1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its breadth was five cubits, and its height was three cubits.
2 He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with brass.
3 He made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the flesh-hooks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of brass.
4 He made for the altar a grating of a network of brass, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up.
5 He cast four rings for the four ends of brass grating, to be places for the poles.
6 He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with brass.
7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.
8 He made the basin of brass, and its base of brass, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting.
9 He made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits;
10 their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
11 For the north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
12 For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
13 For the east side eastward fifty cubits.
14 The hangings for the one side were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three;
15 and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen.
17 The sockets for the pillars were of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals, of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
18 The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court.
19 Their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of brass; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver.
20 All the pins of the tent, and around the court, were of brass.
21 This is the amount of material used for the tent, even the Tent of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
22 Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh commanded Moses.
23 With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.
24 All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
25 The silver of those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents, and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
26 a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.
27 The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
28 Of the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.
29 The brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels.
30 With this he made the sockets to the door of the tent of meeting, the brazen altar, the brazen grating for it, all the vessels of the altar,
31 the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tent, and all the pins around the court.
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Commentary on Exodus 38 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 38
Ex 38:1-31. Furniture of the Tabernacle.
1. the altar of burnt offering—The repetitions are continued, in which may be traced the exact conformity of the execution to the order.
8. laver of brass … of the looking glasses of the women—The word mirrors should have been used, as those implements, usually round, inserted into a handle of wood, stone, or metal, were made of brass, silver, or bronze, highly polished [Wilkinson]. It was customary for the Egyptian women to carry mirrors with them to the temples; and whether by taking the looking glasses of the Hebrew women Moses designed to put it out of their power to follow a similar practice at the tabernacle, or whether the supply of brass from other sources in the camp was exhausted, it is interesting to learn how zealously and to a vast extent they surrendered those valued accompaniments of the female toilet.
of the women assembling … at the door—not priestesses but women of pious character and influence, who frequented the courts of the sacred building (Lu 2:37), and whose parting with their mirrors, like the cutting the hair of the Nazarites, was their renouncing the world for a season [Hengstenberg].
9. the court—It occupied a space of one hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five, and it was enclosed by curtains of fine linen about eight feet high, suspended on brazen or copper pillars. Those curtains were secured by rods fastened to the top, and kept extended by being fastened to pins stuck in the ground.
10. hooks—The hooks of the pillars in the court were for hanging up the carcasses of the sacrificial beasts—those on the pillars at the entry of the tabernacle were for hanging the sacerdotal robes and other things used in the service.
11. sockets—mortices or holes in which the end of the pillars stood.
17. chapiters—or capitals of the pillars, were wooden posts which ran along their top, to which were attached the hooks for the hangings.
18. the height in the breadth—or, "in the measure." The sense is that the hangings of the court gate, which was twenty cubits wide, were of the same height as the hangings all round the court [Wall].
21. This is the sum of the tabernacle—Having completed his description of the component parts of the tabernacle, the inspired historian digresses into a statement respecting the gold and silver employed in it, the computation being made according to an order of Moses—by the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son.
24. twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels—equivalent to £150,00 sterling.
25. the silver of them that were numbered—603,550 men at half a shekel each would contribute 301,775 shekels; which at 2s. 4d. each, amounts to £35,207 sterling. It may seem difficult to imagine how the Israelites should be possessed of so much wealth in the desert; but it should be remembered that they were enriched first by the spoils of the Egyptians, and afterwards by those of the Amalekites. Besides, it is highly probable that during their sojourn they traded with the neighboring nations who bordered on the wilderness [Hewlett].