SERIES D --- YHVH’S TABERNACLE --- LESSON 14

ISRAEL’S TREASURE

TABERNACLE TREASURES

From Exodus 38

The work of constructing the tabernacle and its furnishings had been given to Bezalel and his skilled craftsmen. After he had constructed the tent itself, the Ark, the table and the golden lampstand, he made the altar to be used for burnt offerings. It was made of acacia wood and was seven and one-half feet square by four and one-half feet in height. At each of the four corners of the altar there was a horn, formed from the same piece of wood as the altar itself. When the altar was completed, it was covered with bronze. Bezalel also made the utensils for the altar, casting the pots, shovels, basins, forks and firepans from bronze. He made a bronze grating which was placed on a ledge halfway down on the inside of the altar. The altar was hollow inside, with rings on the sides through which the carrying poles were placed. These poles were made of acacia wood and covered with bronze. The great bronze laver and its pedestal were cast from bronze mirrors which had been melted down. These had been given by the women who ministered at the door of the tabernacle. The south wall of the courtyard was a hundred and fifty feet long. The curtains which formed the walls were made of fine-twined linen. These were fastened by silver hooks and rods to twenty posts, set in bronze sockets. The north side was the same. But the west side was seventy-five feet long with ten posts set in bronze sockets. The curtains on the west side were fastened to the posts by silver hooks and rods. The east side of the courtyard was seventy-five feet long, with twenty-two and one-half feet of curtains, supported by three posts, on each side of the entrance. These curtains were fastened by silver hooks and rods to the posts, which were set in bronze sockets. All of the curtains or draperies, of this courtyard wall were made of fine-twined linen, fastened with silver hooks and rods to the posts. The sockets for the posts were made of bronze and the tops covering the posts were plated with silver. The curtains covering the entrance were made of fine-twined linen with blue, purple and scarlet thread and decorated with skilful embroidery. These curtains were thirty feet long and seven and one-half feet wide and they were hung by silver hooks and rods on four posts which were set in bronze sockets. These posts had silver tops like those of the other posts. The pegs or nails used in building the tabernacle were all made of bronze. Here is a list of the workmen and materials involved in constructing the tabernacle to house the Ark which Moses commanded to be built. It was in this tabernacle that the Levites would minister to Adonai. The work was supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. The craftsman who supervised the skilled work was Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. His chief assistant was Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He was a craftsman who was skilled in engraving, designing and embroidering in blue, purple and scarlet fine-twined linen. Altogether, there was about thirty-five hundred pounds of gold used in the tabernacle and about ten thousand pounds of silver. The silver was collected as a tax imposed on the 603,550 men over twenty years of age. Most of the silver was used for the sockets in which the posts were set, about a hundred pounds for each socket. The rest of the silver was used to plate the tops of the posts and to make the hooks and rods. The people also gave about seven thousand pounds of bronze. With this the craftsmen made the sockets for the entrance to the tabernacle, the bronze altar with its grating and all its utensils, the sockets for the posts surrounding the courtyard and the nails or pegs used throughout the tabernacle.

COMMENTS

ALTARS AND LAVER

In one way, the Israelites were like their neighbours, for they were people who shared many customs of their times. But as YHVH’s chosen people, they were distinct from their neighbours. Much of that distinction lay in their worship of YHVH, especially at the tabernacle. The altars and laver give an example of the uniqueness of the tabernacle as a place of worship. The Canaanite altars were made of plastered stones, bricks and rubble. But the Israelites had to make theirs only with earth and fieldstones. The stones were not to be shaped or trimmed in any way, because using a tool on the stone would make it unholy {Exodus 20:25}. Unlike the altars of their neighbours, the Hebrew altars had four horns, one on each corner. No one knows what the horns meant to the Israelites. Since they were supposed to be from the bull, which is such a strong animal, it is possible they were meant to remind the Hebrews of YHVH’s power. No steps were ever built to lead to the altar. It was always level with the worshipers. This was to prevent any accidental exposure of the priest’s body; if he didn’t have to walk up steps, the robe would be less likely to shift and uncover him. Such modesty was completely unlike the Canaanite priests, who conducted fertility rites entirely naked. Pagan altars were often places for the display and sacrifice of the human body. Hebrew altars, on the other hand, was places for spiritual communion with the invisible YHVH. Even long before the tabernacle, Noah, Abraham and Jacob had built altars to YHVH. The tabernacle had two altars. The smaller of the two was the incense altar. It stood in front of the veil to the Holy of Holies. The larger one was the altar of burnt offerings. The sacrificed animal’s body was placed on a bronze grating set halfway down inside it. All other altar utensils were made of bronze too. The laver was a large bronze bowl that stood on a pedestal. It was made of the melted-down mirrors donated by the women who ministered at the tabernacle door. Filled with water, it stood between the tabernacle and the altar. Moses anointed it with oil to make it sacred and there the priests washed their hands and feet before they performed any ritual.