Day 29: Exodus 37-40

(The previous post covered God's reconfirmation of the Covenant and the Israelites carrying out of God's instructions to Moses while he was on the mount with God.)

Exodus 37

(This chapter continued showing how God's directions for the tabernacle were completed, specifically the tabernacle furniture.)

(Verses 1-5: the Ark of the Covenant (as was commanded in Exodus 25:10-16).)

¹ And Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:

(Bezalel made the Ark. Click here to see an image of the Ark. It was about 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.)

² and he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.
³ And he cast for it four rings of gold, in the four feet thereof; even two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
⁴ And he made staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold.
⁵ And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

(Verses 6-9: the mercy-seat; the golden lid to the Ark of the Covenant (as was commanded in Exodus 25:17-22).)

⁶ And he made a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
⁷ And he made two cherubim of gold; of beaten work made he them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat;

(The two cherubim were beaten out of one piece of gold.)

⁸ one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end: of one piece with the mercy-seat made he the cherubim at the two ends thereof.
⁹ And the cherubim spread out their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy-seat were the faces of the cherubim.

(Verses 10-16: the Table of Showbread with its utensils (as was commanded in Exodus 25:23-30).)

¹⁰ And he made the table of acacia wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof:

(The table was about 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high.)

¹¹ and he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereto a crown of gold round about.
¹² And he made unto it a border of a handbreadth round about, and made a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

(The table was decorated with a 3 inch border.)

¹³ And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that were on the four feet thereof.
¹⁴ Close by the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table.
¹⁵ And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.
¹⁶ And he made the vessels which were upon the table, the dishes thereof, and the spoons thereof, and the bowls thereof, and the flagons thereof, wherewith to pour out, of pure gold.

(Verses 17-24: the gold lampstand (as was commanded in Exodus 25:31-40).)

¹⁷ And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick, even its base, and its shaft; its cups, it knops, and its flowers, were of one piece with it:
¹⁸ and there were six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof:
¹⁹ three cups made like almond-blossoms in one branch, a knop and a flower, and three cups made like almond-blossoms in the other branch, a knop and a flower: so for the six branches going out of the candlestick.
²⁰ And in the candlestick were four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof;
²¹ and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it.
²² Their knops and their branches were of one piece with it: the whole of it was one beaten work of pure gold.

(Another part (knops and their branches) was formed from one piece of gold.)

²³ And he made the lamps thereof, seven, and the snuffers thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, of pure gold.
²⁴ Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.

(Verses 25-28: the Altar of Incense (as was commanded in Exodus 30:1-10).)

²⁵ And he made the altar of incense of acacia wood: a cubit was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, foursquare; and two cubits was the height thereof; the horns thereof were of one piece with it.

(The altar of incense was about 18 inches square and 36 inches high.)

²⁶ And he overlaid it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: and he made unto it a crown of gold round about.
²⁷ And he made for it two golden rings under the crown thereof, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it, for places for staves wherewith to bear it.
²⁸ And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold.

(Verse 29: the anointing oil and incense (as was commanded in Exodus 30:22-38).)

²⁹ And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.

(Bezalel not only made most of the furniture, he made the fragrances as well.)




Exodus 38

(This chapter continued showing how God's directions for the tabernacle were completed.)

(Verses 1-7: the altar of burnt-offering (as was commanded in Exodus 27:1-8).)

¹ And he made the altar of burnt-offering of acacia wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof, foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

(The altar was approximately 7½ feet wide, 7½ feet long, and 4½ feet high.)

² And he made the horns thereof upon the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of one piece with it: and he overlaid it with brass.
³ And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, the flesh-hooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
⁴ And he made for the altar a grating of network of brass, under the ledge round it beneath, reaching halfway up.
⁵ And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grating of brass, to be places for the staves.
⁶ And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with brass.
⁷ And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, wherewith to bear it; he made it hollow with planks.

(Verse 8: the brass laver (as was commanded in Exodus 30:17-21).)

⁸ And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the ministering women that ministered at the door of the tent of meeting.

(Women assembled at the door of the tabernacle.)

(Verses 9-20: the court with its pillars and linen fence (as was commanded in Exodus 27:9-19).)

⁹ And he made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits;
¹⁰ their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
¹¹ And for the north side a hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.

