PM Feb 4th Ex 36

February 4^th       Exodus 36

1: Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded. 2: And Moses 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 had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. 4: And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; 5: And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. 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.

Making of the Tabernacle

8: And 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 cherubims of cunning work made he them. 9: The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size. 10: And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another. 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. 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, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size. 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 covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins above that. 20: And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up. 21: The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half. 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 coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners. 30: And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets. 31: And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 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 gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. 35: And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work. 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 hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework; 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.

Exodus 37        Making the Ark of the Covenant

1: And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: 2: And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about. 3: And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. 4: And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. 5: And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 6: And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 7: And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; 8: One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 9: And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

Making the Table of Showbread

10: And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof: 11: And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about. 12: Also he made thereunto a border of an handbreadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about. 13: And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof. 14: Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. 15: And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table. 16: And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes, and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to cover withal, of pure gold.

Making the Lampstand

17: And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same: 18: And six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof: 19: Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick. 20: And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers: 21: And a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it. 22: Their knops and their branches were of the same: all of it was one beaten work of pure gold. 23: And he made his seven lamps, and his snuffers, and his snuffdishes, of pure gold. 24: Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof. 25: And he made the incense altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it; the horns thereof were of the same. 26: And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: also he made unto it a crown of gold round about.

Making the Altar of Incense

27: And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it withal. 28: And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. 29: And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.

Exodus 38        Making the Altar and the Laver

1: And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof. 2: And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass. 3: And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass. 4: And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it. 5: And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves. 6: And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass. 7: And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards. 8: And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Making the court curtains

9: And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits: 10: Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11: And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 12: And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 13: And for the east side eastward fifty cubits. 14: The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 15: And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16: All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen. 17: And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 18: And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court. 19: And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver. 20: And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

The cost of the Tabernacle

21: This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest. 22: And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses. 23: And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen. 24: All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 25: And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 26: A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. 27: And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 28: And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them. 29: And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 30: And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, 31: And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

In today’s reading we have described in greater detail the making of the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbread, the lampstand, the altar of incense, the altar and the laver, the court curtains and the whole costing of the Tabernacle. Moses called all the men and women in whom the Lord had put skills and wisdom to the building of the Tabernacle. They were given the materials by Moses to do the work and they set themselves as a team to work. Moses had to restrain the people because all that they brought was too much for the building of the Tabernacle. The passage is quite simply sunning in that Israel came together and made exactly what the Lord instructed them to do. We might ask how did Israel do this? And the answer must be that the Spirit of the Lord was upon certain people to give them both the skills and the wisdom to do the will of God. It seems almost unseemly to work out the costing of this enterprise but suffice to say that it ran into millions of pounds in today’s money. Its amazing how generous the people of God can be when they are in fellowship with the Lord and when the Spirit of the Lord is upon them.