Naravist

The Torah · Old Testament

Exodus 26

Curtains, supporting boards and the division of the sanctuary

General context

The instructions begin with ten linen curtains worked in blue, purple and scarlet with cherubim. Two sets of five are joined by loops and gold clasps. Eleven longer goats' hair curtains form a covering, joined with brass clasps, with extra material hanging over the back and sides. Further skin coverings are prescribed. Upright wooden boards stand in silver sockets and are joined by bars; the boards and bars are overlaid with gold. The tabernacle must be erected according to the pattern shown on the mountain. A decorated veil hangs on four pillars and separates the holy place from the most holy. The ark and mercy seat belong inside that veil. Outside it, the table stands on the north side and the lampstand opposite it on the south. A separate embroidered hanging forms the tent entrance, supported by five pillars with brass sockets. The chapter gives the arrangement to be made, rather than narrating its completion.

Cited passages: Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:2, Exodus 26:3, Exodus 26:4, Exodus 26:5, Exodus 26:6, Exodus 26:7, Exodus 26:8, Exodus 26:9, Exodus 26:10, Exodus 26:11, Exodus 26:12, Exodus 26:13, Exodus 26:14, Exodus 26:15, Exodus 26:16, Exodus 26:17, Exodus 26:18, Exodus 26:19, Exodus 26:20, Exodus 26:21, Exodus 26:22, Exodus 26:23, Exodus 26:24, Exodus 26:25, Exodus 26:26, Exodus 26:27, Exodus 26:28, Exodus 26:29, Exodus 26:30, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:32, Exodus 26:33, Exodus 26:34, Exodus 26:35, Exodus 26:36, Exodus 26:37

Exodus 26 (KJV)

1Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

2The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure.

3The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

4And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

5Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; that the loops may take hold one of another.

6And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle.

7And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.

8The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure.

9And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

10And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

11And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.

12And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.

13And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side of that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent, it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it.

14And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins.

15And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.

16Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

17Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

18And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward.

19And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

20And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side there shall be twenty boards:

21And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

22And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards.

23And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

24And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners.

25And they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

26And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

27And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.

28And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end.

29And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

30And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.

31And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:

32And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

33And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.

34And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

35And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

36And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.

37And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The linen curtains measure twenty-eight by four cubits, while the goats' hair curtains measure thirty by four. The linen sets use fifty gold clasps; the outer curtain sets use fifty brass clasps. The boards are ten cubits long and one and a half wide, with two tenons and two silver sockets each. Twenty boards are prescribed on each long side, with six and two corner boards at the west. The inner veil's four pillars have silver sockets, while the entrance hanging's five pillars have brass sockets. King James calls the upper covering badgers' skins; American Standard calls it sealskins. This guide preserves that uncertainty and does not supply a modern structural reconstruction for the corner joints.

Cited passages: Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:2, Exodus 26:3, Exodus 26:4, Exodus 26:5, Exodus 26:6, Exodus 26:7, Exodus 26:8, Exodus 26:9, Exodus 26:10, Exodus 26:11, Exodus 26:14, Exodus 26:15, Exodus 26:16, Exodus 26:17, Exodus 26:18, Exodus 26:19, Exodus 26:20, Exodus 26:21, Exodus 26:22, Exodus 26:23, Exodus 26:24, Exodus 26:25, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:32, Exodus 26:36, Exodus 26:37

Literary context

The description moves from joined fabrics to the supporting framework and then to the divisions and furnishings within. Repeated joining instructions make separate pieces into one tabernacle and one tent. The command to follow the mountain pattern links detailed workmanship with the received design. The final placement instructions distinguish the ark behind the veil from the table and lampstand outside it, then end at the entrance. Materials, numbers and locations make those distinctions concrete without explaining a symbolic meaning for every component.

Cited passages: Exodus 26:3, Exodus 26:4, Exodus 26:5, Exodus 26:6, Exodus 26:9, Exodus 26:10, Exodus 26:11, Exodus 26:15, Exodus 26:17, Exodus 26:18, Exodus 26:19, Exodus 26:20, Exodus 26:21, Exodus 26:22, Exodus 26:23, Exodus 26:24, Exodus 26:25, Exodus 26:26, Exodus 26:27, Exodus 26:28, Exodus 26:29, Exodus 26:30, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:32, Exodus 26:33, Exodus 26:34, Exodus 26:35, Exodus 26:36, Exodus 26:37

Key moments

  1. The linen curtains become one tabernacle (Exodus 26:6). Fifty gold clasps are to join the curtain sets.
  2. The mountain pattern governs the structure (Exodus 26:30). Moses is told to erect the tabernacle according to the design shown on the mountain.
  3. The veil separates two spaces (Exodus 26:33). The veil divides the holy place from the most holy, with the ark inside it.
  4. The table and lampstand face one another (Exodus 26:35). Outside the veil, the table is placed to the north and the lampstand to the south.

For reflection

How do the instructions for joining pieces and separating spaces work together in the sanctuary's design?