(The curtains for the south and north sides of the courtyard were about 150 feet long.)

¹² And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
¹³ And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.

(The curtains for the west and east sides of the courtyard were about 75 feet long.)

¹⁴ The hangings for the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three;
¹⁵ and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

(The curtains on both sides of the gate were about 22 ½ feet long.)

¹⁶ All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.

(All of the curtains hanging in the courtyard were made of fine twined linen.)

¹⁷ And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals, of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
¹⁸ And the screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.

(The curtain (screen) for the entrance of the courtyard was about 30 feet long and 7½ feet high.)

¹⁹ And their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of brass; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver.
²⁰ And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

(Verses 21-23: the leaders of the work.)

²¹ This is the sum of the things for the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
²² And Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Jehovah commanded Moses.
²³ And with him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skilful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and in fine linen.

(Verse 24: the inventory of gold.)

²⁴ All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

(The gold used was about 2,193 pounds.)

(Verses 25-28: the inventory of silver.)

²⁵ And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

(Israel gave approximately 7,545 pounds of silver.)

²⁶ a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that passed over to them that were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

(There were 603,550 men over twenty years old.)

²⁷ And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; a hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

(The support for the curtains was made from about 7,500 pounds of silver, about 75 pounds for each base.)

²⁸ And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.

(There was about 45 pounds of silver left over which was used for hooks and rings.)

(Verses 29-31: the inventory of brass.)

²⁹ And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.

(About 5,310 pounds of brass was offered.)

³⁰ And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tent of meeting, and the brazen altar, and the brazen grating for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
³¹ and the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the gate of the court, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.




Exodus 39

(Verses 1-31: clothing for the priests.)

¹ And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 2-7: the ephod for the high priest (as was commanded in Exodus 28:5-14).)

² And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
³ And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman.
⁴ They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together; at the two ends was it joined together.
⁵ And the skilfully woven band, that was upon it, wherewith to gird it on, was of the same piece and like the work thereof; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Jehovah commanded Moses.
⁶ And they wrought the onyx stones, inclosed in settings of gold, graven with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel.
⁷ And he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 8-21: the breastplate for the high priest (as was commanded in Exodus 28:15-29).)

⁸ And he made the breastplate, the work of the skilful workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
⁹ It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being double.

(The chest piece was about 9 inches square.)

¹⁰ And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row;
¹¹ and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;
¹² and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
¹³ and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jaspar: they were inclosed in inclosings of gold in their settings.
¹⁴ And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, for the twelve tribes.
¹⁵ And they made upon the breastplate chains like cords, of wreathen work of pure gold.
¹⁶ And they made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.
¹⁷ And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.
¹⁸ And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, in the forepart thereof.
¹⁹ And they made two rings of gold, and put them upon the two ends of the breastplate, upon the edge thereof, which was toward the side of the ephod inward.
²⁰ And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, in the forepart thereof, close by the coupling thereof, above the skilfully woven band of the ephod.
²¹ And they did bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be upon the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 22-26: the robe for the high priest (as was commanded in Exodus 28:31-35).)

²² And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
²³ And the hole of the robe in the midst thereof, as the hole of a coat of mail, with a binding round about the hole of it, that it should not be rent.
²⁴ And they made upon the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.
²⁵ And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the skirts of the robe round about, between the pomegranates;
²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about, to minister in; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 27-29: Tunics, turbans, sashes, trousers, for all the priests (as was commanded in Exodus 28:39-43).)

²⁷ And they made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,
²⁸ and the mitre of fine linen, and the goodly head-tires of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined linen,
²⁹ and the girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 30-31: the turban for the high priest (as was commanded in Exodus 28:36-38).)

³⁰ And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet, HOLY TO JEHOVAH.
³¹ And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it upon the mitre above; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 32-43: Moses looks over the work.)

³² Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting: and the children of Israel did according to all that Jehovah commanded Moses; so did they.
³³ And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the Tent, and all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, it bars, and its pillars, and it sockets;

(Everything was brought to Moses once it was completed.)

