1I hanga ano e ia he aata mo nga tahunga tinana, he hitimi te rakau: e rima nga whatianga te roa, e rima whatianga te whanui, he tapawha; e toru nga whatianga te teitei. 2I hanga ano ona haona ki ona koki e wha; kotahi te rakau o taua mea, o ona haona: a whakakikoruatia iho e ia ki te parahi. 3I hanga ano nga oko katoa o te aata, nga pata, me nga koko pungarehu, me nga peihana, me nga marau, me nga oko ngarahu: i hanga e ia ona mea katoa ki te parahi. 4I hanga ano ki te parahi he pae kupenga mo te aata, he mea ripekapeka, mo raro i tona awhi, ki raro iho, i waenganui. 5A e wha nga mowhiti parahi i whakarewaina e ia mo nga koki e wha o te pae kupenga parahi, hei kuhunga mo nga amo. 6I hanga ano nga amo, he hitimi te rakau, a whakakikoruatia iho ki te parahi. 7Na kuhua ana e ia nga amo ki nga mowhiti i nga taha o te aata, hei amo; i hanga e ia te aata ki te papa, he mea tuwhera kau a roto. 8I hanga ano te takotoranga wai ki te parahi, me tona turanga hoki ki te parahi, ki nga whakaata o nga wahine i huihui mai, i huihui mai nei ki te whatitoka o te tapenakara o te whakaminenga. 9I hanga ano te marae: he rinena miro pai nga pa o te marae, o te taha ki te tonga whaka te tonga, kotahi rau whatianga: 10E rua tekau nga pou o aua mea, e rua tekau ano hoki nga turanga parahi; he hiriwa nga matau o nga pou me nga awhi. 11Me nga pa mo te taha ki te raki, kotahi rau whatianga, e rua tekau nga pou, e rua tekau hoki nga turanga parahi: he hiriwa nga matau o nga pou me nga awhi. 12He pa ano hoki mo te taha ki te hauauru, e rima tekau whatianga, kotahi tekau nga pou, kotahi tekau ano hoki nga turanga; he hiriwa nga matau o nga pou me nga awhi. 13E rima tekau hoki whatianga o te taha ki te rawhiti whaka te rawhiti. 14Kotahi tekau ma rima whatianga o nga pa o tetahi taha o te kuwaha; e toru nga pou, e toru hoki nga turanga. 15A kotahi tekau ma rima whatianga o nga pa o tera taha o te kuwaha o te marae, o tenei, o tera; e toru nga pou, e toru hoki nga turanga. 16He rinena miro pai nga pa katoa o te marae a tawhio noa. 17He parahi nga turanga mo nga pou, he hiriwa nga matau o nga pou me nga awhi; i whakakikoruatia ano hoki ki te hiriwa nga pito ki runga: i whakawhaiawhitia ano hoki nga pou katoa o te marae ki te hiriwa. 18He mea hanga hoki ki te ngira te pa mo te kuwaha o te marae, he puru, he papura, he ngangana, he rinena miro pai: e rua tekau whatianga te roa, e rima whatianga te teitei, ara te whanui, rite tonu ano ki nga pa o te marae. 19A e wha nga pou o aua pa, e wha ano hoki nga turanga parahi; he hiriwa nga matau; i whakakikoruatia ano hoki nga pito o aua pou me nga awhi ki te hiriwa. 20He parahi ano nga titi katoa o te tapenakara, o te marae a tawhio noa. 21Ko nga mea tenei o te tapenakara, ara o te tapenakara o te whakaaturanga, ko nga mea i whakaritea e Mohi i tana korero hei mahi ma nga Riwaiti i raro i te ringa o Itamara, tama a Arona tohunga. 22Na hanga ana e Petareere tama a Uri, tama a Huru, o te iwi o Hura, nga mea katoa i whakahaua e Ihowa ki a Mohi. 23Ko tona hoa ko Ahoriapa, tama a Ahihamaka no te iwi o Rana, he kaimahi, he mea mohio, he kaiwhakairo hoki i te puru, i te papura, i te ngangana, i te rinena pai. 24A, ko te koura katoa i mahia mo nga mea, mo nga mea katoa o te wahi tapu, te koura o te whakahere, e rua tekau ma iwa taranata, e whitu rau e toru tekau hekere, he hekere wahi tapu. 25A, ko te hiriwa o te hunga i taua o te whakaminenga, kotahi rau taranata, kotahi mano e whitu rau e whitu tekau ma rima hekere, he hekere wahi tapu. 26Kotahi te pekaha a te tangata, ara kotahi te hawhe hekere, ko te hekere hoki o te wahi tapu, na te hunga hoki i haere kia taua, na nga mea e rua tekau, maha atu ranei, o ratou tau; e ono rau hoki o ratou mano e toru mano e rima rau e rima tekau. 27A i whakarewaina nga taranata hiriwa kotahi rau hei turanga pou mo te wahi tapu, hei turanga pou hoki mo te arai; kotahi rau taranata, kotahi rau nga turanga, kotahi te taranata, kotahi te turanga. 28A i hanga e ia nga hekere kotahi mano e whitu rau e whitu tekau ma rima hei matau mo nga pou, a whakakikoruatia iho e ia nga pito ki runga, whakawhaiawhitia hoki. 29A e whitu tekau nga taranata o te parahi o te whakahere, e rua hoki mano e wha rau hekere. 30Hanga ake e ia nga turanga pou mo te whatitoka o te tapenakara o te whakaminenga, te aata parahi; me tona pae kupenga, te mea parahi; me nga mea katoa o te aata; 31Me nga turanga pou o te marae a tawhio noa, me nga turanga pou mo te kuwaha o te marae, me nga titi katoa o te tapenakara, me nga titi katoa o te marae a tawhio noa.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 Bezaleel having finished the gold-work, which, though the richest, yet was ordered to lie most out of sight, in the tabernacle itself, here goes on to prepare the court, which lay open to the view of all. Two things the court was furnished with, and both made of brass: -
I. An altar of burnt-offering,
Exod 38:1-
Exod 38:7. On this all their sacrifices were offered, and it was this which, being sanctified itself for this purpose by the divine appointment, sanctified the gift that was in faith offered on it. Christ was himself the altar to his own sacrifice of atonement, and so he is to all our sacrifices of acknowledgment. We must have an eye to him in offering them, as God has in accepting them.
