1.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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.
3.
And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
4.
And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
5.
And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
6.
Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
18.
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
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.
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.
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.
THE TENT OF MEETING
‘There I will meet with thee.’
Exodus 25:22
All the time that the history of the Jews was going on, the mercy-seat and the cherubim that covered it were still witnessing to the children of Israel that God was in the midst of them. So the words, ‘There I will meet with thee,’ stood from generation to generation.
I. The New Testament, like the Old, is written to explain these words.—The New Testament declares that He for whose appearance the Jewish worshippers longed has appeared. The New Testament tells us that in His Son God has met men and has reconciled them unto Himself. The lessons of the New Testament take up all the words and lessons of the Old Testament, all that is written about the cherubim and the mercy-seat. They say, ‘All this is now, not for Israelites, but for men, for men in the farthest ends of the earth.’ If you turn to the last book of the Bible, you will find the Book of Genesis appearing again there, a nobler tree of life than that of the garden of Eden, which is not guarded by angels, but the fruit of which all are invited to taste. You will find the Book of Exodus again there. You will hear of the tabernacle of God being with men, and of His dwelling with them and being their God. You will find some of the latest words in the book those which have gone through the whole of it,—‘Worship God.’
II. Worship means that God is meeting us and drawing us to Himself, that He has sent His Spirit into the world and established His Church in the world for the very purpose of bringing all to Him. This is the message that the Bible has brought to men in past ages; this is the message that it brings to them now.
Rev. F. D. Maurice.
Illustration
(1) ‘God has established a Way by which the humblest and least worthy may draw near and consult Him at all times. The study of the Ark, the Mercy-seat, the Cherubim, the Holy of Holies, and the means by which approach could be made to the hidden Presence, will help us to comprehend something of the blessed offices of our great High-Priest, and of the wonders of that “new and living Way” by which we have “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” The symbolism of each detail should, therefore, be studied with care.’
(2) ‘The Israelites were not yet ready for the full revelation of the “boldness and access” to God which was made possible through Jesus Christ. But that access was symbolised and foreshadowed.’
(3) ‘What care, what minute accuracy, appears in every line of this specification! Nothing is left to chance. More space is given to it than to the story of creation; and surely we can detect the Mind that wrought in the creation of the heavens and the earth; the same order, precision, close attention to detail, and love of beauty. Moses was but the executor of the Divine Will, the mechanic working according to the pattern of the Divine Draughtsman.
Probably there are other plans, of which this is a specimen, in the execution of which we are deeply implicated. The plan of our life, the plan of our work in the world, the plan of the Church, these also are delineated with unfaltering accuracy; and it is in proportion as we conform to them with minute obedience, that we can count on the Divine indwelling. Is it for a moment credible that God would have indwelt the Hebrew Tabernacle, if Moses had presumptuously departed from the Divine pattern? When the structure stood complete, would not the Shekinah have been missing? Must not Moses have been compelled to cancel his modifications, and revert to God’s perfect scheme, as the condition of His advent? Here we may stay and ponder our own life-story!’
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.
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.
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.
30.
And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
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.
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:
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.
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.
38.
And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
39.
Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
40.
And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.