At this chapter begins an account of the orders
and instructions God gave to Moses upon the mount for the erecting
and furnishing of a tabernacle to the honour of God. We have here.
I. Orders given for a collection to be made among the people for
this purpose,
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, 5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, 6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, 7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
We may suppose that when Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and abode there so long, where the holy angels attended the shechinah, or divine Majesty, he saw and heard very glorious things relating to the upper world, but they were things which it was not lawful nor possible to utter; and therefore, in the records he kept of the transactions there, he says nothing to satisfy the curiosity of those who would intrude into the things which they have not seen, but writes that only which he was to speak to the children of Israel. For the scripture is designed to direct us in our duty, not to fill our heads with speculations, nor to please our fancies.
In these verses God tells Moses his
intention in general, that the children of Israel should build him
a sanctuary, for he designed to dwell among them (
I. He orders a royal palace to be set up
among them for himself, here called a sanctuary, or holy
place, or habitation, of which it is said (
1. As ceremonial, consonant to the
other institutions of that dispensation, which consisted in carnal
ordinances (
2. As typical; the holy places made with
hands were the figures of the true,
II. When Moses was to erect this palace, it was requisite that he should first be instructed where he must have the materials, and where he must have the model; for he could neither contrive it by his own ingenuity nor build it at his own charge; he is therefore directed here concerning both.
1. The people must furnish him with the materials, not by a tax imposed upon them, but by a voluntary contribution. This is the first thing concerning which orders are here given.
(1.) Speak unto the children of Israel
that they bring me an offering; and there was all the reason in
the world that they should, for (
(2.) This offering must be given willingly,
and with the heart, that is, [1.] It was not prescribed to them
what or how much they must give, but it was left to their
generosity, that they might show their good-will to the house of
God and the offices thereof, and might do it with a holy emulation,
the zeal of a few provoking many,
(3.) The particulars are here mentioned
which they must offer (
2. God himself would furnish him with the
model: According to all that I show thee,
10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. 12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. 13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. 15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. 16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
The first thing which is here ordered to be made is the ark with its appurtenances, the furniture of the most holy place, and the special token of God's presence, for which the tabernacle was erected to be the receptacle.
I. The ark itself was a chest, or coffer,
in which the two tables of the law, written with the finger of God,
were to be honourably deposited, and carefully kept. The dimensions
of it are exactly ordered; if the Jewish cubit was, as some learned
men compute, three inches longer than our half-yard (twenty-one
inches in all), this chest or cabinet was about fifty-two inches
long, thirty-one broad, and thirty-one deep. It was overlaid within
and without with thin plates of gold. It had a crown, or cornice,
of gold, round it, with rings and staves to carry it with; and in
it he must put the testimony,
II. The mercy-seat was the covering of the
ark or chest, made of solid gold, exactly to fit the dimensions of
the ark,
III. The cherubim of gold were fixed to the
mercy-seat, and of a piece with it, and spread their wings over it,
23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. 25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. 26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. 27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. 28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. 29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them. 30 And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me alway.
Here is, 1. A table ordered to be made of
wood overlaid with gold, which was to stand, not in the holy of
holies (nothing was in that but the ark with its appurtenances),
but in the outer part of the tabernacle, called the
sanctuary, or holy place,
31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. 34 And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35 And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. 40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.
I. The next thing ordered to be made for
the furnishing of God's palace was a rich stately candlestick, all
of pure gold, not hollow, but solid. The particular directions here
given concerning it show, 1. That it was very magnificent, and a
great ornament to the place; it had many branches drawn from the
main shaft, which had not only their bowls (to put the oil and the
kindled wick in) for necessity, but knops and flowers for ornament.
2. That it was very convenient, and admirably contrived both to
scatter the light and to keep the tabernacle clean from smoke and
snuffs. 3. That it was very significant. The tabernacle had no
windows by which to let in the light of the day, all its light was
candle-light, which intimates the comparative darkness of that
dispensation, while the Sun or righteousness had not as yet risen,
nor had the day-star from on high yet visited his church. Yet God
left not himself without witness, nor them without instruction; the
commandment was a lamp, and the law a light, and the prophets were
branches from that lamp, which gave light in their several ages to
the Old-Testament church. The church is still dark, as the
tabernacle was, in comparison with what it will be in heaven; but
the word of God is the candlestick, a light shining in a dark
place (
II. There is in the midst of these
instructions an express caution given to Moses, to take heed of
varying from his model: Make them after the pattern shown
thee,