Verses 1-7 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.
The Hebrew people never knew when they would be moving on from where they were camped, and so all the items that would be carried by the Levites had their staves put into the rings so that they would be ready to move when the pillar of fire or of cloud started out on the journey to the land of promise.
Application: Like the items used in the worship of God in the tabernacle, believers need to be ready daily for what might be presented to them by the LORD. There may be someone that needs to hear the Gospel, or someone who needs physical help, or someone who needs financial assistance, or just someone who needs a listening, non-judgemental ear. Each believer is on their own journey to the land of promise, eternal life with Jesus in Heaven, and so each believer needs to be ready to move when lead by the Holy Ghost.
Verse 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.
Looking glasses were the Hebrew version of a mirror. They most likely were smooth and highly polished brass so that a woman’s reflection could be seen. These would have been prized possessions and so the women were giving with sacrificial hearts. The Hebrews were not set up in the wilderness to manufacture any more of these items. They would have to go without, but they would be blessed by the LORD for their giving to the service of the tabernacle. The brass, being a harder metal, was necessary to withstand the heat of the burnt offering and to carry the weight of the water placed in the laver for washing.
Verses 9-20 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 court was the enclosure that went around the outside of the tabernacle forming a barrier between it and the camp of the people.
Application: Because of sin, in the Old Testament times there was always a barrier between God and man. The outer court provided that separation physically between the presence of God in the tabernacle where He met with Moses and the Hebrew people. After the death of Moses, the Levite priests and workers provided a mediator between God and the people. All of this has passed away and under the New Covenant established by the death, burial and resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ, believers are no longer separated from God. The Holy Ghost, the very presence of God, dwells in each believer and through prayer, each believer has access to the very throne room of God in the Heavens. No priesthood system is required. God’s people are free indeed and thoroughly blessed.
Verse 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.
Ithamar was the fourth and youngest son of Moses’ brother, Aaron. His name means “coast of palms”. Notice how meticulous God is in listing all the components of the tabernacle more than once so that there could be no doubt as to what it was made of and how it was constructed.
Verses 22-23 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.
Credit is again given to these two men who were instrumental in accomplishing the work required to complete the tabernacle.
Verse 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.
This writer does not know what a talent weighed or looked like in Moses’ day and so cannot comment on how much gold went into the building of the tabernacle. But based on the descriptions given so far in the above chapters and verses, it must have been quite a lot in order to cover all the wood used in the construction and to make all the special furniture and utensils, etc.
Verses 25-28 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.
These verses let the reader know part of the population of the Hebrew people at the time of the construction of the tabernacle. All the men from 20 years old and up were reported to be 603,550 men. If most of these men were married, approximately 600,000 women can be added and then there were children. This was a huge multitude that Moses was tasked with the job of leading into the land of promise. The pagan nations around the Hebrew people would have been very aware of the presence of this gigantic camp in the wilderness and it can only be imagined what they might have been thinking and feeling.
Verses 29-31 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.
The shekel was the the system of money used in those days, and there were at least three different shekels use: silver, gold and brass.