Benson Commentary 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. Exodus 38:1. Having finished the furniture of the house itself, Bezaleel, and those who were employed under him, proceeded next to that of the court of the tabernacle, where the sacrifices and services were commonly performed; wherein first they made the great brazen altar for burnt-sacrifices, with all its appurtenances, in mode and form exactly agreeable to the orders given about it in Exodus 27:1-3. On this all their sacrifices were offered. Christ was himself the altar to his own sacrifice of atonement, and so he is to all our sacrifices of acknowledgment. We must have an eye to him in offering them, as God hath in accepting them.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.
And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
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.
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. Exodus 38:8. He made the laver of brass — The brass font for the priests to wash in before service, Exodus 30:18. This laver signified the provision that is made in the gospel for cleansing our souls from the pollution of sin by the atoning blood of Christ and the regenerating Spirit of God, that we may be fit to serve God in holy duties. That is here said to be made of the looking-glasses, (or mirrors rather, for they were not glasses,) of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle — Mirrors, before the invention of glass, were made of polished brass. Pliny says those of brass and tin mixed together were esteemed the best, before those of silver came to be in use. These here mentioned, no doubt, were of the finest kind of brass, and the women who gave them seem to have been eminent for devotion, attending more constantly than others at the place of public worship, which, is here taken notice of to their honour. In the laver these mirrors were either artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but it is probable the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for mirrors, that the priests, when they came to wash, might there see their faces, and so discover the spots to wash them clean.And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits: Exodus 38:9. He made the court — The inner utensils of the court being thus completed, they proceeded to make the court itself, which was a large oblong square, fenced in with thick, well-wrought hangings; the size, dimensions, and workmanship of each side whereof have been described in Exodus 27:9-19. This court represented the state of the Old Testament church; it was a garden enclosed; the worshippers were then confined to a little compass. But the enclosure being of curtains only, intimated that that confinement of the church to one particular nation was not to be perpetual. The dispensation itself was a tabernacle dispensation, moveable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged, and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world.Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of 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.
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.
And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
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.
All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.
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.
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.
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.
And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
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. Exodus 38:21. This is the sum of the tabernacle — That is, this is the charge of the foregoing work of the tabernacle, under the direction of the two chief workmen. For the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar — The particle for is not in the original, and therefore it may be better rendered, By the ministry of the Levites, under the conduct of Ithamar. By Moses’s appointment the Levites took and kept an account of the gold, silver, and brass, that was brought in for the use of the tabernacle, and how it was employed. Ithamar, the son of Aaron, was appointed to draw up this account. The gold amounted to twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, which sum of gold, at the rate of f5,250 to a talent, and f1.15s. to a shekel of gold, will be found to have amounted to upward of f150,000 English. As to the silver, there being six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty, who offered each of them half a shekel, as Exodus 38:26 informs us, three hundred and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels were thus raised, which sum amounts to thirty-five thousand two hundred and seven pounds, English. The raising of the gold by voluntary contribution, and silver by way of tribute, shows that either way may be taken for the defraying of public expenses, provided that nothing be done by partiality. And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
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.
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.
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:
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.
And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.
And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.
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,
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. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. Bible Hub |
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