Exodus 14:19

14:19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar ¹  of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

Exodus 14:24

14:24 In the morning watch ²  the Lord looked down ³  on the Egyptian army ⁴  through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army ⁵  into a panic. ⁶ 

Exodus 26:32

26:32 You are to hang it ⁷  with gold hooks ⁸  on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in ⁹  four silver bases.

Exodus 26:37

26:37 You are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be ¹⁰  gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them. ¹¹ 

Exodus 27:16

27:16 For the gate of the courtyard there is to be a curtain of thirty feet, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with four posts and their four bases.

Exodus 33:9-10

33:9 And ¹²  whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord ¹³  would speak with Moses. ¹⁴  33:10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship. ¹⁵ 

Exodus 35:11

35:11 the tabernacle with ¹⁶  its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases;

Exodus 36:36

36:36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks, ¹⁷  and he cast for them four silver bases.

Exodus 38:15

38:15 and for the second side of the gate of the courtyard, just like the other, ¹⁸  the hangings were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases.

Exodus 38:28

38:28 From the remaining 1,775 shekels ¹⁹  he made hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and made bands for them.

Exodus 39:33

39:33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases;

Exodus 40:18

40:18 When Moses set up the tabernacle and put its bases in place, he set up its frames, attached its bars, and set up its posts.

[14:19]  ¹ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 400-401) makes a good case that there may have been only one pillar, one cloud; it would have been a dark cloud behind it, but in front of it, shining the way, a pillar of fire. He compares the manifestation on Sinai, when the mountain was on fire but veiled by a dark cloud (Deut 4:11; 5:22). See also Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Deut 1:33; Neh 9:12, 19; Josh 24:7; Pss 78:14; 105:39.

[14:24]  ² tn The night was divided into three watches of about four hours each, making the morning watch about 2:00-6:00 a.m. The text has this as “the watch of the morning,” the genitive qualifying which of the night watches was meant.

[14:24]  ³ tn This particular verb, שָׁקַף (shaqaf) is a bold anthropomorphism: Yahweh looked down. But its usage is always with some demonstration of mercy or wrath. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 120) suggests that the look might be with fiery flashes to startle the Egyptians, throwing them into a panic. Ps 77:17-19 pictures torrents of rain with lightning and thunder.

[14:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “camp.” The same Hebrew word is used in Exod 14:20. Unlike the English word “camp,” it can be used of a body of people at rest (encamped) or on the move.

[14:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “camp.”

[14:24]  ⁶ tn The verb הָמַם (hamam) means “throw into confusion.” It is used in the Bible for the panic and disarray of an army before a superior force (Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15).

[26:32]  ³ tn Heb “put it.”

[26:32]  ⁴ tn This clause simply says “and their hooks gold,” but is taken as a circumstantial clause telling how the veil will be hung.

[26:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “on four silver bases.”

[26:37]  ⁴ tn “will be” has been supplied.

[26:37]  ⁵ 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.

[33:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it was when.”

[33:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:9]  ⁷ tn Both verbs, “stand” and “speak,” are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive.

[33:10]  ⁶ tn All the main verbs in this verse are perfect tenses continuing the customary sequence (see GKC 337 §112.kk). The idea is that the people would get up (rise) when the cloud was there and then worship, meaning in part bow down. When the cloud was not there, there was access to seek God.

[35:11]  ⁷ tn In Hebrew style all these items are typically connected with a vav (ו) conjunction, but English typically uses commas except between the last two items in a series or between items in a series that are somehow related to one another. The present translation follows contemporary English style in lists such as this.

[36:36]  ⁸ tn Heb “and their hooks gold.”

[38:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “from this and from this” (cf, 17:12; 25:19; 26:13; 32:15; Josh 8:22, 33; 1 Kgs 10:19-20; Ezek 45:7).

[38:28]  ¹⁰ tn Here the word “shekels” is understood; about 45 pounds.