Deeper Commentary
Exo 25:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying-
The commands to build the tabernacle are repeated in Exodus, and there
is the record of Israel's golden calf apostasy set in the middle of them.
Ex. 25:1-31:18 give the tabernacle building commands, then there's the
golden calf incident, and then the commands are repeated in Ex. 35-40.
Surely this was edited in this manner to give encouragement to the exiles-
the commands to rebuild the temple had been given in detail in Ez. 40-48,
but the exiles failed- and yet, the implication runs, God was still
willing to work again with His people in the building of His sanctuary
despite their failure. There is good internal reason to think that the
Pentateuch likewise was re-written in places to bring out the relevance of
Israel's past to those in captivity.
Exo 25:2 Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for
Me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take My
offering-
2 Cor. 8:12 alludes here: "If there be first (i.e. most importantly) a
willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not
according to that he hath not" . Every man was to contribute to the
building of the tabernacle (cp. the ecclesia) with a willing heart (Paul
surely alludes here). They weren't told: 'Whoever is willing and able to
contribute, please do so'. And yet the majority of us have at least
something materially; and as we have been blessed, so let us give.
Willing hearted giving to God is important- the
giving must never be from a sense of unavoidable obligation. In appealing
for generosity to our poorer brethren, Paul uses this idea- speaking of
how a willing heart in a cheerful giver is so loved by God (2 Cor. 8:19;
9:7).
Exo 25:3 This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold,
silver, brass-
All these valuable things had mostly been taken from or given to
Israel by the Egyptians. They were to now voluntarily give them back to
God. For all is of Him. What we take from this world we are to give to
God, and He will dwell amongst us thereby (:8). And in the wilderness, all
these valuable things were of little real value; they were just a human
guarantee against future needs. But God had promised to bring them to
Canaan, where all would be lavishly provided for them by His grace. And
that is about the view we should have of present wealth.
Exo 25:4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair-
There is an apparent juxtaposition between the scarlet, the clothing
of kings and rulers, and goats' hair. They had taken the scarlet clothing
from Egypt when they left, but the goats' hair was what they had shorn
from their own animals which they had with them. So God was asking them to
bring their own small offerings along with the more valuable things they
had taken from Egypt / the world. This all speaks of our attitude to
giving and wealth on our wilderness journey.
Exo 25:5 rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood-
The acacia wood was just the common bush wood found in the desert.
See on :4. The sea cow hides were what they had picked up whilst camped on
the shores of the Red Sea. Likewise what we pick up along the way in our
wilderness journey is to be given to God.
Exo 25:6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet
incense-
The incense was "sweet" in that it smelled sweet to God. But that
depended upon the components being brought to Him. “A pleasant aroma” is a very common phrase. This concept is important
to God. It first occurs in Gen. 8:21 where it means that God accepted
Noah's sacrifice and vowed that the pole of saving mercy in His character
was going to triumph over that of necessary judgment. Under the new
covenant, it is persons and not sacrifices or incense which are accepted
as a "pleasant aroma" (Ez. 20:41). The word for "pleasant" means strong
delight; this is how God's heart can be touched by genuine sacrifice.
Those pleasing offerings represented us, the living sacrifices (Rom.
12:1). And so it is applied to us in 2 Cor. 2:15- if we are in Christ, we
are counted as a pleasant aroma to God. The offering of ourselves to Him
is nothing of itself, but because we are in Christ and counted as Him, we
are a delight to God. Hence the colossal importance of being “in Christ”.
Exo 25:7 onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the
breastplate-
The precious stones were donated by the princes or elders (Ex.
35:27). Yet in Ex. 25:4-7 they are listed along with common acacia wood
and goats' hair. There was to be a culture of giving, from the wealthiest
to the poorest, which was to characterize the community of God's people.
Exo 25:8 Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them-
The commands concerning the tabernacle were given to Moses by the
Angel- do phrases like "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell
among them" (Ex. 25:8) have primary reference to the Angel speaking the
words? In the same way, does Ps. 99:1 refer also to the physical presence
of an Angel between the cherubim? "The LORD reigns... He
sits between the cherubim (through His Angel); let the earth (land of
Israel) be moved". Similarly "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel (the Angel-
so Isaiah 63 describes the wilderness Angel), You that leads Joseph
like a flock (the Angel lead them through the wilderness); You who dwells between the cherubims, shine forth" (Ps. 80:1). And again in Ps.
