Monday, November 25, 2013

Exodus 26:31-37 Curtains for the Tabernacle

"Make a curtain of blue,purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen,
with cherubim worked into it by a skillful craftsman.
Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold
and standing on four silver bases.

Hang the curtain from the clasps
and place the ark of the Testimony behind the curtain.
The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

Put the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place.

Place the table outside the curtain on the north side of the tabernacle
and put the lampstand opposite it on the south side.

For the entrance to the tent
make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen --
the work of an embroiderer.
Make gold hooks for this curtain
and five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
And cast five bronze bases for them."

Exodus 26:31-37 (NIV)
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A  curtain was made which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.  It was made of finely twisted linen, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn.  A cherubim design was worked into the curtain, which brings to mind the cherubim which God had stationed at the entrance to the Garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)  Gold hooks secured this curtain onto four acacia wood posts which had been overlaid with gold and set into four silver bases.

Within this Most Holy Place was the ark of the Testimony.  I wrote of that in greater detail here.

Outside the Most Holy Place was the Holy Place.  A table stood outside the curtain of the Most Holy  Place on the north side.  A lampstand stood opposite it on the south side.

For the entrance to the Holy Place there was another curtain.  This one was also made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen.  There is no mention of a cherubim design being worked into this curtain.  This latter curtain was attached by gold hooks to five acacia wood posts which had been overlaid with gold, set into five bronze bases.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Exodus 26:15-30 A Sturdy Tabernacle

"Make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle.
Each frame is to be ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide,
with two projections set parallel to each other.
Make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way.

Make twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle
and make forty silver bases to go under them --
two bases for each frame, one under each projection.

For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle,
make twenty frames and forty sliver bases --
two under each frame.

Make six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle,
and make two frames for the corners at the far end.
At these two corners they must be double from the bottom all the way to the top,
and fitted into a single ring; both shall be like that.

So there will be eight frames and sixteen silver bases --
two under each frame.

Also make crossbars of acacia wood:
five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle,
five for those on the other side,
and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle.

The center crossbar is to extend from end to end at the middle of the frames.

Overlay the frames with gold and make gold rings to hold the crossbars.
Also overlay the crossbars with gold.

Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain."

Exodus 26:15-30 (NIV)
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Some notes about the frames:
  • Altogether the framework for the Tabernacle was sturdy.  It had special projections built into the bottoms of each frame, so that they could be inserted into the silver bases which supported the structure.  There were also crossbars to help support the structure.
  • The silver for making these bases came from an offering from the Israelite community. (Exodus 38:25-27).
  • There were 100 silver bases made:  forty indicated in Exodus 26:19, another forty indicated in verse 21, sixteen bases in verse 25 and four bases which are mentioned in verse 32 (which is not a part of this passage).  If you add up these figures, they come out to 100 bases.
  • Each base was made from a talent of silver.  (Exodus 38:27)
I am sure that there are other interesting facts about the framework which we can discover.  I will update this post when I find anything else about it.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Exodus 26:7-14 Coverings for the Tabernacle

"Make curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle --
eleven altogether.
All eleven curtains are to be the same size --
thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.
Join five of the curtains together into one set
and the other six into another set.
Fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent.

Make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set
and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set.
Then make fifty bronze clasps and put them in the loops
to fasten the tent together as a unit.

As for the additional length of the tent curtains, 
the half curtain that is left over is to hang down at the rear of the tabernacle.
The tent curtains will be a cubit longer on both sides;
what is left will hang over the sides of the tabernacle so as to cover it.

Make for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red,
and over that a covering of hides of sea cows."

Exodus 26:7-14 (NIV)
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I was impressed with the depth of detail which was given about the construction of the tabernacle.  However, this makes sense when you consider that the tabernacle was God's kingly tent where He dwelt among the Israelites.  (Exodus 25:8-9)  Of course such a tent could not contain Him, but it provided a place where his people could come before Him.

These instructions are for a tent made of goat hair which would cover the fine linen curtains which made up the inner part of the tabernacle.  There would be other layers over this one.  One was a covering of ram's skins dyed red, and over that a covering of hides of sea cows.

What, you may ask, is a sea cow?  Well,  I wondered, too, so I did a bit of research and it seems that it is a popular name for the manatee.  You can put 'sea cow' into your favorite search engine and get quite a few pictures, including some amusing ones where the artists depict familiar black and white cows with fins and flippers.  The manatees did look surprisingly cow-like, with their elongated snouts -- especially when the pictures showed them chomping away at some type of sea vegetation!  They also like to graze in herds, sometimes up to several hundred in number.

I have also seen 'sea cows' translated as 'porpoises' in some versions of the Bible.  However, I have also seen the words translated as 'goatskins'.  Now I will have to check the Hebrew.

Oh my.  No, not 'lions and tigers and bears', but would you believe 'badgers, seals and porpoises'?
The site I checked translated the Hebrew word in that verse as 'porpoise'.  Other versions of the Scriptures translated the word in various ways:

  • badgers  (which is pretty often rejected, especially since the badger was considered an 'unclean' animal for the Israelites.)
  • seals
In conclusion, it is likely that the word meant some type of sea creature like a porpoise, seal or manatee -- probably something with a hardy skin which would withstand the elements.  That would make sense since this is the outermost layer of the coverings. 

If you are wondering where the Israelites would get such skins of sea creatures as they journeyed, remember that God had told them to ask their Egyptian neighbors for various valuable items (clothing, jewelry,etc.) before they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.  (Exodus 3:22; 12:35-36)   Perhaps some already-tanned porpoise/manatee skins were also selected from these Egyptians, who, after experiencing the ten plagues (especially the final one -- the death of the first born son in each household), were all too willing to hand over whatever they requested so that the Israelites would leave Egypt as quickly as possible. 

I suppose there is also the possibility of having encountered traders along the way, or of obtaining and processing the skins themselves, as there were times in their journey back to the promised land when they would remain in one place for awhile until God indicated that they should move on.  Not that they would have had time to build a boat and go on extensive sea journeys, but one type of 'sea cow', the dugong, grazed in fairly shallow areas among sea grasses along the coasts.  These slow-moving creatures might have become easy prey to an enterprising Hebrew.  However, to me that seems like the least likely possibility, especially since it would have taken quite a number of these animals to make up such a covering for the tabernacle.

As far as habitat, the current habitat maps don't show manatees near the Sinai Peninsula, where the Israelites would have been traveling.  However, these same maps did show dugongs ranging as far as the Nile River (the animals also inhabited inland waterways at times), which is interesting if you think that the Hebrews might have obtained the skins of these mammals from their Egyptian neighbors before they left Egypt.  Altogether, I got the impression as I researched that there is still much to learn about these animals, and that populations of them could have existed in places from which we do not currently have fossil evidence.

If I find out any more I will return and add it to this post.  But for now, 'that is all'.