II. A laver, to hold water for the priests to wash in when they went in to minister,
Exod 38:8. This signified the provision that is made in the gospel of Christ for the cleansing of our souls from the moral pollution of sin by the merit and grace of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy duties. This is here said to be made of the
looking-glasses (or mirrors) of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle.
1. It should seem these women were eminent and exemplary for devotion, attending more frequently and seriously at the place of public worship than others did; and notice is here taken of it to their honour. Anna was such a one long afterwards, who
departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day, Luke 2:37. It seems in every age of the church there have been some who have thus distinguished themselves by their serious zealous piety, and they have thereby distinguished themselves; for devout women are really honourable women (
Acts 13:50), and not the less so for their being called, by the scoffers of the latter days,
silly women. Probably these women were such as showed their zeal upon this occasion, by assisting in the work that was now going on for the service of the tabernacle. They assembled by
troops, so the word is; a blessed sight, to see so many, and those so zealous and so unanimous, in this good work.
2. These women parted with their mirrors (which were of the finest brass, burnished for that purpose) for the use of the tabernacle. Those women that admire their own beauty, are in love with their own shadow, and make the putting on of apparel their chief adorning by which they value and recommend themselves, can but ill spare their
looking-glasses; yet these women offered
them to God, either, (1.) In token of their repentance for the former abuse of them, to the support of their pride and vanity; now that they were convinced of their folly, and had devoted themselves to the service of God at the door of the tabernacle, they thus threw away that which, though lawful and useful in itself, yet had been an occasion of sin to them. Thus Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner, when she became a penitent wiped Christ's feet with her hair. Or, (2.) In token of their great zeal for the work of the tabernacle; rather than the workmen should want brass, or not have of the best, they would part with their mirrors, though they could not do well without them. God's service and glory must always be preferred by us before any satisfactions or accommodations of our own. Let us never complain of the want of that which we may honour God by parting with.
3. These mirrors were used for the making of the laver. Either they were artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but it is probable that the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for mirrors, that the priests, when they came to wash, might there see their faces, and so discover the spots, to wash them clean. Note, In the washing of repentance, there is need of the looking-glass of self-examination. The word of God is a glass, in which we may see our own faces (see
James 1:23); and with it we must compare our own hearts and lives, that, finding out our blemishes, we may wash with particular sorrow, and application of the blood of Christ to our souls. Usually the more particular we are in the confession of sin the more comfort we have in the sense of the pardon.
9 The walls of the court, or church-yard, were like the rest curtains or hangings, made according to the appointment,
Exod 27:9, etc. This represented the state of the Old Testament church: it was a garden enclosed; the worshippers were then confined to a little compass. But the enclosure being of curtains only intimated that the confinement of the church in one particular nation was not to be perpetual. The dispensation itself was a tabernacle-dispensation, movable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world, as is foretold,
Isa 54:2,
Isa 54:3. The church here on earth is but the court of God's house, and happy they that tread these courts and flourish in them; but through these courts we are passing to the holy place above.
Blessed are those that dwell in that house of God: they well be
still praising him. The enclosing of a court before the tabernacle teaches us a gradual approach to God. The priests that ministered must pass through the holy court, before they entered the holy house. Thus before solemn ordinances there ought to be the separated and enclosed court of a solemn preparation, in which we must wash our hands, and so draw near with a true heart.
21 Here we have a breviat of the account which, by Moses's appointment, the Levites took and kept of the gold, silver, and brass, that was brought in for the tabernacle's use, and how it was employed. Ithamar the son of Aaron was appointed to draw up this account, and was thus by less services trained up and fitted for greater,
Exod 38:21. Bezaleel and Aholiab must bring in the account (
Exod 38:22,
Exod 38:23), and Ithamar must audit it, and give it in to Moses. And it was thus: - 1. All the gold was a free-will offering; every man brought as he could and would, and it amounted to twenty-nine talents, and 730 shekels over, which some compute to be about 150,000
l. worth of gold, according to the present value of it. Of this were made all the golden furniture and vessels. 2. The silver was levied by way of tax; every man was assessed half a shekel, a kind of poll-money, which amounted in the whole to 100 talents, and 1775 shekels over,
Exod 38:25,
Exod 38:26. Of this they made the sockets into which the boards of the tabernacle were let, and on which they rested; so that they were as the foundation of the tabernacle,
Exod 38:27. The silver amounted to about 34,000
l. of our money. The raising of the gold by voluntary contribution, and of the silver by way of tribute, shows that either way may be taken for the defraying of public expenses, provided that nothing be done with partiality. 3. The brass, though less valuable, was of use not only for the brazen altar, but for the sockets of the court, which probably in other tents were of wood: but it is promised (
Isa 60:17),
For wood I will bring brass. See how liberal the people were and how faithful the workmen were, in both which respects their good example ought to be followed.