strong sort of leather, (but very fine) for we read of the best sort of shoes made of it. Eze 16:10.

Wesley: Exo 26:15

Very particular directions are here given about the boards of the tabernacle, which were to bear up the curtains. These had tenons which fell into the mortaises that were made for them in silver bases. The boards were coupled together with gold rings at top and bottom, and kept firm with bars that run through golden staples in every board. Thus every thing in the tabernacle was very splendid, agreeable to that infant state of the church, when such things were proper to possess the minds of the worshippers with a reverence of the divine glory. In allusion to this, the new Jerusalem is said to be of pure gold, Rev 21:18. But the builders of the gospel church said, Silver and gold have we none; and yet the glory of their building far exceeded that of the tabernacle.

Wesley: Exo 26:31

The veils are here ordered to be made, one for a partition between the holy place and the most holy, which not only forbad any to enter, but so much as to look into the holiest of all. Under that dispensation divine grace was veiled, but now we behold it with open face. The apostle tells us, this veil, intimated that the ceremonial law could not make the comers thereunto perfect. The way into the holiest was not made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing; life and immortality lay concealed till they were brought to light by the gospel, which was therefore signified by the rending of this veil at the death of Christ. We have now boldness to enter into the holiest in all acts of devotion by the blood of Jesus; yet such as obliges us to a holy reverence, and a humble sense of our distance. Another veil was for the outward door of the tabernacle.

Wesley: Exo 26:31

place, but not the people, Heb 9:6. This veil was all the defence the tabernacle had against thieves and robbers, which might easily be broken through, for it could be neither locked nor bared, and the abundance of wealth in it, one would think, might be a temptation. But by leaving it thus exposed, The priests and Levites would be so much the more obliged to keep a strict watch upon it: and, God would shew his care of his church on earth, though it be weak and defenceless, and continually exposed. A curtain shall be (if God please to make it so) as strong a defence, as gates of brass and bars of iron.

JFB: Exo 26:2

Each curtain was to be fifteen yards in length and a little exceeding two in breadth.

JFB: Exo 26:3

So as to form two grand divisions, each eleven yards wide.

JFB: Exo 26:6

Clasps; supposed in shape, as well as in use, to be the same as hooks and eyes.

JFB: Exo 26:7-13

These coarse curtains were to be one more in number than the others, and to extend a yard lower on each side, the use of them being to protect and conceal the richer curtains.

JFB: Exo 26:14

That is, of Turkey red leather. [See on Exo 39:34.]|| 02251||1||16||0||@thou shalt make boards . . . rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion . . . which was showed thee==--The tabernacle, from its name as well as from its general appearance and arrangements, was a tent; but from the description given in these verses, the boards that formed its walls, the five (cross) bars that strengthened them, and the middle bar that "reached from end to end," and gave it solidity and compactness, it was evidently a more substantial fabric than a light and fragile tent, probably on account of the weight of its various coverings as well as for the protection of its precious furniture.

JFB: Exo 26:36

Curtains of rich and elaborate embroidery, made by the women, are suspended over the doors or entrances of the tents occupied by Eastern chiefs and princes. In a similar style of elegance was the hanging finished which was to cover the door of this tabernacle--the chosen habitation of the God and King of Israel. It appears from Exo 26:12, Exo 26:22-23, that the ark and mercy seat were placed in the west end of the tabernacle, and consequently the door or entrance fronted the east, so that the Israelites in worshipping Jehovah, turned their faces towards the west; that they might be thus figuratively taught to turn from the worship of that luminary which was the great idol of the nations, and to adore the God who made it and them [HEWLETT].

Clarke: Exo 26:7

Curtains of goats’ hair - Stuff made of goats’ hair. See Clarke’ s note on Exo 25:4. This was the second covering.

Clarke: Exo 26:14

Rams’ skins dyed red - See Clarke’ s note on Exo 25:5. This was the third covering; and what is called the badgers’ skins was the fourth. See Clarke’ s note on Exo 25:5. Why there should have been four coverings does not appear. They might have been designed partly for respect; and partly to keep off dust and dirt, and the extremely fine sand which in that desert rises as it were on every breeze; and partly to keep off the intense heat of the sun, which would otherwise have destroyed the poles, bars, boards, and the whole of the wood work. As to the conjecture of some that "the four coverings were intended the better to keep off the rain,"it must appear unfounded to those who know that in that desert rain was rarely ever seen.

Clarke: Exo 26:15

Thou shalt make boards - These formed what might be called the walls of the tabernacle, and were made of shittim wood, the acacia Nilotica , which Dr. Shaw says grows here in abundance. To have worked the acacia into these boards or planks, the Israelites must have had sawyers, joiners, etc., among them; but how they got the tools is a question. But as the Israelites were the general workmen of Egypt, and were brought up to every kind of trade for the service of their oppressors, we may naturally suppose that every artificer brought off some of his tools with him. For though it is not at all likely that they had any armor or defensive weapons in their power, yet for the reason above assigned they must have had the implements which were requisite for their respective trades.

Clarke: Exo 26:16

Ten cubits shall be the length of a board - Each of these boards or planks was about five yards and two feet and a half long, and thirty-two inches broad; and as they are said to be standing up, this was the Height of the tabernacle. The length being thirty cubits, twenty boards, one cubit and a half broad each, make about seventeen yards and a half, and the Breadth was about five yards.

Clarke: Exo 26:29

Thou shalt overlay the boards with gold - It is not said how thick the gold was by which these boards, etc., were overlaid; it was no doubt done with gold plates, but these must have been very thin, else the boards, etc., must have been insupportably heavy. The gold was probably something like our gold leaf, but not brought to so great a degree of tenuity.

Clarke: Exo 26:31

Thou shalt make a veil - פרכת parocheth , from פרך parach , to break or rend; the inner veil of the tabernacle or temple, (2Ch 3:14), which broke, interrupted, or divided between the holy place and the most holy; the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was standing. Compare Heb 9:8. The Septuagint constantly render it by καταπετασμα . Does not the Hebrew name פרכת parocheth moreover intimate the typical correspondence of this veil to the body or flesh of Christ? For this καταπετασμα or veil was his flesh, (Heb 10:20), which, being rent, affords us a new and living way into the holiest of all, i.e., into heaven itself. Compare Heb 10:19, Heb 10:20; Heb 9:24. And accordingly when his blessed body was rent upon the cross, this veil also ( το καταπετασμα του ἱερου ) εσχισθη, was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; Mat 27:51 - See Parkhurst, under the word פרך

The veil in the tabernacle was exceedingly costly; it was made of the same materials with the inner covering, blue, purple, scarlet, fine twined linen, embroidered with cherubim, etc. It served to divide the tabernacle into two parts: one, the outermost, called the holy place; the other, or innermost, called the holy of holies, or the most holy place. In this was deposited the ark of the covenant, and the other things that were laid up by way of memorial. Into this the high priest alone was permitted to enter, and that only once in the year, on the great day of atonement. It was in this inner place that Jehovah manifested himself between the cherubim. The Jews say that this veil was four fingers’ breadth in thickness, in order to prevent any person from seeing through it; but for this, as Calmet observes, there was no necessity, as there was no window or place for light in the tabernacle, and consequently the most simple veil would have been sufficient to obstruct the discovery of any thing behind it, which could only be discerned by the light that came in at the door, or by that afforded by the golden candlestick which stood on the outside of this veil.

Clarke: Exo 26:32

Their hooks shall be of gold - וויהם vaveyhem , which we translate their hooks, is rendered κεφαλιδες, capitals, by the Septuagint, and capita by the Vulgate. As the word וו vav or vau , plural ווים vavim , occurs only in this book, Exo 26:32, Exo 26:37; Exo 27:10, Exo 27:11, Exo 27:17; Exo 36:36, Exo 36:38; Exo 38:10, Exo 38:11, Exo 38:12, Exo 38:17, Exo 38:19, Exo 38:28; and is used in these places in reference to the same subject, it is very difficult to ascertain its precise meaning. Most commentators and lexicographers think that the ideal meaning of the word is to connect, attach, join to, hook; and that the letter ו vau has its name from its hooklike form, and its use as a particle in the Hebrew language, because it serves to connect the words and members of a sentence, and the sentences of a discourse together, and that therefore hook must be the obvious meaning of the word in all the above texts. Calmet thinks this reason of no weight, because the ו vau of the present Hebrew alphabet is widely dissimilar from the vau of the primitive Hebrew alphabet, as may be seen on the ancient shekels; on these the characters appear as in the word Jehovah, Exo 28:36. This form bears no resemblance to a hook; nor does the Samaritan vau , which appears to have been copied from this ancient character

Calmet therefore contends

1.    That if Moses does not mean the capitals of the pillars by the ווים eht vavim of the text, he mentions them nowhere; and it would be strange that while he describes the pillars, their sockets, bases, fillets, etc., etc., with so much exactness, as will appear on consulting the preceding places, that he should make no mention of the capitals; or that pillars, every way so correctly formed, should have been destitute of this very necessary ornament

2.    As Moses was commanded to make the hooks, ווים vavim , of the pillars and their fillets of silver, Exo 27:10, Exo 27:11, and the hooks, vavim , of the pillars of the veil of gold, Exo 36:36; and as one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels were employed in making these hooks, vavim , overlaying their chapiters, ראשיהם rasheyhem , their heads, and filleting them, Exo 38:28; it is more reasonable to suppose that all this is spoken of the capitals of the pillars than of any kind of hooks, especially as hooks are mentioned under the word taches or clasps in other places. On the whole it appears much more reasonable to translate the original by capitals than by hooks

After this verse the Samaritan Pentateuch introduces the ten first verses of Exodus 30, and this appears to be their proper place. Those ten verses are not repeated in the thirtieth chapter in the Samaritan, the chapter beginning with the 11th verse.

Clarke: Exo 26:36

A hanging for the door of the tent - This may be called the first veil, as it occupied the door or entrance to the tabernacle; the veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies is called the second veil, Heb 9:3. These two veils and the inner covering of the tabernacle were all of the same materials, and of the same workmanship. See Exo 27:16

1. For the meaning and design of the tabernacle see Clarke’ s note on Exo 25:40 : and while the reader is struck with the curious and costly nature of this building, as described by Moses, let him consider how pure and holy that Church should be of which it was a very expressive type; and what manner of person he should be in all holy conversation and godliness, who professes to be a member of that Church for which, it is written, Christ has given himself, that he might sanctify and cleanse it; that he might present it unto himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. See Eph 5:25-27

2. In the Jewish tabernacle almost every thing was placed out of the sight of the people. The holy of holies was inaccessible, the testimony was comparatively hidden, as were also the mercy-seat and the Divine glory. Under the Gospel all these things are laid open, the way to the holiest is made manifest, the veil is rent, and we have an entrance to the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; Heb 10:19, Heb 10:20. How abundantly has God brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel! The awful distance is abolished, the ministry of reconciliation is proclaimed, the kingdom of heaven is opened to all believers, and the Lord is in his holy temple. Sinner, weary of thyself and thy transgressions, fainting under the load of thy iniquities, look to Jesus; he died for thee, and will save thee. Believer, stand fast in the liberty wherewith God has made thee free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.

Calvin: Exo 26:31

31.And thou shalt make a vail The inner shrine or recess was covered by one vail; the sanctuary was divided from the court by another. By both the people were admonished how reverently God’s majesty must be regarded, and with what seriousness holy things are to be engaged in, so that they might not approach God’s presence without fear, nor boldly break in upon the mysteries of things sacred. But by the vail the obscurity of the shadows of the Law was principally denoted, that the Israelites might know that the time of full revelation had not yet come, but that the spiritual worship of God was as yet enshrouded in a vail; and thus might extend their faith to their promised Messiah, at whose coming the truth would be discovered and laid bare. Wherefore, when Christ rose again from the dead, “the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,” (Mat 27:51;) and an end was put to the ceremonies of the Law, because God then presented Himself in His living and express image, and the perfect reality of all the ceremonies was manifested. Now, therefore, in the light of the gospel, we behold “face to face,” what was then shewn afar off to the ancient people under coverings. (2Co 3:14.) Yet, although there is now no vail to prevent us from openly and familiarly looking upon Christ, let us learn from this figure that the manifestation of God in the flesh is a hidden and incomprehensible mystery. (1Ti 3:16.) It is not without reason that Christ Himself compares His body to the temple, because the fullness of the Godhead dwells in it. (Joh 2:19.) Let us then know assuredly that the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, (Joh 17:21;) but if it be asked in what manner, this is ineffable, except that the eternal Son of God, who, before the creation of the world, possessed the same glory with the Father, (Joh 17:5,) that even He is now man, that “He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom 8:29.)

TSK: Exo 26:2

curtain : Exo 26:7, Exo 26:8; Num 4:25; 2Sa 7:2; 1Ch 17:1

TSK: Exo 26:3

coupled together : Exo 26:9, Exo 36:10; Joh 17:21; 1Co 12:4, 12-27; Eph 2:21, Eph 2:22, Eph 4:3-6, Eph 4:16; Col 2:2, Col 2:19

TSK: Exo 26:4

loops of blue : Exo 26:5, Exo 26:10, Exo 26:11, Exo 36:11, Exo 36:12, Exo 36:17

TSK: Exo 26:6

taches of gold : Exo 26:11, Exo 26:33, Exo 35:11, Exo 36:13, Exo 36:18, Exo 39:33

one tabernacle : Eph 1:22, Eph 1:23, Eph 4:16; 1Pe 2:4, 1Pe 2:5

TSK: Exo 26:7

curtains : Exo 35:26, Exo 36:14-18; Num 4:25; Psa 45:13; 1Pe 3:4, 1Pe 5:5

goats’ hair : Izzim , goats, but used here elliptically for goats’ hair. In different parts of Asia Minor, Syria, Cilicia, and Phrygia, the goats have long, fine, and beautiful hair; in some cases, almost as fine as silk, which is shorn at proper times, and manufactured into garments. Exo 25:4, Exo 35:6, Exo 35:23; Num 31:20

a : Exo 26:14; Isa 4:5

eleven : Exo 26:1, Exo 26:9, Exo 26:12

TSK: Exo 26:8

length of one curtain : Exo 26:2, Exo 26:13

TSK: Exo 26:9

five curtains by themselves : Exo 26:3

TSK: Exo 26:10

fifty loops : Exo 26:4-6

TSK: Exo 26:11

tent : or, covering, Exo 26:3, Exo 26:6

TSK: Exo 26:12

shall hang over : Exo 26:9

TSK: Exo 26:13

a cubit : Exo 26:2, Exo 26:8

of that which remaineth : Heb. in the remainder or surplusage

TSK: Exo 26:14

a covering : Exo 36:19; Num 4:5; Psa 27:5, Psa 121:4, Psa 121:5; Isa 4:6, Isa 25:4

rams’ skins dyed red : Oroth ailim meoddamim , literally, the skins of red rams. It is a fact, attested by many respectable travellers, that in the Levant, sheep are often met with having red or violet coloured fleeces. Almost all ancient writers speak of the same thing. Exo 25:5, Exo 35:7, Exo 35:23, Exo 39:34; Num 4:10; Eze 16:10

badgers’ skins : Oroth techashim , which nearly all the ancient versions have taken to be the name of a colour, though they differ very much with regard to the particular colour intended: the LXX, Vulgate, and Coptic, have skins dyed of a violet colour; the Syriac, azure; and the Arabic, black; and Bochart contends for the hysginus, a very deep blue. It may, however, denote an animal; for Dr. Geddes remarks, had the sacred writer meant to express only a variety of colour, he would hardly have repeated oroth , skins, after meoddamim , red, in Exo 25:5.

TSK: Exo 26:15

boards : Exo 26:18, Exo 26:22-29, Exo 36:20-33, Exo 40:17, Exo 40:18; Num 4:31, Num 4:32; Eph 2:20, Eph 2:21

of shittim : Exo 25:5

TSK: Exo 26:17

tenons : Heb. hands, Exo 26:19, Exo 36:22, Exo 36:24

TSK: Exo 26:19

forty sockets of silver : Exo 26:25, Exo 26:37, Exo 27:10, Exo 27:12-18, Exo 36:24-26, Exo 38:27, Exo 38:30, Exo 38:31, Exo 40:18; Num 3:36; Num 4:31, Num 4:32; Son 5:15

TSK: Exo 26:21

two sockets under one board : Exo 26:19

TSK: Exo 26:23

corners : [Strong’ s H4742], Exo 36:28

TSK: Exo 26:24

be coupled : Heb. twined

and they shall be coupled together above : Exo 36:29, Exo 36:30; Psa 133:1-3; 1Co 1:10, 1Co 3:16; 1Pe 2:5

TSK: Exo 26:26

bars of shittim wood : Exo 36:31-38; Num 3:36, Num 4:31; Rom 15:1; 1Co 9:19, 1Co 9:20; Gal 6:1, Gal 6:2; Eph 4:16; Col 2:19

TSK: Exo 26:28

reach : lit, flee, 1Ch 12:15; Neh 13:28; Job 41:28; Pro 19:26

TSK: Exo 26:29

overlay the boards with gold : Exo 25:11, Exo 25:12

TSK: Exo 26:30

rear up the tabernacle : Exo 40:2, Exo 40:17, Exo 40:18; Num 10:21; Jos 18:1; Heb 8:2

according to the fashion : Exo 25:9, Exo 25:40, Exo 27:8; Act 7:44; Heb 8:5, Heb 9:23

TSK: Exo 26:31

a veil of : Exo 36:35, Exo 40:3, Exo 40:21; Lev 16:2, Lev 16:15; 2Ch 3:14; Mat 27:51; Mar 15:38; Luk 23:45; Eph 2:14; Heb 9:3-8, Heb 10:20, Heb 10:21

blue : Exo 25:4, Exo 35:6, Exo 35:25, Exo 35:35, Exo 36:8

purple : Argaman , a very precious colour, extracted from the purpura , or murex , a species of shell-fish; and supposed to be the same with the costly and much celebrated Tyrian purple.

scarlet : Tolaâth ; properly the worm whence the scarlet colour was produced; which grew in a coccus, or excrescence, of a shrub of the ilex kind, like the cochineal worm in the Opuntia of America; which is arranged under the same genus as the Arabic Kermez , which also denotes this colour.

cunning work : Exo 26:1, Exo 28:15, Exo 38:23; 2Ch 2:7-13; Psa 137:5; Son 7:1

cherubims shall it be made : Exo 25:18

TSK: Exo 26:32

pillars of shittim : Exo 26:37, Exo 36:38; Est 1:6

their hooks shall be of gold : The Hebrew waveyhem , which we translate their hooks, is rendered by the LXX κεφαλιδες , and by the Vulgate, capiata , capitals. Hence Calmet contends:

1.    That if Moses does not mean the capitals of the pillars by this word, he mentions them nowhere else; and it would seem strange, that while he describes them with so much exactness, that he should not mention the capitals; or that pillars every way so correctly formed, should have been destitute of this necessary ornament.