³⁴ and the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of sealskins, and the veil of the screen;
³⁵ the ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy-seat;
³⁶ the table, all the vessels thereof, and the showbread;
³⁷ the pure candlestick, the lamps thereof, even the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for the light;
³⁸ and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door of the Tent;
³⁹ the brazen altar, and its grating of brass, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base;
⁴⁰ the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, the cords thereof, and the pins thereof, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting;
⁴¹ the finely wrought garments for ministering in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.
⁴² According to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work.

(All that God commanded Moses regarding the tabernacle was completed by the Israelites.)

⁴³ And Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it; as Jehovah had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

(Moses blessed them.)




Exodus 40

(This chapter dealt with the completion of the tabernacle.)

(Verses 1-5: How to arrange the furniture within the tabernacle.)

¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
² On the first day of the first month shalt thou rear up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
³ And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and thou shalt screen the ark with the veil.
⁴ And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.
⁵ And thou shalt set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.

(Verses 6-11: How to arrange the items in the courtyard.)

⁶ And thou shalt set the altar of burnt-offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
⁷ And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
⁸ And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court.
⁹ And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the furniture thereof: and it shall be holy.
¹⁰ And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt-offering, and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the altar shall be most holy.
¹¹ And thou shalt anoint the laver and its base, and sanctify it.

(One year after leaving Egypt, the tabernacle was set up. A "cross" was formed with the placement of everything. The laver was between the doors of the tent of meeting and the altar of burnt offering. At the foot of the "cross" was the altar (complete surrender). The laver represented our cleansing through which we pass to enter in the "door" (Jesus) to the Holy of Holies (God).)

(Verses 12-16: Anointing Aaron and his sons to minister as priests.)

¹² And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tent of meeting, and shalt wash them with water.
¹³ And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments; and thou shalt anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
¹⁴ And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them;
¹⁵ and thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office: and their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.

(Aaron and his sons were washed and anointed so they could serve God in the priest’s office.)

¹⁶ Thus did Moses: according to all that Jehovah commanded him, so did he.

(Verses 17-19: the tent of meeting goes up by setting up the boards and covering it with the curtains.)

¹⁷ And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.
¹⁸ And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up its pillars.
¹⁹ And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 20-21: the Ark of the Covenant was set in the Most Holy Place, and the veil was set in place.)

²⁰ And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy-seat above upon the ark:
²¹ and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 22-23: the Table of Showbread was put in the Holy Place.)

²² And he put the table in the tent of meeting, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil.
²³ And he set the bread in order upon it before Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 24-25: the lampstand was put in the Holy Place.)

²⁴ And he put the candlestick in the tent of meeting, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.
²⁵ And he lighted the lamps before Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 26-27: the golden Altar of Incense was put in the Holy Place.)

²⁶ And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil:
²⁷ and he burnt thereon incense of sweet spices; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verse 28: the screen was hung at the entrance of the tabernacle.)

²⁸ And he put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.

(Verse 29: the brass altar was put in its place.)

²⁹ And he set the altar of burnt-offering at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meal-offering; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Verses 30-32: the laver was put in between the altar and the tent.)

³⁰ And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, wherewith to wash.
³¹ And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat;
³² when they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

(Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and feet before entering the tent of meeting.)

(Verse 33: the outer court was set up.)

³³ And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

(Verses 34-38: the completion of the tabernacle.)

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle.

(After Moses finished this work, God’s Glory cloud filled the tabernacle.)

³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle.
³⁶ And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys:
³⁷ but if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.

(The glory cloud directed the Israelites. They moved when the glory cloud moved; they stayed when the glory cloud stayed.)

³⁸ For the cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

(When the Israelites traveled by night, they were led by fire.)

(This post documented that the people fulfilled all of God's instructions for the tabernacle.)

(Exodus was the second of five books written by Moses that made up the first section of the Old Testament known as the Torah. The Book of Exodus documented Israel's redemption which covered the events from the Israelites' request to worship God in the wilderness and leaving Egypt to the setting up of the tabernacle so they could worship God in the wilderness. These events occurred in the span of just over a year. The Book of Exodus presented the circumstances that concluded the 4th Dispensation and introduced the 5th Dispensation. This Dispensation of the Law was in place throughout the rest of the Old Testament. Prior to the events recorded in this book, there was not an objective set of rules for societal behavior. We will see God put procedures in place in response to these rules. The next book showed God began with the leaders of society to explain the sanctuary and its relation to man.)

Day 30