1And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to the sons of Israel, that they take an offering for Me. From every man whose heart stirs him, you shall take My offering. 3And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; 4violet, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, and goats' hair; 5ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 6oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the spiced incense; 7onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. 8And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 9According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its articles, even so you shall do. 10And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. 11And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. 12You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them on its four feet; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. 13And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried with them. 15The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. 16And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I am giving you. 17You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. 18And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19Make one cherub at one end, and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it from one piece with the mercy seat. 20And the cherubim shall spread over their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces one toward another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. 21You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, everything which I will command you concerning the children of Israel. 23You shall also make a table of acacia wood; two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height. 24And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a molding of gold all around. 25You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth all around, and you shall make a gold molding for the rim all around. 26And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings on the four corners that are at its four legs. 27The rings shall be close to the rim, as housings for the poles to carry the table. 28And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. 29You shall make its dishes, its pans, its pitchers, and its bowls for pouring. You shall make them of pure gold. 30And you shall set the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me continually. 31You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its bulbs, and flowers shall be one piece. 32And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. 33Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, each with a bulb and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, each with a bulb and a flower; and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. 34On the lampstand itself shall be four bowls like almond blossoms, each with its bulb and flower. 35And there shall be a bulb under the first two branches of it, a bulb under the second two branches of it, and a bulb under the third two branches of it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 36Their bulbs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. 37You shall make seven lamps for it, and they shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it. 38And its snuffers and snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. 39It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. 40And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 CONCERNING AN OFFERING. (Exo. 25:1-40)
the Lord spake unto Moses, &c.--The business that chiefly occupied Moses on the mount, whatever other disclosures were made to him there, was in receiving directions about the tabernacle, and they are here recorded as given to him.
2 bring me an offering of every man that giveth it willingly, &c.--Having declared allegiance to God as their sovereign, they were expected to contribute to His state, as other subjects to their kings; and the "offering" required of them was not to be imposed as a tax, but to come from their own loyal and liberal feelings.
3 this is the offering which ye shall take of them--the articles of which the offerings should consist.
brass--rather copper, brass being a composite metal.
4 goats' hair--or leather of goats' skin.
5 badgers' skins--The badger was an unclean animal, and is not a native of the East--rather some kind of fish, of the leather of which sandals are made in the East. [See on
Exod 39:34 and
Ezek 16:10.]
shittim wood--or Shittah (
Isa 41:19), the acacia, a shrub which grows plentifully in the deserts of Arabia, yielding a light, strong, and beautiful wood, in long planks.
7 ephod--a square cloak, hanging down from the shoulders, and worn by priests.
8 a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them--In one sense the tabernacle was to be a palace, the royal residence of the King of Israel, in which He was to dwell among His people, receive their petitions, and issue His responses. But it was also to be a place of worship, in which God was to record His name and to enshrine the mystic symbols of His presence.
9 According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle--The proposed erection could be, in the circumstances of the Israelites, not of a fixed and stable but of a temporary and movable description, capable of being carried about with them in their various sojournings. It was made after "the pattern" shown to Moses, by which is now generally understood, not that it was an unheard-of novelty, or an entirely original structure, for it is ascertained to have borne resemblance in form and arrangements to the style of an Egyptian temple, but that it was so altered, modified, and purified from all idolatrous associations, as to be appropriated to right objects, and suggestive of ideas connected with the true God and His worship.
10 an ark--a coffer or chest, overlaid with gold, the dimensions of which, taking the cubit at eighteen inches, are computed to be three feet nine inches in length, two feet three inches in breadth.
11 a crown--a rim or cornice.
12 rings--staples for the poles, with which it was to be carried from place to place.
15 staves shall be in the rings of the ark--that is, always remain in the rings, whether the ark be at rest or in motion.
16 the testimony--that is, the two tables of stone, containing the ten commandments, and called "the testimony," because by it God did testify His sovereign authority over Israel as His people, His selection of them as the guardians of His will and worship, and His displeasure in the event of their transgressing His laws; while on their part, by receiving and depositing this law in its appointed place, they testified their acknowledgment of God's right to rule over them, and their submission to the authority of His law. The superb and elaborate style of the ark that contained "the testimony" was emblematic of the great treasure it held; in other words, the incomparable value and excellence of the Word of God, while its being placed in this chest further showed the great care which God has ever taken for preserving it.
17 thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold--to serve as a lid, covering it exactly. It was "the propitiatory cover," as the term may be rendered, denoting that Christ, our great propitiation [
1John 2:2;
1John 4:10], has fully answered all the demands of the law, covers our transgressions, and comes between us and the curse of a violated law.
18 two cherubim--The real meaning of these figures, as well as the shape or form of them, is not known with certainty--probably similar to what was afterwards introduced into the temple, and described in
Ezek 10:8-
Ezek 10:22. They stretched out their wings, and their faces were turned towards the mercy seat [
Exod 25:20], probably in a bowing attitude. The prevailing opinion now is, that those splendid figures were symbolical not of angelic but of earthly and human beings--the members of the Church of God interested in the dispensation of grace, the redeemed in every age--and that these hieroglyphic forms symbolized the qualities of the true people of God--courage, patience, intelligence, and activity.
22 there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat--The Shekinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, rested on the mercy seat, and was indicated by a cloud, from the midst of which responses were audibly given when God was consulted on behalf of His people. Hence God is described as "dwelling" or "sitting" between the cherubim.
23 table of shittim wood--of the same material and decorations as the ark [see on
Exod 25:5], and like it, too, furnished with rings for the poles on which it was carried [
Exod 25:26]. The staves, however, were taken out of it when stationary, in order not to encumber the priests while engaged in their services at the table. It was half a cubit less than the ark in length and breadth, but of the same height. [See on
Exod 25:10.]
24 crown--the moulding or ornamental rim, which is thought to have been raised above the level of the table, to prevent anything from falling off.
29 dishes--broad platters.
spoons--cups or concave vessels, used for holding incense.
covers--both for bread and incense.
bowls--cups; for though no mention is made of wine, libations were undoubtedly made to God, according to JOSEPHUS and the rabbins, once a week, when the bread was changed.
to cover withal--rather, "to pour out withal."
30 showbread--literally, presence bread, so called because it was constantly exhibited before the Lord, or because the bread of His presence, like the angel of His presence, pointed symbolically to Christ. It consisted of twelve unleavened loaves, said traditionally to have been laid in piles of six each. This bread was designed to be a symbol of the full and never-failing provision which is made in the Church for the spiritual sustenance and refreshment of God's people.
31 candlestick--literally, "a lamp bearer." It was so constructed as to be capable of being taken to pieces for facility in removal. The shaft or stock rested on a pedestal. It had seven branches, shaped like reeds or canes--three on each side, with one in the center--and worked out into knobs, flowers, and bowls, placed alternately [
Exod 25:32-
Exod 25:36]. The figure represented on the arch of Titus gives the best idea of this candlestick.
33 knops--old spelling for "knobs"--bosses.
37 they shall light the lamps . . . that they may give light--The light was derived from pure olive oil, and probably kept continually burning (compare
Exod 30:7;
Lev 24:2).
38 tongs--snuffers.
39 a talent of pure gold--in weight equivalent to 125 lbs. troy.
40 look that thou make them after their pattern--This caution, which is repeated with no small frequency in other parts of the narrative, is an evidence of the deep interest taken by the Divine King in the erection of His palace or sanctuary; and it is impossible to account for the circumstance of God's condescending to such minute details, except on the assumption that this tabernacle was to be of a typical character, and eminently subservient to the religious instruction and benefit of mankind, by shadowing forth in its leading features the grand truths of the Christian Church.