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Chapter 38

The Altar of Burnt Offering. He made an altar out of acacia wood. It was five cubits long and five cubits wide and three cubits high. It had horns on its four corners and they were all one piece with it. It was covered with bronze. He also made the accessories for the altar: vessels to take away its ashes, shovels, basins, forks, and firepans. All of its utensils were made out of bronze. He made a grating for the altar, a network of bronze. He placed it under the edge of the altar so that the net hung halfway down the altar. He made four rings of bronze and placed them at the four corners of the bronze grating so that poles could be inserted. He made poles out of acacia wood and covered them with bronze. He placed the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar so it could be carried. He made the altar out of boards, hollow in the middle.

The Basin for Washing. He made the basin of bronze and its base of bronze from the mirrors[a] of the women who ministered at the door to the meeting tent.

The Courtyard. He made the courtyard. On the south side of the courtyard there was a drape of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits long. 10 There were twenty columns with twenty bronze bases. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made out of silver. 11 Likewise on the north side there was a drape one hundred cubits long. There were twenty columns with twenty bronze bases. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made out of silver. 12 On the west side there were fifty cubits of drapes with ten columns and ten bases. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made out of silver. 13 On the east side there were fifty cubits. 14 There was fifteen cubits of draping with three columns and three bases on one side. 15 On the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, there was fifteen cubits of draping with three columns and three bases. 16 All of the drapes that formed the courtyard were made of fine twisted linen. 17 The bases of the columns were made out of bronze. The hooks of the columns and the rings were made out of silver. The overlaying of their capitals and the columns of the courtyard were filleted with silver.

18 The screen for the entrance to the courtyard was made of needlework of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth and fine twisted linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, that is, wide, like the drapes of the courtyard. 19 It had four columns with their four bases out of bronze. Their hooks and the overlaying of their capitals and their bars were made out of silver. 20 All the pegs of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were made out of bronze.

21 The Materials Used.[b] These are the expenses for the tabernacle, the dwelling place of the Testimony, that Moses ordered the Levites to calculate under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. 22 Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, completed what the Lord had commanded Moses to do. 23 He did this together with Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, who was an engraver and a skillful craftsman, and a weaver of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth and fine twisted linen.

24 All the gold that was used in the work—that is, for all the work of the sanctuary, which was the gold from the offering—was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, measured by the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 The silver of the assembly was measured to be one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, measured by the shekel of the sanctuary. 26 Every person who was counted in the census twenty years old and up gave a bekah, which is worth a half-shekel according to the measure of the sanctuary. There were six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty men. 27 The one hundred talents were used to make the bases of the sanctuary and the bases for the veil. One hundred talents were used for the one hundred bases, or one talent for each base. 28 The one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels were used for the hooks for the pillars, and for overlaying and filleting their tops. 29 The bronze presented in the offering amounted to seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels. 30 With it were made the bases for the entrance to the meeting tent, the altar of bronze with the netting of bronze, and all the accessories for the altar, 31 the bases for the courtyard, the bases for the gate to the courtyard, and all the pegs of the tabernacle and all the pegs of the surrounding courtyard.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 38:8 In antiquity mirrors were made of polished bronze.
  2. Exodus 38:21 According to the account, a ton of gold and five tons of silver were used; the figures are certainly exaggerated in order to make the point that there is no such thing as too much beauty when it comes to honoring the presence of God in the midst of humanity.

The Altar of Burnt Offering(A)

38 They[a] built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits[b] high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.[c] They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze.(B) They made all its utensils(C) of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar. They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating. They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.

The Basin for Washing

They made the bronze basin(D) and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women(E) who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The Courtyard(F)

Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits[d] long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, 10 with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 11 The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.

12 The west end was fifty cubits[e] wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 13 The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. 14 Curtains fifteen cubits[f] long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, 15 and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. 16 All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. 17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.

18 The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits[g] long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits[h] high, 19 with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. 20 All the tent pegs(G) of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

The Materials Used

21 These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant law,(H) which were recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar(I) son of Aaron, the priest. 22 (Bezalel(J) son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord commanded Moses; 23 with him was Oholiab(K) son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan—an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.) 24 The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary(L) was 29 talents and 730 shekels,[i] according to the sanctuary shekel.(M)

25 The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census(N) was 100 talents[j] and 1,775 shekels,[k] according to the sanctuary shekel— 26 one beka per person,(O) that is, half a shekel,[l] according to the sanctuary shekel,(P) from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more,(Q) a total of 603,550 men.(R) 27 The 100 talents of silver were used to cast the bases(S) for the sanctuary and for the curtain—100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent for each base. 28 They used the 1,775 shekels to make the hooks for the posts, to overlay the tops of the posts, and to make their bands.

29 The bronze from the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.[m] 30 They used it to make the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all its utensils, 31 the bases for the surrounding courtyard and those for its entrance and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and those for the surrounding courtyard.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 38:1 Or He; also in verses 2-9
  2. Exodus 38:1 That is, about 4 1/2 feet or about 1.4 meters
  3. Exodus 38:1 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters long and wide
  4. Exodus 38:9 That is, about 150 feet or about 45 meters
  5. Exodus 38:12 That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters
  6. Exodus 38:14 That is, about 22 feet or about 6.8 meters
  7. Exodus 38:18 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters
  8. Exodus 38:18 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
  9. Exodus 38:24 The weight of the gold was a little over a ton or about 1 metric ton.
  10. Exodus 38:25 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons; also in verse 27
  11. Exodus 38:25 That is, about 44 pounds or about 20 kilograms; also in verse 28
  12. Exodus 38:26 That is, about 1/5 ounce or about 5.7 grams
  13. Exodus 38:29 The weight of the bronze was about 2 1/2 tons or about 2.4 metric tons.