26 "You shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tent,
He made bars of acacia wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tent, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tent, and five bars for the boards of the tent for the hinder part westward. He made the middle bar to pass through in the midst of the boards from the one end to the other. He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold for places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman. He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them. He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer; and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of brass.
The appointed charge of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service,
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;
from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 26
Commentary on Exodus 26 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 26
Moses here receives instructions,
These particulars, thus largely recorded, seem of little use to us now; yet, having been of great use to Moses and Israel, and God having thought fit to preserve down to us the remembrance of them, we ought not to overlook them. Even the antiquity renders this account venerable.
Exd 26:1-6
Exd 26:7-14
Moses is here ordered to make a double covering for the tabernacle, that it might not rain in, and that the beauty of those fine curtains might not be damaged.
Exd 26:15-30
Very particular directions are here given about the boards of the tabernacle, which were to bear up the curtains, as the stakes of a tent which had need to be strong, Isa. 54:2. These boards had tenons which fell into the mortises that were made for them in silver bases. God took care to have every thing strong, as well as fine, in his tabernacle. Curtains without boards would have been shaken by every wind; but it is a good thing to have the heart established with grace, which is as the boards to support the curtains of profession, which otherwise will not hold out long. The boards were coupled together with gold rings at top and bottom (v. 24), and kept firm with bars that ran through golden staples in every board (v. 26), and the boards and bars were all richly gilded, v. 29. Thus every thing in the tabernacle was very splendid, agreeable to that infant state of the church, when such things were proper enough to please children, to possess the minds of the worshippers with a reverence of the divine glory, and to affect them with the greatness of that prince who said, Here will I dwell; in allusion to this the new Jerusalem is said to be of pure gold, Rev. 21:18. But the builders of the gospel church said, Silver and gold have we none; and yet the glory of their building far exceeded that of the tabernacle, 2 Co. 3:10, 11. How much better is wisdom than gold! No orders are given here about the floor of the tabernacle; probably that also was boarded; for we cannot think that within all these fine curtains they trod upon the cold or wet ground; if it was so left, it may remind us of ch. 20:24, An altar of earth shalt thou make unto me.
Exd 26:31-37
Two veils are here ordered to be made,