The Altar of Burnt Offering
Study note
The altar for burnt offerings was to be built of acacia wood covered with bronze. It was about seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high. It had horns on each corner and was equipped with pots, shovels, bowls, forks, and firepans, all made of bronze. A bronze grating was set inside it, and bronze rings and poles allowed it to be carried.
1 "Build the altar from acacia wood. Make it square — seven and a half feet on each side — and four and a half feet tall." And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
2 "Shape a horn at each of the four corners, forming them as one continuous piece with the altar. Overlay the entire altar with bronze." And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
3 "Make all of the altar's tools from bronze: ash pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and fire pans." And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.
4 "Construct a bronze grating in a mesh pattern for the altar. Attach four bronze rings at the grating's four corners." And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.
5 "Set the grating inside the altar, below the ledge, so it sits at the halfway point." And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.
6 "Make carrying poles from acacia wood and overlay them with bronze." And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.
7 "Thread the poles through the rings so the altar has poles on two sides when it is being carried." And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.
8 "Build the altar hollow inside, made from boards. Construct it to match the exact design you were shown on the mountain." Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
The Courtyard of the Tabernacle
Study note
The courtyard was enclosed by curtains of finely twisted linen hung on bronze posts with silver hooks. It was about 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. The entrance on the east side had a special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. All the tent pegs for the Tabernacle and courtyard were made of bronze.
9 "Create a courtyard surrounding the Tabernacle. For the south side, hang curtains of finely twisted linen extending one hundred and fifty feet." And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:
10 "Support the curtains with twenty posts set into twenty bronze base sockets. Attach silver hooks and connecting bands to the posts." And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
11 "Do the same for the north side. Make 150 feet of curtains. Hold them up with twenty posts in twenty bronze bases. Use silver hooks and bands." And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
12 "On the west end, hang seventy-five feet of curtains with ten posts and ten base sockets." And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 "The east end — where the entrance will be — should also span seventy-five feet." And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
14 "On one side of the entrance, hang twenty-two and a half feet of curtains, supported by three posts on three base sockets." The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 "On the other side of the entrance, hang another twenty-two and a half feet of curtains. Use three posts with three base sockets." And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 "For the courtyard entrance itself, make a screen thirty feet wide from blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, featuring embroidered designs. It should hang on four posts with four base sockets." And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.
17 "Every post around the courtyard must have silver bands and hooks to connect them. Set them into bronze base sockets." All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.
18 "The entire courtyard should be one hundred and fifty feet long and seventy-five feet wide. It should be seven and a half feet tall. Use curtains of finely twisted linen and bronze base sockets all around." The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
19 "Every tool used in the Tabernacle must be bronze. All the tent pegs for the Tabernacle and the courtyard must be bronze too." All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.
Oil for the Lampstand
Study note
The Israelites were to bring clear, pressed olive oil to keep the lamps in the Tabernacle burning from evening to morning. This was to be a lasting ordinance. Aaron and his sons were responsible for tending the lamps in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that shielded the Ark.
20 "Tell the Israelites to bring you pure olive oil, pressed from the best olives, to keep the lamps burning at all times." And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.
21 "Aaron and his sons must keep these lamps burning before the Lord from evening until morning. They must do this inside the Tent of Meeting, on the outer side of the curtain near the Ark of the Testimony. This rule must be kept by every Israelite generation." In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.