2.    As Moses was commanded to make the wavim of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver (Exo 27:10, Exo 27:11), and the wavim of the pillars of the vail of gold (Exo 36:36), and that 1,775 shekels were employed in making them, overlaying their chapiters , rasheyhem , their heads, and filleting them (Exo 38:28), it is more reasonable to suppose that all this is spoken of the capitals of pillars, than of any kind of hooks, especially as hooks are mentioned under the word taches or clasps. But as the root wavah seems to signify to connect (for yww, in Arabic, is to marry a wife), and as the letter ww, wav , if it has not its name from its hook-like form, is yet used as a connective particle, it would rather appear to denote hooks, which connected the curtains or vails to the pillars. The LXX also render it αγκυλαι , ""handles"", and κρικοι , ""rings""or ""clasps"".

TSK: Exo 26:33

the taches : Exo 27:10, Exo 36:36

within the veil : Gen 9:4, Gen 9:5

the ark of the testimony : Exo 25:16, Exo 40:21

the holy place : Lev 16:2; 1Ki 8:6, 1Ki 8:10; 2Ch 5:7-10; Heb 9:2, Heb 9:3

TSK: Exo 26:34

put the mercy seat : Exo 25:21, Exo 40:20; Heb 9:5

TSK: Exo 26:35

the table : Exo 40:22; Heb 9:2, Heb 9:8, Heb 9:9

the candlestick : Exo 25:31-37, Exo 40:24

TSK: Exo 26:36

hanging : This may be termed the first vail, as it occupied the door or entrance to the tabernacle; the vail that separated the Holy of Holies is called the second vail, Heb 9:3. Mr. Morier ( Second Journey Through Persia , p. 251), describing the tent of a chief of the Eelauts, says, ""It was composed of a wooden frame of circular laths, which were fixed on the ground, and then covered over with large felts, that were fastened down by a cord, ornamented by tassels of various colours. A curtain, curiously worked by the women, with coarse needle-work of various colours, was suspended over the door. In the king of Persia’ s tents, magnificent perdahs , or hangings of needle-work, are suspended, as well as on the doors of the great mosques in Turkey; and these circumstances combined, will, perhaps, illustrate Exo 26:36.""Exo 36:37, Exo 40:28; Joh 10:9, Joh 14:6

the tent : Exo 35:11, Exo 39:33, Exo 40:29; Num 3:25, Num 9:15; 2Sa 7:6; Psa 78:60

of blue : Exo 26:31

TSK: Exo 26:37

overlay them with gold : Exo 36:38

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Exo 26:1-37

(Compare Exo. 36:8-33.) The tabernacle was to comprise three main parts, the tabernacle Exo 26:1-6, more strictly so-called, its tent Exo 26:7-13, and its covering Exo 26:14 (Compare Exo 35:11; Exo 39:33-34; Exo 40:19, Exo 40:34; Num 3:25, etc.). These parts are very clearly distinguished in the Hebrew, but they are confounded in many places of the English Version (see Exo 26:7, Exo 26:9, etc.). The tabernacle itself was to consist of curtains of fine linen woven with colored figures of cherubim, and a structure of boards which was to contain the holy place and the most holy place; the tent was to be a true tent of goats’ hair cloth to contain and shelter the tabernacle: the covering was to be of red rams’ skins and "tachash"skins Exo 25:5, and was spread over the goats’ hair tent as an additional protection against the weather. On the external form of the tabernacle and the arrangement of its parts, see cuts at the end of the chapter.

Exo 26:1

The tabernacle - The משׁכן mı̂shkân , i. e. the dwelling-place; the definite article regularly accompanies the Hebrew word when the dwelling-place of Yahweh is denoted. But in this place the word is not used in its full sense as denoting the dwelling-place of Yahweh: it denotes only the tabernacle-cloth Exo 26:6. The word is, in fact, employed with three distinct ranges of meaning,

(1) in its strict sense, comprising the cloth of the tabernacle with its woodwork (Exo 25:9; Exo 26:30; Exo 36:13; Exo 40:18, etc.);

(2) in a narrower sense, for the tabernacle-cloth only (Exo 26:1, Exo 26:6; Exo 35:11; Exo 39:33-34, etc.);

(3) in a wider sense, for the tabernacle with its tent and covering (Exo 27:19; Exo 35:18, etc.).

With ten curtains - Rather, of ten breadths. Five of these breadths were united so as to form what, in common usage, we should call a large curtain Exo 26:3. The two curtains thus formed were coupled together by the loops and taches to make the entire tabernacle-cloth Exo 26:6.

Of cunning work - More properly, of the work of the skilled weaver. The colored figures of cherubim (see Exo 25:4, Exo 25:18) were to be worked in the loom, as in the manufacture of tapestry and carpets (see Exo 26:36 note). On the different kinds of workmen employed on the textile fabrics, see Exo 35:35.

Exo 26:3

Each curtain formed of five breadths (see Exo 26:1), was 42 feet in length and 30 feet in breadth, taking the cubit at 18 inches.

Exo 26:4

The meaning appears to be, "And thou shalt make loops of blue on the edge of the one breadth (which is) on the side (of the one curtain) at the coupling; and the same shalt thou do in the edge of the outside breadth of the other (curtain) at the coupling."The "coupling"is the uniting together of the two curtains: ("selvedge"is the translation of a word signifying extremity or end).

Exo 26:5

The words "in the edge,"etc. mean, "on the edge of the breadth that is at the coupling in the second (curtain)."

Exo 26:6

Taches of gold - Each "tache,"or clasp, was to unite two opposite loops.

Couple the curtains - i. e. couple the two outside breadths mentioned in Exo 26:4.

Exo 26:7

A covering upon the tabernacle - A tent over the tabernacle. The Hebrew word here used, is the regular one for a tent of skins or cloth of any sort.

Exo 26:9

tabernacle - tent, not tabernacle. The passage might be rendered, "thou shalt equally divide the sixth breadth at the front of the tent."In this way, half a breadth would overhang at the front and half at the back.

Exo 26:10

Or: "And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the outside breadth of the one (curtain) at the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the outside breadth of the other (curtain) at the coupling."

Exo 26:11

In the tent, clasps of bronze were used to unite the loops of the two curtains; in the tabernacle, clasps of gold, compare Exo 26:6, Exo 26:37.

Couple the tent together - Not "covering,"as in the margin. By "the tent"is here meant the tent-cloth alone.

Exo 26:13

The measure of the entire tabernacle-cloth was about 60 ft. by 42; that of the tent-cloth was about 67 ft. by 45. When the latter was placed over the former, it spread beyond it at the back and front about 3 ft. (the "half-curtain,"Exo 26:9, Exo 26:12) and at the sides 18 inches.

Exo 26:16

The board would therefore be about 15 ft. long, and 27 in. broad.

Exo 26:18

The entire length of the structure was about 45 ft. in the clear, and its width about 15 ft.

The south side southward - Or, the south side on the right. As the entrance of the tabernacle was at its east end, the south side, to a person entering it, would be on the left hand: but we learn from Josephus that it was usual, in speaking of the temple, to identify the south with the right hand and the north with the left hand, the entrance being regarded as the face of the structure and the west end as its back.

Exo 26:19

Sockets - More literally, bases, or foundations. Each base weighed a talent, that is, about 94 lbs. (see Exo 38:27), and must have been a massive block. The bases formed a continuous foundation for the walls of boards, presenting a succession of sockets or mortices (each base having a single socket), into which the tenons were to fit. They served not only for ornament but also for the protection of the lower ends of the boards from the decay which would have resulted from contact with the ground.

Exo 26:22

The sides of the tabernacle westward - Rather, the back of the tabernacle toward the west. See Exo 26:18.

Exo 26:23

In the two sides - Rather, at the back.

Exo 26:24

The corner boards appear to have been of such width, and so placed, as to add 18 in. to the width of the structure, making up with the six boards of full width Exo 26:22 about 15 ft. in the clear (see Exo 26:18). The "ring"was so formed as to receive two bars meeting "beneath"and "above"at a right angle.

Exo 26:27

For the two sides westward - For the back toward the west. Compare Exo 26:22,

Exo 26:28

In the midst of the boards - If we suppose the boards to have been of ordinary thickness Exo 26:16, the bar was visible and passed through an entire row of rings. In any case, it served to hold the whole wall together.

Exo 26:31

Vail - Literally, separation (see Exo 35:12 note).

Exo 26:33

Taches - Not the same as the hooks of the preceding verse, but the clasps of the tabernacle-cloth (see Exo 26:6).

Exo 26:34-35

See Exo 25:10-16, Exo 25:23, Exo 25:31.

Exo 26:36

The door of the tent - The entrance to the tent, closed by the "hanging"or curtain Exo 27:16.

Wrought with needlework. - The work of the embroiderer. The entrance curtain of the tent and that of the court Exo 27:16 were to be of the same materials, but embroidered with the needle, not made in figures in the loom (see Exo 26:1; Exo 35:35).

Exo 26:37

Rice pillars - These, it should be observed, belonged to the entrance of the tent, not, in their architectural relation, to the entrance of the tabernacle.

Sockets of brass - Their bases (see Exo 26:19) were of bronze (like the taches of the tentcloth, Exo 26:11), not of silver, to mark the inferiority of the tent to the tabernacle.

We are indebted to Mr. Fergusson for what may be regarded as a satisfactory reconstruction of the sanctuary in all its main particulars. He holds that what sheltered the Mishkan was actually a tent of ordinary form, such as common sense and practical experience would suggest as best suited for the purpose.

According to this view the five pillars at the entrance of the tent Exo 26:37 were graduated as they would naturally be at the entrance of any large tent of the best form, the tallest one being in the middle to support one end of a ridge-pole.

Such a ridge-pole, which must have been sixty feet in length, would have required support, and this might have been afforded by a plain pole in the middle of the structure. Over this framing of wood-work the tent-cloth of goats’ hair was strained with its cords and tent-pins in the usual way. (See cut.)

Above the tent-cloth of goats’ hair was spread the covering of red rams’ skins.

The five pillars, to reach across the front of the tent, must have stood five cubits (about 7 1/2 ft.) apart. Their heads were united by connecting rods ("fillets"Exo 27:10) overlaid with gold Exo 36:38. The spaces at the sides and back may have been wholly or in part covered in for the use of the officiating priests, like the small apartments which in after times skirted three sides of the temple. It was probably here that those portions of the sacrifices were eaten which were not to be carried out of the sacred precincts Lev 6:16, Lev 6:26. We may also infer that priests lodged in them. Compare 1Sa 3:2-3.

Poole: Exo 26:4

Loops together with the taches were for the joining the curtains together, as appears from Exo 26:11 , which way of conjunction was most convenient for the often taking them down and setting them up.

From the selvage , or from , or in the extremity, or end , or edge , Heb. lip . In the coupling , i.e. in the place where the two curtains are coupled together. And likewise the second curtain is to be made exactly like the first.

Poole: Exo 26:5

Ver. 5.

Poole: Exo 26:6

The taches, or hooks or buttons , which were put into the loops to unite and fasten the curtains.

Poole: Exo 26:7

Of goats’ hair , spun, Exo 35:26 , and woven into a stuff, like our camlet.

To be a covering ; to be put next above the curtains.

Poole: Exo 26:9

For the better security of the inward covering.

Poole: Exo 26:14

To preserve the rest from the injury of the weather.

Poole: Exo 26:17

Two tenons , Heb. hands , i.e. parts of the boards, so cut and framed that like hands they may take hold of and be fastened into the sockets, Exo 26:19 .

Poole: Exo 26:19

Forty sockets , or bases, or pedestals, or feet , upon which the boards stood, and to which they were fastened.

Poole: Exo 26:23

Which were of another fashion than the former, as may be gathered both from the distinct nomination and use of them, and from the laws of building. And whereas the rest were but single boards, these were double, for greater strength and conveniency of joining them together.

Poole: Exo 26:24

Coupled together , Heb. as twins , i.e. equal and equally joined together, and exactly answering one to the other.

Unto one ring , which ring was exactly in the corner, and with the help of the bars kept the corner boards, and with them the other boards of the tabernacle, close together. But you must note, that here were two rings in each corner, the one in the upper, the other in the lower parts.

Poole: Exo 26:26

By bars you may understand either,

1. Several rows or orders of bars, one bar beginning at the end of the other, and each containing four cubits in length, and altogether twenty cubits, which was the length of the tabernacle; or,

2. Single bars, which seem truer,

1. Because the word signifies bars , not rows of bars ; and why should we go from the proper signification of the word without cause?

2. If bars be put for rows of bars, there must be five rows of bars on a side, there being so many bars said to be on a side. But the abettors of that opinion allow only four rows of bars on a side; and it is apparent the middle bar, which is one of the five, is but one single bar, Exo 26:28 , and therefore it may be presumed the rest were so too.

3. The name of the middle bar implies, that of the other four bars, two were above it, and two below it.

Object . But if they were each single bars, reaching the whole length of the building, why is it said peculiarly of the middle bar, that it should reach from end to end , or from extremity to extremity ? Exo 26:28 .

Answ . This may be peculiarly said of this, either because the other four might want something of the just length of the building, or because the middle bar might stand out beyond the two ends of it, for conveniency of the carriage of the building.

Poole: Exo 26:27

There was but one side westward. Either therefore here is a transposition of the Hebrew words, which is usual, and the words are thus to be placed and rendered,

westward , looking to both sides , or, westward , according to both the other sides , now mentioned, to note that the number and length of bars in the west end should be equal to those on either of the other sides; or here is an enallage of the number, the dual or plural for the singular, of which there are many examples, and so the words are to be rendered, for the side looking westward .

Poole: Exo 26:28

In the midst of the boards ; not within the thickness of the boards, as the Jews conceive, but in the length of them; as appears,

1. Because this bar, as well as the rest, was gilded, Exo 26:29 , which was frivolous if it were never seen

2. Because all the bars had rings made to receive and hold them up, Exo 26:29 .

Poole: Exo 26:30

Either by visible representation to his eye, or rather by mental vision or impression of it upon his imagination.

Poole: Exo 26:31

Thou shalt make a veil , which was thick and strong that none could see through it, called the second veil , Heb 9:3 , whereby the holy of holies, which represented the highest heaven, was divided from the holy place, where the church militant, or its representatives, met and served God, Exo 26:33 . For the signification of this veil, see Luk 23:45 Heb 9:8,24 10:19,20 .

Poole: Exo 26:32

The hooks were fastened to the tops of the pillars, as the veil was fastened to them.

Poole: Exo 26:33

Under the taches , or, in the place (as the Hebrew tacheth oft signifies) of the taches, to wit, where the two curtains are joined together by taches, Exo 26:6 .

Poole: Exo 26:36

For the door of the tent , i.e. of the holy place, where it was divided from the court of the people.

Haydock: Exo 26:3

Five curtains, which would cover half the tabernacle, or 20 cubits. (Calmet) ---

Being joined together, they remind us of fraternal charity and union; which ought to adorn the members of the church. (Worthington)

Haydock: Exo 26:6

Rings. Hooks or taches, ver. 11.

Haydock: Exo 26:13

A cubit. As these curtains were two cubits longer, and four broader, than those more precious ones below, they hung down to the ground. Josephus, [Antiquities?] iii. 5.

Haydock: Exo 26:14

Skins. These two were probably as large as the last, to keep out rain; (Menochius) though the text only specifies the roof.

Haydock: Exo 26:17

Mortises, (incastraturæ). Hebrew, "tenons," which corresponded with the former. (Calmet)

Haydock: Exo 26:19

Corners. Hebrew tenons, literally, "hands," which has the same meaning as the Vulgate. Some think, the sockets or bases rested on the ground, and had a point which entered into the boards, to keep them in their places. (Lyranus) ---

The ornaments on the north and south were the same. (Calmet)

Haydock: Exo 26:22

Six, at the western end, with two other strong boards, or pillars, to connect the whole, as they were placed at the two corners, and were half a cubit each. (Menochius)

Haydock: Exo 26:26

Bars, 30 cubits long, on two sides, and ten on the western end, to fasten the boards.

Haydock: Exo 26:31

A veil, to hang before the entrance of the tabernacle, at the east side, which had no boards. Within was the ark, ver. 33. (Haydock)

Haydock: Exo 26:32

Heads. Chaptrels of setim-wood, overlaid with gold, ---

( Vovim ), not little hooks for curtains. (Calmet)

Haydock: Exo 26:33

The sanctuary, &c. That part of the tabernacle, which was without the veil, into which the priests daily entered, is here called the sanctuary, or holy place; that part which was within the veil, into which no one but the high priest ever went in, and he but once a year, is called the holy of holies, (literally, the sanctuaries of the sanctuary, ) as being the most holy of all holy places. (Challoner) ---

It occupied only one-third of the tabernacle. (Menochius)

Haydock: Exo 26:36

Hanging, or veil, suspended on five pillars, before the sanctuary. (Haydock) ---

It was the other veil, which was rent at the death of Christ. Baronius observes, that Christian temples were formerly built in imitation of the Jewish tabernacle. It was a figure of the Catholic church, 1 Timothy iii. 15.

