Chapter Thirty-Eight
Constructing the Bronze Altar
38:1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height. 2 He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3 And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze. 4 And he made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down. 5 He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. 6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7 And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards.
At this point the Tabernacle structure would have been completed, the first item built for the courtyard was the bronze altar. Even though used for several types of offerings, the most common would be the burnt offering, perhaps this is why it is often referred to as the “altar of burnt offering.” It was made of acacia wood, being approximately seven-and-a-half-foot square, it was the largest single item made for the Tabernacle. The wood was overlaid with bronze and all the utensils, grating, and required hardware were made of bronze. Poles that would be used to transport the altar were made of acacia wood and overlaid with bronze.[1]
Constructing the Bronze Basin
38:8 He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Not much information is given about the bronze washbasin, neither here, nor earlier in Exodus 30:17-21. No dimensions or shape are ever stated. Unlike the other items for the Tabernacle, the source of the building material was specifically identified. It was built out of the bronze obtained from the mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance. Not much is known about these women (mentioned only in 1 Samuel 2:22). Duty or service at the entrance of the tent of meeting is also referenced for some of the Levites (see Numbers 4:23; 8:24) and were believed to be those that helped with daily activities such as utensil cleanup, water resupply, washing garments, etc.[2]
Constructing the Courtyard Fence
38:9 And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits;
The last major item that was made was the ‘fence’ that surrounded the courtyard around the structure and the outdoor items. The walls were made of fabric hangings (curtains) made of fine linen. The courtyard was 150 feet long by 75 feet wide.[3]
38:10 their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11 And for the north side there were hangings of a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 12 And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars, and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 13 And for the front to the east, fifty cubits. 14 The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 15 And so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. 17 And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
The pillars (post supports) and their bases were made of bronze, however, the hardware for the hangings were made of silver.[4] Verse 17 offers additional information not found in Exodus chapter 27, the tops (capitals) of the pillars were overlaid with silver.
38:18 And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19 And their pillars were four in number. Their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver.
The screen that covered the front entry (gate) into the courtyard was made of fine linen and decorated with an unknown design embroidered on the linen. Four additional bronze bases were made for the entry screen.[5]
38:20 And all the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze.
The courtyard pillars were further stabilized with cords (see Exodus 35:18) and pegs (much like tent pegs used today) made of bronze.[6]
A Tally of the Materials Used in the Construction of the Tabernacle
38:21 These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
The Tabernacle is now completed. Here we are introduced to another name for the Tabernacle, the “Tabernacle of Testimony,” (or Tent of Testimony, see Numbers 1:50, 53; 9:15; 10:11; 17:7-8; 18:2; 2 Chronicles 24:6). The name gave tangible and visible evidence of God’s presence and promise to the Israelites, just as the testimony of the objects that will be placed in the Ark will do (giving it the name “Ark of the Testimony.”)
The job to inventory and record all the material used to construct the Tabernacle was given to Ithamar (see Exodus 6:23; 28:1).
38:22 Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses; 23 and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.
Sometimes referred to by commentators as the foreman and the artist of the Tabernacle, these two men were acknowledged and recognized for their work (see also Exodus 35:30-36:5).
38:24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
The amount of gold used in the construction of the Tabernacle is estimated to be approximately 2,200 pounds, using a conversion of 75 pounds per talent and 11 grams per shekel of the sanctuary.[7] The volume would then be approximately 1.8 cubic feet of gold.
38:25 The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary:
The total weight of the silver used in the construction of the Tabernacle would be approximately 7,550 pounds or approximately 11.5 cubic feet in volume.
38:26 a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.
Most of the silver was obtained through the tax of one ‘bě·qǎ’[8] per male person (half a shekel, see Genesis 24:22),[9] twenty years of age or older (see census in Exodus 30:11-16). The number of 603,550 men comes from the census recorded in the first chapter of the book of Numbers (see Numbers 1:46 for the total number). If a half-shekel was ‘assessed’ for each person counted in the census, that would add up to approximately 7,318 pounds of silver. The difference between the amount of silver used and the amount of silver obtained through the census (232 pounds), could be due to an error in the conversion ratio to modern units of measure, or the census was not the single source for the silver (perhaps the total included the free-will offerings).
38:27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base. 28 And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them.
One hundred talents of silver were used to make the silver bases, one talent (approximately 75 pounds) per base. The 1,775 shekels (approximately 43 pounds) of silver were used to make the hooks, fillets, and to overlay the tops of the pillars.
38:29 The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels; 30 with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, 31 the bases around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.
The total weight of the bronze given in the free-will offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels or approximately 5,310 pounds (approximately 9.5 cubic feet, only a rough estimate as bronze is an alloy with varied purities and ratios). The total weight of the three metals alone would then be approximately 15,000 pounds (or 7.5 short ‘US’ tons).
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[1] See commentaries under Exodus 27:1-2: Exodus 27:3; Exodus 27:4-5 and Exodus 27:6-8.
[2] See commentary under Exodus 30:17-21.
[3] See commentaries under Exodus 27:9 and Exodus 27:11-13.
[4] See commentaries under Exodus 27:10; Exodus 27:11-13; Exodus 27:14-16; Exodus 27:17; Exodus 27:18 and Exodus 27:19.
[5] See commentary under Exodus 27:14-16.
[6] See commentary under Exodus 27:19.
[7] See commentary under Exodus 30:13.
[8] Strong’s Hebrew 1235.
[9] See also commentary under Exodus 30:13.