Exodus
Chapter 26
1
1 "The Dwelling itself you shall make out of sheets woven of fine linen twined and of violet, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim embroidered on them.
2
The length of each shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width four cubits; all the sheets shall be of the same size.
3
Five of the sheets are to be sewed together, edge to edge; and the same for the other five.
4
Make loops of violet yarn along the edge of the end sheet in one set, and the same along the edge of the end sheet in the other set.
5
There are to be fifty loops along the edge of the end sheet in the first set, and fifty loops along the edge of the corresponding sheet in the second set, and so placed that the loops are directly opposite each other.
6
Then make fifty clasps of gold, with which to join the two sets of sheets, so that the Dwelling forms one whole.
7
2 "Also make sheets woven of goat hair, to be used as a tent covering over the Dwelling.
8
Eleven such sheets are to be made; the length of each shall be thirty cubits, and the width four cubits: all eleven sheets shall be of the same size.
9
3 Sew five of the sheets, edge to edge, into one set, and the other six sheets into another set. Use the sixth sheet double at the front of the tent.
10
Make fifty loops along the edge of the end sheet in one set, and fifty loops along the edge of the end sheet in the second set.
11
Also make fifty bronze clasps and put them into the loops, to join the tent into one whole.
12
There will be an extra half sheet of tent covering, which shall be allowed to hang down over the rear of the Dwelling.
13
Likewise, the sheets of the tent will have an extra cubit's length to be left hanging down on either side of the Dwelling to protect it.
14
Over the tent itself you shall make a covering of rams' skins dyed red, and above that, a covering of tahash skins.
15
"You shall make boards of acacia wood as walls for the Dwelling.
16
The length of each board is to be ten cubits, and its width one and a half cubits.
17
4 Each board shall have two arms that shall serve to fasten the boards in line. In this way all the boards of the Dwelling are to be made.
18
Set up the boards of the Dwelling as follows: twenty boards on the south side,
19
with forty silver pedestals under the twenty boards, so that there are two pedestals under each board, at its two arms;
20
twenty boards on the other side of the Dwelling, the north side,
21
with their forty silver pedestals, two under each board;
22
six boards for the rear of the Dwelling, to the west;
23
and two boards for the corners at the rear of the Dwelling.
24
These two shall be double at the bottom, and likewise double at the top, to the first ring. That is how both boards in the corners are to be made.
25
Thus, there shall be in the rear eight boards, with their sixteen silver pedestals, two pedestals under each board.
26
Also make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the Dwelling,
27
five for those on the other side, and five for those at the rear, toward the west.
28
The center bar, at the middle of the boards, shall reach across from end to end.
29
Plate the boards with gold, and make gold rings on them as holders for the bars, which are also to be plated with gold.
30
You shall erect the Dwelling according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
31
"You shall have a veil woven of violet, purple and scarlet yarn, and of fine linen twined, with cherubim embroidered on it.
32
5 It is to be hung on four gold-plated columns of acacia wood, which shall have hooks of gold and shall rest on four silver pedestals.
33
Hang the veil from clasps. The ark of the commandments you shall bring inside, behind this veil which divides the holy place from the holy of holies.
34
Set the propitiatory on the ark of the commandments in the holy of holies.
35
"Outside the veil you shall place the table and the lampstand, the latter on the south side of the Dwelling, opposite the table, which is to be put on the north side.
36
6 For the entrance of the tent make a variegated curtain of violet, purple and scarlet yarn and of fine linen twined.
37
Make five columns of acacia wood for this curtain; have them plated with gold, with their hooks of gold; and cast five bronze pedestals for them.
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Footnotes

1 [1] Sheets: strips of tapestry, woven of white linen, the colored threads being used for the cherubim which were embroidered on them. These sheets were stretched across the top of the Dwelling to form a roof, their free ends hanging down inside the boards which formed walls.

2 [7] Tent covering: the cloth made of sheets of goat hair to cover the Dwelling.

3 [9] Half the width of the end strip was folded back at the front of the Dwelling, thus leaving another half-strip to hang down at the rear. Cf Exodus 26:12.

4 [17] Arms: literally, "hands." According to some, they served as "tongue and groove" to mortise the boards together; according to others, they were pegs at the bottom of the boards and fitted into sockets in the pedestals.

5 [32] Hooks: probably placed near the tops of the columns, to hold the rope from which the veils and curtains hung.

6 [36] Variegated: without definite designs such as the cherubim on the inner veil.


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