Exodus 26:1-37

Exodus: *Israel becomes a nation

God’s instructions to Moses

Exodus Chapter s 19 to 40

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 26

God’s special tent, the *Tabernacle – verses 1-37

The curtains – verses 1-14

v1 The *LORD continued to speak to Moses. ‘Make 10 curtains for my special tent. Make them out of *linen of good quality. Sew them with blue, purple and bright red wool. Let a skilful worker sew a design into them that shows *heavenly figures. v2 Make all the curtains the same size. The curtains should be 39 feet (12 metres) long and 6½ feet (2 metres) wide. v3 Join 5 curtains together to make one long piece. Then join the other 5 curtains together in another long piece. v4 Make rings out of blue material. Attach the rings to the edge of the curtain at the end of the set. Do the same thing with the curtain at the end of the other set. v5 Make 50 blue rings on the curtain at the end of one set. And make another 50 blue rings on the curtain at the end of the other set. These rings should be opposite each other. v6 Then bend gold metal to make 50 gold *hooks. Use them to fasten together the rings on the curtains. Then the curtains are like one piece.’

v7 Use goats’ hair to make cloth for 11 other curtains. Place these curtains of goats’ hair over the special tent. v8 All 11 curtains must be the same size. Each curtain must be 42 feet (13 metres) long and 6½ feet (2 metres) wide. v9 Join 5 of the curtains together into one set. Do the same thing with the other 6 curtains. Fold the 6th curtain in half in front of the tent. v10 Then make 50 rings along the edge of the curtain at the end of one set. Do the same thing with the other set. v11 And bend pieces of *bronze metal to make 50 *bronze *hooks. Use these *hooks to join together the rings on the curtains of the tent. Then they will be like one piece. v12 The curtains of goats’ hair will be longer than the cloth curtains. So let the extra ½ metre hang down the back of the tent. v13 The curtains of the tent will be ½ metre longer on both sides too. And the extra piece can hang over the sides of the tent in order to cover it. v14 Use red leather from male sheep’s skins to make another cover for this tent. And use leather of good quality from goats’ skins to make a final cover over the tent.’

Verses 1-6 Oholiab, from the family called Dan, was one of the skilful workers. He designed and sewed the curtains out of *linen of good quality (Exodus 38:23). The curtains were blue, purple and red with a pattern of *heavenly figures. The workers had to sew the curtains together into sets of 5. Then they bent thin metal bars into *hooks to join the edges of the 2 curtains. They attached cloth rings. These *hooks must fit into the cloth rings. Then the tent or *tabernacle was one piece.

Verses 7-14 They made cloth out of goats’ hair. This cloth would be a cover that would protect the *linen tent from the weather. The curtains of goats’ hair would be longer than the *linen curtains. So they protected all the sides of the *Tabernacle from the sun’s heat. The workers fastened together the two halves of the cover with rings and metal *hooks. Someone could take apart those halves again. So it would be easy to carry the two halves. There were two extra covers of leather so that the rain did not get in. The workers made those covers out of male sheep’s skins and goats’ skins.

The poles that support the tent – verses 15-30

v15 ‘Make double poles for the tent out of *acacia wood. These will support the tent. v16 Each pole must be 13 feet (4 metres) long, and the 2 poles together will be 26 inches (66 centimetres) wide. v17 Each double pole has 2 similar wooden pieces that stick out. Then you can join the poles together. Make all the poles to support the tent in this way. v18 Make 20 double poles for the south side of the *Tabernacle. v19 And make 40 silver bases to go under them. Make 2 bases for each double pole. 1 base goes under each part of the wooden pieces that stick out. v20 Make 20 double poles for the north side of the *Tabernacle too. v21 And make 40 silver bases for them as well. There must be 2 bases for each double pole. v22 Make 6 double poles for the west end of the *Tabernacle. v23 Make 2 double poles for each corner at that end. v24 These poles at the corners must be firm where they join all the way to the top. They must fit into a single ring. You must make the double poles at the corners like that. v25 So there will be 8 double poles and 16 silver bases for that end. There will be 2 bases under each double pole.’

v26 ‘Also make bars out of *acacia wood. Make them in the shape of a cross. Make 5 bars in this shape. They are for the double poles on one side of the *Tabernacle. v27 And make 5 bars in this shape for the other side. Also make 5 bars in the shape of a cross for the west end of the *Tabernacle. v28 The middle bar of this shape should extend from one end of the tent to the other end. It will be at the centre of the double poles. v29 Cover the double poles with gold. And make gold rings to hold the bars in the shape of a cross. Also, cover these bars with gold.’

v30 ‘Set up the *Tabernacle exactly as the plan that I showed you on the mountain.’