Gill: Exo 26:2

The length of one curtain shall be twenty eight cubits,.... Or fourteen yards:

and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; or two yards; according to the common notion of a cubit being half a yard; but if, as Dr. Cumberland says, the Jewish and Egyptian cubit was three inches longer, this will make a considerable difference in the length and breadth of those curtains, especially in the former:

and everyone of the curtains shall have one measure; be of equal length and breadth.

Gill: Exo 26:3

The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another,.... Five of the ten curtains were to be sewed together, and make as it were one curtain:

and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another: the other five were to be joined together in like manner, and so made two large pieces of tapestry of fourteen yards long and ten broad, according to the common account of a cubit, but were much longer and broader.

Gill: Exo 26:4

And thou shall make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain,.... The first large curtain, consisting of five sewed together, at the edge of that:

from the selvedge in the coupling; where it was to be coupled with the other great curtain; "loops" or "eyelet holes" ^h, were to be made: these were not wove with the curtains, for they were not to be upon all of them, only at the two outermost of the largest ones, and therefore were made afterwards, probably with the needle:

and likewise shall thou make in the uppermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second; loops also were to be made on the outermost edge of another curtain belonging to the second great curtain, where it was to be coupled with the first.

Gill: Exo 26:5

Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain,.... In the first great curtain, or in the outermost of the five that were sewed together:

and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; as many also were to be made in the outermost of the second great curtain where it was to be coupled with the first:

that the loops may take hold one of another; or rather that they might answer to one another in both curtains; for the loops could not take hold of one another, only were made to meet together by the taches, hooks, or clasps put into them, next mentioned.

Gill: Exo 26:6

And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold,.... Which some render "buttons" ⁱ, others "hooks" ^k they seem to be "clasps"; the use of them follows:

and couple the curtains together with the taches; the two great curtains were made out of the ten, which had in them fifty

Gill: Exo 26:7

And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair,.... Jarchi calls it the flower or down of goats, the softer and finer part of their hair, which was spun by women, as appears from Exo 35:26, and was made up into a stuff somewhat like our camelot; these curtains were coarser than the former, and were made to be put over them, to preserve them from the weather, as it follows:

to be a covering upon the tabernacle: which, by the curtains of linen coupled together, became one tabernacle, as in the preceding verse: and these curtains were to be a tent or covering over them: they were somewhat like, being made of the same matter, with the coverings with which the ancient Arabs covered their tents, which were made of goats' hair, as were the tents of Kedar alluded to in Son 1:5, these curtains of goats' hair denote the outward appearance of Christ in human nature, who, attended with all human infirmities, excepting sin, was in the form of a servant, in great meanness and poverty, covered with reproach, and had in the greatest contempt, and especially at the time of his sufferings and death; though all rich and glorious within, full of grace, and of all the blessings of grace, of righteousness and life, of light, joy, peace, and comfort for his people; and may also denote the mean appearance of the church and people of God outwardly; being, generally speaking, a poor and an afflicted people, subject to the scorn, reproach, and persecutions of men, but all glorious within, enriched with the grace of God and righteousness of Christ; and so, in one respect, like these curtains of goats' hair, and, in another respect, like the curtains of fine linen:

eleven curtains shalt thou make; one more than the other; the reason of which was, that there might be one at the entrance of the tabernacle, there being no linen curtain there, see Exo 26:9.

Gill: Exo 26:8

The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits,.... The breadth of them is the same with the linen curtains, but the length of them two cubits more; the reason of which was, that they might hang down lower on either side, and the better preserve them from any injury:

and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure; as to length and breadth.

Gill: Exo 26:9

And thou shall couple five curtains by themselves,.... And make one large curtain of them, as was ordered with respect to the linen curtains:

and six curtains by themselves; as there were eleven of them, such a division was made of five into one large curtain, and six into another; and as that which had six in it would reach further than the other, provision is made for the disposal and use of that as follows:

and shall double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle; at the entrance of it, in the east end of it; the sixth curtain reaching to that, and hanging down, was turned up, and so doubled, opposite the door or entrance; and was, as Jarchi says, like a modest bride that covers her face with a vail, which before this had no covering; for thus it was, as Dr. Lightfoot ^m describes it, the holy place was ten yards long, and the five curtains sewed together were just so broad, and so they covered only the top and the sides, but hung not down at the end, which was eastward--but the six (goat hair curtains) that lay east reached to the end, covered the pillars whereon that vail hung, and they hung half a curtain's breadth or a yard over the entrance.

Gill: Exo 26:10

And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain, that is outmost in the coupling,.... Just in like manner, and in the same place where they were ordered to be put on the linen curtains, only these are not said to be of blue, but perhaps were wrought with goats hair: and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second; these loops were set on each of the curtains where the two large pieces were to be coupled together.

Gill: Exo 26:11

And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass,.... As these curtains were coarser, and also the loops, so the taches, hooks, or clasps, were made of meaner metal, but answered the purpose of joining and coupling together full as well: and put the taches into the loops; one end of the hook or clasp into the loop on one of the curtains, and the other end of the hook or clasp into the loop on the other curtain answering to it: and couple the tent together, that it may be one; that the tent or covering over the tabernacle might be one, as the tabernacle by the like means was, Exo 26:6.

Gill: Exo 26:12

And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent,.... Of the goat hair curtains, which were one more than the linen curtains:

the half curtain that remaineth; for the other half extended to the east end of it, at the entrance of the tabernacle, and hung down and was doubled there, and the other that remained is here disposed of:

shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle; the west end of it, where was the holy of holies; or rather, as Dr. Lightfoot ⁿ describes it, thus, it was when those curtains (of goats' hair) were laid upon the other over the tabernacle; they were not laid as these brazen loops (clasps it should be) did light just upon the golden ones over the vail, but three quarters of a yard more westward, so that the five curtains that went west did reach to the ground and half a curtain to spare, Exo 26:12 the other six that lay east reached to the end, covered the pillars whereon that vail hung, and they hung half a curtain's breadth or a yard over the entrance.

Gill: Exo 26:13

And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side o that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent,.... The curtains of the tent, or the goat hair curtains, were two cubits longer than the other, and these are the two cubits, one on one side and the other on the other, which remained, and by which they were longer than the linen curtains:

it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle; the north and south sides: on this side:

and on that side, to cover it; and as the above learned doctor observes ^o, their length of fifteen yards reached half a yard lower on either side than the other curtains did, and yet they came not to the ground by a quarter of a yard; so that the silver foundations (of which afterwards) were always plain to be seen everywhere but at the west end.

Gill: Exo 26:14

And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red,.... This was a covering that was put over the curtains of goats' skin; but whether it went all over them, or only upon the roof of the tabernacle they covered, to keep out the rains from soaking through, is not certain, nor very evident; Jarchi thinks the roof was only covered with this covering of rams' skins; but others think it more reasonable that the whole was covered with them to preserve from dust and rain:

and a covering above of badgers' skins; of these skins See Gill on Exo 25:5, this was a fourth covering of the tabernacle; the first was of linen curtains, the second of goats' hair, the third of rams' skins, and the fourth of badgers' skins, which seems to have been thicker and courser, since shoes were made of them, Eze 16:10, R. Judah, as quoted by Jarchi, thinks the two last were but one covering, half of it consisting of rams' skins and half of it of badgers' skins; but the text is express that the latter was a covering above and over the former: these several coverings of the tabernacle show the care that God takes of his church and people, and how sufficiently they are provided for, that they may be in safety from all their enemies, being clothed with Christ's righteousness, and under the purple covering of his blood, and surrounded by his almighty power, see Isa 4:5.

Gill: Exo 26:15

And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle,.... Which were the pillars and supports, and properly the walls of it, which gave it its firmness and security, or otherwise the curtains would have been blown about by every wind: they were to be made

of shittim wood standing up; just as they grew, as a Jewish writer observes ^p; these planks or boards were not to be laid along the lengthways of them, but to be set upright; and may denote such who are pillars in the house of God, and are to be upright both in heart and conversation, both ministers and private members; and indeed the church itself is the pillar and ground of truth, Gal 2:9.

Gill: Exo 26:16

Ten cubits shall be the length of a board,.... Or five yards, according to the common cubit:

and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board; or three quarters of a yard; and from hence we may learn what were the height and the length of the tabernacle; according to the common computation of a cubit, it was but five yards high and fifteen long, since there were but twenty boards on each side, Exo 26:18, but if three inches are added to each cubit, it will make its measures considerably larger: Josephus ^q says the boards were four fingers thick: according to Bishop Cumberland the boards of the tabernacle, containing fifteen Jewish square cubits, were very near fifty English square feet in their length and breadth.

Gill: Exo 26:17

Two tenons shall there be on one board,.... Every board was to be so cut and shaped at the lower end of it, as to have, as it were, "two hands" ^r, as in the original, to enter into, lay hold on, and fasten in mortises:

set in order one against another; at a proper distance from each other, as the rounds of a ladder:

thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle; everyone was to have two tenons.

Gill: Exo 26:18

And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle,.... As in the manner before described, so in number as follows:

twenty boards on the south side southward; which being a cubit and a half broad, made the length of the tabernacle fifteen yards according to the common account; but if these were cubits of twenty one inches, then its length was much greater.

Gill: Exo 26:19

And thou shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards,.... Or bases ^s, and which were properly the foundation of the tabernacle, on which it was settled and established; these sockets were the mortises for the two tenons of each board or plank to be placed in, and were as broad as the plank, and, joining each other, made one entire basis for the whole structure; each socket contained a talent of silver, and was made of the silver given at the numbering of the people, Exo 38:25, and a talent of silver, according to Bishop Cumberland, amounted to three hundred and fifty three pounds, eleven shillings and some odd pence of our money: by which may be judged the whole value of this silver foundation, which, with the four sockets of the vail, consisted of one hundred of them, which answer to the one hundred talents of silver collected at the above offering:

two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons; and so in all the twenty boards, which took up the whole forty on the south side.

Gill: Exo 26:20

And for the second side of the tabernacle the north side,.... The direction of the tabernacle was east and west; at the east end was the entrance into the holy place, and at the west end the holy of holies; and the two sides were north and south; and as on the south side, so on the north

there shall be twenty boards: just the same number as the laws of building required.

Gill: Exo 26:21

And their forty sockets of silver,.... answerable to the twenty boards, for their two tenons to be placed in as in mortises: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board; and so under all the boards on the north side as on the south.

Gill: Exo 26:22

And for the sides of the tabernacle,.... Or the ends of it, the east and west, and the account begins with the west:

westward thou shalt make six boards; so that the breadth of the tabernacle was but nine cubits, or four yards and a half, according to a common cubit; but two boards more placed at the two corners of the sides, next observed, added to the breadth of it.

Gill: Exo 26:23

And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. For the northwest and southwest corners, in the north and south sides; concerning which Dr. Lightfoot thus writes ^t: and the west end had six planks entire, besides a plank at either corner, joining end and sides together; these corner planks were of the same breadth that all the others were, and, thus set, the middle of the breadth of the one plank was laid close to the end of the south side, or to that plank that was furthest west; so that a quarter of a yard of the breadth of the corner plank was inward, to make up the tabernacle breadth, a quarter was taken up with the thickness of the side plank to which it joined, and a quarter lay outward: thus at the southwest, just so was it at the northwest corner: then count; the two corner planks were inward a quarter of a yard apiece, and the six planks that stood between them of three quarters apiece, behold five yards, just the breadth of the house between wall and wall: these corners knit end and side together, and were the strength of the building; as, adds he,"Christ is of his church, making Jews and Gentiles one spiritual temple.''

Gill: Exo 26:24

And they shall be coupled together beneath,.... At the bottom of the boards or planks:

and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring at the top of the boards there was a ring, to which they were coupled and fastened, and so at the bottom of them, though not expressed: some understand this of all the planks, both at the two sides and at the west end; but it seems rather to respect only the corner planks, since it follows:

thus shall it be for them both, they shall be for the two corners; which were coupled and joined alike at each corner as if they were twins, as the word used signifies; or the meaning is, that these were double boards, and so like twins, which were so closely put together that they seemed but one board; which was done that the corners might be thicker and stronger, and so for the greater firmness of the building.

Gill: Exo 26:25

And they shall be eight boards,.... Six at the west end and one at each corner, northwest and southwest:

and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets the same as those for the boards on both sides north and south: they were of the same metal, silver; and they were two under one board, to receive its two tenons as follows:

two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board; and so under all eight, and which sockets joining with those of the two sides, and in all made ninety six, were the basis and foundation of the tabernacle, and was a figure of Christ, the only foundation of his church and people; and the several tenons of the boards joined into those sockets of silver may denote the union of the members of Christ and ministers of his word to him, and their dependence on him.

Gill: Exo 26:26

And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood, Which being put into rings or staples of gold, kept the boards tight, close, and firm together:

five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle: for instance, the south side; four of these were placed, two at the upper end of the boards, and two at the lower end, and the fifth in the middle, particularly taken notice of, Exo 26:28, how long these bars were it is not said, but it is reasonable to conclude that they reached the length of the tabernacle, which was thirty cubits; and as it was not easy to get bars of such a length, the notion of Josephus ^u perhaps, may be right, that each two consisted of divers parts which joined one another, the head of one entering into the hollow of the other and as he supposes they were five cubits long, a row of them must have six parts, which went along the sides, north and south, and the west end two, which was but ten cubits.

Gill: Exo 26:27

And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle,.... Suppose the north, these bars were disposed of in the same manner as those on the south side:

and five bars for the boards of that side of the tabernacle; or the end of it, the west end, as follows:

for the two sides westward; that is, the two corners at the west end, the southwest and the northwest corners; and these five bars reached from the one to the other, two at the upper part of the boards, and two at the lower part, and one in the middle.

Gill: Exo 26:28

And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end. From east to west, as Jarchi interprets it; but this can only be said of the middle bar on the north and south sides of the tabernacle, for the middle bar at the west end was north to south: about this bar there is some difficulty, as that it is said to be "from end to end", as if that only was; whereas it is reasonable to suppose that the rest were so likewise; it may be, they might come somewhat short of reaching the end, whereas this did entirely; or rather the truer reason is, because the rest of the bars consisted of various parts; whereas this was a long bar of one entire piece, reaching from one end of the tabernacle to the other: likewise it is said to be "in the midst of the boards"; and the Jewish writers are generally of opinion, that it did not run along in rings as the other bars did, but the boards and planks being bored, this went through the thickness of the wood throughout; and in this they are followed by Arias Moatanus, Vatablus, Dr. Lightfoot, and others: but to this it may be objected, that the boards must be very thick indeed, even incredibly so, to admit of such a bore as to let in a bar of this kind, and is not so consistent with its being a portable house; and besides, when it was at any time taken down, in order to be removed, such a bar must give a great deal of trouble, and be in danger of being broke to pieces; besides, if it was thus covered in the boards, as it must be, what need was there that it should be overlaid with gold, as in the next verse? it is more probable, therefore, that it went not through the midst of the thickness of the wood, but in the middle of the length of the planks, and so expresses its different situation from the rest of the bars, which were at or towards the top and bottom of the planks, and this in the middle of them. It is not said of these bars, whether they were within or on the outside of the tabernacle; it is most likely they were on the outside, as Josephus ^w says they were; since they would not have made a good appearance within side, where they would have been always seen by the priests within, whereas being without they were covered with the curtains.

Gill: Exo 26:29

And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold,.... Not merely gild them, but cover them with thin plates of gold; and which, because it would take up a great quantity of gold, and make the boards very heavy, unless the plates were very thin, when they were taken down and carried from place to place, some have thought they were only glided:

and make their rings of gold, for places for the bars; these were made of solid gold, and were as staples to let the bars into: and, according to Jarchi, there were two rings to every board:

and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold: cover them with plates of gold; and these bars and staples of gold show how compact and firm the church of God is, through his almighty power, as well as how glorious and splendid it is by his grace.

Gill: Exo 26:30

And thou shall rear up the tabernacle,.... When thus finished, and all the furniture belonging to it completed:

according to the fashion thereof, which was showed thee in the mount; this is the third time that this is observed to Moses in the account of the tabernacle; which shows how punctually God would have the pattern observed he had given him, and that all things might be particularly and exactly done according to it, see Heb 8:5.

Gill: Exo 26:31

And thou shalt make a vail,.... The use of this, as follows, was to divide the holy place from the most holy place in the tabernacle; it has its name from hardness, it being very stiff and strong, for it was made of thread six times doubled, and was four fingers thick, as the Jewish writers say: this vail may represent the sin of man, which separates between God and man, was removed by the death of Christ when the vail was rent, and so the way to heaven opened; or the obscurity of the legal dispensation, the Gospel being veiled under the shadows of the law, and the way into the holiest of all then not so manifest, and particularly the ceremonial law, which separated between Jew and Gentile, and is now abolished by the death of Christ; or rather it was typical of the human nature of Christ, his flesh, called in allusion to it the vail of his flesh, Heb 10:20. This vail was made of

blue, and purple, and scarlet, of fine twined linen of cunning work; it seems to have been made of the same materials, and in the same curious manner of workmanship with the curtains of the tabernacle, Exo 26:1, and was itself no other than a curtain, and so it is interpreted by some Jewish writers ^x. It being made of "fine linen" denotes the purity of Christ, of his nature, life, and righteousness; of "twined linen", his strength, courage and steadiness; "of blue, purple, and scarlet", the several graces of the Spirit, with which his human nature was adorned, his flaming zeal for his Father's glory and the good of his people, his bloody wounds, sufferings, and death, the preciousness of his blood, the dignity of his person, and his glorious exaltation, purple and scarlet being the colours wore by kings:

with cherubim shall it be made; signifying either the ministration of angels to him in his incarnate state, or the mission of Gospel ministers by him, see Psa 139:15.

