The Altar of Burnt Offering
Study note
Bezalel built the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square — about seven and a half feet on each side — and about four and a half feet tall. He made horns at each corner that were one piece with the altar, and covered the whole thing with bronze. He made all the tools for the altar out of bronze: pots for ashes, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and firepans. He also made a bronze grating for the altar and attached rings and carrying poles. The altar was hollow inside, made with boards.
1 He built the altar for burnt offerings from acacia wood. It was five cubits long, five cubits wide (a perfect square), and three cubits tall. And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.
2 He shaped horns at each of the four corners, forming them as one piece with the altar. Then he covered the whole thing in bronze. And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.
3 He made every tool for the altar out of bronze: the ash pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and fire pans. And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
4 He built a bronze grating in a mesh pattern and placed it inside the altar, below the rim, extending halfway up. And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
5 He cast four rings at the four corners of the grating to hold the carrying poles. And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
6 The carrying poles were made from acacia wood, overlaid with bronze. And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
7 He inserted the poles through the rings on both sides of the altar for transport. The altar itself was hollow, built from boards. And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.
The Bronze Basin
Study note
He made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. In the ancient world, mirrors were made of polished bronze, not glass. These women gave up their mirrors as an offering to God. The basin would hold water for the priests to wash their hands and feet before entering the Tabernacle or approaching the altar.
8 He made the bronze basin and its bronze stand. He used the polished metal mirrors given by the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
The Courtyard
Study note
They built the courtyard that surrounded the Tabernacle. It was enclosed by curtains of finely twisted linen hung on posts set in bronze bases. The south and north sides were each about one hundred fifty feet long, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases on each side. The posts had silver hooks and bands. The west end was about seventy-five feet wide with ten posts. The east end, where the entrance was, was also about seventy-five feet wide. The entrance curtain was made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, about thirty feet wide, hung on four posts. All the tent pegs were bronze.
9 Next he constructed the courtyard. Along the south side, curtains of finely twisted linen stretched one hundred cubits. And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:
10 These curtains hung on twenty posts set in twenty bronze base sockets. The hooks and connecting bands on the posts were silver. Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
11 The north side matched — one hundred cubits of curtains on twenty posts with twenty bronze sockets. The hooks and bands were silver. And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
12 The west side had fifty cubits of curtains with ten posts and ten sockets. The hooks and bands were silver. And 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 The east side, facing the sunrise, also measured fifty cubits across. And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
14 On one side of the entrance, curtains went out fifteen cubits. They were held up by three posts in three sockets. The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 The other side of the entrance was the same — fifteen cubits of curtains with three posts and three sockets. And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 Every curtain around the courtyard was made from fine twisted linen. All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.
17 The base sockets for all the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands were silver, and the tops of the posts were overlaid with silver. Every courtyard post had silver bands. And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
18 The curtain for the courtyard entrance was made from blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen. It had fancy stitched designs on it. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits tall, matching the curtains around the courtyard. And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
19 It hung on four posts set in four bronze sockets. The hooks were silver, and the tops and bands were overlaid with silver. And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.
20 Every tent peg for the Tabernacle and the courtyard was made of bronze. And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
The Amounts of Metal Used
Study note
Moses ordered a careful count of all the materials used to build the Tabernacle. This record was kept by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, Aaron's son. Bezalel and Oholiab are named as the lead builders. The gold used weighed about one ton. The silver came from the census tax — a half-shekel from each man twenty years old and older. There were 603,550 men counted, so the silver totaled about three and three-quarter tons. The silver was used for the bases of the Tabernacle and its posts. The bronze totaled about two and a half tons and was used for the bases of the entrance, the altar, its grating, and all the tent pegs.
21 Here is the list of materials used to build the Tabernacle — the Tabernacle of the Testimony. Moses ordered this record. The Levites put it together under Ithamar, Aaron's son. This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.
22 Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, built everything the Lord had told Moses to make. And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
23 Oholiab son of Ahisamach worked with him. He was from the tribe of Dan. He could engrave, design, and weave. He worked with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen. And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.
24 The total gold used in the whole project came from the wave gift. It was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels. They weighed it by the holy standard. All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
25 The silver from the census came to 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. They weighed it by the holy standard. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
26 That was one beka per person. A beka is half a shekel by the holy standard. They counted 603,550 men aged twenty or older. A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
27 The one hundred talents of silver were melted and formed into base sockets. These were for the walls of the sanctuary and the curtain wall. One hundred sockets came from one hundred talents. That means one talent of silver for each socket. And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
28 The leftover 1,775 shekels of silver had three uses. They made hooks for the posts. They covered the tops of the posts. They made bands to join the posts. And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.
29 The bronze given through the wave offering added up to seventy talents and 2,400 shekels. And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.
30 This bronze was used in three ways. They made the base sockets at the tent door. They made the bronze altar with its bronze grating. They made all the tools for the altar. And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
31 They also made the base sockets around the courtyard. They made the sockets at the courtyard entrance. They made all the tent pegs for the Tabernacle and courtyard. And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.