Episode #89
Exodus 38
Read Exodus 38 . Exodus 38 continues the account of the tabernacle's construction, turning to the altar of burnt offering and the various furnishings of the courtyard. Bezaleel built the altar of shittim wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide (square in shape) and three cubits high, overlaying it with brass. He made horns for its four corners and covered the whole structure in brass and then fashioned all its utensils — pots, shovels, basins, fleshhooks, and firepans — out of the same metal. A brass grate was set beneath the altar's ledge, with brass rings at its four corners to hold the staves used for carrying it, and the staves themselves were made of shittim wood overlaid with brass. The altar was hollow, built with boards. Next, Bezaleel made the laver of brass along with its base, using the brass mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation. Exodus 38 then describes the construction of the court surrounding the tabernacle. On the south side, the hangings measured 100 cubits, supported by 20 pillars with 20 brass sockets, with silver hooks and fillets for the pillars. The north side matched this in every measurement and material. On the west side, the hangings were 50 cubits, hung on 10 pillars with 10 sockets, and the east side was also 50 cubits. The east side was divided so that the gate of the court had hangings of 15 cubits on one side with three pillars and three sockets, and 15 cubits on the other side, likewise with three pillars and three sockets. All the hangings of the court were made of fine twined linen, while the gate's screen was made of blue, purple, and scarlet material along with fine twined linen, richly embroidered, and measured 20 cubits long and five cubits high, matching the height of the other court hangings. All the pillars of the court had silver-connected fillets, silver hooks, and brass sockets. All the pins used for the tabernacle and the court around it were made of brass. The final portion of Exodus 38 gives a detailed accounting of the materials used in building the tabernacle, recorded at the commandment of Moses for the service of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, had done all that the LORD commanded Moses. Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, assisted him as a skilled engraver, craftsman, and embroiderer. The gold used for the work of the sanctuary, gathered as an offering, amounted to 29 talents and 730 shekels, measured by the shekel of the sanctuary. The silver collected from those who were numbered in the congregation totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, based on a rate of a half shekel per person for every man 20 years old and upward, counted from the more than 600,000 men in the census. Of this silver, 100 talents were used to cast the sockets of the sanctuary and of the veil, while the remaining amount was used to make the hooks for the pillars, overlay their tops, and fashion their fillets. The brass offering totaled 70 talents and 2,400 shekels, which was used to make the sockets for the entrance of the tabernacle, the brass altar with its grate and utensils, the sockets for the court and its gate, and all the pins for both the tabernacle and the surrounding court.
