Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Exodus 36

Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross
Introduction

1  The offerings are delivered to the workmen.
4  The liberality of the people is restrained.
8  The curtains with cherubims.
14  The curtains of goats' hair.
19  The covering of skins.
20  The boards with their sockets.
31  The bars.
35  The vail.
37  The hanging for the door.

Verse 1

Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded.
An
Ex. Is. 1. Tisri to Adar. Bezaleel.
31:1-6, 35:30-35
wise-hearted man
28:3, 31:6
for the service
3,4, 25:8, Numbers 7:9, Hebrews 8:2
according
23:21,22, 39:1-43, 40:1-38, Psalms 119:6, Matthew 28:20, Luke 1:6

Verse 2

And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:
in whose
28:3, 31:6, 35:10,21-35, Acts 6:3,4, 14:23, Colossians 4:17, Hebrews 5:4
one whose
35:2,21,25,26, 1 Chronicles 29:5

Verse 3

And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.
the offering
35:5-21,27,29
every morning
Psalms 5:3, 101:8, Proverbs 8:15, Isaiah 50:4, Jeremiah 21:12

Verse 4

And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;
2 Chronicles 24:13, Matthew 24:45, Luke 12:42, 1 Corinthians 3:10

Verse 5

And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.
32:3, 2 Chronicles 24:14, 31:6-10, 2 Corinthians 8:2,3, Philippians 2:21, 4:17,18

Verse 6

When God puts grace into the heart, the hands will be diligently employed in every good work.


Verse 7

For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.
and too much
2 Chronicles 31:10

Verse 8

And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.
wise
31:6, 35:10
made
26:1-37, 1 Chronicles 15:1
cherubims
Keroovim, cherubim, not cherubims. What these were we cannot determine. Some, observing that the verb kerav in Syriac, sometimes means to resemble, make like, conceive the noun keroov signifies no more than an image, figure, or representation of anything. Josephus says they were flying animals, like none of those which are seen by man, but such as Moses saw about the throne of God. In another place he says, "As for the cherubim, nobody can tell or conceive what they were like." These symbolical figures, according to the description of them by Ezekiel, (ch. 1:10; 10:14,) were creatures with four heads and one body; and the animals of which these forms consisted were the noblest of their kind; the lion among the wild beasts; the bull among the tame ones; the eagle among the birds, and man at the head of all. Hence some have conceived them to be somewhat of the shape of flying oxen; and it is alleged in favour of this opinion, that the far more common meaning of the verb kerav, in Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, being to plough, the natural meaning of keroov, is a creature used in ploughing. This seems to have been the ancient opinion which tradition had handed down, concerning the shape of the cherubim with the flaming sword, that guarded the tree of life. (Ge 3:24.)
25:18,22, 1 Kings 6:23, 2 Chronicles 3:10, Ezekiel 1:5-28, 10:1-19

Verse 10

And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.
26:3, Psalms 122:3, 133:1, Zephaniah 3:9, Acts 2:1, 1 Corinthians 1:10, 12:20,27, Ephesians 1:23, Ephesians 2:21,22, 4:2-6, Philippians 2:2, 3:15

Verse 11

And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.
26:4

Verse 12

Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second: the loops held one curtain to another.
26:5,10

Verse 13

And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle.
so it became
1 Corinthians 12:20, Ephesians 2:20-22, 1 Peter 2:4,5

Verse 14

And he made curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.
26:7-13

Verse 19

And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins above that.
covering
26:14
rams' skins dyed red
This was the third covering of the tabernacle. The first and lowermost was made of fine linen, richly embroidered with figures of cherubim, in shades of blue, purple, and scarlet (ver. 8-13). It is reasonable to suppose, that the right side of this curtain was undermost, and so it formed a beautiful ceiling in the inside of the tabernacle. The second covering, which lay over the embroidered one, was made of a sort of mohair, (ver. 14-17,) and the fourth, or uppermost one, which was to keep the others from the weather, was made of tachash, or badgers' skins.

Verse 20

And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.
boards
26:15-25, 40:18,19
shittim wood
25:5,10, Numbers 25:1, Deuteronomy 10:3

Verse 21

The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half.
The length
Each of these boards, taking the cubit at nearly twenty-two inches, was about eighteen feet long, and two feet nine inches broad. As these boards are said to be standing up (ver. 20,) their length was consequently the height of the tabernacle; and as the two sides were composed of twenty of these, standing up (ver. 23, 25,) and the west end of six, with two boards to project at the corners, (ver. 27, 28,) the tabernacle must therefore, have been thirty cubits, or fifty-five feet long, and about ten cubits, or eighteen feet broad. These boards were fastened at the bottom by two tenons in each board, which fitted into two mortices in the foundation, at the top by links or hasps, and on the sides by five wooden bars, which ran through rings or staples in each of the boards. The boards and bars were all overlaid with gold; and their rings for the staves, and their hasps at top, were of the same metal. The foundation on which they stood consisted of about ninety-six solid blocks of silver, two under each board, about eighteen inches long, and of a suitable thickness; and each weighing a talent, or about a hundred weight. Four blocks of silver formed the bases of the columns which supported the curtain that divided the inside of the tabernacle into two rooms.

Verse 27

And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.
westward
26:22,27

Verse 29

And they were coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.
coupled
Heb. twined.
26:24, Psalms 122:3, 133:1, Acts 2:46, 4:32, 1 Corinthians 1:10, 12:13, 2 Corinthians 1:10, Ephesians 2:15,19,21, 3:18,19, 4:2-6,15,16

Verse 30

And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.
under every board two sockets
Heb. two sockets, two sockets, under one board.
26:25

Verse 31

And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
25:28, 26:26-29, 30:5

Verse 32

And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.
the tabernacle
26:26

Verse 35

And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
vail of blue
Parachoth, from parach, to separate, divide, make a distinction between somewhat, the inner vail, which divided the tabernacle into two, and separated, and made a distinction between the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. This vail was made of the same rich materials as the inner covering of the tabernacle, and curiously embroidered with cherubim and other ornaments. Though it does not appear from Scripture at what distance from either end of the tabernacle this vail was hung, yet is reasonably conjectured, that it divided it in the same proportion in which the temple, built after this model, was divided; that is, two-thirds of the whole length were allotted to the first room, and one-third to the second; so that the room beyond the vail, the Holy of Holies, was exactly square, being ten cubits each way, and the first room, the sanctuary, was twice as long as it was broad.
26:31-35, 30:6, 40:21, Matthew 27:51, Hebrews 10:20

Verse 36

And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.
Jeremiah 1:18

Verse 37

And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;
an hanging
This vail was a fine embroidered curtain, of the same materials and of the same workmanship as the inner vail and inner covering of the tabernacle. The text does not say how low it hung. Philo makes it touch the ground; but Josephus will have it to come down but half way, so that the people might have a view of the inside of the tabernacle; but then he says there was another curtain over that, which came to the ground, to keep it from the weather, and was drawn aside on the sabbath and other festivals.
26:36,37, 40:28
of needlework
Heb. the work of a needle worker, or embroider.
26:36

Verse 38

And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.
fillets with gold
27:10

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