Verses 15-25 The extra bars in the shape of a cross would make the whole tent firm. The double poles would stand up straight to support the tent. They fitted into the silver bases and they stood firmly. There was a total 100 silver bases (verses 19, 21, 25, and 32). The *Israelites gave all the silver to make those bases (Exodus 38:27). The bases gave the walls strength on the north, south and west sides of the *Tabernacle. And at the west end, God told them to make extra strong corners.

Verses 26-29 The bars in the shape of a cross locked the double poles together. This gave strength to the south, north and west sides. There was a central bar along the whole length of the tent.

The curtain in front of the most holy place – verses 31-35

v31 ‘You must make a curtain out of *linen of good quality. Sew it with blue, purple and bright red wool. A skilful worker can make a design of *heavenly figures on it. v32 Cover 4 poles of *acacia wood with gold. And stand them on 4 silver bases. Then fasten gold *hooks to the poles. v33 Hang the curtain on these *hooks. Place the special box behind the curtain, because it *represents my special promise to you. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. v34 Put the cover on the special box in the Most Holy Place. This is where I am able to forgive you. v35 Place the table outside the curtain on the north side of the *Tabernacle. And put the *lampstand opposite the table on the south side.’

Verses 31-34 The curtain was *linen of good quality. It was like the curtains that the workers made for the main part of the tent. This curtain separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was about a third of the total length of the *Tabernacle. It was always dark in the Most Holy Place. And God’s special box stood there. The special box’s cover reminded the *Israelites that God would forgive his people. He would make them completely *clean so that he accepted them. On one day each year, the most important priest entered the Most Holy Place. He entered on behalf of the people. He went there after he had given gifts to God on behalf of the people and himself (Leviticus 16 and Hebrews 9:7).

The curtain was in front of the Most Holy Place in the *Temple. When Jesus died on the cross, that curtain tore apart. A person would tear it from the lowest part up to the top. But God tore it from the top down to the lowest part (Mark 15:38). This was a *sign that Jesus was the most important priest. By means of his death, Jesus made it possible that everyone can approach God (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Verse 35 The priests must place the table and the *lampstand outside the curtain. They must be on opposite sides in the Holy place.

The entrance to God’s tent – verses 36-37

v36 ‘For the entrance to the tent, make a beautiful curtain out of *linen of good quality. Sew patterns on it with blue, purple and bright red wool. Let a skilful worker make this curtain. v37 And make gold *hooks for it. Cut 5 poles of *acacia wood, and cover them with gold. Then make 5 *bronze metal bases in which these poles should stand.’

Verses 36-37 The curtain at the entrance to the tent was like those curtains inside the tent itself. 5 poles fitted into *bronze bases and they supported the curtain. The curtain hung from gold *hooks on those poles.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.
Tabernacle ~ God’s special tent.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has been here always.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the Hebrew word ‘Adonai’, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
linen ~ a special kind of cloth of good quality. People make it from the plant called *flax.'heavenly figures ~ Heaven is the place where God lives. Artists make figures. They look like people or other things that live with God.
hook ~ people hang things from hooks. To make hooks people bend metal into the shape of a letter U.
bronze ~ a kind of metal that people make out of copper and tin.
Tabernacle ~ God’s special tent.
acacia ~ a kind of tree that grows in dry land.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
represent ~ when a person acts on behalf of someone else; or you put something in place of something else.
lampstand ~ it held 7 lamps. They contained oil that burned, so the lamp-stand gave a lot of light.
clean ~ good in thought and in action. But, in the Old Testament, many things could make a person unclean towards God. For example, if they touched a dead body, that would make them unclean. And the Israelites must not eat animals that God called unclean.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites. The Jews’ holy book.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.
temple ~ the special building in Jerusalem where the Jews worshipped God. King Solomon built the first temple.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a gift to God.
sign ~ a signal; a mark to show that something is special; a powerful act.