Gill: Exo 26:32

And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold,.... For it was ten cubits long, and as many broad; and being of such a stiffness and thickness as it was, required so many pillars to support it: these pillars may signify the deity of Christ, which is the support of his human nature, and in which it has its personal subsistence, and gives all its actions and sufferings virtue and efficacy; and being of "shittim wood", which is incorruptible, may denote his eternity, and being covered with gold, his glory:

their hooks shall be of gold; which were upon the tops of the pillars on which the vail was hung: and the pillars were

upon the four sockets of silver; which were properly the pedestals or feet of the pillars; and these sockets, into which the pillars were let and placed, and the hooks the vail hung by, may hint to the union of the two natures in Christ, who is God and man in one person, God manifest in the flesh; see Son 5:15.

Gill: Exo 26:33

And thou shall hang up the vail under the taches,.... Or clasps, which coupled the two grand curtains, or pieces of tapestry, each consisting of five curtains, of which the tabernacle was made, Exo 26:6, and by this it seems that the place where they met, and were clasped, was where the vail was hung between the holy and the most holy place: for, as Dr. Lightfoot ^y observes, according to the division of the house was the division of the curtains, the vail that parted the holy from the most holy was hung just under the golden clasps that knit the five curtains together; so that five curtains lay over the holy place, and the other five over the most holy; but with this difference, the holy place was ten yards long, and the five curtains sewed together were just so broad, and so they covered only the top and sides, but hung not down at the end which was eastward; but the most holy was but five yards long, and the five curtains over that did not only cover the top, but also hung down at the west end to the silver bases; and of what he says of the goat hair curtains, and their brazen clasps or taches, and where they met, and what they covered; see Gill on Exo 26:12,

that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony; the ark in which the testimony or law of God, testifying his will, was put; of which see Exo 25:10, &c. this was to be set in the most holy place, as being holy, spiritual, just, and good; and as being fulfilled by Christ, signified by the ark in which it was, through whose righteousness alone there is admission into the holy of holies, by which this law is fulfilled, magnified, and made honourable:

and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy; which was so thick, that there was no seeing through it; and none might enter by it into the holiest of all but the high priest, and he only on the day of atonement; and into the holy place might none come but the priests, to do the service of the sanctuary. The holy place was typical of the church on earth, where all the saints, who are priests to God, worship, and the most holy of heaven, the perfect state of bliss and happiness.

Gill: Exo 26:34

And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon ark of the testimony,.... With the cherubim of glory overshadowing it; all which were a representation of the way of man's salvation flowing from the mercy and grace of God, through the propitiation by Christ, and his perfect righteousness, by which the law is fulfilled; and all this is published in the Gospel by the ministers of it, signified by the cherubim: and these are all the things that were "in the most holy place"; and they were placed at the west end of it.

Gill: Exo 26:35

And thou shalt set the table without the vail,.... The table of shewbread, of which see Exo 25:23, this was not to be within the vail, but without it, in the holy place: and the candlestick opposite the table, of which see Exo 25:31, &c. signifying, that in the church of God, in the present state of things, which the holy place was an emblem of, there are both food and light: the candlestick was placed

on the side of the tabernacle, toward the south; according to Jarchi, two cubits and a half from the side of it:

and thou shalt put the table on the north side; of the tabernacle, directly opposite the candlestick, two cubits and a half from the south side, as the same writer says;

Gill: Exo 26:36

And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent,.... At the east end of the tabernacle, which lay open and exposed, and for which as yet there was no provision; the west end of it, where stood the holy of holies, was enclosed with six boards, and two corner ones, Exo 26:22 and the linen curtains hung down there to the silver bases, and so did the curtains of goats' hair, even to the ground, and half a curtain to spare, see Exo 26:12 but for the east end, or entrance into the tabernacle, there was nothing till now ordered, only the sixth curtain of the goats' hair curtains was there turned up double, Exo 26:9, but now here an "hanging" is ordered, or rather a "covering" ^z, as the word signifies; Jarchi calls it a vail; and this was instead of a door to the tabernacle, and divided the holy place, into which only the priests might enter, from the place where the people stood and worshipped: and this also was made

of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as was the vail between the holy and the holy of holies; only with this difference, this was

wrought with needle work, and that was of "cunning work": the difference between these two, "Rokem" and "Chosheb", was, as Ben Melech from the Misnah relates, that "Rokem" is the work of a needle, and therefore but one face or figure is seen, that is, it is only seen on one side; but "Chosheb" is the work of a weaver, and therefore two faces or figures are seen, that is, they are seen on both sides; and with this account Maimonides agrees; see Gill on Exo 26:1, besides this hanging, Josephus ^a tells us there was another of linen, of the same size with this, and which covered it, and preserved it from the weather, and which on festival days was turned back, that the people might have a prospect of the other; just as there were curtains of goats' hair to preserve the linen ones.

Gill: Exo 26:37

And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood,.... One at each corner of the entrance into the tabernacle, and the other three at a proper distance from each other, so as to make four ways for the priests to enter in at; as there might very well be, since there was a breadth of ten cubits, or five yards or more:

and overlay them with gold; with plates of gold, for a gild would soon wear off by continual use in passing and repassing. This is to be understood not of the whole pillars, but of the chapiters, heads, tops, or knobs of them, and of their fillets or girdles; in some parts of them the wood appearing, as is plain from Exo 36:38,

and their hooks shall be of gold; on which the hanging, covering, or vail was hung:

and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them; for the pillars to stand upon them, and were of a meaner metal than those on which the pillars for the vail before mentioned; that being the entrance into the holy of holies, where the divine Majesty dwelt, this into the holy place where the priests did their service.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Exo 26:2

¹ tn Heb “one” (so KJV).

² tn Heb “twenty-eight cubits” long and “four cubits” wide.

NET Notes: Exo 26:3

¹ tn This is the active participle, not the passive. It would normally be rendered “joining together.” The Bible uses the active because it has the result of the sewing in mind, namely, that every curtain accompanies another (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 348).

² tn Heb “a woman to her sister,” this form of using nouns to express “one to another” is selected because “curtains” is a feminine noun (see GKC 448 §139.e).

³ tn The phrase “the other” has been supplied.

NET Notes: Exo 26:4

¹ tn Here “loops” has been supplied.

NET Notes: Exo 26:5

¹ tn Heb “a woman to her sister.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:6

¹ tn Heb “one”; KJV “it shall be one tabernacle”; NRSV “that the tabernacle may be one whole”; NLT “a single unit.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:7

¹ sn This chapter will show that there were two sets of curtains and two sets of coverings that went over the wood building to make the tabernacle or dwelling place. The curtains of fine linen described above could be seen only by the priests from inside. Above that was the curtain of goats’ hair. Then over that were the coverings, an inner covering of rams’ skins dyed red and an outer covering of hides of fine leather. The movement is from the inside to the outside because it is God’s dwelling place; the approach of the worshiper would be the opposite. The pure linen represented the righteousness of God, guarded by the embroidered cherubim; the curtain of goats’ hair was a reminder of sin through the daily sin offering of a goat; the covering of rams’ skins dyed red was a reminder of the sacrifice and the priestly ministry set apart by blood, and the outer covering marked the separation between God and the world. These are the interpretations set forth by Kaiser; others vary, but not greatly (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:459).

² sn This curtain will serve “for a tent over the tabernacle,” as a dwelling place.

³ tn Heb “you will make them”

NET Notes: Exo 26:8

¹ tn Heb “one”

NET Notes: Exo 26:9

¹ sn The text seems to describe this part as being in front of the tabernacle, hanging down to form a valence at the entrance (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 284).

NET Notes: Exo 26:11

¹ tn Heb “one”

NET Notes: Exo 26:12

¹ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 353) cites b. Shabbat 98b which says, “What did the tabernacle resemble? A woman walking on the street with her train trailing behind her.” In the expression “the half of the curtain that remains,” the verb agrees in gender with the genitive near it.

NET Notes: Exo 26:13

¹ tn Literally “cubit.”

² sn U. Cassuto states the following: “To the north and to the south, since the tent curtains were thirty cubits long, there were ten cubits left over on each side; these covered the nine cubits of the curtains of the tabernacle and also the bottom cubit of the boards, which the tabernacle curtains did not suffice to cover. It is to this that v. 13 refers” (Exodus, 353).

NET Notes: Exo 26:14

¹ sn Two outer coverings made of stronger materials will be put over the tent and the curtain, the two inner layers.

² tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.

NET Notes: Exo 26:15

¹ tn There is debate whether the word הַקְּרָשִׁים (haqqÿrashim) means “boards” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB) or “frames” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV) or “planks” (see Ezek 27:6) or “beams,” given the size of them. The literature on this includes M. Haran, “The Priestly Image of the Tabernacle,” HUCA 36 (1965): 192; B. A. Levine, “The Description of the Tabernacle Texts of the Pentateuch,” JAOS 85 (1965): 307-18; J. Morgenstern, “The Ark, the Ephod, and the Tent,” HUCA 17 (1942/43): 153-265; 18 (1943/44): 1-52.

² tn “Wood” is an adverbial accusative.

³ tn The plural participle “standing” refers to how these items will be situated; they will be vertical rather than horizontal (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 354).

NET Notes: Exo 26:16

¹ tn Heb “the frame.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:17

¹ sn Heb “hands,” the reference is probably to projections that served as stays or supports. They may have been tenons, or pegs, projecting from the bottom of the frames to hold the frames in their sockets (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 286).

² tn Or “being joined each to the other.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:18

¹ tn Heb “on the south side southward.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:19

¹ tn The clause is repeated to show the distributive sense; it literally says, “and two bases under the one frame for its two projections.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:22

¹ tn Or “westward” (toward the sea).

NET Notes: Exo 26:23

¹ sn The term rendered “corners” is “an architectural term for some kind of special corner structure. Here it seems to involve two extra supports, one at each corner of the western wall” (N. M. Sarna, Exodus [JPSTC], 170).

NET Notes: Exo 26:24

¹ tn Heb “they will be for the two corners.” This is the last clause of the verse, moved forward for clarity.

NET Notes: Exo 26:28

¹ sn These bars served as reinforcements to hold the upright frames together. The Hebrew term for these bars is also used of crossbars on gates (Judg 16:3; Neh 3:3).

NET Notes: Exo 26:30

¹ tn The noun is מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), often translated “judgment” or “decision” in other contexts. In those settings it may reflect its basic idea of custom, which here would be reflected with a rendering of “prescribed norm” or “plan.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:31

¹ tn Although translated “curtain” (traditionally “veil,” so ASV, NAB, NASB) this is a different word from the one used earlier of the tent curtains, so “special curtain” is used. The word פָרֹכֶת (farokhet) seems to be connected with a verb that means “to shut off” and was used with a shrine. This curtain would form a barrier in the approach to God (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 289).

² tn The verb is the third masculine singular form, but no subject is expressed. It could be translated “one will make” or as a passive. The verb means “to make,” but probably has the sense of embroidering both here and in v. 1.

NET Notes: Exo 26:32

¹ tn Heb “put it.”

² tn This clause simply says “and their hooks gold,” but is taken as a circumstantial clause telling how the veil will be hung.

³ tn Heb “on four silver bases.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:33

¹ tn The traditional expression is “within the veil,” literally “into the house (or area) of the (special) curtain.”

² tn Or “the Holy of Holies.”

NET Notes: Exo 26:36

¹ sn This was another curtain, serving as a screen in the entrance way. Since it was far away from the special curtain screening the Most Holy Place, it was less elaborate. It was not the work of the master designer, but of the “embroiderer,” and it did not have the cherubim on it.

² tn The word רֹקֵם (roqem) refers to someone who made cloth with colors. It is not certain, however, whether the colors were woven into the fabric on the loom or applied with a needle; so “embroiderer” should be understood as an approximation (cf. HALOT 1290-91 s.v. רקם).

NET Notes: Exo 26:37

¹ tn “will be” has been supplied.

² sn In all the details of this chapter the expositor should pay attention to the overall message rather than engage in speculation concerning the symbolism of the details. It is, after all, the divine instruction for the preparation of the dwelling place for Yahweh. The point could be said this way: The dwelling place of Yahweh must be prepared in accordance with, and by the power of, his divine word. If God was to fellowship with his people, then the center of worship had to be made to his specifications, which were in harmony with his nature. Everything was functional for the approach to God through the ritual by divine provisions. But everything also reflected the nature of God, the symmetry, the order, the pure wood, the gold overlay, or (closer to God) the solid gold. And the symbolism of the light, the table, the veil, the cherubim – all of it was revelatory. All of it reflected the reality in heaven. Churches today do not retain the pattern and furnishings of the old tabernacle. However, they would do well to learn what God was requiring of Israel, so that their structures are planned in accordance with the theology of worship and the theology of access to God. Function is a big part, but symbolism and revelation instruct the planning of everything to be used. Christians live in the light of the fulfillment of Christ, and so they know the realities that the old foreshadowed. While a building is not necessary for worship (just as Israel worshiped in places other than the sanctuary), it is practical, and if there is going to be one, then the most should be made of it in the teaching and worshiping of the assembly. This chapter, then, provides an inspiration for believers on preparing a functional, symbolical, ordered place of worship that is in harmony with the word of God. And there is much to be said for making it as beautiful and uplifting as is possible – as a gift of freewill offering to God. Of course, the most important part of preparing a place of worship is the preparing of the heart. Worship, to be acceptable to God, must be in Christ. He said that when the temple was destroyed he would raise it up in three days. While he referred to his own body, he also alluded to the temple by the figure. When they put Jesus to death, they were destroying the temple; at his resurrection he would indeed begin a new form of worship. He is the tent, the curtain, the atonement, that the sanctuary foreshadowed. And then, believers also (when they receive Christ) become the temple of the Lord. So the NT will take the imagery and teaching of this chapter in a number of useful ways that call for more study. This does not, however, involve allegorization of the individual tabernacle parts.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:4

And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge ^{( b )} in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of [another] curtain, in the coupling of the second.

^{( b )} On the side that the curtains might be tied together.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:5

Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that [is] in the coupling of the ^{( c )} second; that the loops may take hold one of another.

^{( c )} In tying together both the sides.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:7

And thou shalt make curtains [of] goats' [hair] to be a ^{( d )} covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.

^{( d )} Lest rain and weather should mar it.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:9

And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the ^{( e )} sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

^{( e )} That is, five on the one side, and five on the other, and the sixth should hang over the door of the tabernacle.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:12

And the ^{( f )} remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.

^{( f )} For these curtains were two cubits longer than the curtain of the tabernacle so that they were wider by a cubit of both sides.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:14

And thou shalt make a ^{( g )} covering for the tent [of] rams' skins dyed red, and a covering above [of] ^{( h )} badgers' skins.

^{( g )} To be put on the covering that was made of goats hair.

^{( h )} This was the third covering of the tabernacle.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:24

And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be ^{( i )} coupled together above the head of it unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners.

^{( i )} The Hebrew word signifies twins declaring that they should be as perfect and well joined as possible.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:32

And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood] overlaid with gold: their ^{( k )} hooks [shall be of] gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

^{( k )} Some read "heads of the pillars".

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:33

And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy [place] and the ^{( l )} most holy.

^{( l )} In which only the high priest entered and only once a year.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:35

And thou shalt set the table ^{( m )} without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

^{( m )} Meaning, in the holy place.

Geneva Bible: Exo 26:36

And thou shalt make an ^{( n )} hanging for the door of the tent, [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.

^{( n )} This hanging or veil was between the holy place, and there where the people were.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Exo 26:1-37

1 The ten curtains of the tabernacle.

7 The eleven curtains of goats' hair, and the covering of rams' and badgers' skins.

15 The boards of the tabernacle, with their sockets and bars.

31 The vail for the ark.

36 The hanging for the door.

MHCC: Exo 26:1-6

God manifested his presence among the Israelites in a tabernacle or tent, because of their condition in the wilderness. God suits the tokens of his favour, and the gifts of his grace, to his people's state and wants. The curtains of the tabernacle were to be very rich. They were to be embroidered with cherubim, signifying that the angels of God pitch their tents round about the church, Psa 34:7.

MHCC: Exo 26:7-14

The curtains of meaner materials, being made both longer and broader, covered the others, and were defended by coverings of skins. The whole represents the person and doctrine of Christ, and the church of true Christians, and all heavenly things, which outwardly are mean, but inwardly, and in the sight of God, are glorious and precious.

MHCC: Exo 26:15-30

The sockets of silver each weighed about 115 pounds; they were placed in rows on the ground. In every pair of these sockets, a strong board of shittim-wood, covered with plates of gold, was fitted by mortises and tenons. Thus walls were formed for the two sides, and for the west end. The wall was further held together by bars, which passed through rings of gold. Over this the curtains were spread. Though movable, it was strong and firm. The materials were very costly. In all this it was a type of the church of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone, Eph 2:20, Eph 2:21.