20:1,2 "The God of Jacob (i.e. the Angel whom Jacob recognized had been so
much in his life) defend you; send you help from the sanctuary", as
if it was in the sanctuary (Holy Place) that the Angel was located. See on
Ps. 78:60.
Exo 25:9 According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle,
and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it-
In Jn. 5:19,20 we read that the Son does (poieo) what He sees the Father
doing, and the Father shows Him (deiknumi) all (panta) that He does. “All
these works… I have not done them of mine own mind” (Num. 16:28).
This is referring to Ex. 25:9 LXX, where Moses makes (poieo) the
Tabernacle according to all (panta) that God shows him (deiknuo). The
reference of Jn. 5:19,20 is therefore to the Lord Jesus working with His Father
in the building up of us the tabernacle… and all things God planned for us
were revealed to the Son even in His mortality, prefigured by this
revelation to Moses. What great wealth of
understanding was there within His mind, within those brain cells… and how
tragic that the head and body that bore them was betrayed and ignored and
spat upon and tortured by men…
Exo 25:10 They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two
and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half
its height-
A cubit is about 18 inches (45 cm.). The ark was not at all large,
for God's glory doesn't require grandiose human artistry nor anything
large scale. His glory is manifested in the small and humble things. This
was a lesson which David and Solomon failed to learn in their obsession
about building a grandiose building for God's glory to dwell in.
"Acacia" is literally "thorns". It is translated "thorns" in Josh. 23:13. It refers to the common thorn bushes found in the scrubland they were passing through in the desert. Thorns were part of the curse in Eden. But from this weak material which was very difficult to work with, brittle, fragile and very weak, God covered this weak, difficult wood with gold and constructed a system with it where His glory might dwell. It all speaks of how He uses us. And we connect this with how God speaks of His people are wood from a vine tree, which is not used by anyone else for making anything; but He uses it for His work (Ez. 15:1-6). We shouldn't be surprised at the brittle nature of the folk with whom God works, their difficulty in binding together and resistance to being worked with- this is as it were all God has to work with. It was a surprising choice of material to be used in God’s dwelling place. But His choice of us with all our weakness and dysfunction, the common, weak stuff of the wilderness, is no less surprising. The choice of acacia wood for constructing the tabernacle is one of several points in the whole enterprise where it seems a less than ideal material was chosen, from a construction point of view. This aspect emphasizes that God prefers to work with the soft, weak and easily broken in order to do His work.
Ex. 25:10 "They shall make an ark" becomes "I made an ark" in Moses' autobiography (Dt. 10:3). The people were generous when asked, but were not real workers. Perhaps Moses himself had to make the ark because they didn't get to it. Or maybe his work was counted as theirs, as happens between the Lord Jesus and ourselves.
Exo 25:11 You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside
and outside, and you shall make a gold moulding around it-
The weak acacia wood was to be overlaid with gold. "Overlay" in
Hebrew carries the idea of to be seen, to be looked at. This was how God
looked at that weak acacia wood, as if it was the finest gold. This was an
Old Testament anticipation of what the New Testament calls imputed
righteousness; we the weak acacia wood, the thorn bush, are looked at as
pure gold. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and one outcome of
love is to consider the beloved as far more glorious than they are. The
mention of a "crown" or "moulding of gold" is as if it represented a person, a King- the Lord Jesus.
Exo 25:12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its
four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the
other side of it-
The continual mention of rings and poles is because all the
tabernacle had to be portable, as Israel were constantly on the move. This
is proof enough that much of the "law of Moses" was only relevant to the
wilderness generation. God's desire to be continually on the move,
dwelling in a tent, was still evident at the time when Israel settled in
the land. For He told David that He didn't want a temple because He was
dynamic, always moving on. But the way of religion is to have a permanent,
stable closed system, rather than the dynamic way of the Spirit and true
spirituality. "Rings" in Hebrew is literally 'that which sinks in', and
refers to a signet ring. If a literal ring was solely in view, a different
word would have been used. It was as if this mobile, ever moving onwards
style of the tabernacle was the signature or hallmark of God. See on :27.
