Exodus 26-27

Contemporary English Version

Curtains and Coverings for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.8-19)

The Lord said to Moses:

26 The top of the sacred tent must be made from ten pieces of the finest linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. ² Make each piece twelve meters long and two meters wide ³ and sew them together into two panels with five sections each. ^4-6 Put 50 loops of blue cloth along one of the wider sides of each panel, then fasten the two panels at the loops with 50 gold hooks.

^7-8 As the material for protecting the tent, use goat hair to weave eleven sections of cloth 13 meters by 2 meters each. ⁹ Sew five of the sections together to make one panel. Then sew the other six together to make a second panel, and fold the sixth section double over the front of the tent. ¹⁰ Put 50 loops along one of the wider sides of each panel ¹¹ and fasten the two panels at the loops with 50 bronze hooks. ^12-13 The panel of goat hair will be a meter longer than the tent itself, so fold 50 centimeters of the material behind the tent and on each side as a protective covering. ¹⁴ Make two more coverings—one with tanned ram skins and the other with fine leather.

The Framework for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.20-34)

The Lord said:

¹⁵ Build a framework of acacia wood for the walls of the sacred tent. ¹⁶ Make each frame 4 meters high and 66 centimeters wide ¹⁷ with two wooden pegs near the bottom. ^18-21 Place two silver stands under each frame with sockets for the pegs, so the frames can be joined together. Put 20 of these frames along the south side and 20 more along the north. ²² For the back wall along the west side use six frames ^23-24 with two more at the southwest and northwest corners. Make certain that these corner frames are joined from top to bottom. ²⁵ Altogether, this back wall will have eight frames with two silver stands under each one.

^26-27 Make five crossbars for each of the wooden frames, ²⁸ with the center crossbar running the full length of the wall. ²⁹ Cover the frames and the crossbars with gold and attach gold rings to the frames to run the crossbars through. ³⁰ Then set up the tent in the way I showed you on the mountain.

The Curtain inside the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.35-38)

The Lord said:

^31-33 (A) Make a curtain to separate the holy place from the most holy place. Use fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. Cover four acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a silver stand. Then fasten gold hooks to the posts and hang the curtain there.

³⁴ Inside the most holy place, put the sacred chest that has the place of mercy on its lid.^{[a] 35} Outside the most holy place, as you face the curtain, put the table for the sacred bread on the right side and the gold lampstand on the left.

³⁶ For the entrance to the tent, use a piece of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with fancy needlework. ³⁷ Cover five acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a bronze stand. Then put gold hooks on the posts and hang the curtain there.

The Altar for Offering Sacrifices

(Exodus 38.1-7)

The Lord said to Moses:

27 Use acacia wood to build an altar 2.25 meters square and 1.34 meters high, ² and make each of the four top corners stick up like the horn of a bull. Then cover the whole altar with bronze, including the four horns. ³ All the equipment for the altar must also be made of bronze—the pans for the hot ashes, the shovels, the sprinkling bowls, the meat forks, and the fire pans. ^4-5 Halfway up the altar build a ledge around it, and cover the bottom half of the altar with a decorative bronze grating. Then attach a bronze ring beneath the ledge at the four corners of the altar. ^6-7 Cover two acacia wood poles with bronze and put them through the rings for carrying the altar. ⁸ Construct the altar in the shape of an open box, just as you were shown on the mountain.

The Courtyard around the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 38.9-20)

The Lord said:

^9-15 Surround the sacred tent with a courtyard 44 meters long on the south and north and 22 meters wide on the east and west. Use 20 bronze posts on bronze stands for the south and north and 10 for the west. Then hang a curtain of fine linen on the posts along each of these three sides by using silver hooks and rods.

Place three bronze posts on each side of the entrance at the east and hang a curtain 6.67 meters wide on each set of posts. ¹⁶ Use four more of these posts for the entrance way, then hang on them an embroidered curtain of fine linen nine meters long and woven with blue, purple, and red wool.

^17-18 Make the curtains that surround the courtyard 2.25 meters high and hang them from the bronze posts with silver hooks and rods. ¹⁹ Make the rest of the equipment for the sacred tent of bronze, including the pegs for the tent and for the curtain surrounding the courtyard.

The Oil for the Lamp in the Holy Place

(Leviticus 24.1-4)

The Lord said to Moses:

²⁰ Command the people of Israel to supply you with the purest olive oil. Do this so the lamp will keep burning ²¹ in front of the curtain that separates the holy place from the most holy place, where the sacred chest is kept. Aaron and his sons are responsible for keeping the lamp burning every night in the sacred tent. The Israelites must always obey this command.