Exodus 36. Construction of the Tabernacle

• It’s go time!
• This chapter reads almost like a checklist: Did they do this? Yes. Did they do that? Yes. After previously refusing to follow YHWH’s instructions, now they follow them to the letter.
• I’m not gonna lie…it’s a bit slow to read. But I’m trying to really pull out what this chapter reveals about God. It’s exciting because this is the moment the tabernacle, the place where God Himself will come down, is finally being built. How exciting! 

“Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”

² And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. 

• Beautiful example of God given ability and talent, and willingly open hearts.

³ And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, ⁴ so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, ⁵ and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” ⁶ So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, ⁷ for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

• So many people were led to give that eventually the people had to be restrained from giving!

⁸ And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked. ⁹ The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.

• We will see that Moses followed every detail God gave him for the tabernacle.

¹⁰ He  coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. ¹¹ He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. ¹² He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. ¹³ And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.

• Summary: The Curtains of the Tabernacle (Matches Exodus 26:1-6)
  • Description of the inner curtains (fine linen with blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and cherubim).
  • 10 curtains made and joined in two sets of five.
  • Gold clasps unite the two sets into one tabernacle covering.

¹⁴ He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. ¹⁵ The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains were the same size. ¹⁶ He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷ And he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. ¹⁸ And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole. ¹⁹ And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins.

• Additional Coverings (Matches Exodus 26:7–14)
  • Goat hair curtains for the outer covering.
  • Made in 11 sections, fastened with bronze clasps.
  • A ram skin dyed red and goat skin leather form the final outer layers

²⁰ Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. ²¹ Ten cubits was the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. ²² Each frame had two tenons for fitting together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. ²³ The frames for the tabernacle he made thus: twenty frames for the south side. ²⁴ And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons. ²⁵ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames ²⁶ and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame. ²⁷ For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames. ²⁸ He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. ²⁹ And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. He made two of them this way for the two corners. ³⁰ There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.

• The Frames/Walls (Matches Exodus 26:15-25)
  • Acacia wood boards for the tabernacle walls.
  • 20 frames on each side and 6+2 frames at the rear (west side).

³¹ He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, ³² and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. ³³ And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames. ³⁴ And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

•  Crossbars (Matches Exodus 26:26-30)
  • Crossbars connect and stabilize the frames.
  • Made with acacia wood and overlaid with gold; rings made to hold the bars in place.
• Again notice how the tabernacle’s interior was more extravagant than the outside.

³⁵ He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it. ³⁶ And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver.

• The Inner Veil (Matches Exodus 26:31-33)
  • A veil made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn with cherubim, separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
  • Hung on four gold-covered acacia posts with silver bases.
• The veil is part of a larger story:
  • Genesis 3: humanity expelled from God’s presence 
  • Exodus: God comes to dwell among humanity, but behind a veil 
  • Gospels: the veil is torn through Christ 
  • Revelation: God’s people dwell fully in His presence.

 ³⁷ He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework, ³⁸ and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze.

• The Entrance Curtain (Matches Exodus 26:36-37)
  • Another curtain (for the entrance to the tent), same rich colors but without cherubim.
  • Hung on five gold-covered posts with bronze bases.
• Hebrews 8:5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”