In this chapter a description is given of the tabernacle itself, and first of its inward curtains, of their number, matter, length, and breadth, and the manner of coupling them together, Ex.

Moreover, thou shalt make the tabernacle Which he was ordered to make before, the pattern of which was shown him in the mount: this was an habitation for God to dwell in, as the word properly signifies, and into which the furniture before described was to be put; this tabernacle was a type both of…

The length of one curtain shall be twenty eight cubits Or fourteen yards: and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; or two yards; according to the common notion of a cubit being half a yard; but if, as Dr.

The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, &c.] Five of the ten curtains were to be sewed together, and make as it were one curtain: and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another: the other five were to be joined together in like manner, and so made two large pieces of…

And thou shall make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain The first large curtain, consisting of five sewed together, at the edge of that: from the selvedge in the coupling; where it was to be coupled with the other great curtain; “loops” or “eyelet holes” [[7]], were to be made: these…

Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain In the first great curtain, or in the outermost of the five that were sewed together: and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; as many also were to be made in the outermost of the second great…

And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold Which some render “buttons” [[8]], others “hooks” [[9]] they seem to be “clasps”; the use of them follows: and couple the curtains together with the taches; the two great curtains were made out of the ten, which had in them fifty 9: (קרסי) “fibulas”,…

And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair Jarchi calls it the flower or down of goats, the softer and finer part of their hair, which was spun by women, as appears from , and was made up into a stuff somewhat like our camelot; these curtains were coarser than the former, and were made to be put…

The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits The breadth of them is the same with the linen curtains, but the length of them two cubits more; the reason of which was, that they might hang down lower on either side, and the better preserve them from…

And thou shall couple five curtains by themselves And make one large curtain of them, as was ordered with respect to the linen curtains: and six curtains by themselves; as there were eleven of them, such a division was made of five into one large curtain, and six into another; and as that which had…

And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain, that is outmost in the coupling Just in like manner, and in the same place where they were ordered to be put on the linen curtains, only these are not said to be of blue, but perhaps were wrought with goats hair: and fifty loops in the…

And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass As these curtains were coarser, and also the loops, so the taches, hooks, or clasps, were made of meaner metal, but answered the purpose of joining and coupling together full as well: and put the taches into the loops; one end of the hook or clasp into the…

And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, &c.] Of the goat hair curtains, which were one more than the linen curtains: the half curtain that remaineth; for the other half extended to the east end of it, at the entrance of the tabernacle, and hung down and was doubled there, and…

And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side o that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent The curtains of the tent, or the goat hair curtains, were two cubits longer than the other, and these are the two cubits, one on one side and the other on the other, which…

And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red This was a covering that was put over the curtains of goats’ skin; but whether it went all over them, or only upon the roof of the tabernacle they covered, to keep out the rains from soaking through, is not certain, nor very…

And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle Which were the pillars and supports, and properly the walls of it, which gave it its firmness and security, or otherwise the curtains would have been blown about by every wind: they were to be made of shittim wood standing up; just as they grew, as…

Ten cubits shall be the length of a board Or five yards, according to the common cubit: and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board; or three quarters of a yard; and from hence we may learn what were the height and the length of the tabernacle; according to the common computation of a…

Two tenons shall there be on one board Every board was to be so cut and shaped at the lower end of it, as to have, as it were, “two hands” [[16]], as in the original, to enter into, lay hold on, and fasten in mortises: set in order one against another; at a proper distance from each other, as the…

And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle As in the manner before described, so in number as follows: twenty boards on the south side southward; which being a cubit and a half broad, made the length of the tabernacle fifteen yards according to the common account; but if these were cubits of…

And thou shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards Or bases [[17]], and which were properly the foundation of the tabernacle, on which it was settled and established; these sockets were the mortises for the two tenons of each board or plank to be placed in, and were as broad as the…

And for the second side of the tabernacle the north side The direction of the tabernacle was east and west; at the east end was the entrance into the holy place, and at the west end the holy of holies; and the two sides were north and south; and as on the south side, so on the north there shall be…

And their forty sockets of silver answerable to the twenty boards, for their two tenons to be placed in as in mortises: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board; and so under all the boards on the north side as on the south.

And for the sides of the tabernacle Or the ends of it, the east and west, and the account begins with the west: westward thou shalt make six boards; so that the breadth of the tabernacle was but nine cubits, or four yards and a half, according to a common cubit; but two boards more placed at the…

And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. ] For the northwest and southwest corners, in the north and south sides; concerning which Dr.

And they shall be coupled together beneath At the bottom of the boards or planks: and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring at the top of the boards there was a ring, to which they were coupled and fastened, and so at the bottom of them, though not expressed: some…

And they shall be eight boards Six at the west end and one at each corner, northwest and southwest: and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets the same as those for the boards on both sides north and south: they were of the same metal, silver; and they were two under one board, to receive its two…

And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood, &e.] Which being put into rings or staples of gold, kept the boards tight, close, and firm together: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle: for instance, the south side; four of these were placed, two at the upper end of the boards, and two…

And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle Suppose the north, these bars were disposed of in the same manner as those on the south side: and five bars for the boards of that side of the tabernacle; or the end of it, the west end, as follows: for the two sides westward; that…

And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end. ] From east to west, as Jarchi interprets it; but this can only be said of the middle bar on the north and south sides of the tabernacle, for the middle bar at the west end was north to south: about this bar there is some…

And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold Not merely gild them, but cover them with thin plates of gold; and which, because it would take up a great quantity of gold, and make the boards very heavy, unless the plates were very thin, when they were taken down and carried from place to place, some…

And thou shall rear up the tabernacle When thus finished, and all the furniture belonging to it completed: according to the fashion thereof, which was showed thee in the mount; this is the third time that this is observed to Moses in the account of the tabernacle; which shows how punctually God…

And thou shalt make a vail The use of this, as follows, was to divide the holy place from the most holy place in the tabernacle; it has its name from hardness, it being very stiff and strong, for it was made of thread six times doubled, and was four fingers thick, as the Jewish writers say: this…

And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold For it was ten cubits long, and as many broad; and being of such a stiffness and thickness as it was, required so many pillars to support it: these pillars may signify the deity of Christ, which is the support of his human…

And thou shall hang up the vail under the taches Or clasps, which coupled the two grand curtains, or pieces of tapestry, each consisting of five curtains, of which the tabernacle was made, , and by this it seems that the place where they met, and were clasped, was where the vail was hung between…

And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon ark of the testimony, &c.] With the cherubim of glory overshadowing it; all which were a representation of the way of man’s salvation flowing from the mercy and grace of God, through the propitiation by Christ, and his perfect righteousness, by which the law…

And thou shalt set the table without the vail The table of shewbread, of which see , this was not to be within the vail, but without it, in the holy place: and the candlestick opposite the table, of which see signifying, that in the church of God, in the present state of things, which the holy…

And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, &c.] At the east end of the tabernacle, which lay open and exposed, and for which as yet there was no provision; the west end of it, where stood the holy of holies, was enclosed with six boards, and two corner ones, (Ex. 26:22, Ex.

And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood One at each corner of the entrance into the tabernacle, and the other three at a proper distance from each other, so as to make four ways for the priests to enter in at; as there might very well be, since there was a breadth of ten…