Exodus chapter 36
The people give generously. Constructing the Tabernacle.
THE PEOPLE GIVE GENEROUSLY
VERSE 1. “Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD has commanded.”
to know how to do. The LORD God prizes human skill.
VERSE 2. Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it.
in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom. We are God’s modern-day temple. Our ability to earn a living is itself a gift from the LORD God. Ultimately it is he who has accomplished all we have done. Read more »
VERSE 3. They received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They kept bringing free will offerings to him every morning.
free will offerings. Theirs was a free-will offering. They did not donate out of a sense of guilt or obligation.
VERSE 4. All the wise men, who performed all the work of the sanctuary, each came from his work which he did.
VERSE 5. They spoke to Moses, saying, “The people have brought much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded to make.”
The people have brought much more than enough. The LORD God can easily inspire his people to provide much more than is needed.
In this case, so much poured in that Moses had to tell them to stop!
Malachi 3:10. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (New International Version)
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said:
God will provide
VERSE 6. Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing.
the people were restrained. The people had to be restrained from donating even more!
VERSE 7. For the stuff they had was sufficient to do all the work, and too much.
too much. The people had already donated more than enough.
CONSTRUCTING THE TABERNACLE
VERSE 8. All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet. They made them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
VERSE 9. The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains had one measure.
twenty-eight cubits. A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches.
VERSE 10. He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another.
VERSE 11. He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. Likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second coupling.
VERSE 12. He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling. The loops were opposite to one another.
VERSE 13. He made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps: so the tabernacle was a unit.
VERSE 14. He made curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. He made them eleven curtains.
VERSE 15. The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the width of each curtain. The eleven curtains had one measure.
VERSE 16. He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.
VERSE 17. He made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the coupling, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was outermost in the second coupling.
VERSE 18. He made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit.
VERSE 19. He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
VERSE 20. He made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up.
VERSE 21. Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the width of each board.
VERSE 22. Each board had two tenons, joined to one another. He made all the boards of the tabernacle this way.
VERSE 23. He made the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side southward.
VERSE 24. He made 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.
VERSE 25. For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards
VERSE 26. and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
VERSE 27. For the far part of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.
VERSE 28. He made two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the far part.
VERSE 29. They were double beneath, and in the same way they were all the way to its top to one ring. He did this to both of them in the two corners.
VERSE 30. There were eight boards and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets—under every board two sockets.
VERSE 31. He made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
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 hinder part westward.
VERSE 33. He made the middle bar to pass through in the middle of the boards from the one end to the other.
VERSE 34. He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold as places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
VERSE 35. He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman.
VERSE 36. He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them.
VERSE 37. He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer;
VERSE 38. and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of bronze.
EXODUS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Pharaoh’s Heart, Moses’ fast
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