Chapter Thirty-Six
Construction of the Tabernacle Begins
Since many of the construction or preparation details of the items used in the Tabernacle have already been presented in Exodus chapters 25-31, much of the following commentary, through chapter 39, will refer to the commentary of those earlier verses instead of repeating the details.
36:1 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.”
Moses then explains that Bezalel and Oholiab, and the other craftsmen in which YHWH has supernaturally given skill and intelligence, were to build the Tabernacle according to God’s design and criteria. They were not to vary from God’s plan, much like the Word of God, where authors of the Bible wrote His words (see 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21), not their own. Here, the Tabernacle was to be built precisely as God guided.
36:2 And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work.
Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other craftsmen that God had given the knowledge and skill, to come and begin the construction of the Tabernacle. Those whose hearts strongly desired to do the work.
36:3 And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, 4 so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, 5 and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD has commanded us to do.”
The craftsmen were given all the materials contributed by the people, who continued to bring more every morning. Soon the craftsmen approached Moses and told him that they had more than enough material for the project.
36:6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.
Moses tells the people that they now had more than enough to build the Tabernacle, so the people stopped bringing contributions.
36:8 And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked.
The construction began with ten curtains for the interior wall and ceiling (the first of four total layers over the structure) were made of fine linen with images of cherubs embroidered or sewn in them using the colored yarns. No mention of how many cherubs were represented (cherubim is plural for cherub).[1]
36:9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.
Each of the ten curtains were 42 feet long by 6 feet wide (tall), using the 18 inch per cubit conversion (see also Exodus 26:2).
36:10 He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.
One, or perhaps several of the craftsmen (although Bezalel was considered to be the “lead foreman,” the text in each ‘he’ listed in these, and the following several verses, could also be translated as “they,” see NIV) created two sets of curtains, each having five curtains coupled together using a series of loops and clasps (see Exodus 26:4-6), ultimately making one large covering to be “a single whole,” or “become one tabernacle” (KJV).
36:14 He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 18 And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole.
The next layer was the same width as the first layer, but slightly longer (45 feet). These curtains were made of goats’ hair. This layer was coupled together using clasps made of bronze (gold was not required as it was only used to construct items and hardware that would be inside the structure).
36:19 And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins.
The making of the third and the fourth final exterior layers are quickly summarized. The third layer was a covering of tanned rams’ skins. The Hebrew that is translated here as ‘goatskins’ are the same two words introduced in chapter 25, ‘ō·rōṯ’[2] meaning skin or hide, and ‘teḥā·šîm’,[3] an unknown animal.[4]
36:20 Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 21 Ten cubits was the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. 22 Each frame had two tenons for fitting together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. 23 The frames for the tabernacle he made thus: twenty frames for the south side.
The Hebrew word translated here as ‘frames’, can also be translated as a board or plank.[5] These frames formed three walls, two sides and one rear wall on which the four layers of curtains would hang on.[6]
36:24 And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons. 25 For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame.
The entire framework for the Tabernacle structure was placed on silver bases (often translated sockets), the metal often associated with redemption and blood.[7]
36:27 For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames. 28 He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. 29 And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. He made two of them this way for the two corners.
The two corners were reinforced using additional boards. Two boards were paired at the bottom and joined together at the top, forming a single corner unit. Both corners were made the same way.
36:30 There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.
The eight frames at the rear of the structure were set in sixteen silver bases, two bases were under each frame.
36:31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 32 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 33 And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames.
Bars made of acacia wood were to run along the three walls in three rows. Two of the shorter bars would run along near the top edge and the other two shorter bars would run along near the bottom edge. The longer bar would run the entire length along the center.[8]
36:34 And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
All the wood used in making the frames and bars were overlaid with gold. Plus, all of the hardware was made with gold.
36:35 He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it.
The veil that separated the Most Holy Place (rear room that contained the Ark and Mercy Seat) from the Holy Place was made similarly to the interior walls, made of fine linen with cherubs depicted using blue, purple, and scarlet yarns.[9]
36:36 And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver.
The veil was supported by four vertical pillars made of acacia wood overlaid with gold using hooks made of gold. Four bases for the pillars to sit on were made of silver.
36:37 He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze.
A screen was made for the entrance to the structure out of fine linen embroidered with some unknown design (no mention of cherubim here). Five pillars were constructed with the appropriate hooks. The top portions of the pillars were overlaid with gold and all the hooks and other hardware were made of gold. These pillars were set on bases made of bronze.[10]
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[1] See commentaries under Genesis 3:22-24 and Exodus 25:18-21.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 5785.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 8476.
[4] See commentary under Exodus 25:5, see also Exodus 26:14.
[5] See commentary under Exodus 26:15.
[6] See commentary under Exodus 26:16-17.
[7] See commentary under Exodus 26:19 and Considerations under Exodus 26:36-37.
[8] See commentary under Exodus 26:26-28.
[9] See commentary under Exodus 26:31.
[10] See commentary under Exodus 26:36-37.