The ark had feet, literally "walking feet", feet bent as if walking, to symbolize how the ark was always moving on. We recall that God spoke of how He had "walked" in the tabernacle and therefore didn't want a fixed temple (2 Sam. 7:6).
Exo 25:13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold-
"Pole" is s.w. "strength". There is again a juxtaposition of ideas-
the weak acacia wood, which is no more than a thorn bush, was to be turned
into God's strength through being overlaid with gold.
Exo 25:14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark
to carry the ark-
This was a deconstruction of the Egyptian religious arks, which were
displayed and carried in processions. God's ark was concealed, and only
carried when it was without religious significance, being moved between
sanctuaries.
Exo 25:15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be
taken from it-
This was to emphasize that the ark was always to be ready to move on;
see on :12. Even when Israel were settled in their land and the temple was
built, the staves were always to remain in the rings of the ark to
symbolize this (1 Kings 8:7). In our more settled existence, even if we
live in the house we were born in for all our days, we should have this
spirit of being ready to be moved on in our spiritual journey.
Exo 25:16 You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark-
The tables of the covenant were only given to Moses at the end of the
40 days. Hence "which I shall give you", for Moses at this point was on
Sinai hearing these commands for the first time, and was only to be given
the testimony at the end of it. Again we note the internal corroboration
within the Biblical record.
Exo 25:17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits
shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth-
This was the cover of the ark, with the wings of the cherubim
overshadowing it, and upon this the blood of atonement was sprinkled each
year at the day of atonement. The blood would have built up over the
years. Paul interprets this as symbolic of the blood of the Lord Jesus on
the cross. It is a seat or throne in that it is upon that that God's glory
is enthroned. But we note the small size of it. God doesn't need anything
large scale by human standards. "Mercy seat" is a form of the Hebrew word
for 'covering' which is usually used for the covering of sins; literally
"the means of propitiation". The LXX word used here is directly applied to
the Lord Jesus in Rom. 3:25. It was the blood which was the basis of
atonement (Lev. 17:11), but the actual mercy seat, the slab of gold which
was the cover of the ark, was put by metonymy for the blood. It is upon
this that God's glory dwells and is revealed. His forgiveness is Yahweh at
His most glorious, and it is in this that God meets with man (Ex. 25:22).
We note that the mercy seat or cover was of pure gold, not acacia word
overlaid with gold. It may have been a literal cover over the ark which
was detachable.
Exo 25:18 You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make
them at the two ends of the mercy seat-
The cherubim had wings (:28) and could have human and animal forms,
according to Ez. 1,10. In this sense they could be said to resemble the
sphinx forms which were such a common part of Egyptian religion. The
similarity is in the fact that God was deconstructing Egyptian religion,
just as the plagues were aimed at the gods of Egypt. Instead of openly
displayed sphinx like creatures memorializing the dead, these were the
hidden symbols of God's living presence amongst His people, hidden away in
the holiest place, and only briefly seen once every year by the high
priest.
Exo 25:19 Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end.
You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy
seat-
The cherubim represented those through whom God was manifested, be it
Angels or His people. For this is how the cherubim are used in Ezekiel.
But they are of one part with the mercy seat, which represented the Lord
Jesus (Rom. 3:25). This speaks of His deep unity with us, shown in His
life by His being of our nature, and now through the presence of His
Spirit within those who are "in" Him.
Exo 25:20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the
mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The
faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat-
Speaking of the things of the blood of the Lord Jesus, Peter
comments: "Which things the angels desire to look into" (1 Pet. 1:12), as
if he saw in the cherubim some representation of the Angels looking down
at the blood of atonement sprinkled upon the mercy seat. And yet Peter
implies that we too "look into" those things. And thus we note that the
cherubim were looking down at the blood, not at each other; as our focus
should be upon the Lord's blood, and not each other.
