The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 36
Chapter XXXVI · Vol. I, pp. 355–357
1 The offerings are delivered to the workmen. 5 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.
1 THEN wrought a Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whom the 6 LORD put wisdom and understanding, to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, b according to all that the LORD had commanded.
a ch. 31.2-11; 35.10-19,30-35.
6 It is very instructive to observe how directly the Scriptures refer all the endowments of the mind and the graces of the Spirit to the gift of God.—I.
b ch. 23.21,22; xl.; 39.1-43. Ps. 119.6. Mat. 28.20. Lu. 1.6.
2 And Moses c 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.
3 And they received of Moses all the offering which the children of Israel d had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free-offerings every e morning.
4 And all the f wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;
f Mat. 24.45. 1 Co. 3.10.
5 And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring g much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded to make.
g 2 Co. 8.2,3, with ch. 32.2. Phi. 2.21.
6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.4
4 It is seldom, when the cause of God is concerned, that people exceed in liberality. And it has too frequently happened, and happens every day, that the reverse is the case. It is sad that superstition is more liberal than true piety. But the one springs from love to God, the other from love to ourselves.—I.
8 And h 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 i cherubims5 of cunning work6 made he them.
h ch. 26.1-37; 31.6; 35.10.
i ch. 25.18.
5 What cherubim represented, we cannot determine. Josephus says they were flying animals like none of those seen by man, but such as Moses saw about the throne of God. According to Ezekiel, they were creatures with four heads and one body, compounded from animals the noblest of their kind, the lion, the bull, the eagle, and man, so that they might be, says Dr. Priestley, the representatives of all nature.—I.
6 This probably means a sort of diaper, in which the figures appear equally perfect on both sides: this was probably formed in the loom. Another kind of curious work is mentioned, ver. 37, which we term needle-work. This was probably similar to our embroidery, tapestry, or cloth of Arras. It has been thought unlikely that these works were all manufactured in the wilderness; what was done in the loom they might have brought with them from Egypt; what could be done by hand, without the use of complex machinery, the Israelitish women could readily perform with their needles during their stay in the wilderness. But still it seems probable that they brought even their looms with them. The whole of this account shows that not only necessary but ornamental arts had been carried to a considerable degree of perfection both among the Israelites and Egyptians.—Dr. Clarke.
9 The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits[≈ 13 m · 42 ft],7 and the breadth of one curtain four cubits[≈ 1.8 m · 6 ft]:8 the curtains were all of one size.
7 Seventeen yards.
8 Near two yards and a half.
10 And he k coupled the five curtains one unto another; and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.
k Ep. 4.3,4,13; 1.23; 2.21,22. 1 Co. 1.10; 12.12,20,27. Phi. 2.2; 3.15. Zep. 3.9. Ac. 2.1. Col. 2.19.
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.
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.
13 And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches. So it became one tabernacle.9
9 Separate parts, united by taches, form one tabernacle. The beautiful emblem of a family 'dwelling together in unity,' Ps. 133.1; of a church 'continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication,' Ac. 1.14; and of the churches of the Redeemer, with 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism, keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,' Ep. 4.3,5.—C.
14 And he made curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.
15 The length of one curtain was thirty cubits[≈ 14 m · 45 ft],1 and four cubits[≈ 1.8 m · 6 ft] was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.
1 Eighteen yards and a quarter.
16 And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.
17 And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.
18 And he made fifty taches of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.
19 And he made a covering2 for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins above that.3
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
2 The fine covering signified the internal glory of Christ and his church: and the coarse covering signified their meanness in the view of carnal men.
3 The Hebrew word translated badger is of uncertain meaning, but it is clear that it signifies some unclean animal. Why then is it the uppermost covering of the tabernacle? Because it is significant of the world, in which the church is still enveloped, and from which it is to be 'called out and gathered;' and of which our Lord says, Jn. 17.15, 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.' This covering is likewise significant of that protection which the world, though at heart a persecutor of Christ, does nevertheless often afford to the church. Thus Pharaoh enriched and protected Abram in Egypt, Ge. 12.16,20. Thus Abimelech protected Isaac, Ge. 26.11. Thus the town-clerk protected Paul at Ephesus, Ac. 19.41, the chief-captain at Jerusalem, Ac. 21.31,32. His Roman citizenship shielded him from scourging, Ac. 22.25,28. Claudius Lysias delivered him from assassination, Ac. 23.23; and when venal sycophancy would have returned him to the banded murderers, 'I appeal unto Cæsar' rescued him from their daggers, and sent him to Rome, where 'his bonds were manifest in all the palace' of the emperor, and he continued 'two whole years in his own hired house, preaching the kingdom of God—no man forbidding him,' Ac. 28.30,31.—C.
21 The length of a board was ten cubits[≈ 4.6 m · 15 ft],4 and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half[≈ 69 cm · 2 ft 3 in].5
4 Six yards.
5 Thirty-two inches. These boards and cross-bars denote whatever contributes to the strength and stability of Christ and his church.
22 One board had two tenons, equally distant one from another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.
23 And he made boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side southward;
24 And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.
25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,
26 And their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
27 And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.
28 And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.
29 And they were m coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.
m Ps. 133.1. Ep. 2.15,19,21; 3.18,19; 4.15,16. 1 Co. 1.10; 12.13. Ac. 2.46; 4.32.
30 And there were eight boards, and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.6
6 Heb. two sockets, two sockets under one board.
31 And he made bars n of shittim-wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
n ch. 25.28; 30.5.
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.
33 And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.
34 And he overlaid the boards with 7 gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
7 With respect to Christ the gold in the tabernacle and its furniture may denote what is divine, and shittim-wood his manhood.
35 And he made o a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
o ch. 26.31; 40.21. The vails denote Christ's manhood, the ceremonial law, and the visible heaven.
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.
37 And he made an p hanging8 for the tabernacle-door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needle-work;6
p ch. 26.36; 40.28.
8 Morier, in his Travels in Persia, describes the tent of a Tartar chief thus: 'It was composed of a wooden frame of circular laths, which was fixed on the ground, and then covered with large felts that were fastened down by a cord ornamented with tassels of various colours. A curtain curiously worked by the women with coarse needle-work of various colours.' These hangings are not confined to tents, but are used for the doors of mosques and sitting-rooms of palaces and private houses.—I.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
6 Heb. the work of a needle-worker or embroiderer.
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.
Notes
Reflections.—How honourable is it when agents in the church are men faithful and to be trusted!—when private members are so liberal that they need to be restrained, and when rulers dare allow nothing to be taken but what is sufficient! And hopeful is the building of the church when men's first care is about that which is most secret and inward!
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.