1 And Bezaleel maketh the ark of shittim wood, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height;
2 and he overlayeth it with pure gold within and without, and maketh for it a wreath of gold round about;
3 and he casteth for it four rings of gold, on its four feet, even two rings on its one side, and two rings on its second side;
4 and he maketh staves of shittim wood, and overlayeth them with gold,
5 and he bringeth in the staves into the rings, by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.
6 And he maketh a mercy-seat of pure gold, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth;
7 and he maketh two cherubs of gold, of beaten work he hath made them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat;
8 one cherub at the end on this `side', and one cherub at the end on that, out of the mercy-seat he hath made the cherubs, at its two ends;
9 and the cherubs are spreading out wings on high, covering over the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces `are' one towards another; towards the mercy-seat have the faces of the cherubs been.
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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.