MHCC: Exo 26:31-37

A vail, or curtain, separated the holy place from the most holy place. It was hung upon pillars. This vail was for a partition between the holy place and the most holy; which forbade any to look into the holiest of all. The apostle tells what was the meaning of this vail, Heb 9:8. That the ceremonial law could not make the comers thereunto perfect, nor would the observance of it bring men to heaven; the way into the holiest of all was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing. Life and immortality lay hidden till they were brought to light by the gospel; which was signified by the rending of this vail at the death of Christ, Mat 27:51. We have now boldness to enter into the holiest, in all acts of worship, by the blood of Jesus; yet such as obliges us to holy reverence. Another vail was for the outer door of the tabernacle. This vail was all the defence the tabernacle had. God takes care of his church on earth. A curtain shall be, if God please to make it so, as strong a defence to his house, as gates of brass and bars of iron. With this typical description of Christ and his church before us, what is our judgment of these matters? Do we see any glory in the person of Christ? any excellence in his character? any thing precious in his salvation? or any wisdom in the doctrine of the cross? Will our religion bear examination? and are we more careful to approve our hearts to God than our characters toward men?

Matthew Henry: Exo 26:1-6

I. The house must be a tabernacle or tent, such as soldiers now use in the camp, which was both a mean dwelling and a movable one; and yet the ark of God had not better, till Solomon built the temple 480 years after this, 1Ki 6:1. God manifested his presence among them thus in a tabernacle, 1. In compliance with their present condition in the wilderness, that they might have him with them wherever they went. Note, God suits the tokens of his favour, and the gifts of his grace, to his people's wants and necessities, according as they are, accommodating his mercy to their state, prosperous or adverse, settled or unsettled. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, Isa 43:2. 2. That it might represent the state of God's church in this world, it is a tabernacle-state, Psa 15:1. We have here no continuing city; being strangers in this world, and travellers towards a better, we shall never be fixed till we come to heaven. Church-privileges are movable goods, from one place to another; the gospel is not tied to any place; the candlestick is in a tent, and may easily be taken away, Rev 2:5. If we make much of the tabernacle, and improve the privilege of it, wherever we go it will accompany us; but, if we neglect and disgrace it, wherever we stay it will forsake us. What hath my beloved to do in my house? Jer 11:15.

II. The curtains of the tabernacle must correspond to a divine pattern. 1. They were to be very rich, the best of the kind, fine twined linen; and colours very pleasing, blue, and purple, and scarlet. 2. They were to be embroidered with cherubim (Exo 26:1), to intimate that the angels of God pitch their tents round about the church, Psa 34:7. As there were cherubim over the mercy-seat, so there were round the tabernacle; for we find the angels compassing, not only the throne, but the elders; see Rev 5:11. 3. There were to be two hangings, five breadths in each, sewed together, and the two hangings coupled together with golden clasps, or tacks, so that it might be all one tabernacle, Exo 26:6. Thus the churches of Christ and the saints, though they are many, are yet one, being fitly joined together in holy love, and by the unity of the Spirit, so growing into one holy temple in the Lord, Eph 2:21, Eph 2:22; Eph 4:16. This tabernacle was very strait and narrow; but, at the preaching of the gospel, the church is bidden to enlarge the place of her tent, and to stretch forth her curtains, Isa 54:2.

Matthew Henry: Exo 26:7-14

Moses is here ordered to make a double covering for the tabernacle, that it might not rain in, and that the beauty of those fine curtains might not be damaged. 1. There was to be a covering of hair camlet curtains, which were somewhat larger every way than the inner curtains, because they were to enclose them, and probably were stretched out at some little distance from them, Exo 26:7, etc. These were coupled together with brass clasps. The stuff being less valuable, the tacks were so; but the brass tacks would answer the intention as effectually as the golden ones. The bonds of unity may be as strong between curtains of goats' hair as between those of purple and scarlet. 2. Over this there was to be another covering, and that a double one (Exo 26:14), one of rams' skins dyed red, probably dressed with the wool on; another of badgers' skins, so we translate it, but it should rather seem to have been some strong sort of leather (but very fine), for we read of the best sort of shoes being made of it, Eze 16:10. Now observe here, (1.) That the outside of the tabernacle was coarse and rough, the beauty of it was in the inner curtains. Those in whom God dwells must labour to be better than they seem to be. Hypocrites put the best side outwards, like whited sepulchres; but the king's daughter is all glorious within (Psa 45:13); in the eye of the world black as the tents of Kedar, but, in the eye of God, comely as the curtains of Solomon, Son 1:5. Let our adorning be that of the hidden man of the heart, which God values, 1Pe 3:4. (2.) That where God places his glory he will create a defence upon it; even upon the habitations of the righteous there shall be a covert, Isa 6:5, Isa 6:6. The protection of Providence shall always be upon the beauty of holiness. God's tent will be a pavilion, Psa 27:5.

Matthew Henry: Exo 26:15-30

Very particular directions are here given about the boards of the tabernacle, which were to bear up the curtains, as the stakes of a tent which had need to be strong, Isa 54:2. These boards had tenons which fell into the mortises that were made for them in silver bases. God took care to have every thing strong, as well as fine, in his tabernacle. Curtains without boards would have been shaken by every wind; but it is a good thing to have the heart established with grace, which is as the boards to support the curtains of profession, which otherwise will not hold out long. The boards were coupled together with gold rings at top and bottom (Exo 26:24), and kept firm with bars that ran through golden staples in every board (Exo 26:26), and the boards and bars were all richly gilded, Exo 26:29. Thus every thing in the tabernacle was very splendid, agreeable to that infant state of the church, when such things were proper enough to please children, to possess the minds of the worshippers with a reverence of the divine glory, and to affect them with the greatness of that prince who said, Here will I dwell; in allusion to this the new Jerusalem is said to be of pure gold, Rev 21:18. But the builders of the gospel church said, Silver and gold have we none; and yet the glory of their building far exceeded that of the tabernacle, 2Co 3:10, 2Co 3:11. How much better is wisdom than gold! No orders are given here about the floor of the tabernacle; probably that also was boarded; for we cannot think that within all these fine curtains they trod upon the cold or wet ground; if it was so left, it may remind us of Exo 20:24, An altar of earth shalt thou make unto me.

Matthew Henry: Exo 26:31-37

Two veils are here ordered to be made, 1. One for a partition between the holy place and the most holy, which not only forbade any to enter, but forbade them so much as to look into the holiest of all, Exo 26:31, Exo 26:33. Under that dispensation, divine grace was veiled, but now we behold it with open face, 2Co 3:18. The apostle tells us (Heb 9:8, Heb 9:9) what was the meaning of this veil; it intimated that the ceremonial law could not make the comers thereunto perfect, nor would the observance of it bring men to heaven; the way into the holiest of all was not made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing; life and immortality lay concealed till they were brought to light by the gospel, which was therefore signified by the rending of this veil at the death of Christ, Mat 27:51. We have not boldness to enter into the holiest, in all acts of devotion, by the blood of Jesus, yet such as obliges us to a holy reverence and a humble sense of our distance. 2. Another veil was for the outer door of the tabernacle, Exo 26:36, Exo 26:37. Through this first veil the priests went in every day to minister in the holy place, but not the people, Heb 9:6. This veil, which was all the defence the tabernacle had against thieves and robbers, might easily be broken through, for it could be neither locked nor barred, and the abundance of wealth in the tabernacle, one would think, might be a temptation; but by leaving it thus exposed, (1.) The priests and Levites would be so much the more obliged to keep a strict watch upon it, and, (2.) God would show his care of his church on earth, though it is weak and defenceless, and continually exposed. A curtain shall be (if God please to make it so) as strong a defence to his house as gates of brass and bars of iron.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:2-3

The length of each piece was to be 28 cubits, and the breadth 4 cubits, one measure for all; and five of these pieces were to be "joined together one to another,"i.e., joined or sewed together into a piece of 28 cubits in length and 20 in breadth, and the same with the other five.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:4-5

They were also to make 50 hyacinth loops " on the border of the one piece of tapestry, from the end in the join, "i.e., on the extreme edge of the five pieces that were sewed together; and the same "on the border of the last piece in the second joined tapestry." Thus there were to be fifty loops in each of the two large pieces, and these loops were to be מקבּילת " taking up the loops one the other; "that is to say, they were to be so made that the loops in the two pieces should exactly meet.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:6

Fifty golden clasps were also to be made, to fasten the pieces of drapery (the two halves of the tent-cloth) together, " that it might be a dwelling-place. "This necessarily leads to Bähr's conclusion, that the tent-cloth, which consisted of two halves fastened together with the loops and clasps, answering to the two compartments of the dwelling-place (Exo 26:33), enclosed the whole of the interior, not only covering the open framework above, but the side walls also, and therefore that it hung down inside the walls, and that it was not spread out upon the wooden framework so as to form the ceiling, but hung down on the walls on the outside of the wooden beams, so that the gilded beams were left uncovered in the inside. For if this splendid tent-cloth had been intended for the ceiling only, and therefore only 30 cubits had been visible out of the 40 cubits of its breadth, and only 10 out of the 28 of its length-that is to say, if not much more than a third of the whole had been seen and used for the inner lining of the dwelling, - that is to say, if not much more than a third of the whole had been seen and used for the inner lining of the dwelling, - it would not have been called "the dwelling"so constantly as it is (cf. Exo 36:8; Exo 40:18), nor would the goats'-hair covering which was placed above it have been just as constantly called the "tent above the dwelling"(Exo 26:7; Exo 36:14; Exo 40:19). This inner tent-cloth was so spread out, that whilst it was fastened to the upper ends of the beams in a way that is not explained in the text, it formed the ceiling of the whole, and the joining came just above the curtain which divided the dwelling into two compartments. One half therefore, viz., the front half, formed the ceiling of the holy place with its entire breadth of 20 cubits and 10 cubits of its length, and the remaining 18 cubits of its length hung down over the two side walls, 9 cubits down each wall, - the planks that formed the walls being left uncovered, therefore, to the height of 1 cubit from the ground. In a similar manner the other half covered the holy of holies, 10 cubits of both length and breadth forming the ceiling, and the 10 cubits that remained of the entire length covering the end wall; whilst the folds in the corners that arose from the 9 cubits that hung down on either side, were no doubt so adjusted that the walls appeared to be perfectly smooth. (For further remarks, see Exo 39:33.)

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:7-8

The outer tent-cloth, "for the tent over the dwelling,"was to consist of eleven lengths of goats' hair, i.e., of cloth made of goats' hair;

(Note: The coverings of the tents of the Bedouin Arabs are still made of cloth woven from black goats' hair, which the women spin and weave (see Lynch's Expedition of the United States to the Jordan and Dead Sea).)

each piece being thirty cubits long and four broad.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:9

Five of these were to be connected (sewed together) by themselves ( לבד ), and the other six in the same manner; and the sixth piece was to be made double, i.e., folded together, towards the front of the tent, so as to form a kind of gable, as Josephus has also explained the passage (Ant. iii. 6, 4).

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:10-11

Fifty loops and clasps were to be made to join the two halves together, as in the case of the inner tapestry, only the clasps were to be of brass or copper.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:12-13

This tent-cloth was two cubits longer than the inner one, as each piece was 30 cubits long instead of 28; it was also two cubits broader, as it was composed of 11 pieces, the eleventh only reckoning as two cubits, as it was to be laid double. Consequently there was an excess ( העדף that which is over) of two cubits each way; and according to Exo 26:12 and Exo 26:13 this was to be disposed of in the following manner: " As for the spreading out of the excess in the tent-cloths, the half of the cloth in excess shall spread out over the back of the dwelling; and the cubit from here and from there in the excess in the length of the tent-cloths (i.e., the cubit over in the length in each of the cloths) shall be spread out on the sides of the dwelling from here and from there to cover it ."Now since, according to this, one half of the two cubits of the sixth piece which was laid double was to hang down the back of the tabernacle, there only remained one cubit for the gable of the front. It follows, therefore, that the joining of the two halves with loops and clasps would come a cubit farther back, than the place where the curtain of the holy of holies divided the dwelling. But in consequence of the cloth being a cubit longer in every direction, it nearly reached the ground on all three sides, the thickness of the wooden framework alone preventing it from reaching it altogether.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:14

" The other coverings were placed on the top of this tent: one made of rams' skins dyed red, "as a covering for the tent,"and another upon the top of this, made of the skins of the sea-cow ( תּחשׁים , see at Exo 25:5).

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:15-16

The wooden framework . - Exo 26:15, Exo 26:16. The boards for the dwelling were to be made "of acacia-wood standing,"i.e., so that they could stand upright; each ten cubits long and one and a half broad. The thickness is not given; and if, on the one hand, we are not to imagine them too thin, as Josephus does, for example, who says they were only four fingers thick (Ant. iii. 6, 3), we have still less reason for following Rashi , Lund , Bähr and others, who suppose them to have been a cubit in thickness, thus making simple boards into colossal blocks, such as could neither have been cut from acacia-trees, nor carried upon desert roads.

(Note: Kamphausen ( Stud. und Krit. 1859, p. 117) appeals to Bähr's Symbolik 1, p. 261-2, and Knobel , Exod . p. 261, in support of the opinion, that at any rate formerly there were genuine acacias of such size and strength, that beams could have been cut from them a cubit and a half broad and a cubit thick; but we look in vain to either of these writings for such authority as will establish this fact. Expressions like those of Jerome and Hasselquist , viz., grandes arbores a arbos ingens ramosissima , Prosper. Alpin. de plantis Aeg.: Caudicem non raro ampliorem deprehendi, quam ut brachio meo circumdari possit . Even the statement of Theophrast ( hist. plant. 4, 3), to the effect that rafters are cut from these trees 12 cubits long ( δωδεκάπηχυς ἐρέψιμος ὕλη ), is no proof that they were beams a cubit and a half broad and a cubit thick. And even if there had been trees of this size in the peninsula of Sinai in Moses' time, a beam of such dimensions, according to Kamphausen's calculation, which is by no means too high, would have weighed more than twelve cwt. And certainly the Israelites could never have carried beams of this weight with them through the desert; for the waggons needed would have been such as could never be used where there are no beaten roads.)

To obtain boards of the required breadth, to or three planks were no doubt joined together according to the size of the trees.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:17

Every board was to have two ידות (lit., hands or holders) to hold them upright, pegs therefore; and they were to be " bound to one another "( משׁלּב , from שׁלב in Chald. to connect, hence שׁלבּים in 1Ki 7:28, the corner plates that hold together the four sides of a chest), not "pegged into one another,"but joined together by a fastening dovetailed into the pegs, by which the latter were fastened still more firmly to the boards, and therefore had greater holding power than if each one had been simply sunk into the edge of the board.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:18-21

Twenty of these boards were to be prepared for the side of the dwelling that was turned towards the south, and forty sockets ( אדנים foundations, Job 38:6) or bases for the pegs, i.e., to put the pegs of the boards into, that the boards might stand upright; and the same number of boards and sockets for the north side. תּימנה , "southward,"is added to נגבּה לפאת in Exo 26:18, to give a clearer definition of negeb , which primarily means the dry, and then the country to the south; an evident proof that at that time negeb was not established as a geographical term for the south, and therefore that it was not written here by a Palestinian, as Knobel supposes, but by Moses in the desert.

The form of the "sockets"is not explained, and even in Exo 38:27, in the summing up of the gifts presented for the work, it is merely stated that a talent of silver (about 93 lb.) was applied to every socket.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:22-24

Six boards were to be made for the back of the dwelling westwards ( ימּה ), and two boards "for the corners or angels of the dwelling at the two outermost (hinder) sides." למקצּעת (for cornered), from מקצּע , equivalent to מקצוע an angle (Exo 26:24; Eze 46:21-22), from קצע to cut off, lit., a section, something cut off, hence an angle, or corner-piece. These corner boards (Exo 26:24) were to be " doubled ( תּאמם ) from below, and whole ( תּמּים , integri , forming a whole) at its head (or towards its head, cf. אל Exo 36:29) with regard to the one ring, so shall it be to both of them (so shall they both be made); to the two corners shall they be "(i.e., designed for the two hinder corners). The meaning of these words, which are very obscure in some points, can only be the following: the two corner beams at the tack were to consist of two pieces joined together at a right angle, so as to form as double boards one single whole from the bottom to the top. The expressions "from below"and "up to its head"are divided between the two predicates "doubled"( תּאמים ) and "whole"( תּמּים ), but they belong to both of them. Each of the corner beams was to be double from the bottom to the top, and still to form one whole. There is more difficulty in the words האחת אל־הטּבּעת in Exo 26:24. It is impossible to attach any intelligible meaning to the rendering "to the first ring,"so that even Knobel , who proposed it, has left it unexplained. There is hardly any other way of explaining it, than to take the word אל in the sense of "having regard to a thing,"and to understand the words as meaning, that the corner beams were to form one whole, from the face that each received only one ring, probably at the corner, and not two, viz., one on each side. This one ring was placed half-way up the upright beam in the corner or angle, in such a manner that the central bolt, which stretched along the entire length of the walls (Exo 26:28), might fasten into it from both the side and back.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:25-27

Sixteen sockets were to be made for these eight boards, two for each. - Exo 26:26-29. To fasten the boards, that they might not separate from one another, bars of acacia-wood were to be made and covered with gold, five for each of the three sides of the dwelling; and though it is not expressly stated, yet the reference to rings in Exo 26:29 as holders of the bars ( לבּריחים בּתּים ) is a sufficient indication that they were passed through golden rings fastened into the boards.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:28-29

" And the middle bar in the midst of the boards (i.e., at an equal distance from both top and bottom) shall be fastening ( מבריח ) from one end to the other ."As it thus expressly stated with reference to the middle bar, that it was to fasten, i.e., to reach along the walls from one end to the other, we necessarily conclude, with Rashi and others, that the other four bars on every side were not to reach the whole length of the walls, and may therefore suppose that they were only half as long as the middle one, so that there were only three rows of bars on each wall, the upper and lower being composed of two bars each.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:30

" And set up the dwelling according to its right, as was shown thee upon the mountain "(cf. Exo 25:9). Even the setting up and position of the dwelling were not left to human judgment, but were to be carried out כּמשׁפּטו , i.e., according to the direction corresponding to its meaning and purpose. From the description which is given of the separate portions, it is evident that the dwelling was to be set up in the direction of the four quarters of the heavens, the back being towards the west, and the entrance to the east; whilst the whole of the dwelling formed an oblong of thirty cubits long, ten broad, and ten high. The length we obtain from the twenty boards of a cubit and a half in breadth; and the breadth, by adding to the nine cubits covered by the six boards at the back, half a cubit as the inner thickness of each of the corner beams. The thickness of the corner beams is not given, but we may conjecture that on the outside which formed part of the back they were three-quarters of a cubit thick, and that half a cubit is to be taken as the thickness towards the side. In this case, on the supposition that the side beams were a quarter of a cubit thick, the inner space would be exactly ten cubits broad and thirty and a quarter long; but the surplus quarter would be taken up by the thickness of the pillars upon which the inner curtain was hung, so that the room at the back would form a perfect cube, and the one at the front an oblong of exactly twenty cubits in length, ten in breadth, and ten in height.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:31-32

To divide the dwelling into two rooms, a curtain was to be made, of the same material, and woven in the same artistic manner as the inner covering of the walls (Exo 26:1). This was called פּרכת , lit., division, separation, from פּרך to divide, or מסך פּרכת (Exo 35:12; Exo 39:34; Exo 40:21) division of the covering, i.e., to hang this " upon four pillars of gilded acacia-wood and their golden hooks, (standing) upon four silver sockets, "under the loops ( קרסים ) which held the two halves of the inner covering together (Exo 26:6). Thus the curtain divided the dwelling into two compartments, the one occupying ten cubits and the other twenty of its entire length.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:33-34

"Thither (where the curtain hands under the loops) within the curtain shalt thou bring the ark of testimony (Exo 25:16-22), and the curtain shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy"( הקּדשׁים קדשׁ the holy of holies). The inner compartment was made into the most holy place through the ark of the covenant with the throne of grace upon it.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:35

The two other things (already described) were to be placed outside the curtain, viz., in the holy place; the candlestick opposite to the table, the former on the south side of the dwelling, the latter towards the north.

Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 26:36-37

For the entrance to the tent they were also to make a curtain ( מסך , lit., a covering, from סכך to cover) of the same material as the inner curtain, but of work in mixed colours, i.e., not woven with figures upon it, but simply in stripes or checks. רקם מעשׂה does not mean coloured needlework, with figures or flowers embroidered with the needle upon the woven fabric (as I asserted in my Archäologie , in common with the Rabbins, Gesenius , Bähr, and others); for in the only other passage in which רקם occurs, viz., Psa 139:15, it does not mean to embroider, but to weave, and in the Arabic it signifies to make points, stripes, or lines, to work in mixed colours (see Hartmann die Hebräerinn am Putztisch iii. 138ff.). This curtain was to hang on five gilded pillars of acacia-wood with golden hooks, and for these they were to cast sockets of brass. In the account of the execution of this work in Exo 36:38, it is still further stated, that the architect covered the heads (capitals) of the pillars and their girders ( חשׁקים , see Exo 27:10) with gold. From this it follows, that the pillars were not entirely gilded, but only the capitals, and that they were fastened together with gilded girders. These girders were either placed upon the hooks that were fastened to the tops of the pillars, or, what I think more probable, formed a kind of architrave above the pillars, in which case the covering as well as the inner curtain merely hung upon the hooks of the columns. But if the pillars were not gilded all over, we must necessarily imagine that curtain as hung upon that side of the pillars which was turned towards the holy place, so that none of the white wood was to be seen inside the holy place; and the gilding of the capitals and architrave merely served to impress upon the forefront of the tabernacle the glory of a house of God.

If we endeavour to understand the reason for building the dwelling in this manner, there can be no doubt that the design of the wooden walls was simply to give stability to the tabernacle. Acacia-wood was chosen, because the acacia was the only tree to be found in the desert of Arabia from which planks and beams could be cut, whilst the lightness an durability of this wood rendered it peculiarly suitable for a portable temple. The wooden framework was covered both within and without with hangings of drapery and other coverings, to give it the character of a tent, which is the term really applied to it in Exo 27:21, and in most instances afterwards. The sanctuary of Jehovah in the midst of His people was to be a tent, because, so long as the people were wandering about and dwelt in tents, the dwelling of their God in the midst of them must be a tent also. The division of the dwelling into two parts corresponded to the design of the tabernacle, where Jehovah desired not to dwell alone by Himself, but to come and meet with His people (Exo 25:22). The most holy place was the true dwelling of Jehovah, where He was enthroned in a cloud, the visible symbol of His presence, above the cherubim, upon the capporeth of the ark of the covenant. The holy place, on the other hand, was the place where His people were to appear before Him, and draw near to Him with their gifts, the fruits of their earthly vocation, and their prayers, and to rejoice before His face in the blessings of His covenant grace. By the establishment of the covenant of Jehovah with the people of Israel, the separation of man from God, of which the fall of the progenitors of our race had been the cause, was to be brought to an end; an institution was to be set up, pointing to the reunion of man and God, to true and full vital communion with Him; and by this the kingdom of God was to be founded on earth in a local and temporal form. This kingdom of God, which was founded in Israel, was to be embodied in the tabernacle, and shadowed forth in its earthly and visible form as confined within the limits of time and space. This meaning was indicated not only in the instructions to set up the dwelling according to the four quarters of the globe and heavens, with the entrance towards sunrise and the holy of holies towards the west, but also in the quadrangular form of the building, the dwelling as a whole assuming the form of an oblong of thirty cubits in length, and ten in breadth and height, whilst the most holy place was a cube of ten cubits in every direction. In the symbolism of antiquity, the square was a symbol of the universe or cosmos; and thus, too, in the symbolism of the Scriptures it is a type of the world as the scene of divine revelation, the sphere of the kingdom of God, for which the world from the very first had been intended by God, and to which, notwithstanding the fall of man, who was created lord of the earth, it was to be once more renewed and glorified. Hence the seal of the kingdom of God was impressed upon the sanctuary of God in Israel through the quadrangular form that was given to its separate rooms. And whilst the direction in which it was set up, towards the four quarters of the heavens, showed that the kingdom of God that was planted in Israel was intended to embrace the entire world, the oblong shape given to the whole building set forth the idea of the present incompleteness of the kingdom, and the cubic form of the most holy place its ideal and ultimate perfection.

(Note: The significant character of these different quadrangular forms is placed beyond all doubt, when we compare the tabernacle and Solomon's temple, which was built according to the same proportions, with the prophetic description of the temple and holy city in Ezek. 40-48, and that of the heavenly Jerusalem in Rev 21 and 22. Just as in both the tabernacle and Solomon's temple the most holy place was in the form of a perfect cube (of 10 and 20 cubits respectively), so John saw the city of God, which came down from God out of heaven, in the form of a perfect cube. "The length, and the breadth, and the height of it were equal,"viz., 12,000 furlongs on every side (Rev 21:16), a symbolical representation of the idea, that the holy of holies in the temple will be seen in its perfected form in the heavenly Jerusalem, and God will dwell in it for ever, along with the just made perfect. This city of God is "the tabernacle of God with men;"it has no longer a temple, but the Lord God of Hosts and the Lamb are the temple of it (Rev 21:22), and those who dwell therein see the face of God and the Lamb (Exo 22:4). The square comes next to the cube, and the regular oblong next to this. The tabernacle was in the form of an oblong: the dwelling was 30 cubits long and 10 broad, and the court 100 cubits long and 50 bread. Solomon's temple, when regarded as a whole, was in the same form; it was 60 cubits long and 20 cubits broad, apart from the porch and side buildings. In Ezekiel's vision not only is the sanctuary a square of 500 reeds (Eze 42:15-20; Eze 45:2), but the inner court (Eze 40:23, Eze 40:27, Eze 40:47), the paved space in the outer court (Eze 40:19), and other parts also, are all in the form of squares. The city opposite to the temple was a square of 4500 reeds (Eze 48:16), and the suburbs a square of 250 reeds on every side (Eze 48:17). The idea thus symbolically expressed is, that the temple and city, and in fact the whole of the holy ground, already approximate to the form of the most holy place. Both the city and temple are still distinct from one another, although they both stand upon holy ground in the midst of the land (ch. 47 and 48); and in the temple itself the distinction between the holy place and the most holy is still maintained, although the most holy place is no longer separated by a curtain from the holy place; and in the same manner the distinction is still maintained between the temple-building and the courts, though the latter have acquired much greater importance than in Solomon's temple, and are very minutely described, whereas they are only very briefly referred to in the case of Solomon's temple. The sanctuary which Ezekiel saw, however, was only a symbol of the renewed and glorified kingdom of God, not of the perfected kingdom. This was first shown to the holy seer in Patmos, in the vision of the heavenly Jerusalem, as it appeared in a perfect cubical form.)

Yet even in its temporal form, it was perfect of its kind, and therefore the component parts of the quadrangular building were regulated by the number ten, the stamp of completeness.

The splendour of the building, as the earthly reflection of the glory of the kingdom of God, was also in harmony with this explanation of its meaning. In the dwelling itself everything was either overlaid with gold or made of pure gold, with the exception of the foundations or sockets of the boards and inner pillars, for which silver was used. In the gold, with its glorious, yea, godlike splendour (Job 37:22), the glory of the dwelling-place of God was reflected; whilst the silver, as the symbol of moral purity, shadowed forth the holiness of the foundation of the house or kingdom of God. The four colours, and the figures upon the drapery and curtains of the temple, were equally significant. Whilst the four colours, like the same number of coverings, showed their general purpose as connected with the building of the kingdom of God, the brilliant white of the byssus stands prominently out among the rest of the colours as the ground of the woven fabrics, and the colour which is invariably mentioned first. The splendid white byssus represented the holiness of the building; the hyacinth, a dark blue approaching black rather than bright blue, but the true colour of the sky in southern countries, its heavenly origin and character; the purple, a dark rich red, its royal glory; whilst the crimson, a light brilliant red, the colour of blood and vigorous life, set forth the strength of imperishable life in the abode and kingdom of the holy and glorious God-King. Lastly, through the figures of cherubim woven into these fabrics the dwelling became a symbolical representation of the kingdom of glory, in which the heavenly spirits surround the throne of God, the heavenly Jerusalem with its myriads of angels, the city of the living God, to which the people of God will come when their heavenly calling is fulfilled (Heb 12:22-23).

Constable: Exo 15:22--Lev 1:1

II. THE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL 15:22--40:38

The second major section of Exodus records the events associated with God's adoption of Israel as His chosen people. Having redeemed Israel out of slavery in Egypt He now made the nation His privileged son. Redemption is the end of one journey but the beginning of another.

Constable: Exo 24:12--32:1

C. Directions regarding God's dwelling among His people 24:12-31:18

Having given directions clarifying Israel's obedience in the Book of the Covenant (20:22-23:33) God now summoned Moses up into the mountain again to receive His directions regarding Israel's worship. The Book of the Covenant specified how the Israelites were to live with one another, but the tabernacle showed them how God wanted them to worship Him.⁴²⁷

"The establishment of a covenant relationship necessitated a means whereby the vassal party could regularly appear before the Great King to render his accountability. In normal historical relationships of this kind between mere men, some sort of intercession was frequently mandatory and, in any case, a strict protocol had to be adhered to.⁴²⁸ How much more must this be required in the case of a sinful people such as Israel, who must, notwithstanding, communicate with and give account to an infinitely transcendent and holy God."⁴²⁹

Why did Moses record God's instructions for the tabernacle before the people sinned by making the golden calf? It was, after all, the golden calf incident that led to the giving of the priestly laws.

". . . according to the logic of the narrative, it was Israel's fear that had created the need for a safe approach to God, that is, one in which the people as such were kept at a distance and a mediator was allowed to represent them. It was precisely for this reason that the tabernacle was given to Israel."⁴³⁰

Constable: Exo 26:1-37

4. The tabernacle structure ch. 26

The tabernacle walls consisted of rigid supports with curtains hung over the boards. These draperies also evidently formed its ceiling. Most commentators believe that the tabernacle was a single structure, but a few believe it consisted of three separate structures one on top of the other. These structures were the tabernacle proper, a tent over it made of goat hair, and another tent of skins that covered both of these structures.⁴⁵⁶

The tabernacle as a whole illustrates four different things according to Scripture. It represents the heavens where God dwells and from which He manifests Himself (Heb. 4:14; 9:23-24), the work of Christ (John 2:19-21; Heb. 3:3-4; 8:2; 9:11-12), the individual believer (1 Cor. 6:19), and the church (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6; 10:21).

Constable: Exo 26:1-14

The curtains 26:1-14

The extent to which these curtains were visible from inside the tabernacle is not clear in the text and has been the subject of debate by commentators. They were of four colors that some writers have interpreted as having symbolic significance on the basis of other biblical references to and uses of these colors. The colors were white (holiness), blue (heavenly origin and character), purple (royal glory), and crimson (blood and vigorous life).⁴⁵⁷

"Woven into the fabric of the curtains were images of cherubim, apparently intended to recall the theme of paradise lost' by alluding to the cherubim which guarded the Tree of Life' in Genesis 3:24."⁴⁵⁸

Some interpreters have seen in the goats' skins separation from evil. The later prophets in Israel who dressed in goat skins called the people to holiness and separation from evil. Some have felt the rams' skins dyed red taught the Israelites the importance of devotion to God since God specified the use of rams in some offerings of worship. A slightly different interpretation follows.

"Within the sanctuary, moving from the inside out, the curtains of fine linen were visible only to the priests who served in the presence of him who is purity and righteousness itself. The curtains of goats' hair were reminders of the daily sin offering that was a kid from the goats (Num 28:15) and of our cleansing from sin (Lev 16). The covering of rams' skins also recalled the sacrifice used in consecrating the priesthood (Lev. 8); and it was deliberately dyed red, showing that the priesthood was set apart by blood. Finally, the protective coating of the sea cows' [NIV; porpoise or dolphin, NASB; badger, AV, NKJV; goat, RSV] hides marked a protective separation between the dwelling place of God and the world."⁴⁵⁹

The total area covered by these tapestries was 45 feet long by 15 feet wide by 15 feet high. The most holy place was a 15 foot cube and the holy place was 30 by 15 by 15 feet. Thus the tabernacle structure was only one and a half parking spaces wide and a little more than two parking spaces long.

Constable: Exo 26:15-25

The boards 26:15-25

It is not clear whether these boards were solid or simply "frames" (NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew word (garesh, "boards") is uncertain. The latter view is probable.⁴⁶⁰ If they were solid, the priests would not have been able to see the colorful curtains hanging down over the outside of the tabernacle from within. If these boards were frames, they could have seen them through the walls. The embroidered curtains seem to have been visible overhead in either case and may have reminded the priests of God's celestial throne.

Constable: Exo 26:26-30

The bars 26:26-30

These were evidently rods that the priests threaded through the boards, or perhaps through rings attached to the boards, horizontally to give the boards stability and to hold them upright. They may have had significance to the Israelites or they may have simply served a practical purpose.

Constable: Exo 26:31-35

The veil 26:31-35

The veil and curtains were alike in design and construction. The veil hung to act as a wall separating the holy and most holy places into two rooms.⁴⁶¹ The Book of Hebrews used the veil in the temple, which replaced this one in the tabernacle, as a symbol of Jesus Christ's body. Torn in crucifixion, it opened the way for access into God's presence (Heb. 10:20; cf. Matt. 27:50-51; Mark 15:37-38; Luke 23:45-46).

Constable: Exo 26:36-37

The screen 26:36-37

This was a drapery, as were the veil and curtains, that served as the front doorway to the tabernacle.

"The techniques used for the Tabernacle--gilded frames and beams, with coverings--were those used for prefab' structures (religious and otherwise) in Egypt for up to fifteen centuries before Moses."⁴⁶²

Guzik: Exo 26:1-37

Exodus 26 - Coverings and Curtains for the Tabernacle

A. Four sets of curtains for the tent itself.

1. (1-6) The fine linen curtain.

"Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim you shall weave them. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. And every one of the curtains shall have the same measurements. Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. And you shall make loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set, and likewise you shall do on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. Fifty loops you shall make in the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is on the end of the second set, that the loops may be clasped to one another. And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle.

a. Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen: The tabernacle was a tent with a frame and a series of elaborate coverings. This section describes the first covering, the one seen from the interior of the tabernacle.

i. The plans for the tabernacle were revealed to Moses from the inside out, starting with the interior furniture and then working out. We approach the sanctuary from the outside in, but God builds the sanctuary from the inside out. He works in His people according to the same pattern.

b. Fine woven linen . . . with artistic designs of cherubim: The designs on this covering were visible only from the inside of the tabernacle. Therefore, on the inside of the tabernacle, one saw cherubim all around - as one would see in heaven (Psalm 80:1, Isaiah 37:16, and Ezekiel 10:3).

c. Five curtains shall be coupled: The fine linen curtain was made by sewing together five curtains, each one 42 feet (14 meters) long and 6 feet (2 meters) wide. They were first joined in sets of five, and then joined together for a covering 42 feet (14 meters) by 60 feet (20 meters).

d. Make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps: The sets of five curtains were not to be sewn to each other, but joined by a system of loops on the fabric and gold clasps to link the loops from one set of five curtains to the other set of five curtains.

e. So that it may be one tabernacle: The spiritual principle illustrated with this method of joining the curtains is unity in diversity. It is the same idea of Romans 12:5: we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

2. (7-13) The curtain made of goats' hair.

