6 And he made the cover all of gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
And over it were the winged ones of glory with their wings covering the mercy-seat; about which it is not possible now to say anything in detail.
And you are to make a cover of the best gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And at the two ends of the cover you are to make two winged ones of hammered gold, One at one end and one at the other; the winged ones are to be part of the cover. And their wings are to be outstretched over the cover, and the winged ones are to be opposite one another, facing the cover. And put the cover over the ark, and in the ark the record which I will give you. And there, between the two winged ones on the cover of the ark, I will come to you, face to face, and make clear to you all the orders I have to give you for the children of Israel.
And he is to take a vessel full of burning coal from the altar before the Lord and in his hand some sweet perfume crushed small, and take it inside the veil; And let him put the perfume on the fire before the Lord so that the ark may be covered with a cloud of the smoke of the perfume, in order that death may not overtake him. And let him take some of the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it from his finger on the cover of the ark on the east side, and before it, seven times. Then let him put to death the goat of the sin-offering for the people, and take its blood inside the veil and do with it as he did with the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it on and before the cover of the ark.
Then David gave to his son Solomon the design of the doorway of the house of God and of its houses and its store-houses, and the higher rooms and the inner rooms and the place for the mercy-seat;
Whom God has put forward as the sign of his mercy, through faith, by his blood, to make clear his righteousness when, in his pity, God let the sins of earlier times go without punishment;
Who gave himself for us, so that he might make us free from all wrongdoing, and make for himself a people clean in heart and on fire with good works.
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.