The pagan god tabernacles all feature some kind of throne, upon which the god visibly sits. The cherubim of the Israelite tabernacle are similar to the Mesopotamian karibu, cherubim, upon which their gods sat. Phoenician and Egyptian art uncovered by archaeologists shows they believed in cherubim very similar in form to those described in Ezekiel's visions of Yahweh's cherubim. The throne of Yahweh was the ark, covered by the cherubim. There, above the blood spattered lid of the ark (or "mercy seat"), supported by the cherubim, the pagan mind expected to see Israel's God enthroned. The similarities to the pagan shrines were intentional- to set up this expectation. But there was nothing there. It was, to their eyes, an empty throne- just as God appears to be absent to so many people today. There was no visible image resting upon the wings of the cherubim, nothing on the throne / lid of the ark but the blood of atonement (which pointed forward to that of God's Son).
Exo 25:21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark
you shall put the testimony that I will give you-
This implies that the slab of gold which was the "mercy seat" was
separate from the ark, and covered it like a lid. The blood of atonement was sprinkled each year upon
the top of the ark, the place known as “the mercy seat” or ‘atonement
cover’. This blood represented the blood of Christ. The Angel cherubim
shadowed the blood on the cover, representing how the Angels watched over
Christ in His sacrifice and especially upon the cross. Hence His
temptation to call Angels to deliver Him from it (Mt. 26:53). Peter
alludes to this in saying that the Angels intently look down upon the
things of the blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:12). Pagan religions typically had
a throne in their temples, on which their God sat. The throne of the true
God was apparently empty- there was a “mercy seat”, but no god or idol sat upon it.
But He was enthroned there. Faith is about believing in the God who cannot be seen (Heb. 11:1,2), and
whose saving mercy to us is confirmed in the blood of His Son.
Exo 25:22 There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the
mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the
testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel-
See on 2 Sam. 23:1-3. “In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily” (Col. 2:9) would have been easily perceived as an allusion to the
way that Yahweh Himself as it were dwelt between the cherubim on the mercy
seat (2 Kings 19:15; Ps. 80:1). And yet the Lord Jesus in His death was
the “[place of] propitiation” (Heb. 2:17), the blood-sprinkled mercy
seat. In His Son on the cross, God met with man and communed with us (Rom.
3:25), commanding us
the life we ought to lead through all the unspoken, unarticulated
imperatives which there are within the blood of His Son. There in the
person of Jesus nailed to the tree do we find the focus of God’s glory and
self-revelation, and to this place we may come to seek redemption.
God met with Israel over the ark in the most holy place (Ex. 25:22; 30:6; Num. 17:4). But they were never allowed there. And so He also "met" (s.w.) with Israel at the door of the tabernacle, and spoke with them there (Ex. 29:42,43; 30:36). As if God like a king came forth to meet with His people and speak with them. But the word for "meet" is used in Am. 3:3, where God laments that Israel had not "met" with Him and therefore they could not walk further together. The idea of the "meeting" was that God's word might be revealed, so that the people could walk with Him in His ways. It was an awesome invitation, to be able to meet with the God who only otherwise met with His people in the glory of the most holy place, over the ark. He as it were came out of that most holy place and met with them at the door of the tabernacle. But they weren't interested. Just as so many today.
Seeing Israel generally never entered the Most Holy, this could be read
as a prophecy ["I will meet with you"] of the day when the veil
would be torn down and the way into the holiest opened to all Israel-
which happened at the Lord's death.
Exo 25:23 You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its
length, and a cubit its breadth, and one and a half cubits its height-
The Ugaritic poems speak of the furniture in Baal's
heavenly temple, and it's very similar to that in the Most Holy Place. But
the poems especially focus upon Baal's bed and chests of drawers for his
clothing. These are noticeably absent in Yahweh's tabernacle furniture.
