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The Tabernacle
The skilled weavers first made ten sheets from finely-twined blue, purple, and scarlet linen, with cherubim skillfully embroidered upon them. Five of these sheets were attached end to end, then five others similarly attached, forming two long roof-sheets. Fifty blue ribbons were looped along the edges of these two long sheets, each loop being opposite its mate on the other long sheet. Then fifty clasps of gold were made to connect the loops, thus tying the two long sheets together to form the ceiling of the Tabernacle.
Above the ceiling was a second layer formed by eleven draperies made of goats' hair (uniformly forty-five feet long and six feet wide). Bezalel coupled five of these draperies together to make one long piece, and six others to make another long piece. Then he made fifty loops along the end of each, and fifty small bronze clasps to couple the loops so that the draperies were firmly attached to each other.
The top layer of the roof was made of rams' skins, dyed red, and tanned goat skins.
For the sides of the Tabernacle he used frames of acacia wood standing on end. The height of each frame was fifteen feet and the width 2¼ feet. Each frame had two clasps joining it to the next. There were twenty frames on the south side, with the bottoms fitting into forty silver bases. Each frame was connected to its base by two clasps. There were also twenty frames on the north side of the Tabernacle, with forty silver bases, two for each frame. The west side of the Tabernacle, which was its rear, was made from six frames, plus another at each corner. These frames, including those at the corners, were linked to each other at both top and bottom by rings. So, on the west side, there were a total of eight frames with sixteen silver bases beneath them, two for each frame.
Then he made five sets of bars from acacia wood to tie the frames together along the sides, five for each side of the Tabernacle. The middle bar of the five was halfway up the frames, along each side, running from one end to the other. The frames and bars were all overlaid with gold, and the rings were pure gold.
The blue, purple, and scarlet inner veil was made from woven linen, with cherubim skillfully embroidered into it. The veil was then attached to four gold hooks set into four posts of acacia wood, overlaid with gold and set into four silver bases.
Then he made a drapery for the entrance to the Tabernacle; it was woven from finespun linen, embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet. This drapery was connected by five hooks to five posts. The posts and their capitals and rods were overlaid with gold; their five bases were molded from bronze.
TEXT SOURCE:
(Exodus 36:8-38) The Children's Living Bible, ©1970 Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187
TITLE SOURCE: The New Student Bible, ©1992 Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids Michigan
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