NOTES for Exo 26:1-37

Printable version

¹Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

²The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure.

³The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

⁴And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

⁵Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; that the loops may take hold one of another.

⁶And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle.

⁷And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.

⁸The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure.

⁹And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

¹⁰And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

¹¹And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.

¹²And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.

¹³And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side of that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent, it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it.

¹⁴And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers' skins.

¹⁵And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.

¹⁶Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

¹⁷Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

¹⁸And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward.

¹⁹And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

²⁰And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side there shall be twenty boards:

²¹And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²²And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards.

²³And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

²⁴And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners.

²⁵And they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²⁶And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

²⁷And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.

²⁸And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end.

²⁹And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

³⁰And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.

³¹And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:

³²And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

³³And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.

³⁴And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

³⁵And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

³⁶And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.

³⁷And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

From the description it is clear that the Tabernacle is nothing other than a portable sanctuary. It is a tent that, if necessary, could be moved comparatively easily to another place; for nomads such transportability was fundamentally important. The word "tabernacle" itself literally means "place of presence."

The point is God's presence, the very presence revealed to Moses at Sinai as a shining cloud, which from a distance he took for fire. It seems strange: how can God, even if the question is only of His presence, be contained in some human-made receptacles, whether the most splendid Temple, like the one that would later appear in Jerusalem, or the simplest tent? Pagan gods were another matter: they were neither omnipresent nor omnipotent; they were limited in space and time, remaining only a part of the universe, though a special part.

In essence, the gods and spirits of the pagans did not differ so radically from human beings, though their nature was entirely nonhuman. Such beings, limited in space and time, could very well have favorite places on earth or even dwellings where they lived; and if so, a person too could in a sense "tame" a god or spirit, "domesticate" them by offering them a house and food, that is, sacrifices, somewhere near his own home. But when the discussion turned to the God of Abraham and Moses, many questions immediately arose. How could God, even if we are speaking only of His presence, fit into any house built by human beings?

The only answer here can be what theologians usually call kenosis, God's self-emptying, by which He relates His fullness, His being, and His life to the dimensions and forms of human being and human life. God does not need a sanctuary, but a human being needs one, and therefore God is ready to fit within the limits created by a human being. With one condition, however: those limits must be created by the human being according to God's instruction, according to God's plan.

This is not only because God knows better what the place of His meeting with humanity should be, but also because the very building of the sanctuary under God's guidance prepares a person for the meeting with God and builds between God and the person those relationships without which no sanctuary will give a person anything. Without relationships, no techniques or methods by themselves bring a person closer to God; they remain only something like magic in religious form. The sanctuary is built in the process of building a person's relationship with God; only then does it have meaning.

Other notes

For Exo 26:1-37