"You shall also make curtains of goats' hair, to be a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; and the eleven curtains shall all have the same measurements. And you shall couple five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the forefront of the tent. You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain of the second set. And you shall make fifty bronze clasps, put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. The remnant that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. And a cubit on one side and a cubit on the other side, of what remains of the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and on that side, to cover it.

a. Make curtains of goats' hair: The second covering was made of goats' hair, producing a fabric dark, thick, and coarse - somewhat like felt. This covering was made by joining together five and six strips of fabric with each strip being 45 feet (15 meters) long and 6 feet (2 meters) wide.

b. Couple the tent together, that it may be one: The set of five strips and the set of six strips were joined together with a series of loops and bronze clasps. The inner covering or curtain used gold clasps, but this second covering used bronze.

c. The remnant that remains . . . shall hang over the back of the tabernacle: Since the goats' hair layer was six feet (2 meters) longer than the fine linen layer, the extra six feet covered over the back portion of the tent.

d. A cubit on one side, and a cubit on the other side: Since the goats' hair covering was wider by 3 feet (2 meters), this layer completely covered over the fine linen layer.

i. Therefore, the fine linen layer - the "heavenly" set of coverings - was completely obscured and overlapped by the dark covering of goats' hair. It was not open to observation, even in part. Heaven remained hidden to all except those who enter in through the door of the tabernacle.

3. (14) Two sets of coverings: ram skin dyed red, and badger skin.

"You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of badger skins above that.

a. You shall also make a covering of ram skins: The covering of ram skins was like fine leather dyed red. No specific size or arrangement is mentioned for the assembling of this covering.

b. A covering of badger skins above that: The outer covering of badger skins (or, perhaps porpoise or sea-cow skins) was a durable and water resistant outer covering. It wasn't particularly beautiful to look at, but it was extremely comfortable.

i. When these four layers of curtains were laid on one another, the result was very dry and very dark tent. The only light came from the lampstand described in the previous chapter.

B. The framing system for the tabernacle.

1. (15-25) Boards for the sides of the tent.

"And for the tabernacle you shall make the boards of acacia wood, standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. Two tenons shall be in each board for binding one to another. Thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there shall be twenty boards and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. For the far side of the tabernacle, westward, you shall make six boards. And you shall also make two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. They shall be coupled together at the bottom and they shall be coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus it shall be for both of them. They shall be for the two corners. So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver; sixteen sockets; two sockets under each board.

a. For the tabernacle you shall make the boards of acacia wood: Each board was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Each board was 15 feet (5 meters) high and 2 feet 3 inches (about .75 meter) wide.

b. Twenty boards for the south side: The north and south sides of the tabernacle had 20 boards each. The back (westward) side was six boards wide with two corner boards, for a total of eight boards across the back.

c. Coupled together at the top by one ring: Each board was joined together by a system of tenons (tabs) with rings, through which ran bars. Each board had four rings through which the bars ran, and the corner boards had eight rings, four on two sides to accommodate the corners.

d. So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver; sixteen sockets: Each board rested on two sockets of silver, each socket made with one talent of silver. Therefore each board rested on a base of 264 pounds (120 kilos) of silver.

i. Silver is the metal associated with redemption and payment for sin (Exodus 21:32, Leviticus 5:15, 27:3, 27:6, Numbers 18:16, and Deuteronomy 22:19). Jesus was betrayed for silver (Matthew 26:15). The tabernacle's foundation was silver - pointing to the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.

ii. Perhaps the dual nature of the foundation had to do with the two sources of revelation - the Old and New Testaments.

iii. The silver of redemption also separated the tabernacle from the dirt of the desert floor. Jesus' redeeming work separates us from the world.

2. (26-30) Bars to join together the boards.

"And you shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far side westward. The middle bar shall pass through the midst of the boards from end to end. You shall overlay the boards with gold, make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlay the bars with gold. And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.

a. And you shall make bars of acacia wood: Each bar was made of acacia wood and overlaid in gold. Seemingly, the bars ran the entire length of each side, linking together each board into one system.

b. The middle bar shall pass through the midst of the boards from end to end: Four bars ran horizontally on each side, linking each board. One bar - the middle bar - was invisible, running in the middle of each board.

i. This speaks to both the visible and the invisible unity among God's people. The system of linking bars was both visible and invisible.

c. According to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain: The repetition of this phrase (Exodus 25:9, 25:40 and here in 26:30) suggests that Moses received a vision of exactly how the tabernacle should look. He had to communicate this vision to the craftsmen who did the actual building.

i. God works the same way in leaders today. He gives them a vision of what His work should be, and the leader passes it on to others who will do much of the actual work. Moses couldn't have remained silent about what God had shown him, or the work would never have gotten done.

C. Two barriers: the veil and the screen.

1. (31-33) The veil.

"You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy.

a. You shall make a veil: The veil, made of fine linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarn, with artistic design of cherubim, hung on four pillars made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set on silver sockets.

i. The ancient Jews said the later veil of the temple was as wide as four fingers, so that no one could possible see into the Most Holy place.

b. With an artistic design of cherubim: From this, we know that the interior of the tabernacle was filled with gold and the pattern of cherubim.

c. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy: The veil separated the tent into two compartments. The first compartment was the holy place, which was the larger room, first entered, with the table of showbread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense. The second compartment was the Most Holy place, a smaller room with the Ark of the Covenant.

i. This veil was a barrier, and no priest could go beyond the veil into the Most Holy place except the high priest. He could only enter once a year, and that on the Day of Atonement.

ii. Spiritually speaking, in dying for our sins Jesus with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12).

iii. In the temple, this veil was torn from top to bottom at the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:51), showing that through His death, there is no longer a barrier to the Most Holy place.

iv. Now the Most Holy Place is open to us: brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is His flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20). The torn veil of Matthew 27:51 also symbolizes the broken body of Jesus, through which we have access to the Most Holy Place.

v. Centuries later, the ancient general Pompey pushed aside the priests and walked right into the Most Holy place of the temple - and was astounded to see there was no idol or statue.

2. (34-35) The arrangement of furniture in the two rooms of the tabernacle.

"You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy. You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand across from the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.

a. Put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy: The Ark of the Covenant (here called the ark of the Testimony) was behind the veil in the Most Holy place.

b. Set the table outside the veil: The table of showbread was on the north side of the tabernacle (on the right as one entered the tabernacle) and the lampstand was toward the south (on the left as one entered the tabernacle).

i. The furniture in the holy place spoke of three great obligations of walking with God: pray (the altar of incense), fellowship (the table of showbread), and receive illumination (the lampstand).

3. (36-37) The screen for a door.

"You shall make a screen for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.

a. Make a screen for the door of the tabernacle: The same color scheme - blue and purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen thread was used to make a covering for the east entrance of the tabernacle. This was the only way to enter the structure.

b. Five pillars of acacia wood: The screen hung from hooks on five pillars. Each pillar was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold and set on a foundation of bronze.

i. Since bronze (or brass) must be made with a refining fire, it pictures purity and endurance through trial. The entrance to the tabernacle hung on a symbolic foundation of what Jesus did for us

© 2004 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Exodus (Book Introduction)

EXODUS, a "going forth," derives its name from its being occupied principally with a relation of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and the incidents that immediately preceded as well as followed that memorable migration. Its authorship by Moses is distinctly asserted by himself (Exo 24:4), as well as by our Lord (Mar 12:26; Luk 20:37). Besides, the thorough knowledge it exhibits of the institutions and usages of the ancient Egyptians and the minute geographical details of the journey to Sinai, establish in the clearest manner the authenticity of this book.

JFB: Exodus (Outline)

• INCREASE OF THE ISRAELITES. (Exo. 1:1-22)
• BIRTH AND PRESERVATION OF MOSES. (Exo 2:1-10) there went a man of the house of Levi, &c. Amram was the husband and Jochebed the wife (compare Exo 6:20; Num 26:59). The marriage took place, and two children, Miriam and Aaron, were born some years before the infanticidal edict.
• HIS SYMPATHY WITH THE HEBREWS. (Exo 2:11-25)
• DIVINE APPEARANCE AND COMMISSION TO MOSES. (Exo. 3:1-22)
• MIRACULOUS CHANGE OF THE ROD, &c. (Exo. 4:1-31)
• FIRST INTERVIEW WITH PHARAOH. (Exo. 5:1-23)
• RENEWAL OF THE PROMISE. (Exo 6:1-13)
• THE GENEALOGY OF MOSES. (Exo. 6:14-30)
• SECOND INTERVIEW WITH PHARAOH. (Exo. 7:1-25)
• PLAGUE OF FROGS. (Exo 8:1-15)
• PLAGUE OF LICE. (Exo 8:16-19)
• PLAGUE OF FLIES. (Exo 8:20-32)
• MURRAIN OF BEASTS. (Exo 9:1-7)
• PLAGUE OF BOILS. (Exo 9:8-17)
• PLAGUE OF HAIL. (Exo. 9:18-35)
• PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS. (Exo. 10:1-20)
• PLAGUE OF DARKNESS. (Exo 10:21-29)
• DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN THREATENED. (Exo 11:1-10)
• THE PASSOVER INSTITUTED. (Exo 12:1-10)
• THE RITE OF THE PASSOVER. (Exo 12:11-14)
• UNLEAVENED BREAD. (Exo. 12:15-51)
• THE FIRST-BORN SANCTIFIED. (Exo 13:1-2)
• MEMORIAL OF THE PASSOVER. (Exo 13:3-10)
• FIRSTLINGS OF BEASTS. (Exo 13:11-16)
• JOURNEY FROM EGYPT. (Exo 13:17-21)
• GOD INSTRUCTS THE ISRAELITES AS TO THEIR JOURNEY. (Exo. 14:1-31)
• SONG OF MOSES. (Exo. 15:1-27)
• MURMURS FOR WANT OF BREAD. (Exo. 16:1-36)
• THE PEOPLE MURMUR FOR WATER. (Exo 17:1-7)
• ATTACK OF AMALEK. (Exo 17:8-16)
• VISIT OF JETHRO. (Exo. 18:1-27)
• ARRIVAL AT SINAI. (Exo. 19:1-25)
• THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. (Exo. 20:1-26)
• LAWS FOR MENSERVANTS. (Exo 21:1-6)
• LAWS FOR MAIDSERVANTS. (Exo. 21:7-36)
• LAWS CONCERNING THEFT. (Exo. 22:1-31)
• LAWS CONCERNING SLANDER, &c. (Exo. 23:1-33)
• DELIVERY OF THE LAW AND COVENANT. (Exo. 24:1-18)
• CONCERNING AN OFFERING. (Exo. 25:1-40)
• TEN CURTAINS. (Exo. 26:1-37)
• ALTAR FOR BURNT OFFERING. (Exo. 27:1-21)
• APPOINTMENT TO THE PRIESTHOOD. (Exo. 28:1-43)
• CONSECRATING THE PRIESTS AND THE ALTAR. (Exo. 29:1-35)
• CONSECRATION OF THE ALTAR. (Exo 29:36-37)
• INSTITUTION OF DAILY SERVICE. (Exo 29:38-46)
• THE ALTAR OF INCENSE. (Exo. 30:1-38)
• BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB. (Exo. 31:1-18)
• THE GOLDEN CALF. (Exo. 32:1-35)
• THE LORD REFUSES TO GO WITH THE PEOPLE. (Exo. 33:1-23)
• THE TABLES ARE RENEWED. (Exo. 34:1-35)
• CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TABERNACLE. (Exo. 35:1-35)
• OFFERINGS DELIVERED TO THE WORKMEN. (Exo. 36:1-38)
• FURNITURE OF THE TABERNACLE. (Exo. 37:1-29)
• FURNITURE OF THE TABERNACLE. (Exo. 38:1-31)
• GARMENTS OF THE PRIESTS. (Exo. 39:1-43)
• THE TABERNACLE REARED AND ANOINTED. (Exo. 40:1-38)

TSK: Exodus (Book Introduction)

The title of this Book is derived from the Septuagint; in which it is called ΕΞΟΔΟΣ , " Exodus;" or, as it is in the Codex Alexandrinus, ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Αιγυπτου , " the Exodus or departure from Egypt;" but it is called in Hebrew Bibles ואלה שׁמות , Weelleh Shemoth , " these are the names," or merely, שׁמות , Shemoth , " names," from the words with which it commences.

Moses was undoubtedly the author of this Book, which forms a continuation of the preceding, and was evidently written after the promulgation of the law. it embraces the history of about 145 years. Moses, having in the Book of Genesis described the creation of the world, the origin of nations, and the peopling of the earth, details in the Book of Exodus the commencement and nature of the Jewish Church and Polity, which has very properly been termed a Theocracy (Θεοκρατια , from Θεος [Strong’s 2316], God, and κρατεω [Strong’s 2902], to rule), in which Jehovah appears not merely as their Creator and God, but as their King. Hence this and the following books of Moses are not purely historical; but contain not only laws for the regulation of their moral conduct and the rites and ceremonies of their religious worship, but judicial and political laws relating to government and civil life. The stupendous facts connected with these events, may be clearly perceived by consulting the marginal references; and many of the circumstances are confirmed by the testimony of heathen writers. Numenius, a Pythagorean philosopher, mentioned by Eusebius, speaks of the opposition of the magicians, whom he calls Jannes and Jambres, to the miracles of Moses. Though the names of these magicians are not preserved in the Sacred Text, yet tradition had preserved them in the Jewish records, from which St. Paul (2Ti 3:8) undoubtedly quotes. Add to this that many of the notions of the heathen respecting the appearance of the Deity, and their religious institutions and laws, were borrowed from this book; and many of their fables were nothing more than distorted traditions of those events which are here plainly related by Moses.

TSK: Exodus 26 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Exo 26:1, The ten curtains of the tabernacle; Exo 26:7, The eleven curtains of goats’ hair, and the covering of rams’ and badgers’ skins; Exo 26:15, The boards of the tabernacle, with their sockets and bars; Exo 26:31, The vail for the ark; Exo 26:36, The hanging for the door.

Poole: Exodus (Book Introduction)

SECOND BOOK OF MOSES CALLED EXODUS.

THE ARGUMENT.

AFTER the death of Joseph, who had sent for his father’ s house into Egypt, the children of Israel exceedingly multiplied, notwithstanding Pharaoh’ s cruel oppressing of them; from under which God, hearing their cry, brought them with a strong hand. Wherefore this book is called by the Greeks EXODUS, i.e. a going forth; containing an historical account of passages for about one hundred and forty years; with the wonderful raising up of Moses, who, together with Aaron, were to be instruments of their deliverance; and accordingly, after the inflicting ten dreadful plagues upon Pharaoh, brought them into the wilderness through the Red Sea, wherein Pharaoh (his heart being hardened under all these plagues) and all his host pursuing of them were drowned; God having first instituted the passover, as an abiding sacrament to bring to their remembrance in after-times this great deliverance.

In their conduct through the wilderness, God gave them the signal mark of his presence in the pillar of a cloud, and the pillar of fire; who, notwithstanding their great and reiterated murmurings, gave them food, both bread and flesh from heaven, and drink out of the rock; and when they were come to Mount Sinai, he there gave them the moral law, beside other both politic and ecclesiastical ordinances. Afterwards, the breaking of the tables being occasioned by the idolatry of the golden calf, God graciously renewed his covenant with them. There being also a tabernacle, and ark, and other things to be made by God’ s command, the bounty of the people, in order to the making and furnishing thereof, is here set down; which, being finished, the tabernacle is anointed, and filled with the glory of God.

Poole: Exodus 26 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 26

Moses is commanded to make the tabernacle with ten curtains, Exo 26:1 The length and breadth of the curtains, Exo 26:2 . The form of the curtains, Exo 26:3-6 . He is commanded to make eleven curtains of goats’ hair, Exo 26:7 . The manner of the making and placing them, Exo 26:8-14 . Of what the tabernacle is to be made, Exo 26:15 . The manner of its making, with other utensils, Exo 26:16-30 . Of the veil, and what it is to be made of, Exo 26:31 . The fashion of it, Exo 26:32,33 . The hanging for the tent-door, Exo 26:36 .

MHCC: Exodus (Book Introduction)

The Book of Exodus relates the forming of the children of Israel into a church and a nation. We have hitherto seen true religion shown in domestic life, now, we begin to trace its effects upon the concerns of kingdoms and nations. Exodus signifies " the departure;" the chief event therein recorded is the departure of Israel from Egypt and Egyptian bondage; it plainly points out the fulfilling of several promises and prophecies to Abraham respecting his seed, and shadows forth the state of the church, in the wilderness of this world, until her arrival at the heavenly Canaan, an eternal rest.

MHCC: Exodus 26 (Chapter Introduction)

(Exo 26:1-6) The curtains of the tabernacle.

(Exo 26:7-14) The curtains of goats' hair.

(v. 15-30) The boards, sockets, and bars.

(Exo 26:31-37) The vail of the holy of holies, and for the entrance.

Matthew Henry: Exodus (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Book of Moses, Called Exodus

Moses (the servant of the Lord in writing for him as well as in acting for him - with the pen of God as well as with the rod of God in his hand) having, in the first book of his history, preserved and transmitted the records of the church, while it existed in private families, comes, in this second book, to give us an account of its growth into a great nation; and, as the former furnishes us with the best economics, so this with the best politics. The beginning of the former book shows us how God formed the world for himself; the beginning of this shows us how he formed Israel for himself, and both show forth his praise, Isa 43:21. There we have the creation of the world in history, here the redemption of the world in type. The Greek translators called this book Exodus (which signifies a departure or going out ) because it begins with the story of the going out of the children of Israel from Egypt. Some allude to the names of this and the foregoing book, and observe that immediately after Genesis, which signifies the beginning or original, follows Exodus, which signifies a departure; for a time to be born is immediately succeeded by a time to die. No sooner have we made our entrance into the world than we must think of making our exit, and going out of the world. When we begin to live we begin to die. The forming of Israel into a people was a new creation. As the earth was, in the beginning, first fetched from under water, and then beautified and replenished, so Israel was first by an almighty power made to emerge out of Egyptian slavery, and then enriched with God's law and tabernacle. This book gives us, I. The accomplishment of the promises made before to Abraham (ch. 1-19), and then, II. The establishment of the ordinances which were afterwards observed by Israel (ch. 20-40). Moses, in this book, begins, like Caesar, to write his own Commentaries; nay, a greater, a far greater, than Caesar is here. But henceforward the penman is himself the hero, and gives us the history of those things of which he was himself an eye and ear-witness, et quorum pars magna fuit - and in which he bore a conspicuous part. There are more types of Christ in this book than perhaps in any other book of the Old Testament; for Moses wrote of him, Joh 5:46. The way of man's reconciliation to God, and coming into covenant and communion with him by a Mediator, is here variously represented; and it is of great use to us for the illustration of the New Testament, now that we have that to assist us in the explication of the Old.

