SERIES D --- YHVH’S TABERNACLE --- LESSON 12

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

BUILDING THE TABERNACLE

From Exodus 36:8-38

Work on the tabernacle began with the ten great curtains. Weavers skilfully made these from blue, purple and scarlet fine-twined linen, weaving cherubim on them. Each curtain was forty-two feet long and six feet wide. All ten curtains were the same size. Five curtains were joined together to form one large one. Then the other five were joined to form another large one. These two large curtains were used to form the ceiling of the tabernacle. Along the edge of each large curtain were fifty blue ribbons formed into loops. Fifty golden clasps joined the two sets of fifty blue loops, thus bringing the two large curtains into one piece to form the ceiling. On top of this ceiling, Bezalel made a second layer from goats’ hair. He made this with eleven curtains, each the same size, forty-five feet long and six feet wide. Five of these were joined together to form one large curtain and the other six were joined to form a second large curtain. These two large curtains were joined together by fifty bronze clasps, which hooked to fifty loops along the side of each of them. A third layer was added to the roof, made of rams’ skins dyed red and tanned goats’ skins. The upright frame for the tabernacle was made of acacia wood. Each upright piece was fifteen feet high and two and one-quarter feet wide. Each of these had two tendons so that they could be joined together. The south and north sides each had twenty upright boards which fit into forty silver sockets at the bottom. The two tendons of each hoard fit into the two silver sockets. The west side had six boards with an extra board at each corner. These corner boards formed a double support which went to the ring at the top and bottom. The entire western side was thus made of eight boards mounted in sixteen silver bases, two for each board. On each side of the tabernacle, five sets of bars of acacia wood joined these boards together. The middle bar ran from end to end about halfway up the boards. All of the boards, the bars and the rings which held the bars to the boards, were covered with gold. Bezalel made the veil of the tabernacle of blue, purple and scarlet fine-twined linen and he embroidered cherubim on it. He fastened the veil to four golden hooks and hung it on four posts of acacia wood, covered with gold. The posts were supported by silver bases. For the entrance to the tabernacle, Bezalel made a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet fine-twined linen, woven skilfully with decorative work. This was hung on hooks to five posts. These posts, as well as their capitals and rods, were covered with gold and their five sockets were made of bronze.

COMMENTARY

MATERIALS USED IN THE TABERNACLE

Solid gold lamp stands, cherubim, altar utensils and gold-plated furniture shimmered inside the tabernacle. Outside, golden clasps, hooks, carrying poles, gold-plated beams and pillars gleamed in the desert sun. Precious gems sparkled in the high priest’s ephod. The wonderful wealth shown in the building of the tabernacle came from two sources. Whatever jewellery the Israelites’ owned was readily donated. And the treasures the Egyptians had showered on them to speed them out of the country after the Passover, were also used. The building of the tabernacle took much more silver than gold. The sanctuary baseboards, the tops of pillars, curtain rods and hooks were plated with thin sheets of silver. Most of this came from the yearly tax each man twenty years of age or older had to pay in silver, which was then melted down for use. Israelite women donated the polished bronze mirrors given to them by the Egyptians. The altar of sacrifice could then be plated and altar utensils made of solid bronze. The tabernacle beams were even hammered together with bronze nails. The glorious colours of the curtains and embroidery had to be painstakingly produced and carefully applied. Two purple-coloured dyes came from a shell found in the Mediterranean Sea. An insect that lived on oak trees was slowly collected and dried to produce a crimson stain. After the dyes were made, many hours were spent carefully applying them to dried flax strands that were then spun and woven into cloth. The roof of the tabernacle was a complicated one of animal skins, dyed or tanned and woven goats’ hair. Bedouin tent roofs are still made much the same way. Only acacia wood was used. Reddish-brown, hard, durable, insect resistant, it was perfect for the desert. The pure olive oil burned in the seven-lamped menorah was mixed with myrrh, cinnamon, sugar cane and cassia. The incense recipe called for desert tree-saps, seashells and salt. All in all, a total of fourteen raw materials went into the building of the tabernacle.