1.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
the LORD [Hebrew. Jehovah. spake . See notes on Exodus 3:7 and Exodus 6:10 .
2.
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
children = sons.
offering = heave offering. App-43 .
man . Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .
3.
And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
And . Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6 ) in verses: Exodus 25:3-5 . Fifteen objects (verses: Exodus 25:3-7 ), 3 x 5. All numbers connected with the Tabernacle are multiples of 5. See App-10 .
gold, &c. No iron in the tabernacle.
brass . A mixture of copper and zinc was unknown then. Probably copper, or bronze (a mixture of copper and tin).
4.
And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
purple , &c. These colours connected with the crucifixion. Matthew 27:28 . John 19:2 . White mentioned last. So in Revelation 19:13 , Revelation 19:14 .
5.
And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
shittim = acacia.
6.
Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
the light = the light-holder, as in Genesis 1:14 .
7.
Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
8.
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
sanctuary . Hebrew. kodesh. See note on Exodus 3:5 .
9.
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
pattern . Compare Hebrews 8:5 . Not a plan, but a model. The reality is in heaven. So with the temple, later. 1 Chronicles 28:11-19 . With the utmost exactitude certain representative measurements given. Nine others, vital to construction, but not for significance, not given. Probably these Divine silences were to make any unauthorized structures impossible. These nine were: (1) Thickness of sides and bottom of ark; (2) thickness of mercy seat and details of cherubim; (3) thickness of table; (4) dimensions of lampstand; (5) thickness of boards; (6) middle-bar dimensions; (7) size, &c., of rams' skins; (8) ditto badgers' skins; (9) all thick nesses of brazen altar (the third dimension).
tabernacle. Hebrew. mishkan. First occurance. See App-40 . Compare Exodus 25:8 . Note, in Exodus 25:10-40 we have furniture, for the worship, within; and in Exodus 26:1-37 the protection without.
10.
And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
ark. Note the order in which these things were made, and the lesson arising therefrom. God begins from within; man from without, Matthew 15:16-20 . Here the work begins with the ark and ends with the gate. Exodus 25:10-40 ; Exodus 26:1-37 . So with the four great offerings. So with His work in the heart of the saved sinner. We begin from the "gate "and with the "sin-offering". God begins with the "ark "and the "burnt-offering".
cubits . See App-51 .
11.
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
upon it. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and ' Syriac, read "thereto".
crown . See note on Exodus 25:24 .
12.
And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
side . Hebrew. zel'a, rib. See note on Exodus 25:32 .
13.
And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
14.
And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
15.
The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
16.
And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
the testimony . Hebrew. 'eduth = witness, from 'ud, to bear witness, give testimony. The two tables so called because they bore. witness to, and were evidences of the covenant made, and of its future extension. 1 Timothy 2:6 , "the testimony in its own season "(= "all", without distinction).
17.
And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
mercy seat = propitiatory cover (Hebrew. kapporeth = cover). By Figure of speech Metonymy ( App-6 ) cover put for the propitiation made through the blood sprinkled thereon. It therefore denotes propitiation. Compare Hebrews 9:5 . Hence the meaning, God's "propitiatory gift", as in Papyri. Compare Romans 3:25 .
pure gold . Not overlaid, because propitiation is a Divine work throughout.
18.
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
cherubims . Plural of Hebrew cherub. Figure of speech Metonymy here put for representation of the celestial beings, of which we know nothing. They are a reality, there, and representative of creation, symbolical of blessing for all creation. These (in Exodus 25:18 ) were not the cherubims themselves, but representations of them. See Genesis 3:24 , but no "sword", because of the blood of propitiation. Occurs seven times in verses: Exodus 25:17-22 .
19.
And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
even of = out of.
ye . Some codices, Hillel, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Syriac, read "thou".
20.
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
toward . Looking toward the blood of propitiation. Compare Exodus 12:13 and Joshua 2:18-21 . See especially Exodus 37:9 .
21.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
22.
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
I will meet . Hebrew meet as by appointment, and this, in the appointed place and way: "there". Compare Exodus 23:14-17 ; Exodus 29:42 , Exodus 29:43 , Exodus 29:45 , Exodus 29:46 ; Exodus 34:22-24 ; Exodus 40:34 , Exodus 40:35 .
the ark of the testimony . It has seven names: Ark of the covenant of Jehovah, Numbers 10:33 . Ark of Adonai Jehovah, 1 Kings 2:26 . Ark of Jehovah, Joshua 3:13 . Ark of Elohim, 1 Samuel 3:3 . The holy ark, 2 Chronicles 35:3 . The ark of Thy strength, Psalms 132:8 .
23.
Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
24.
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.
crown of gold . Note the three "crowns": (1) Ark (Exodus 25:11 ), the crown of the Law. The atoning blood between it, and the cherubim its executant. (2) Altar of incense (Exodus 30:3 ), the crown of the priesthood. Its incense fired only by the fire from the altar of burnt offering. (3) Table of shewbread (Exodus 25:24 ), the crown of the king-dom. The twelve tribes symbolised by the twelve loaves.
25.
And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
hand breadth . See App-51 .
26.
And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
27.
Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.
28.
And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
29.
And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.
to cover = to pour out.
30.
And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
shewbread . Hebrew bread of faces; faces being put for presence by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , denoting the Divine presence in which the bread stood, and from Whom all supplies, material and spiritual, came. First occurance.
Me . Hebrew "My face. "So that here we have the Figure of speech Paronomasia, "panim lephanai" ( App-6 ).
31.
And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
candlestick = lampstand.
shall . . . be made . Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel Septuagint, and Syriac, read "shalt thou make".
knops = knobs.
32.
And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
sides . There are seventeen Hebrew words translated "side", important in this technical description. Here it is the ordinary word for "side", zad.
33.
Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
Three . Note connection with four, Exodus 25:34 , making seven. See App-10 .
34.
And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
35.
And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.
36.
Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.
37.
And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.
it . Hebrew the face of it. Figure of speech Prosopopceia ( App-6 ).
38.
And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
tongs = snuffers (but no extinguishers).
39.
Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
talent . See App-61 . shall he. The reading called Sevir (see App-34 ) reads "shalt thou"; so some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Syriac.
40.
And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
pattern . See note on Hebrews 8:5 , and compare 1 Chronicles 28:11 , 1 Chronicles 28:12 , 1 Chronicles 28:18 , 1 Chronicles 28:19 .