Exodus
Exodus 26
1“Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. You shall make them with the work of a skillful workman. 2The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure. 3Five curtains shall be coupled together to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling, and you shall do likewise on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second coupling. 5You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling. The loops shall be opposite one another. 6You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains to one another with the clasps. The tabernacle shall be a unit.
7“You shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. 8The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: the eleven curtains shall have one measure. 9You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent. 10You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outermost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outermost in the second coupling. 11You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. 12The overhanging part that remains of the curtains of the tent—the half curtain that remains—shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13The cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side, of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it. 14You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
15“You shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. 16Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. 17There shall be two tenons in each board, joined to one another: thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18You shall make twenty boards for the tabernacle, for the south side southward. 19You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. 20For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, 21and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 22For the far side of the tabernacle westward you shall make six boards. 23You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the far side. 24They shall be double beneath, and in the same way they shall be whole to its top to one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. 25There shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
26“You shall make bars of acacia 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 far side westward. 28The middle bar in the middle of the boards shall pass through from end to end. 29You shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars. You shall overlay the bars with gold. 30You shall set up the tabernacle according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain.
31“You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. It shall be the work of a skillful workman. 32You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. 33You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you. 34You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. 35You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lamp stand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south. You shall put the table on the north side.
36“You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. 37You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold. You shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 76 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry4
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
I. The house must be a tabernacle or tent, such as soldiers now use in the camp, which was both a mean dwelling and a movable one; and yet the ark of God had not better, till Solomon built the temple 480 years after this, Kg1 6:1. God manifested his presence…
Moses is here ordered to make a double covering for the tabernacle, that it might not rain in, and that the beauty of those fine curtains might not be damaged. 1. There was to be a covering of hair camlet curtains, which were somewhat larger every way than…
Very particular directions are here given about the boards of the tabernacle, which were to bear up the curtains, as the stakes of a tent which had need to be strong, Isa 54:2. These boards had tenons which fell into the mortises that were made for them in…
John Gill37
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
Moreover, thou shalt make the tabernacle,.... Which he was ordered to make before, the pattern of which was shown him in the mount: this was an habitation for God to dwell in, as the word properly signifies, and into which the furniture before described was…
The length of one curtain shall be twenty eight cubits,.... Or fourteen yards: and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; or two yards; according to the common notion of a cubit being half a yard; but if, as Dr. Cumberland says, the Jewish and Egyptian cubit…
The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another,.... Five of the ten curtains were to be sewed together, and make as it were one curtain: and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another: the other five were to be joined together in like…
Adam Clarke9
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
Thou shalt make the tabernacle - משכן mischan, from שכן shachan, to dwell, means simply a dwelling place or habitation of any kind, but here it means the dwelling place of Jehovah, who, as a king in his camp, had his dwelling or pavilion among his people, his…
Curtains of goats' hair - Stuff made of goats' hair. See Clarke's note on Exo 25:4. This was the second covering.
Rams' skins dyed red - See Clarke's note on Exo 25:5. This was the third covering; and what is called the badgers' skins was the fourth. See Clarke's note on Exo 25:5. Why there should have been four coverings does not appear. They might have been designed…
Keil & Delitzsch19
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The length of each piece was to be 28 cubits, and the breadth 4 cubits, one measure for all; and five of these pieces were to be "joined together one to another," i.e., joined or sewed together into a piece of 28 cubits in length and 20 in breadth, and the…
They were also to make 50 hyacinth loops "on the border of the one piece of tapestry, from the end in the join," i.e., on the extreme edge of the five pieces that were sewed together; and the same "on the border of the last piece in the second joined…
Fifty golden clasps were also to be made, to fasten the pieces of drapery (the two halves of the tent-cloth) together, "that it might be a dwelling-place." This necessarily leads to Bhr's conclusion, that the tent-cloth, which consisted of two halves fastened…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown7
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
length--Each curtain was to be fifteen yards in length and a little exceeding two in breadth.
The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, &c.--so as to form two grand divisions, each eleven yards wide.
taches--clasps; supposed in shape, as well as in use, to be the same as hooks and eyes.
World English Bible — Public domain