The table of show bread was to be made of acacia wood, which was effectively the weak wood from a thorn bush; but David planned to make it of pure gold, and even worked out the weight of gold required for it (1 Chron. 28:16). And Solomon indeed made it of gold (1 Kings 7:48), leading to it being known as "the pure table" (2 Chron. 13:11). Religion had overtaken spirituality, form had eclipsed content. Likewise the "tables of silver" David ordered to be made (1 Chron. 28:16) do not feature in the tabernacle. He was missing the point- that God wanted His holiest symbols made of common, weak things like acacia wood. For His strength and glory is made perfect in weakness. David claims these plans were from God (1 Chron. 28:19), although as discussed on 1 Chron. 28:12, they were in fact from his own mind. The way these things were taken into captivity, with no record of this golden table ever being returned, surely reflects God's judgment upon this kind of religious show. He prefers a humble house church in an inner city room, rather than a gold plated cathedral. The way some exclusive churches speak of 'maintaining a pure table' suggests they have made the same essential mistake as David did.
Exo 25:24 You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold moulding
around it-
The table of shewbread looked ahead to the breaking of bread in the
Christian experience. It had a crown (NEV "moulding") around it, as if it
were the king's table. And indeed it is. We sit there as guests at the
king's table, and it is not for us to use it as "our" table, excluding or
ejecting others from it.
Exo 25:25 You shall make a rim of a handbreadth around it. You shall make
a golden moulding on its rim around it-
The golden moulding or crown is twice stressed (:24), as if it really
was the king's table. The purpose of the rim was for the rings for
carrying it (:27).
Exo 25:26 You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in
the four corners that are on its four feet-
The ark also had feet, literally "walking feet", feet bent as if
walking, to symbolize how the ark was always moving on. We recall that God
spoke of how He had "walked" in the tabernacle and therefore didn't want a
fixed temple (2 Sam. 7:6).
Exo 25:27 The rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to
carry the table-
"Places" is the Hebrew word usually used for a house. A different
word would have been used if the idea was merely a "place". There is a
purposeful juxtaposition between the image of stability carried by the
idea of a "house", and the fact that the rings and poles were in order
that this furniture could be carried and moved on. God's permanent,
characteristic way is the way of dynamism, moving on. That is the point;
see on :12.
Exo 25:28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with
gold, that the table may be carried with them-
The need to be mobile and always moving on is stressed throughout the
record of the tabernacle. There could have been some blanket statement
like "All the tabernacle equipment had rings on it so that poles could be
put in the rings, and it could be carried". But the record labours this
mobile nature of the whole system; see on :12.
Exo 25:29 You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls
to pour out offerings with. You shall make them of pure gold-
Yahweh had a "table". The Mesopotamian gods likewise had a table (passuru) upon which food was placed as a
meal for the god (as in Is. 65:11). But the beakers, cups and vessels on
Yahweh's table remained empty (Ex. 25:29); the wine was poured out onto
the sacrifices and vaporized; the priests ate the shewbread. There was no
pretence that Yahweh was a hungry god who needed to be fed by His
worshippers. To the pagan mind, this would've meant that if He didn't eat,
He wasn't actually around nor powerful. Again, the difference and
similarities were intentional, in order to point up the need for faith
in the power and existence of Yahweh.
Exo 25:30 You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me
always-
"The bread of the presence" doesn't simply mean that it was bread
which was in God's presence; for that is the meaning covered by "before Me
always". Rather the idea is that God's especial presence was there in the
eating of the bread. The God who dwelt the other side of the veil, over
the mercy seat, as it were came out from there and was present when the
bread was eaten. We may have here some hint that there is a special
presence of the Father and Son at the breaking of bread, which is the
Christian equivalent of this table (Mt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 11:10).
Exo 25:31 You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall
the lampstand be made, even its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and
its flowers, shall be of one piece with it-
"The candlestick" or menorah is only ever spoken of in the law of
Moses in the singular, but in 1 Chron. 28:15 David decided there were to
be multiple such candlesticks. By doing so, he ignored the symbolism of
the one candlestick, the one people of God; such was his obsession with mere religion. See on
:23.
Exo 25:32 There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three
branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the
lampstand out of its other side-
The lampstand represents God's people (Rev. 1:20), and it had seven
lamps; the six branches and the central stem, upon which there was also a
lamp. Seven is the number of wholeness and completion. Perhaps the idea is
that there is to be a complete manifestation of God through the witness of
His people, burning the oil of the Spirit. Each component member witnesses
to Him in a slightly different way, not only in this life but throughout
the generations of God's people. Likewise the body of Christ in the same
way manifests Christ to the world.
