Exodus 25:1-40

The Vessels of the Sanctuary

Chapter s 25-31 are taken up with prescriptions regarding the Construction of a Tabernacle, i.e. a tent, to form the visible dwelling-place of Jehovah in the midst of His people, the place where He would meet them and receive their worship. The entire structure consisted of three parts. There was an outer Court, 100 cubits by 50, open to the sky, the sides of which were composed of curtains supported on pillars. The entrance was at the eastern end; inside, facing the door, was the altar of burnt offering, and behind that the brazen laver. Within this court and towards the western end was a covered tabernacle, divided by a hanging curtain into two chambers. The outer of these, called the Holy Place, contained the Table of Shewbread, the Candlestick, and the Altar of Incense. The Inner chamber, the Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place, contained the Ark of the Covenant which supported the Mercy seat and the two golden Cherubim. The three parts, of which the entire structure was composed, were of increasing degrees of sanctity. Into the outer court came the worshippers when they brought their offerings. Into the Holy Place went the priests to perform their sacred offices; while into the Most Holy Place, which was the immediate Presence Chamber of Jehovah, went the high priest alone, and that only once a year on the great day of Atonement with special ceremonial. It has been questioned whether a tabernacle of this somewhat elaborate design and costly workmanship could have been erected by the Israelites in their present circumstances. This difficulty, however, has been exaggerated. In Egypt the Israelites were familiar with arts and manufactures, and they left Egypt with spoil of precious metals (Exodus 11:2; Exodus 12:35). Another difficulty has been discerned in the fact that no references to such an elaborate structure occur in the historical books previous to the time of Solomon. Some scholars accordingly hold that many of the details described here are of an ideal nature, the prescription of what ought to be rather than of what actually was carried out, 'the attempt of a devout and imaginative mind to give concrete embodiment to some of the loftiest and purest spiritual truths to be met with in the whole range of scripture.' This difficulty, like the other, is of a negative kind, and we should be careful not to over-estimate it. In any case, the symbolism underlying the construction of the tabernacle with its furniture and ritual is unmistakable. The costliness of the materials teaches the lesson that God is to be served with the best that man can give. The harmony and exact proportions of its parts are a reflection of the harmony and perfection of the divine natine. The increasing degrees of sanctity which characterise the Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies, emphasise the reverence due by man to Him whose dwelling is in the high and holy place, and who yet condescends in His grace to tabernacle with man and to accept his imperfect worship 1-9. Gifts of materials for the tabernacle. 2. 'God loveth a cheerful giver' (2 Corinthians 9:7).