Matthew Henry: Exodus 26 (Chapter Introduction)

Moses here receives instructions, I. Concerning the inner curtains of the tent or tabernacle, and the coupling of those curtains (Exo 26:1-6). II. Concerning the outer curtains which were of goats' hair, to strengthen the former (Exo 26:7-13). III. Concerning the case or cover which was to secure it from the weather (Exo 26:14). IV. Concerning the boards which were to be reared up to support the curtains, with their bars and sockets (v. 15-30). V. The partition between the holy place and the most holy (Exo 26:31-35). VI. The veil for the door (Exo 26:36, Exo 26:37). These particulars, thus largely recorded, seem of little use to us now; yet, having been of great use to Moses and Israel, and God having thought fit to preserve down to us the remembrance of them, we ought not to overlook them. Even the antiquity renders this account venerable.

Constable: Exodus (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The Hebrew title of this book (we'elleh shemot) originated from the ancient practice of naming a Bible book after its first word or words. "Now these are the names of" is the translation of the first two Hebrew words.

"The Hebrew title of the Book of Exodus, therefore, was to remind us that Exodus is the sequel to Genesis and that one of its purposes is to continue the history of God's people as well as elaborate further on the great themes so nobly introduced in Genesis."¹

Exodus cannot stand alone. It would not make much sense without Genesis. The very first word of the book, translated "now," is a conjunction that means "and."

The English title "Exodus" is a transliteration of the Greek word exodos from the Septuagint translation meaning "exit," "way out," or "departure." The Septuagint translators gave the book this title because of the major event in it, namely, the Israelites' departure from Egypt.

"The exodus is the most significant historical and theological event of the Old Testament . . ."²

Date and Writer

Moses, who lived from about 1525 to 1405 B.C., wrote Exodus. He could have written it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit any time after the events recorded (after about 1444 B.C.). He may have written it during the year the Israelites camped at the base of Mt. Sinai. He may have done so during the 38-year period of wandering in the wilderness following the Israelites' failure to enter the land from Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num. 13-14; ca. 1443-1405 B.C.). On the other hand he may have written it on the plains of Moab just before his death (cf. 16:35).³

Scope

Exodus embraces about 431 years of history, from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt (ca. 1876 B.C.) to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai (ca. 1445 B.C.). However 1:1-7 is a review of Jacob's family. If we eliminate this section, the narrative resumes the story of the Israelites where Genesis ends, after the death of Joseph. About 364 years elapsed between the death of Joseph and the building of the tabernacle. The bulk of the book (chs. 3-40) deals with only two of these years, the year before and the year after the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus event is clearly the focus of this book.

The Israelites lived in Egypt 430 years (12:40). Genesis 15:13 has the round number 400 years as the time of Israel's oppression in Egypt.⁴

Purpose

"The purpose of the Book of Exodus is to celebrate God's gracious deliverance of His chosen people Israel from Egyptian slavery to the freedom of covenant relationship and fellowship with Him."⁵

Importance

"No other biblical book surfaces elsewhere in the OT as frequently as the Book of Exodus does; in the NT only the Books of Psalms and Isaiah are cited more, and that for the fairly obvious reasons of liturgy and messianism."⁶

Message⁷

The great contribution of this book is the revelation that Yahweh is the sovereign God who provides deliverance for man from the slavery in which he finds himself.

The major teaching of Exodus is primarily threefold.

1. The sovereignty of God.

2. The salvation of man.

3. The methods by which the sovereign God affects man's salvation.

First, Exodus teaches the sovereignty of God.

In Genesis we learned that the only way we can realize the purpose for which God created us is through faith in a trustworthy God that expresses itself in obedience.

In Exodus we learn that the God with whom we can have a relationship is not only trustworthy but sovereign. This realization should produce within us the double effect of worship and obedience.

Sovereignty is the attribute of God that expresses the fact that Yahweh is the ultimate ruler of the universe. There is no one higher in authority than He. As sovereign, He has all power. Sovereignty does not refer to how God rules, the method by which He governs. In particular, it does not imply that God controls every detail of life immediately (directly). God exercises His sovereignty by allowing human beings certain freedoms. He does not control us like puppets on strings but as a father controls his children. We have limited freedom.

We can see God's sovereignty clearly in His superiority over all the so-called gods of Egypt. He displayed His great power in all of His activity that resulted in the liberation of the Israelites and His adoption of them as His people. Scripture teaches both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. No one has been able to explain this mystery adequately (cf. Job).

Second, Exodus teaches the salvation of man.

In Genesis we saw the need for salvation (i.e., the Fall and the repeated failures of man).

In Exodus, God revealed the method of salvation and explained the consequences of salvation initially.

Exodus teaches that God provides salvation for man. Man does not provide it for himself. It also reveals that man appropriates what God has provided by faith.

Two activities become prominent as major expressions of faith in Exodus: worship and obedience. Worship and obedience are the Godward and the manward expressions of faith respectively.

Worship consists of putting God at the center of life (cf. Rom. 12:1-2). Worship was to characterize the Israelites nationally and personally. God illustrated the importance of placing Him at the center of life by locating the ark of the covenant in the center of the tabernacle. He further did so by placing the tabernacle in the center of the Israelite camp.

Obedience consists of arranging all the parts of life in proper relation to God who is at the center. If something in life does not orient toward God properly, there is disobedience. In this way Exodus deepens the revelation concerning obedience that God has given us in Genesis.

Third, Exodus teaches the methods by which the sovereign God affects man's salvation.

God's method of dealing with the human race generally (outside Israel) was by creating a pattern, namely, the nation of Israel. God created the nation of Israel so that He could demonstrate through Israel for all other nations and peoples to see how glorious it can be to live under God's government. God's election of Israel was not the selection of a pet that God would favor at the expense of all others. It was the construction of a pattern. Israel was to be a demonstration to all the world of how wonderful life can be under the rule of Yahweh (cf. 19:5-6).

God's method of dealing with Israel was by revealing a person, namely, Himself. In many revelations to the Israelites, God sought to deepen their understanding of and appreciation for Himself and His will. The special privilege of receiving the revelation was a blessing to them and should have resulted in their being a blessing to the whole world. Israel was to do this by demonstrating how good it is to live under God's kingship. Some of the most important revelations occur in the following passages: 3:4-16; 6:2-8; 19:3-6; 20:1-7; 24:1, 9-11; 34:5-8; and 40:34-35. They are not all different, but God intended them to have the cumulative effect of deepening the Israelites' concept of God. They came to the people like waves beating on the shore. All the details of the Mosaic Code, which begins in Exodus and continues through Numbers, reinforce the main point of this revelation, which is the character of God.

God's method of dealing with individuals was by providing opportunities, choices.

We can see this most easily in God's dealing with the two major characters in Exodus, Moses and Pharaoh. God's method of dealing with both men was the same, but their responses were different and consequently so were their fates.

Pharaoh was a strong, wise leader who acted wholly by sight rather than by faith in Yahweh. He is typical of people of the world. God's method of dealing with him was to give him opportunities to make the right choices and so experience the blessing of God. Pharaoh chose not to trust God, and his disobedience resulted in personal tragedy for himself and national tragedy for Egypt.

Moses on the other hand was also a strong, wise leader, but he acted by faith rather than by sight (Heb. 11:27). God's method of dealing with him in Exodus was the same. He gave him opportunities to make the right choices and so experience God's blessing. Moses chose to trust and obey God, and his life is a story of personal triumph and national triumph for Israel.

In both cases God patiently worked with these representative individuals and gently encouraged them to do His will. Moses developed into a noble character because he chose to submit to God's government even though he was faulty, failing, and fearful. Pharaoh was a more admirable person in many respects, but he sank into destruction because he chose to refuse to submit to God's government (authoritative rule).

Exodus teaches that individuals are personally responsible under God, and their choices determine their destinies. There is ample New Testament evidence for this in John 1:12; 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:47; 20:31; et al. Divine sovereignty does not negate human responsibility.

If we look at the record of God's activity in Exodus, we see progress. The unbelief of His enemies does not frustrate Him. His ultimate purposes for Israel came to fruition.

However if we look at the record of man's activity in this book, we see failure. Even Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites who trusted God constantly failed. We observed this in the lives of the characters in Genesis as well.

While man constantly falls short of what God requires, human failure does not frustrate God's ultimate purposes. This proves that God is indeed sovereign.

Constable: Exodus (Outline)

Outline

I. The liberation of Israel 1:1-15:21

A. God's preparation of Israel and Moses chs. 1-4

1. The growth of Jacob's family 1:1-7

2. The Israelites' bondage in Egypt 1:8-22

3. Moses' birth and education 2:1-10

4. Moses' flight from Egypt to Midian 2:11-15

5. Moses' life in Midian 2:16-25

6. Moses' call 3:1-4:18

7. Moses' return to Egypt 4:19-31

B. God's demonstrations of His sovereignty chs. 5-11

1. Pharaoh's response to Moses and Aaron's initial request 5:1-6:1

2. Moses and Aaron's equipment as God's messengers 6:2-7:7

3. The attestation of Moses and Aaron's divine mission 7:8-13

4. The first three plagues 7:14-8:19

5. The fourth, fifth, and sixth plagues 8:20-9:12

6. The seventh, eight, and ninth plagues 9:13-10:29

7. The proclamation of the tenth plague ch. 11

C. God's redemption of His people 12:1-13:16

1. The consecration of Israel as the covenant nation 12:1-28

2. The death of the first-born and the release of Israel 12:29-36

3. The exodus of Israel out of Egypt 12:37-42

4. Regulations concerning the Passover 12:43-51

5. The sanctification of the first-born 13:1-16

D. God's completion of Israel's liberation 13:17-15:21

1. The journey from Succoth to Etham 13:17-22

2. Israel's passage through the Red Sea ch. 14

3. Israel's song of deliverance 15:1-21

II. The adoption of Israel 15:22-40:38

A. God's preparatory instruction of Israel 15:22-18:27

1. Events in the wilderness of Shur 15:22-27

2. Quails and manna in the wilderness of Sin ch. 16

3. The lack of water at Rephidim 17:1-7

4. The hostility of the Amalekites 17:18-36

5. The friendliness of Jethro the Midianite ch. 18

B. The establishment of the Mosaic Covenant 19:1-24:11

1. Preparation for the Covenant ch. 19

2. The Ten Commandments 20:1-17

3. The response of the Israelites 20:18-21

4. The stipulations of the Book of the Covenant 20:22-23:33

5. The ratification of the Covenant 24:1-11

C. Directions regarding God's dwelling among His people 24:12-31:18

1. The revelation of these directions 24:12-18

2. Contributions for the construction of the sanctuary 25:1-9

3. The tabernacle furnishings 25:10-41

4. The tabernacle structure ch. 26

5. The tabernacle courtyard 27:1-19

6. The investiture of the priests 27:20-28:43

7. The consecration of the priests 29:1-37

8. The service of the priests 29:38-30:38

9. The builders of the tabernacle 31:1-11

10. The sign of the Sabbath 31:12-18

D. The breaking and renewing of the covenant chs. 32-34

1. The failure of Israel ch. 32

2. The re-establishment of fellowship ch. 33

3. The renewal of the covenant ch. 34

E. The construction and dedication of the objects used in Israel's worship chs. 35-40

1. Preparations for construction 35:1-36:7

2. Execution of the work 36:8-39:43

3. The erection and consecration of the tabernacle ch. 40

In an interesting and original chart of Exodus, Ted Grove suggested the following structural outline of Exodus.⁸

I. Israel's liberation chs. 1-18

A. Israel's affliction (Israel is Egypt's possession) 1:1-2:14

B. Deliverance 2:15-18:27

Ted saw the following chiastic structure in this section.

A Midian: Moses' commission 2:15-4:28

B Enemy: Egypt defeated 4:29-15:21

C Water: bitter to sweet and 12 springs 15:22-27

D Food: manna and quail ch. 16

C' Water: out of rock 17:1-7

B' Enemy: Amalek defeated 17:8-16

A' Midian: Moses accepts wisdom ch. 18

II. Israel's adoption chs. 19-40

A. Covenant delivered 19:1-24:11

B. Sanctuary planned 24:12-31:18

C. Covenant broken ch. 32

D. Covenant renewed chs. 33-34

E. Sanctuary's construction 35:1-40:33

F. Covenant sealed (Israel is God's possession) 40:34-38

Ted also saw a chiasm in this part of the book.

A Covenant delivered 19:1-24:11

B Tabernacle planned 24:12-27:21

C Priestly instructions chs. 28-30

D Craftsmen's direction 31:1-11

E Sabbath instructions 31:12-18

F Covenant broken ch. 32

F' Covenant renewed chs. 33-34

E' Sabbath reminded 35:1-3

D' Craftsmen and construction 35:4-38:31

C' Priests prepared ch. 39

B' Tabernacle completed 40:1-33

A' Covenant sealed 40:34-38

The center of the first chiasm is the manna. The center of the second chiasm is the tablets of the Law. These were the two items God instructed Moses to preserve in the ark of the covenant.

Ted saw the key verse of the book as 34:9.

Constable: Exodus

Exodus

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Exodus (Book Introduction)

THE BOOK OF EXODUS.

INTRODUCTION.

The second Book of Moses is called Exodus from the Greek word Exodos, which signifies going out; because it contains the history of the going out of the children of Israel out of Egypt. The Hebrews, from the words with which it begins, call it Veelle Shemoth : These are the names. (Challoner) --- It contains the space of 143 years, till the beginning of the second year after the liberation of the Israelites. (Tirinus) --- Their slavery is described in the first chapters; and is supposed to have continued ninety years. (Du Hamel) --- The laws prescribed by God to his people, the sacrifices, tabernacle, &c., were all intended to prefigure the Christian dispensation. (St. Augustine, City of God vii. 31.) --- Moses himself was a type of Jesus Christ, who was rejected by the synagogue, and received by the Gentiles, as the Jewish Legislator was abandoned by his mother, and educated by the Egyptian princess. She delivers him back to his mother; and thus the Jews will, at last, acknowledge our Saviour. (Du Hamel) --- God deigns to address his people in the character of a powerful Eastern monarch, and requires the like attention. He appoints his ministers, like guards, to attend before his tabernacle, &c. The laws which he enacts, are such as suited the Jewish people: they were not to rise all at once to perfection; but these laws guide them, as it were, on the road. They are infinitely more perfect than those of the surrounding nations. (Calmet)

Gill: Exodus (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS

This book is called by the Jews Veelleh Shemoth, from the first words with which it begins, and sometimes Sepher Shemoth, and sometimes only Shemoth. It is by the Septuagint called Exodus, from whom we have the name of Exodus, which signifies "a going out"; see Luk 9:31, because it treats of the going of the children of Israel out of Egypt; and hence in the Alexandrian copy it is called the Exodus of Egypt; and so the Syriac version entitles it the second book of the law, called "the going out"; and to the same purpose the Arabic version. The Jews sometimes give it the name of Nezikin, as Buxtorf ^a observes out of the Masora on Gen 24:8 because in it some account is given of losses, and the restitution of them. That this book is of divine inspiration, and to be reckoned in the canon of the sacred writings, is sufficiently evident to all that believe the New Testament; since there are so many quotations out of it there by Christ, and his apostles; particularly see Mar 12:26 and that it was wrote by Moses is not to be doubted, but when is not certain; it must be after the setting up of the tabernacle in the wilderness; the greatest part of what is contained in it, he was an eye and ear witness of; it plainly points out the accomplishment of the promises and prophecies delivered to Abraham, that his posterity would be very numerous, that they would be afflicted in a land not theirs, and in the fourth generation come out of it with great substance. It treats of the afflictions of the Israelites in Egypt, after the death of Joseph, until their deliverance by Moses; of his birth, calling, and mission to Pharaoh, to demand of him to let the children of Israel go; of the ten plagues upon him and his people, for refusing to dismiss them; of the departure of Israel from Egypt, and the institution of the passover on that account; of their passage through the Red sea into the wilderness, and of the various exercises and afflictions, supplies and supports they met with there; of the giving of a body of laws unto them, moral, ceremonial, and judicial; and of the building of the tabernacle, and all things appertaining to it; and throughout the whole, as there is a figure and representation of the passage of the people of God out of spiritual Egypt, through the wilderness of this world, to the heavenly Canaan, and of various things they must meet with in their passage, so there are many types of Christ, his person, office, and grace, and of his church, his word, and ordinances, which are very edifying and instructing. The book contains a history of about one hundred and forty years, from the death of Joseph, to the erection of the tabernacle.

Gill: Exodus 26 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 26

In this chapter a description is given of the tabernacle itself, and first of its inward curtains, of their number, matter, length, and breadth, and the manner of coupling them together, Exo 26:1, and then of the outward curtains of it, their number, matter, length, and breadth, and coupling, and how disposed of, Exo 26:7, and next of the two coverings of the tabernacle, of rams' skins and badgers' skins, Exo 22:14, the boards for the tabernacle are also described, with their tenons and sockets, Exo 26:15 and the bars and rings for it, by which it was kept firm together, Exo 26:26, an account is given of the vail between the holy and the most holy place, Exo 26:31, and of the hanging for the door of the tabernacle, Exo 26:36.