Exo 25:33 three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a
flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a
bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lampstand-
The almond is the first tree in Palestine to bud, so it means
literally the watching tree, as if it were alive and eager to come to
life. So it is appropriate for the candlestick, which represented God's
people. Jeremiah sees the branch of an almond tree and is comforted that
"I watch over My word to perform it" (Jer. 1:11,12). The word translated
'hasten' or "watch over" is very similar to the word for 'almond'. Almonds
are associated with God's eyes; the bowls of the lampstands were almonds
(Ex. 25:33,34). Zech. 4:2 talks about these almond bowls on the
candlestick, and Zech. 4:10 interprets them as the "eyes of the LORD which
run to and fro through the whole earth". 2 Chron. 16:9 talks about the
Angels in the same way; "the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout
the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart
is perfect toward Him". Similarly in Rev. 4:5 the lamps in the bowls of
almond are equated with the "seven spirits (or Angels) of God". Rev. 5:6
equates the seven eyes with the seven spirits. Thus the almond rod which
Jeremiah saw represented God's eyes or Angels who would watch over the
word of God which Jeremiah was to speak to perform it. And He does
likewise with the witness of all those represented within the candlestick.
Exo 25:34 and in the lampstand four cups made like almond blossoms, its
buds and its flowers-
The menorah or "candlestick" is from a root meaning to yoke.
In the Christian context, the yoke, the uniting power, is the Lord Jesus
(Mt. 11:30). He is the unique power which binds together His otherwise
disparate people into one candlestick. Thereby Christian unity becomes a
witness to the world, at least that is the intention. All disunity between
believers therefore causes the candlestick not to function, and the light
of witness is thereby the less.
Exo 25:35 and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud
under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of
one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lampstand-
The lampstand represents God's people (Rev. 1:20), but it is
presented here as a tree with branches, buds and blossoms (:33). In this
sense the ecclesia, the community of believers, is to be as the tree of
life to others by their words (Prov. 3:18; 11:30; 15:4).
Exo 25:36 Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, all
of it one beaten work of pure gold-
The candlestick represents the assembly of believers
(Rev. 1:20). It was made of beaten work, representing how all those in the
true church will be beaten into a shape through which they can be lights
for God.
Exo 25:37 You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps
to give light to the space in front of it-
The mention of seven lamps confirms that there was a central stem
with a lamp, and six branches coming out of it with a total of six lamps
on them- making seven lamps. The candlestick was on the south end of the
holy place, shedding light "opposite" (Heb., NEV "in front of it"), i.e.
towards the northern end where the veil was, and where the table of
shewbread was, symbolizing fellowship with God. This is the purpose of our
witness; to direct people towards fellowship with God and entry to the
most holy place.
Exo 25:38 Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold-
Gold wasn’t the strongest or most practical material
for these instruments. But it represents faith (1 Pet. 1:7). We aren’t the
best instruments for God to use in His house, but He prefers to use the
soft and those who aren’t humanly qualified for His work- because He works
by faith in us, and by our faith in Him rather than our human strength.
Exo 25:39 It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these
accessories-
A talent was 94 pounds or 42.6 kg. This was a huge amount of gold,
but all the same, due to the dense weight of gold, the candlestick would
have been quite small if it were solid. 42 kg. of solid gold is about the
size of two standard size books. This fits the theme that everything in
the tabernacle was small scale, not large. The ecclesia of God,
represented by the candlestick (Rev. 1:20), is small but gives huge light
in a dark place, pointing towards the entrance to the most holy place. It is depicted
as large and a source of particular glory in the famous depiction of the
capture of Jerusalem by Titus, but either the candlestick of those times
was only gold plated, or the size was exaggerated.
Exo 25:40 See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown
to you on the mountain-
Paul's comment is that this "pattern" was itself a pattern of
heavenly things. The tabernacle was a reflection in essence of the
heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 9:23,24), with the priests doing the work of the
Angels; hence both are called elohim.. At least that was how
Israel were bidden understand it.
Previous Chapter
