10 And he made the table of hard wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high;
11 Plating it with the best gold and putting a gold edge all round it.
12 And he made a frame all round it about as wide as a man's hand, edged with gold all round.
13 And he made four gold rings, and put the rings at the angles of its four feet.
14 The rings were fixed under the frame to take the rods with which the table was to be lifted.
15 The rods for lifting the table he made of hard wood plated with gold.
16 And all the table-vessels, the plates and spoons and basins and the cups for liquids, he made of the best gold.
17 Then he made the support for the lights, all of the best gold; its base and its pillar were of hammered gold; its cups and buds and flowers were all made out of the same metal:
18 It had six branches coming out from its sides, three from one side and three from the other;
19 Every branch having three cups made like almond flowers, every cup with a bud and a flower on all the branches;
20 And on its pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower;
21 And under every two branches a bud, made with the branch, for all six branches of it.
22 The buds and the branches were made of the same metal, all together one complete work of the best hammered gold.
23 And he made the seven vessels for the lights, and all the necessary instruments for it, of gold.
24 A talent of the best gold was used for the making of it and its vessels.
25 And he made the altar for the burning of spices, using the same hard wood; it was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high; the horns made of the same.
26 The top and the sides and the horns were all plated with the best gold; and he put an edge of gold all round it.
27 And he made two gold rings, placing them on the two opposite sides under the edge, to take the rods for lifting it.
28 The rods he made of the same hard wood, plating them with gold.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 37
Commentary on Exodus 37 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 37
Ex 37:1-29. Furniture of the Tabernacle.
1. Bezaleel made the ark—The description here given of the things within the sacred edifice is almost word for word the same as that contained in Ex 25:1-40. It is not on that account to be regarded as a useless repetition of minute particulars; for by the enumeration of these details, it can be seen how exactly everything was fashioned according to the "pattern shown on the mount" [Ex 25:40]; and the knowledge of this exact correspondence between the prescription and the execution was essential to the purposes of the fabric.
6-10. made the mercy seat of pure gold—To construct a figure, whether the body of a beast or a man, with two extended wings, measuring from two to three feet from tip to tip, with the hammer, out of a solid piece of gold, was what few, if any, artisans of the present day could accomplish.
17-22. he made the candlestick of pure gold—Practical readers will be apt to say, "Why do such works with the hammer, when they could have been cast so much easier—a process they were well acquainted with?" The only answer that can be given is, that it was done according to order. We have no doubt but there were reasons for so distinctive an order, something significant, which has not been revealed to us [Napier]. The whole of that sacred building was arranged with a view to inculcate through every part of its apparatus the great fundamental principles of revelation. Every object was symbolical of important truth—every piece of furniture was made the hieroglyphic of a doctrine or a duty—on the floor and along the sides of that movable edifice was exhibited, by emblematic signs addressed to the eye, the whole remedial scheme of the gospel. How far this spiritual instruction was received by every successive generation of the Israelites, it may not be easy to determine. But the tabernacle, like the law of which it was a part, was a schoolmaster to Christ [Ga 3:24, 25]. Just as the walls of schools are seen studded with pictorial figures, by which the children, in a manner level to their capacities and suited to arrest their volatile minds, are kept in constant and familiar remembrance of the lessons of piety and virtue, so the tabernacle was intended by its furniture and all its arrangements to serve as a "shadow of good things to come" [Heb 10:1]. In this view, the minute description given in this chapter respecting the ark and mercy seat, the table of showbread, the candlestick, the altar of incense, and the holy oil, were of the greatest utility and importance; and though there are a few things that are merely ornamental appendages, such as the knops and the flowers, yet, in introducing these into the tabernacle, God displayed the same wisdom and goodness as He has done by introducing real flowers into the kingdom of nature to engage and gratify the eye of man.